♦ The legal battle between Citigroup and Wells Fargo raged over the weekend as both banks sought the upper hand in their bid for Wachovia. A Fed-led settlement which would divide Wachovia's assets may put an end to the dispute. [NYT, WSJ]
♦ Bank of America has agreed to settle government claims related to Countrywide Financial. The total price tag could exceed $8.6 billion. [WSJ]
♦ Dick Fuld will make his first appearance in weeks when he speaks before a House committee today. [NYP]
♦ Eli Lilly has agreed to acquire ImClone Systems for $6.5 billion. [Reuters]

• Will today be Lehman's last day as an independent firm? Last-minute discussions continue with several possible rescuers, including Bank of America and possibly Barclays, and the Fed has said it has no plans to bail out the nation's fourth-largest investment bank. [WSJ, NYT, Bloomberg]
  

• Lehman CEO Dick Fuld's announcement yesterday about the firm's new strategic direction hasn't changed much, say analysts, and questions about Lehman's ability to weather the storm continue to loom. [NYT, WSJ, FT, NYP]

If Martha Stewart, Sam Waksal and Peter Bacanovic had just waited a little bit, they could have avoided that whole mess that landed them both in prison! This week, the biotech company that Waksal founded, ImClone Systems, received a $4.5 billion buyout offer from Bristol-Myers Squibb. Today the Times points out that the deal—$60 a share—is roughly the same price at which Martha and Sam illegally sold their shares in 2001. And ironically the drug that is responsible for ImClone's value is the same experimental medicine that prompted Martha & Co. to rush to unload their shares a few years ago. Of course, Martha's bounced back nicely since then. The same can't be said for Sam, who is behind bars. He'll be home soon enough, though. Officially Waksal's release date isn't until February 9, 2009, but he's expected to be released early and home in time for the last couple of weeks of summer. [NYT]