Cityfile: New York's Most Notable and Influential

♦  Invoking emergency powers, the Fed will create a special fund to buy up commercial paper—short-term debt that companies typically use for such things as payroll—in an effort to ease up the credit markets. [Bloomberg]
♦  Wachovia and its sparring suitors, Citigroup and Wells Fargo, have agreed to a two-day truce as negotiators try to work out a resolution. [WSJ, DB]
♦  Did you miss Lehman CEO Dick Fuld's testimony before the House yesterday? A recap. [WSJ, FT, NYT]
♦  Bank of America reports that profits plunged 68% in the third quarter. [CNNMoney]More

• Merrill Lynch's $4.65 billion second-quarter loss was almost twice what analysts had predicted; the firm also wrote down an additional $9.5 billion in connection with subprime losses. [Bloomberg]
• Citigroup's posted a better-than-expected loss of $2.5 billion for the quarter, which Vikram Pandit is spinning as progress since the bank lost $5.1 billion last quarter. [NYT]
• Troubled mortgage financing giant Freddie Mac is weighing selling up to $10 billion in new shares to raise capital. [WSJ]
• AMD president and COO Dirk Meyer will succeed Hector Ruiz as the chip maker's CEO. [WSJ]
• Both Google and Microsoft issued rare disappointing earnings. [Bloomberg]
• Investors swindled by Samuel Israel III's Bayou Group are trying to recoup their losses from Goldman Sachs, Bayou's prime broker. [NYT]
• Teva is acquiring rival Barr Pharmaceuticals in a $7.46 billion deal. [WSJ]