peHUB First Read

* Tom Robbins keeps digging into how NYC Comptroller Bill Thompson talks the talk on placement agents, but doesn't walk the walk. * Candover's chairman says he's sorry. * NY Post reports that Clear Channel is in early talks to restructure its debt, and the term "prepackaged bankruptcy" has been broached. * Morning Call: U.S. futures are mixed, London inches lower, European shares flat as oil and banks cancel each other out, the Nikkei hits a two-week closing low and Hong Kong falls three percent. * Dan Mitchell: Defending Cheerios, Cereal of Liberty. * The Hank Morris-Bear Stearns connection. * Healthcare banker Jon Symonds is leaving Goldman Sachs for Novartis. Does that mean his grand plans for PE-backed pharma R&D have fizzled?