• Ford announced an $8.7 billion loss for the second quarter—its worse ever—and an $8 billion write-down. [NYT]

Ever wonder why the CEO at your company has a $10,000 telescope parked in the corner of his office? It's not to admire the birds. Or even to peek at the woman in the neighboring office building who changes her blouse at precisely half past five. It's to look in the offices of other CEOs, obviously.

There's one group of political donors that rarely receives any credit for their generosity. They don't get invited to any gala dinners or fancy cocktail parties, nor can they expect their checks to earn them any consideration when the next president is thinking about, say, who to appoint the Ambassador to Jamaica. They're the sons and daughters of the ridiculously wealthy, who kindly lend their names/identities to mom and dad so their hyper-political parents can direct even more cash to their favorite candidate. Of course, there's nothing illegal about any of this. Nor is it totally impossible that a 19-year-old college student would decide she'd rather give $4,700 to Hillary Clinton rather than, say, stock up on Juicy tracksuits. (Or Jared Kushner making his first big donation to the Democratic party when he was just 11.) Below, 2008 presidential donations by the children of some of New York's richest and powerful.

• Embattled Lehman chief Dick Fuld will forgo his 2008 bonus as a "peace offering" to the investment bank's managing directors. [Dealbook]
  

• Fallout from Morgan Stanley's disappointing quarter. To add to the mess, John Mack is now dealing with the discovery that a rogue trader lost $120 million. [NYP, WSJ]

Black is a managing partner of the legendary buyout firm Apollo Global Management, which he co-founded in 1990.