Are top two ethanol firms talking merger? Maybe

"The first salvo may have been fired this week in a long-awaited shakeout for the U.S. ethanol industry," reports The Forum of Fargo, N.D., in a story based on staff and wire-service reports.

Hours after the nation's largest ethanol maker, Poet LLC, said it is "talking with other companies about buyouts," bankrupt Vera Sun Energy said it had received an unsolicited takeover bid. "Neither Poet nor VeraSun will say if the two are negotiating a deal." The companies control about one-third of America's ethanol capacity.

The story is a good, up-to-date summary of the ethanol business. To read it, click here.