E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. and Genencor, a unit of Denmark’s Danisco A/S, today said they plan to form DuPont Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol LLC, a 50-50 joint venture to develop and commercialize low-cost technology for producing cellulosic ethanol, Reuters reported. The partners plan an initial three-year investment of $140 million, which will initially target corn stover and sugar cane bagasse as raw materials. The companies plan to use other forms of cellulosic raw materials further down the line. The global joint venture expects its first pilot plant to be operational in the United States in 2009, and its first commercial-scale demonstration facility to be operational within the next three years.

Benjamin Ullem has been appointed to a one-year term as dean of Drake University Law School. He is a senior partner at Whitfield & Eddy PLC. Ullem will take the position on June 9, succeeding Law School Dean David Walker, who will take a yearlong sabbatical and then return to the faculty. Ullem, who earned his law degree from Drake in 1969, has been a member of the university’s governing board since 1992. He will take a leave of absence from the board while serving as dean. Ullem has been chair of the Drake Law School Board of Counselors and president of the Drake National Alumni Association Board.

ING Groep NV reported a 19 percent decline in first-quarter profits today and wrote down the value of its U.S. mortgage-related investments by $5.6 billion, the Associated Press reported. The write-downs were not booked as a loss because the Dutch bank and insurance company plans to hold on to those investments. ING said bank earnings rose 1.5 percent to $2.18 billion, while insurance earnings fell 31 percent to $1.11 billion. Insurance earnings were hurt by the performance of an investment portfolio ING holds to hedge against potential claims, the company said.

U.S. consumer prices rose less than predicted in April, reflecting cheaper furniture and lodging costs that offset the biggest jump in food expenses in 18 years, Bloomberg reported. The Consumer Price Index climbed 0.2 percent after a 0.3 percent gain in March, the Labor Department said. Core prices, which exclude food and energy costs, increased 0.1 percent, compared with a 0.2 percent advance a month earlier. Economists had forecast that the Consumer Price Index would increase 0.3 percent, according to the median of 77 projections in a Bloomberg News survey.

RealtyTrac Inc. today said that U.S. foreclosure filings climbed 65 percent and bank seizures more than doubled in April from a year earlier as rates on adjustable mortgages increased and vacated homes added to a surplus of unsold homes, Bloomberg reported. More than 243,300 properties, or one in every 519 households, were in some stage of foreclosure, the highest monthly total since RealtyTrac began compiling statistics in January 2005. Nevada, California and Florida had the highest rates. Filings rose 4 percent from March.

American Equity Investment Life Holding Co. will host its first annual Investor Day on May 20 in New York City beginning at 12:15 p.m. Management will provide information on AEL’s strategy, investments and asset quality, sales outlook and financial performance. To register, go to American Equity’s Web site at www.american-equity.com/2008InvestorDay. All presentations will be webcast live and can be accessed at www.american-equity.com/2008InvestorDay.