Maybe you too have noticed that the press has been quiet about Warner Music Group and EMI for the last few weeks. Today the New York Post's Peter Laura breaks the silence with a look at how WMG's weakening financial position could be hurting its bid to acquire EMI.

"Warner stock fell to $16.26 yesterday, only 19 cents above its 52-week low it reached on Friday. More important, that's $2.62 below the price on March 2 when EMI's board rejected its takeover bid. Based on Warner's roughly 150 million outstanding shares, that $2.62 per share collapse equates to a paper loss of $393 million.

What's more, after Warner posted a 74 percent drop in net income in the fiscal first quarter, analysts are bracing for a similarly dreary second quarter, which will end Friday. But given EMI's own problems - two profit warnings, layoffs and merging of its Capitol and Virgin record labels - Warner's financial difficulties by comparison have gone largely unnoticed."

Last week, the European Union announced it would take longer to approve the Sony BMG merger. Add to that poor market conditions and WMG's worsening financial position and you've got a different outlook at a possible acquisition of EMI.