Front Page – blog post links with lates post having an excerpt

Hey guys, I’m building a static front page in wp2.2 and have this code to get latest blog posts:

<?php
                      # Here starts Mini Loop trick: You can use this code, but _at your own risk_
                      # If you want to improve this code, you're welcome ;)
                      $how_many=5; //How many posts do you want to show
                    ?>
                    <ul>
                    <?
                      $news=$wpdb->get_results("SELECT ID,post_title FROM $wpdb->posts
                        WHERE post_status = \"publish\" and post_type = \"post\" ORDER BY ID DESC LIMIT " . $how_many);
                      foreach($news as $np){
                        printf ("<li><a href=\"index.php?p=%s\">%s</a></li>", $np->ID,$np->post_title);
                      }
                    ?>
                    </ul>

Now, I’m wondering how can I customise it so I can have an excerpt from latest blog post and the rest as just links? I also need the title above the latest post excerpt too…

Thank you in advance!