Probing electroweak physics using B -> XM decays in the endpoint region

Using soft-collinear effective theory we describe at leading order in 1/m_b all the semi-inclusive hadronic B -> XM decays near the endpoint, where an energetic light meson M recoils against an inclusive jet X. We also include the decays involving eta, eta' mesons that receive additional contributions from gluonic operators. The predicted branching ratios and CP asymmetries depend on fewer hadronic parameters than the corresponding two-body B decays. This makes semi-inclusive hadronic B -> XM decays a powerful probe of the potential nonperturbative nature of charming penguins as well as a useful probe of new physics effects in electroweak flavor changing transitions. A comparison with B -> KX data from BaBar points to an enhanced charming penguin, albeit with large experimental errors.