Monday January 12, 05:23 AM
PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - Jan 12
Jan 12 (Reuters) - The following were the top stories in The Wall Street Journal on Monday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
* Citigroup Inc (NYSE: C
- news) 's board isn't losing faith in CEO Pandit, according to the bank's lead independent director, though the company likely will post a quarterly operating loss of at least $10 billion.
* Toyota Motor Corp (Frankfurt: 853510 - news) 's senior board members have selected Akio Toyoda as the company's next president, according to people familiar with the matter.
* The U.K. government and banks are weighing a plan for a fund to help ailing firms unload bad debt to stave off defaults and bankruptcies.
* Dubai will boost spending by 11 percent, resulting in the city-state's first-ever deficit, in an effort to stimulate the economy amid today's global financial crisis.
* Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM - news) is poised to acquire a rival energy firm or join up with an oil-rich nation, industry experts believe.
* Drained by the worst consumer-spending slump in decades and burdened by debt, U.S. retailers are expected to begin a wave of post-holiday bankruptcy filings, altering the landscape at malls and on main streets across the country.
* Tronox Inc (NYSE: TRX - news) , an Oklahoma City-based chemical company, is poised to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New York within the next day, said several people familiar with the matter.
* The investigation of fraud at India's Satyam Computer Systems Ltd is spreading to the property and infrastructure companies connected to Satyam's disgraced former chairman B. Ramalinga Raju, a development that highlights the family's extensive property and other ventures in this southern Indian city.
* Federal prosecutors bought more time to focus on their investigation of Bernard Madoff's alleged $50 billion fraud scheme after they reached a deal with Madoff's lawyers to delay the deadline to bring an indictment in the criminal case against him.
* The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is in jeopardy, as owner Hearst Corp said it will close the newspaper unless a buyer is found quickly.
* After years of preparation, a proposed delay in the transition to digital broadcasting could confuse viewers, hit local TV stations with unexpected costs and hamper electronics retailers' and cable companies' efforts to win new customers, some executives, trade groups and analysts say.
* After a deep slide in sales in the fourth quarter, Chrysler LLC now faces a new obstacle in its battle to survive -- many dealers are loaded with inventory and aren't ordering new vehicles.
* General Motors Corp (NYSE: GM - news) said it has secured three-quarters of the $20 billion in liquidity-boosting measures aimed at ensuring its survival. The largest U.S. auto maker identified an extra $5 billion last November, mainly from cutting inventory, having targeted $15 billion in liquidity enhancement earlier in the year.
* Honda Motor Co Ltd (Stuttgart: 853226 - news) aims to reduce its U.S. inventory by about a third over the next three months to better align with sales, after seeing its stockpile of cars and trucks swell in the latest quarter.
* President-elect Barack Obama and congressional leaders plan to move soon to block the estate tax from disappearing in 2010.
* The incoming Obama administration, stymied by political opposition to the Bush administration's financial rescue, is negotiating with lawmakers to avoid a messy political fight as it seeks the second half of the $700 billion bailout.
* The European Union showed growing frustration with Russia and Ukraine as efforts to restore the Continent's supply of Russian natural gas failed again -- even after an agreement was signed by all parties.
* Israeli soldiers fought a fierce battle with Palestinian militants on the southern outskirts of Gaza City early Sunday morning as Israeli leaders weighed whether to order soldiers deeper into the territory's densely populated cities.
* Federal bankruptcy judges say they are eager to have the power to restructure mortgages for struggling debtors because it could save hundreds of thousands of homeowners from foreclosure.
* Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS - news) is pushing toward completion of a joint venture with Citigroup Inc's Smith Barney unit that would create the largest brokerage force in the world.
* Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT - news) is pushing technology for touch screens on PCs, a shift away from the computer mouse.
* The worsening economy resulted in more than 2.5 million job losses last year, the most since 1945, while the unemployment rate climbed to 7.2 percentin December. Job losses spared no region or sector. Keywords: PRESS DIGEST/WSJ
(Compiled by Ramya Dilip; Bangalore Equities Newsdesk +91 80 4135 5800; within U.S. +1 646 223 8780)
COPYRIGHT
Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved.
The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters (TRI.TO - news) .
NNNN
|
Send Article by Email
Send Article by IM
Blog This with Y! 360
Printable View
