PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - July 17

July 17 (Reuters) - The following were the top stories in The Wall Street Journal on Friday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

* Worries about CIT Group Inc's (CIT.N) fate cascaded through the retail and manufacturing industries. The lender's executives were scrambling to line up private-sector financing.

* IBM's (IBM.N) profit rose 12 percent to $3.1 billion as improved margins offset a drop in sales. The tech giant raised its full-year outlook.

* Google Inc's (GOOG.O) growth continued to slow in the second quarter, signaling the online ad market remains in a slump.

* Rio Tinto's (RIO.L) (RIO.AX) debacle in Guinea is one example of the fight breaking out for control of the world's mineral riches in the wake of the economic downturn.

* Wall Street's main lobbying group, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, will support the Obama administration's plan to hold brokers to a higher fiduciary standard when providing investment advice to clients, people familiar with the matter said.

* General Motors Co marketing chief Bob Lutz reversed course, saying the company wouldn't keep the Pontiac G8 sedan in its model line by turning it into a Chevrolet after all.

* Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) says it will produce from mid-2010 a gas-electric hybrid version of its Auris hatchback at its Burnaston Plant in north central England -- the first time Toyota will make a hybrid in Europe.

* JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) showed that it is pulling through the financial crisis, reporting surprisingly strong quarterly earnings of $2.7 billion that cemented its status as one of the best-run U.S. banks.

* Continental Airlines Inc CAL.N named President and Chief Operating Officer Jeff Smisek to succeed Larry Kellner as chairman and chief executive effective Jan. 1.

* Former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson was assailed by Congress for his role in the government's rescue of Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) and for his broader response last year to the financial crisis.

* Global defense giants are lining up to capture billions of dollars in new orders in India as the country's military modernizes its forces.

* Russia could join the World Trade Organization by mid-2010 if the U.S. delivers the backing it has publicly promised to Moscow's long-delayed bid, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said.

* U.S. Congress's chief budget scorekeeper cast a new cloud over Democratic efforts to overhaul the nation's health-care system, telling lawmakers that the main proposals being considered would fail to contain costs -- one of the primary goals -- and could actually worsen the problem of rapidly escalating medical spending.

* A swine-flu vaccine is proving difficult to manufacture because the viruses used to make the shots aren't yielding a large amount of active ingredient, two large vaccine makers said Thursday.

* Iceland's parliament voted narrowly to apply to join the European Union after six days of grueling debate, a move prompted by the country's dramatic financial collapse.

* Embattled U.K. sportswear retailer JJB Sports PLC (JJB.L) shares jumped after the company disclosed that Microsoft Corp's (MSFT.O) Bill Gates holds a stake of just over 3 percent.

* The U.S. House approved legislation to force General Motors Co and Chrysler Group LLC to reinstate as many as 3,200 dealers the car makers cut as part of their government-backed bankruptcy reorganizations.

* The longtime head of Iran's atomic agency, who also served as vice president under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, told state media he had resigned his two posts. The surprise announcement raised speculation that he had quit, or was pushed out, as part of the fallout from Iran's postelection unrest.

* Delphi Corp's DPHIQ.PK lenders said they will bid for the auto-parts supplier, in an effort to defeat a government-orchestrated sale of the company to General Motors Co and a private-equity firm.

* Harley Davidson Inc (HOG.N) said it is reviewing options to strengthen its loss-making finance arm as the U.S. motorcycle maker rolled out another round of job cuts and said its second-quarter profit fell 91 percent.

* Apple (AAPL.O) legal representatives asked Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) recently to "stop running" advertisements suggesting Apple's computers are expensive, Microsoft Chief Operating Officer Kevin Turner said.

* Cisco Systems Inc (CSCO.O) laid off several hundred employees, as part of the company's plan to control its costs amid declining sales.