PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - Sept 4

Sept 4 (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.

* The Federal Housing Administration, hit by increasing mortgage-related losses, is in danger of seeing its reserves fall below the level demanded by Congress, according to government officials, in a development that could raise concerns about whether the agency needs a taxpayer bailout.

* Retailers posted a 2.9 percent sales decline last month as consumers remained thrifty, but a growing number of shoppers turned up at midpriced stores.

* British banking group Lloyds Banking Group Plc (LLOY.L), buoyed by a rising stock price and slowing loan defaults, is considering backing away from a government program to guarantee its assets and would raise billions of pounds in capital to cover any losses.

* Shares in two companies that own credit-rating firms, Moody's Corp (MCO.N) and McGraw-Hill Cos (MHP.N), declined on Thursday in reaction to a court decision that rejected the companies' longtime claim that the First Amendment protected them from lawsuits.

* The European Commission opened an antitrust investigation into Oracle Corp's (ORCL.O) $7.4 billion acquisition of Sun Microsystems Inc JAVA.O, dealing a blow to Oracle's efforts to keep Sun customers who are increasingly being wooed by rival technology companies.

* American Airlines faces an escalating dispute with the Federal Aviation Administration over allegedly improper repairs to at least 16 aircraft. FAA officials suspect that one of those planes was abruptly retired to get it out of sight of government inspectors, according to people familiar with the details.

* Google Inc (GOOG.O) announced that Kai-Fu Lee, president of Google Inc's China operations, is resigning from the company after working for years to establish the Internet giant as a formidable player in the country.

* Verizon Communications Inc (VZ.N) said Thursday that Dennis Strigl will step down as president and chief operating officer by year end, potentially paving the way for a clearer succession plan.

* The Agriculture Department, in a bid to help the ailing pork industry, said Thursday it will buy another $30 million of pork in an effort to boost prices.

* The mutual-fund industry has fired back in a Supreme Court case about fund fees, arguing that an adverse ruling could drive up fees and put fund managers out of business.