PRESS DIGEST - New York Times business news - Nov 24

Nov 24 (Reuters) - The following were the top stories in the New York Times business pages on Tuesday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

* A few weeks into the holiday shopping season, consumers are still not reaching for their wallets. After a fairly robust October, retail sales slowed in November as the nation's stores entered their critical time of year. Major sectors like apparel, luxury goods and jewelry experienced slight sales declines.

* An influx of faulty Chinese-made all-terrain vehicles is challenging the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

* Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) has been in early discussions with the News Corp (NWSA.O), the media conglomerate controlled by Rupert Murdoch, about a pact to pay the News Corp to remove links to its news content from Google Inc's (GOOG.O) search engine and display them exclusively on Bing, from Microsoft, according to a person briefed on the matter who spoke anonymously because of the confidential negotiations.

* Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) has been ordered to pay a total of $103 million in punitive damages to two women who were found to have breast cancer after they used hormonal drugs, state court officials in Philadelphia said Monday.

* A court motion contends that Bernard Madoff's investors cannot calculate their losses until it is determined whether any of their original profits were legitimate.

* The cost of unwinding Bernard Madoff's estate for the benefit of his victims is climbing, with a total of almost $25 million in new fee requests filed on Monday with the federal bankruptcy court in Manhattan.

* Citing cases of infants being trapped and suffocated, the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced a voluntary recall of more than 2.1 million Stork Craft drop-side cribs on Monday, the largest recall ever of cribs.

* Federal investigators reported on Monday that a "strong association" exists between chemicals in Chinese drywall installed in thousands of homes during the housing boom and electrical problems in those homes.

* Hewlett-Packard Co (HPQ.N) posted a 14 percent increase in quarterly profit on Monday despite an 8 percent decline in revenue, helped by a strong performance in China and better profit margins in its services business.

* Chinese banking regulators are putting pressure on the country's banks to raise more capital and temper their rapid growth in lending, in a clear sign of official concern about the sustainability of the nation's credit boom, senior Chinese bankers said on Monday.

* Existing-home sales in October rose to the highest level in more than two years, according to a report released Monday, driven by the popularity of a credit for first-time home buyers.

* As executives of General Motors Co [GM.UL] met Monday with European officials to ask for financial help in overhauling its struggling auto operations, Germany reopened a bitter public debate over state aid and job protections that has sharply divided its government.

* Scott Rothstein, the Fort Lauderdale lawyer accused of a $1 billion Ponzi scheme, certainly spread the money around. On Monday, federal authorities filed court documents seeking to seize his 87-foot yacht, more than a dozen properties and 20 luxury cars, including a 2009 Bugatti Veyron that sells for $1.5 million.

* Stavros Dimas, the environment commissioner of the European Union, called on the trade bloc on Monday to pledge to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent from 1990 levels to demonstrate leadership before a landmark climate change summit meeting in Copenhagen in December.

* Arlen Kantarian was paid more than $9 million by the United States Tennis Association in his last year as its chief executive of professional tennis, according to tax documents filed by the organization and confirmed by the U.S.T.A.

* Campbell Soup Co (CPB.N) reported Monday that its first quarter profit rose 17 percent with the help of lower costs from increased efficiency in getting its products from its plants to store shelves, as well as lower prices for grain ingredients.

* Tyson Foods Inc (TSN.N) reported disappointing margins for its chicken business on Monday as market prices fell and grain costs rose.

* The Pentagon's top acquisition official said on Monday that Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N), the prime contractor for the new F-35 fighter jet, would have to cover part of the increased costs of the huge program.

* China Longyuan Power Group, the largest producer of wind power in Asia, aims to raise as much as $2.2 billion from its Hong Kong initial public offering, according to a preliminary prospectus. ((Compiled by Neha Singh; Bangalore Equities Newsdesk +91 80 4135 5800; within U.S. +1 646 223 8780))