PRESS DIGEST - New York Times business news - Sept 21

Sept 21 (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.

* Gregg E. Berman, the leader of the team investigating the May 6 crash promises his report will clearly demonstrate how market conditions and events led to extreme price moves.

* A judge ordered Kerr-McGee Oil and Gas to pay millions in penalties, including some to a whistle-blower who said the company cheated the government out of royalties.

* On Monday, Oracle Corp (ORCL.O) and Hewlett-Packard Co (HPQ.N) announced a settlement to a dispute that centered on Oracle's hiring of Mark V. Hurd, the former chief executive of H.P., as a president.

* The United States economy has lost more jobs than it has added since the recovery began over a year ago.

* In question after question during a one-hour session, which took place on Monday at the Newseum and was televised on CNBC, Mr. Obama was confronted by people who sounded frustrated and anxious -- even as some said they supported his agenda and proclaimed themselves honored to be in his presence.

* Computer code placed on hard drives known as Flash cookies is prompting consumers to file lawsuits against media and technology companies over privacy.

* SAIC Motor Corp (600104.SS), a Chinese automaker has expressed interest in buying a stake in General Motors Co [GM.UL] when it holds a public stock offering later this year, a move that could raise concerns about foreign influence over the largest American automaker.

* Members of a federal advisory committee on Monday seemed to conclude that genetically engineered super-salmon would be safe to eat and for the environment, but they also found gaps in the studies used to support that conclusion.

* GMAC Mortgage, one of the country's largest and most troubled home lenders, said on Monday that it was imposing a moratorium on many of its foreclosures as it tried to ensure they were done correctly.

* Barnes & Noble Inc (BKS.N) sustained a setback on Monday when a powerful proxy advisory company endorsed directors proposed by the billionaire investor Ronald W. Burkle over the company's own slate, which included its chairman, Leonard S. Riggio.

* Echoing the slowdown in activity that has hit Wall Street's biggest institutions, Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) plans to cut several hundred jobs in its investment banking unit this week, according to employees.

* European officials are jostling over plans to tighten the region's fiscal rules to ward off another sovereign debt crisis, but agreement on anything that could be enforced by meaningful sanctions is far from certain.

* Richard Branson, the billionaire founder of the Virgin Group, is taking the wraps off a philanthropic venture aimed at putting Zimbabwe back on its feet.

* Two German landesbanks -- BayernLB [BAYLB.UL] and WestLB [WDLG.UL] -- said Monday that they were discussing a merger that would create the country's third-largest bank, a move that could set off a scramble by other public-sector banks to find partners and lead to the long-awaited consolidation of the crisis-prone institutions.

* International credit rating agencies on Monday gave their top grade to Europe's sovereign bailout fund, but the move failed to halt the strain on the ailing government bonds of Ireland and Portugal.

* IBM (IBM.N) agreed on Monday to buy Netezza Corp NZ.N, a data warehouse company, for $1.7 billion in cash, highlighting how much the fast-growing field of business intelligence is increasingly both a hardware and a software technology.

* The Federal Communications Commission is expected on Thursday to approve an overhaul of the $2.25 billion E-Rate program, which subsidizes Internet service for schools and public libraries, to give schools more options for faster Internet service, allow for community Internet service and to begin pilot programs for digital textbooks.