PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - April 4
April 4 (Reuters) - The following were the top stories in The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
* Peter Scaturro, the chief executive of U.S. Trust, a private-banking operation being acquired for $3.3 billion by Bank of America Corp. (BAC.N), has decided to quit this summer, dealing a setback to the big bank's ambitious push to become the leader in the lucrative business of managing rich people's money.
* General Motors Corp. GM.N, Ford Motor Co. (F.N) and DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group posted sales declines for March. Toyota Motor Corp.'s (7203.T) unit vehicle sales rose almost 12 percent, making last month the Japanese company's best ever.
* Australian retailer Coles Group Ltd. CGJ.AX will enter talks with a Wesfarmers (WES.AX)-led group on a $16 billion offer, raising the possibility of a bidding war with a group led by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co [KKR.UL].
* Women who use hormones in the first years after the arrival of menopause aren't at increased heart risk, according to new analysis that reverses earlier findings.
* Tribune Co.'s TRB.N $8.2 billion buyout raises questions about how the media company plans to pay back more than $12 billion in debt.
* The Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT.N) worker fired last month for intercepting a reporter's phone calls says he was part of a larger, sophisticated surveillance operation that included snooping not only on employees, but also on critics, stockholders and the consulting firm McKinsey & Co.
* U.S. House Democrats sought a private interview with a U.S. Justice Department aide who is refusing to testify in the U.S. attorney inquiry.
* The fate of Joseph Nacchio, the former Qwest Communications International Inc. (Q.N) chief executive on trial for insider trading, could hinge in part on a stock-sale procedure under scrutiny by regulators and used by hundreds of executives.
* The clash between the U.S. Congress and the White House over the war in Iraq, intensified Tuesday as President George W. Bush warned lawmakers that delays in providing funding for U.S. troops will have "significant consequences."
