PRESS DIGEST - New York Times business news - Aug 8
Aug 8 (Reuters) - The following were the top stories in the New York Times business pages on Friday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
* A study of civil lawsuits has found that most of the plaintiffs who decided to pass up a settlement offer and went to trial ended up getting less money.
* Americans sought out more bargains and cheaper goods in July, leaving the nation's retailers bracing for a painful back-to-school shopping season.
* Two major Wall Street firms on Thursday offered to buy back more than $17 billion of troubled auction-rate securities that they had marketed as being as safe and liquid as cash, moving quickly to contain the legal fallout from the credit crisis.
* Britons have come to the realization that after 17 years of uninterrupted growth, the country's economy is moving closer to recession, and may already be in one.
* The Environmental Protection Agency rejected on Thursday a request to cut the federal government's quota for the use of ethanol in cars, concluding, at least for now, that the national goal of reducing oil use trumps any effect on food prices from making fuel from corn.
* American Airlines, the largest domestic carrier, announced changes to its frequent-flier program Thursday that included new fees and higher mileage requirements for upgrades and free tickets.
* Claims for jobless aid rose last week, the government reported on Thursday, but a gauge of future home sales rose in a hopeful sign for the battered housing sector.
* The German insurance company Allianz (ALVG.DE) has struggled to find a buyer for its banking unit, Dresdner, in the face of subprime write-downs and a tight credit market.
* Tone Grant, former president of Refco, once the largest independent commodities brokerage firm, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role in a $2.4 billion fraud that involved hiding huge trading losses from clients.
