PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - Oct 9
Oct 9 (Reuters) - The following were the top stories in The Wall Street Journal on Thursday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
* The world's central banks lowered short-term interest rates in unison. Separately, the U.S. Treasury is considering ways to inject capital directly into banks, possibly by taking equity stakes. The Dow industrials fell 2 percent to 9258.10, its sixth straight drop.
* Talks between Wells Fargo and Co (WFC.N), Citigroup Inc (C.N) and the United States government over a way to divide Wachovia Corp WB.N stalled on several key issues.
* International Business Machine Corp (IBM.N) posted a 20 percent rise in profit and reaffirmed its full-year outlook. But sales growth slowed from prior quarters.
* The federal government said Wednesday it would lend American International Group Inc (IBM.N) as much as another $37.8 billion, a sign that its initial $85 billion effort to shore up the company is coming up short.
* Morgan Stanley's (MS.N) CEO John Mack sought to calm investors and dispel rumors about the firm's state. Morgan shares fell 4.8 percent.
* Walgreen Co (WAG.N) abandoned its lengthy pursuit of Longs Drug Stores Corp LDG.N, saying the severe downturn in the economy made it unwise to continue its battle with CVS Caremark Corp (CVS.N) for the pharmacy chain.
* The Securities and Exchange Commission is telling chief financial officers that if they're estimating the value of troubled assets, they need to better explain what they're doing.
* Life insurer MetLife Inc (MET.N) recently approached Hartford Financial Services Group Inc (HIG.N) about a merger transaction, according to people familiar with the discussions. The talks didn't lead anywhere, these people said. But the approach shows how strains in the financial system have moved from banks to insurance companies.
* Massachusetts regulators are investigating complaints about Reserve Management Co, a New York asset manager that shook investors in September with news of a money-market-fund loss.
* The Treasury Department, looking for more ways to ease the credit crunch gripping financial markets, said it would release a total of $20 billion more Treasury bonds into the market.
* The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has summoned participants in the credit-default-swap market to another meeting Friday amid jostling by dealers, exchanges and regulators for a bigger role in this $55 trillion market.
* On Wednesday, many major store chains reported ominous declines in their September sales, signaling a worsening outlook for what already was expected to be the gloomiest holiday shopping season in nearly two decades.
