PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - Nov 20
Nov 20 (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.
* In industries at the center of the financial crisis, plenty of top officials have emerged with big fortunes. Fifteen CEOs of large home-building and financial-services firms each reaped more than $100 million during the past five years.
* As Detroit's auto makers seek a government bailout, the resilience of their foreign rivals could vault the South to the forefront of the U.S. car industry.
* Stock and bond markets fell to their lowest levels since the outbreak of the economic crisis, as worries about rising defaults by borrowers drove a new wave of concern about the financial system's health.
* Citigroup Inc (C.N) will buy the last $17.4 billion in assets held by its structured investment vehicles, resulting in a $1.1 billion write-down.
* U.S. consumer prices fell 1 percent in October, their largest monthly decline since World War II, adding to deflation concerns.
* Boeing Co (BA.N) plans to cut 27 percent of the jobs at its Wichita, Kansas, defense operations, partly because of delays it helped to bring about in a $40 billion competition to build a new fleet of aerial refueling tankers for the U.S. Air Force.
* Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) Chief Executive Steve Ballmer squelched hopes that the software giant would renew efforts to acquire Yahoo Inc (YHOO.O), sending the Internet company's shares plunging 21 percent.
* The deterioration of the world economy is hurting the shipping and aviation sectors in Asia, with Neptune Orient Lines (NEPS.SI) and Air New Zealand (AIR.NZ) announcing 1,000 and 200 job cuts, respectively.
* Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) is modifying its approach to offering music to consumers over the Internet, after slow consumer uptake of a subscription service from the company that rents songs to consumers for a monthly fee.
* Southwest Airlines Co (LUV.N), a carrier that long avoided congested airports, said it will seek 14 takeoff and landing slots at New York's LaGuardia airport as the airline looks for a foothold in what remains a major void in its otherwise extensive route network.
* The Securities and Exchange Commission voted unanimously to require mutual-fund companies to provide short summaries of key information about their funds and give investors the option to get more details online rather than on paper.
* The collapse of American International Group Inc (AIG.N) shares might not be something former longtime Chief Executive Maurice "Hank" Greenberg ever wished for, but it is generating big payoffs on two bets his investment vehicle made three years ago.
