PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - Sept 11
Sept 11 (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.
* Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc's LEH.N Chairman and Chief Executive Richard Fuld called Wall Street executives to see if they were still trading with his firm and offering it credit as Lehman's stock teetered in recent weeks.
* Some Wall Street firms marketed allegedly abusive deals that helped foreign hedge-fund investors avoid U.S. taxes, a probe found.
* An ethics adviser urged Governor Sarah Palin in July to apologize for her handling of the dismissal of the Alaska's police chief and warned that the matter could snowball into a bigger scandal.
* Exports have become a key to greater local prosperity in the U.S. more than at any time in decades, fueled by the dollar's fall.
* Auto parts maker Delphi Corp's DPHIQ.PK missed pension payments have prompted a U.S. agency to seek legal action to secure a claim on an additional $900 million in assets.
* Fannie Mae (FNM.N) sold a record $7 billion of two-year notes as investor demand for the offering exceeded expectations.
* Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) agreed to buy back $4.5 billion in auction-rate securities from small investors.
* Washington Mutual Inc's (WM.N) decision to hire a new CEO is drawing a tepid response from investors. Shares fell to a 17-year low.
* The Federal Aviation Administration announced new steps to improve its oversight of aviation safety, after an expert panel raised concerns about persistent conflicts within the agency over how aggressively to police airlines.
* The Pentagon canceled a $40 billion tanker competition, a victory for Boeing Co (BA.N) that sets up what could be a fiercer battle next year.
* The nation's highest-ranking military officer warned that the U.S. is "running out of time" to stabilize Afghanistan.
