PRESS DIGEST - New York Times business news - Nov 25

Nov 25 (Reuters) - The following were the top stories in the New York Times business pages on Tuesday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

* The Federal Reserve and the Treasury plan to announce a lending program Tuesday to jump-start frozen loan markets, administration officials said.

* While Citigroup Inc's (C.N) rescue was a breath of fresh air for Wall Street on Monday, many worry that the boost will soon wear off, leaving the outlook for the financial industry bleak.

* In an effort to stave off the dismantling of his media empire, Sumner Redstone, the controlling shareholder of Viacom Inc (VIAb.N) and CBS Corp (CBS.N), recently proposed to sell his family's 1,500-screen theater chain in an effort to restructure his large debt load.

* General Motors Corp (GM.N) appears to have enough money in the fund to pay its more than 400,000 retirees their benefits for many years - a result of its conservative pension management.

* With shares of Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N) (BRKb.N) down 36 percent since Oct. 1, Warren Buffett said he would shed some light on his investments in the company's next annual report.

* A rescue plan for Citigroup Inc (C.N) turned into a boon for Wall Street. The Dow rose nearly 400 points, and the S&P was up 6.47 percent.

* Trying to spend its way out of its first recession in 17 years, the British government announced on Monday a plan to cut taxes and increase public spending despite a budget deficit that was among the largest of any developed nation.

* Analysts, once prominent within the industry, are joining a growing pool of bankers and traders losing their jobs before bonus times, with few job prospects on the horizon.

* A new survey from Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) suggests that self-diagnosis by search engine frequently leads Web searchers to conclude the worst about what ails them.

* Asian stock markets rallied Tuesday morning, buoyed by the U.S. government bailout for Citigroup Inc (C.N) and the resultant rise in U.S. stocks, as well as a jump in raw materials prices.

* Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, the publisher of authors including Philip Roth, Jonathan Safran Foer, Gunter Grass and J. R. R. Tolkien, has temporarily suspended acquisitions of new manuscripts, a company spokesman said Monday.

* In emotional and blunt terms, Barclays Plc (BARC.L) shareholders showed their displeasure with the British bank's fund-raising on Monday even as they seemed resigned to approving the plan.

* Huang Guangyu, one of China's wealthiest entrepreneurs and the chairman of the country's biggest electronics retailer, was detained last week by the police as part of an investigation into stock manipulation involving a relative's company, according to a report in a Chinese financial magazine.

* President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany met on Monday to work out a coordinated response to Europe's deepening recession.

* King Pharmaceuticals Inc (KG.N) said Monday that it had agreed to acquire Alpharma Inc ALO.N for about $1.6 billion, expanding King's presence in the market for pain drugs.