PRESS DIGEST - New York Times business news - Nov 13

Nov 13 (Reuters) - The following were the top stories in the New York Times business pages on Thursday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

* The Treasury Department on Wednesday officially abandoned the original strategy behind its $700 billion effort to rescue the financial system, as administration officials acknowledged that banks and financial institutions were as unwilling as ever to lend to consumers. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is hoping to put in place a major new lending program that would be run by the Federal Reserve and aimed at unlocking the frozen consumer credit market.

* Momentum is building in Washington for a rescue package for the auto industry to head off a possible bankruptcy filing by General Motors Corp (GM.N), which is rapidly running low on cash.

* Life insurance companies, hobbled by real estate investments and committed to paying some costly retirement contracts, face more cuts in their credit ratings before the year is up and have little choice but to seek capital in unforgiving markets.

* Asian shares fell on Thursday to their lowest point this month on uncertainty about whether the U.S. can succeed in its massive banking rescue and as Intel Corp's (INTC.O) revenue warning stoked corporate earnings worries.

* Hedge fund managers usually shun the spotlight. But five of them, billionaires all, are about to come under the glare on Capitol Hill. The money managers - Philip Falcone, Kenneth Griffin, John Paulson, James Simons and George Soros - have been called by a House panel to discuss some of their trade secrets at a hearing on Thursday.

* At a hearing of the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday, legislators concerned about the rising tide of foreclosures encouraged the financial industry to alter the terms of more mortgages to allow people to stay in their homes.

* Shares on Wall Street tumbled more than 4 percent on Wednesday as frightened investors wondered how long the economic slowdown would last, how deep it would cut and whether Washington could do anything to stop the bleeding.

* The banking giant Morgan Stanley (MS.N) outlined plans on Wednesday to cut 10 percent of the staff in its biggest business, the institutional securities group, which covers everything from investment banking to stock trading.

* The $6 billion International Monetary Fund-led bailout of Iceland appeared to be on the back burner Wednesday amid haggling over how the country would compensate overseas customers who lost deposits when Icelandic banks failed.

* Germany's most powerful union, IG Metall, reached a modest wage deal on Wednesday with employers in the flagship engineering sector, ending the threat of strikes in an area already hurting from an economic slowdown.

* ING (ING.AS), the Dutch financial services company, reported its first quarterly loss on Wednesday as it wrote down the value of investments hurt by the tight credit markets.

* The Nets have announced a program that they said can help fans weather the economic crisis - if not the team's injury troubles or its mediocre start. The team said Wednesday that it would provide unemployed fans with 1,500 free tickets over the course of five home games if they sign up for the Nets Employment Program.

* The Boston Red Sox froze their ticket prices at already-high 2008 levels Wednesday, a clear reflection of the worsening economic crisis.

* Prices for the flat screens in televisions, personal computers and cellphones have plummeted in recent years - but the decline would have been even faster if it hadn't been for an international price-fixing cartel, the Justice Department said on Wednesday.

* Intel Corp (INTC.O), the world's largest producer of computer chips, warned on Wednesday that its sales could fall as much as 19 percent in the fourth quarter.