PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - Nov 14

Nov 14 (Reuters) - The following were the top stories in The Wall Street Journal on Friday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

* U.S. banks are in a heated competition for deposits as the industry tries to shore up funding sources. Deposit rates are rising sharply.

* Citigroup (C.N) is embarking on another huge round of layoffs and is raising interest rates on millions of credit-card customers.

* State insurance regulators are considering moves to ease capital requirements, a move that could raise concerns about consumer protection.

* A group of labor unions accused CVS Caremark (CVS.N) of violating patient privacy and improperly pushing doctors to prescribe a costly prescription drug.

* MGM Mirage (MGM.N)'s chairman resigned amid questions about his academic credentials raised by The Wall Street Journal.

* Proxy statements for Lamar Advertising Co (LAMR.O), a Baton Rouge, Los Angeles, operator of outdoor advertising, claimed that Thomas Reifenheiser, a director, earned a master's degree in business administration from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. But Reifenheiser, 73 years old, acknowledged Thursday that he didn't receive an MBA from Wharton.

* The Dow Jones Industrial Average swung between gains and losses, moving in a range of 911 points and briefly dipping below the psychologically important 8000 level. But it avoided the intraday trough near 7900 set at the height of last month's market panic and came storming back to post a 552.59-point gain at the closing bell. The Dow ended up 6.7 percent at 8835.25, helped by gains in 28 of its 30 components.

* Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N), the nation's largest private employer, is reaping big gains from the souring economy even as consumers cut back, retail chains struggle and thousands lose their jobs. On Thursday, after a week of bad news from retailers such as Best Buy Co (BBY.N) and Starbucks Corp (SBUX.O), Wal-Mart said earnings for the third quarter rose 9.8 percent while sales rose 7.5 percent.

* For the first time in recent memory, luxury-goods makers are cutting prices on designer apparel, shoes and handbags in the U.S. market.

* Nashville, Tennesse, financial adviser Kent Kirby spent 16 years at Merrill Lynch MER.N without even considering a recruiter's phone call. But after Merrill rushed to sell itself to Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) in September, Kirby fretted that a mass-market "bank culture" would overcome the higher-end, bigger-spending culture of Mother Merrill. He soon left to join the private-wealth arm of Swiss bank UBS AG (UBSN.VX).

* Germany, a country that didn't have a housing bubble and whose consumers didn't overspend on credit, is turning into a major casualty of the global downturn. The German economy, the world's fourth largest, contracted a sharper-than-expected 0.5 percent in the third quarter, official data showed on Thursday, following a 0.4 percent contraction in the second quarter.

* Iceland's Prime Minister Geir Haarde said he believed the International Monetary Fund was holding back on a stalled $2.1 billion aid package until other countries approve their own aid.

* Lawmakers assailed Paulson over his handling of shifting TARP's focus, and raised questions about Treasury's plans for rescue funds.

* Democrats scaled back plans for a stimulus package, and a deadlock over the auto bailout may push action off until 2009.

* On the eve of a summit to address the credit crisis, President George Bush offered a defense of the U.S. financial system amid fresh signs of economic weakness.

* American International Group Inc (AIG.N)'s tax dispute with the IRS puts the company in the peculiar position of effectively using government funding to fight the U.S. government.