Media Digest 2/4/20008 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Barron's

According to Reuters, Aluminum Corp of China has no plans to increase its stake in Rio Tinto (RTP).

Reuters writes that Yahoo! (YHOO) is considering a business alliance with Google (GOOG) as one way to avoid a buy-out by Microsoft (MSFT).

Reuters writes that Wall St. has lowered its earnings outlook for the S&P 500.

The Wall Street Journal writes that studios are preparing for the return of writers as progress in talks with their union appears to be accelerating.

The Wall Street Journal writes that analysts predict slow earnings for the S&P 500 in the first half of the year but a year-over-year increase of 50% by the fourth quarter.

The Wall Street Journal reports that stent sales in Q4 stayed low but did not contine their drop.

The Wall Street Journal writes that Intel (INTC) will introduce a new generation of chips for mobile devices.

The New York Times writes that ESPN will offer some sports shows to consumers free on the internet.

The FT writes that banks are having great difficulty syndicating loans for an LBO of Harrah’s.

Barron’s writes that a weak economy could put pressure on some of Blackstone’s (BX) buy-out deals.

Bloomberg writes that a number of Yahoo! investors would favor Microsoft’s bid to a battle with Google.

Douglas A. McIntyre