Media Digest 7/29/2008 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Barron's

According to Reuters, Merrill Lynch (MER) said that it would sell $8.5 billion in stock and take large write-downs.

Reuters report that KKR says the market slump is a good time to go public.

Reuters reports that the FDIC said that only 13% of the banks on its watch list fail.

Reuters reports that the head of JetBlue (JBLU) will take a 50% pay cut as the airline struggles.

Reuters writes that both the chairman and the CEO of Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) will leave.

Reuters reports that Sony (SNE) is in talks to buy-out Sony BMG.

The Wall Street Journal writes that GMAC will suspending leasing in Canada.

The Wall Street Journal writes that retailer Mervyn’s may file for Chapter 11.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Unilever will exit the US laundry detergent business.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Oracle (ORCL) filed new charges against SAP (SAP) for stealing trade secrets.

The Wall Street Journal reports that high crude prices will hurt refining and marketing margins at large oil companies.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Toyota (TM) cuts its global sales forecast.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Verizon’s (VZ) profits were pushed up by wireless growth.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Sirius (SIRI) narrowed its loss though subscriber growth.

The New York Times writes that GM (GM) is changing logos in Europe to show that "something is happening with the brands."

The New York Times reports that growth of Verizon’s TV service was disappointing.

Reuters reports that Sony’s (SNE) net dropped on poor cell phone sales.

The FT reports that the US recession is hitting the wealthy

The FT writes that oil companies are turning to new innovation to bring in new crude after years of caution.

Bloomberg reports that Siemens (SI) may post higher earnings on demand for power plants.

Douglas A. McIntye