Media Digest 10/7/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

Reuters:   Wealth management firms are starting to target the not-so wealthy.

Reuters:   Gold’s record price drew a muted response.

Reuters:   Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), and Palm (NASDAQ:PALM) are heating up the smartphone software race.

Reuters:   US banks are slow to assume commercial property losses.

Reuters:   The SEC is investigating hospital giant HCA over fraudulent billing charges.

Reuters:   A slump in bank M&A could last many months.

Reuters:   Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) will start to sell the Kindle around the world.

Reuters:   Fannie Mae (NYSE:FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE) will start to help mortgage banks.

WSJ:   Hilton executives may face charges for stealing documents from rival Starwood (NYSE:HOT).

WSJ:   The Fed is worried the commercial real estate problems could mirror the problems of the mortgage bust.

WSJ:   Amazon (NYSE:AMZN) cut the price of the Kindle in the US by $40.

WSJ:   Office rents are diving.

WSJ:   Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) cut the list of candidates for its CEO job.

WSJ:   Boeing (NYSE:BA) took more losses on product delays and it likely to have rough quarters ahead.

WSJ:   AIG (NYSE:AIG) is looking at bids for its Taiwan unit.

WSJ:   Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) bought a stake in a large Ghana oil field.

WSJ:   Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) is pushing deeper into the mobile TV business.

WSJ:   Jobless numbers will be key to Democrats getting re-elected in 2010.

WSJ:   Saudi Arabia is seeking to keep its role in the IMF.

WSJ:   Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) will freeze credit card interest rates.

WSJ:   The top executives at Sirius XM (NASDAQ:SIRI) will sell stock in the company when options vest.

WSJ:   Oil prices face a drop in winter heating demand.

WSJ:   AT&T (NYSE:T) will allow eBay’s (NASDAQ:EBAY) Skype and other VoIP applications on the Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone.

WSJ:   Sales of luxury cars in China are helping the industry.

NYT:   The federal government may offer tax credits to companies that hire new workers.

NYT:   Government cutbacks in aid to asset-backed securities could hurt the credit markets.

NYT:   Authors and librarians are opposing Google’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) digital book plans.

NYT:   The ECB is balancing economic aid against inflation.

NYT:   Deplhi came out of Chapter 11 and sold some asset to GM.

NYT:   The FDIC will sell assets of Corus Bancshares.

FT:   Citigroup (NYSE:C) may sell off its commodities group which is run by Andrew Hall who made $100 million last year.

FT:   Santander Brazil raised $8 billion in IPO and is as big as Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB) in market cap.

FT:   Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) is working with doctors on obesity to avoid at tax on its drinks.

Bloomberg:   A major investor says cash reserves will push markets up well into 2010.

Douglas A. McIntyre