Media Digest 11/16/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

Reuters:   The Ohio Attorney General is suing a number of Wall St. firms.

Reuters:   GM will start to repay part of its debt to the US.

Reuters:   Citigroup (NYSE:C) will sell Bellsystem to Bain.

Reuters:   Japan’s GDP numbers were leaked.

Reuters:   Japan’s growth is still modest and the government may have a second stimulus.

Reuters:   Fed’s Hoenig sees great weakness in the economy.

Reuters:   The IMF called for a rise in the yuan.

Reuters:   Hitachi will raise $4.6 billion.

Reuters:   BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) says central banks will be net buyers of gold.

Reuters:   Champion will put its US operations into Chapter 11.

WSJ:   GE (NYSE:GE) is trying to get a huge part of government stimulus spending.

WSJ:   The rate of bankruptcies is slowing.

WSJ:   US earnings are strong but corporate revenue is not.

WSJ:   Bristol-Myers (NYSE:BMY) will spin-off its Mead division.

WSJ:   Google’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) settlement with book publishers is unlikely to end the matter.

WSJ:   The Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) deal with GE (NYSE:GE) to control NBCU will face regulatory review.

WSJ:   Auto makers are still cutting capacity and costs.

WSJ:   Companies are raising debt even when they do not need that cash.

WSJ:   India will increase funding for solar power.

WSJ:   The bond market is likely to suffer a long, slow sell-off.

WSJ:   S&P is starting to take a more negative view of banks which have federal help.

WSJ:   A Comcast deal for NBCU could speed development of “addressable” advertising and interactive TV.

WSJ:   The Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) is focusing on its Macau business.

NYT:   Drug makers are trying to raise prices before government regulations take effect.

NYT:   Palm (NASDAQ:PALM) faces the prospects that it will never be a success.

NYT:   Newsweek, a part of The Washington Post (NYSE:WPO) is starting to show financial improvement.

NYT:   About half of US online readers would pay for content.

NYT:   Data shows that electic patient record have not improved care or cut costs.

FT:   As the dollar dropped, gold hit a record.

FT:   The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation said food prices could spike with the end of the recession.

Bloomberg:   UBS (NYSE:UBS) debt trading operations are the key to its profitability.

Douglas A. McIntyre