Media Digest 12/18/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

Reuters:   Merger activity will grow slowly in 2010.

Reuters:   Bank of America’s new CEO said he would focus on execution.

Reuters:   Profits at RIM (NASDAQ:RIMM) topped forecasts.

Reuters:   Oracle (NASDAQ:ORCL) posed a surprise rise in sales.

Reuters:   Kraft (NYSE:KFT) lender Barclays (NYSE:BCS) suspended research coverage of Cadbury (NYSE:CBY)

Reuters:   Fedex’s (NYSE:FDX) forecast disappointed Wall St.

WSJ:   Regulators are fighting over control of the banking industry.

WSJ:   Infighting about TARP came to the surface as Citigroup (NYSE:C) and Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) left the program.

WSJ:   Palm (NASDAQ:PALM) posted a loss.

WSJ:   TV makers like Sony (NYSE:SNE) are gambling on 3D TV in the home.

WSJ:   News Corp (NYSE:NWS) is fighting Time Warner Cable (NYSE:TWC) to get fees for carrying channels like Fox.

WSJ:   Take-Two’s (NASDAQ:TTWO) loss widened and Icahn took and 11% stake.

WSJ:   The number of homes that had electricity shut off due to non-payment rose this year.

WSJ:   Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) will release new chips that will pressure AMD ((NYSE:AMD) and Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA).

WSJ:   China stores are avoiding sharp holiday discounts.

WSJ:   China said a link-up of the iron ore operations of Rio Tinto (NYSE:RTP) and BHP Billiton (NYSE:BHP) would threaten to raise steel prices.

WSJ:   GM is in better shape than the government expected.

WSJ:   OPEC will keep production steady.

WSJ:   Securities regulators are investigating private dissemination of Wall St. research.

WSJ:   Meredith Whitney cut earnings forecasts for Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS).

NYT:   Foreign investors trying to buy US industrial assets are facing blocks from the government.

NYT:   Mobile phones are becoming essential for holiday shopping.

NYT:   Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) may buy Yelp which reviews local businesses.

FT:   Activists are targeting CEO succession.

FT:   Ryainair cut off talks with Boeing (NYSE:BA) about buying 200 planes.

Bloomberg:   Pimco is increasing its cash holdings to highest level since Lehman collapse.

Douglas A. McIntyre