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PRESS DIGEST – Wall Street Journal – June 16

(Reuters) – The following were the top stories in The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

Stocks | Global Markets

* U.S. President Barack Obama used his first Oval Office address Tuesday to outline a plan for an oil spill “assaulting our shores and our citizens” that looked beyond containing the gusher to securing full restitution from BP Plc (BP.L), refashioning federal supervision of the oil industry and tackling the U.S. “addiction” to fossil fuels.

* A Senate panel asked the Securities and Exchange Commission’s inspector general to review the agency’s “revolving door,” which shuttles many SEC staffers into jobs with the companies they once regulated.

* The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating whether generic-drug maker Mylan Inc (MYL.O) disclosed confidential information about its coming earnings to a group of handpicked investors, allowing them to snap up the shares before a big rally, people familiar with the matter said.

* U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne is expected to announce Wednesday a radical overhaul of the country’s regulatory structure that could involve moving a key function of the Financial Services Authority to the Bank of England.

* The euro zone’s trade balance swung to a surplus in April, indicating that a weak euro and strong demand in overseas markets such as the U.S. and China are offsetting strains in trouble spots along Europe’s southern fringe.

* British Sky Broadcasting Group Plc (BSY.L) rebuffed News Corp’s (NWSA.O) proposal for the remaining 60.9 percent of the U.K. satellite-TV company and pushed for at least $1.65 billion more, setting in motion a likely lengthy regulatory review followed by price negotiation over a final deal.

* Electric-car maker Tesla Motors Inc is scheduling its initial public offering to trade on June 29, and hopes to raise as much as $178 million through the deal.

* Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) Chairman and Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein assured the firm’s retired partners at a meeting Tuesday that clients are standing behind the company, adding that the two month’s since the Securities and Exchange Commission accused Goldman of fraud have been “very difficult.”

* Spain’s largest two unions on Tuesday agreed to call a general strike for Sept. 29 against government budget cuts and plans to overhaul labor laws.

* Rising labor costs in China are forcing U.S. apparel and accessories retailers, such as AnnTaylor Stores Corp (ANN.N) and Coach Inc (COH.N), to consider relocating at least some of their production to countries with cheaper work forces. But doing so could risk increasing other expenses, such as shipping.

* Switzerland’s lower house of parliament approved a bill that would allow the government to hand over the names of thousands of alleged U.S. tax dodgers to American authorities.

* Boeing Co (BA.N) on Tuesday said it would increase production rates of its best-selling 737 passenger jet, aiming to produce 35 of the planes per month by early 2012, up from its current rate of 31.5 per month.

* Swiss food giant Nestle SA (NESN.VX) has sued Sara Lee Corp (SLE.N) in France, claiming coffee capsules sold by the U.S. company violate patents on Nespresso, Nestle’s popular at-home coffee maker.

PRESS DIGEST – Wall Street Journal – June 15

(Reuters) – The following were the top stories in The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

Stocks | Global Markets | Media | Cyclical Consumer Goods

* German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy put on a show of unity at a summit Monday, following weeks of tension between the two countries whose fraying alliance is seen in Europe as vital to the Continent’s political cohesion.

* Federal Reserve officials are beginning to debate quietly what steps they might take if the recovery surprisingly falters or if the inflation rate falls much more.

* News Corp (NWSA.O) is seeking to buy the 61 percent stake of U.K. satellite-television company British Sky Broadcasting Group Plc (BSY.L) that it doesn’t own, according to people familiar with the matter, in what would be one of its biggest deals in years.

* The European Commission on Monday outlined the potential new measures it is considering to ensure that short-selling of stocks and bonds doesn’t destabilize financial markets or national economies.

* Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee member Adam Posen Monday defended central banks’ purchases of government debt, saying that far from undermining their independence, the move should enhance their credibility.

* Foreign railway operators and equipment makers are gaining steam in the race for a chunk of the $8 billion the Obama administration has awarded states for high-speed rail projects, but Amtrak, which wants to remain the nation’s sole operator of high-speed trains, risks getting left at the station.

* Spanish officials acknowledged that the country’s banks and companies are having difficulty finding credit, underscoring the pressure Madrid faces to pursue deep structural changes to win back investor confidence.

* Euro-zone factories ramped up production at a record pace in April, providing the strongest evidence yet that Europe’s recovery is gathering steam after sluggish gains in late 2009 and early this year.

* A report from the U.K.’s new budget forecasting office delivered no nasty surprises and predicted the country will need to borrow less than anticipated in the next few years.

* The head of Ireland’s central bank said the country’s authorities now have a “good picture” of the scale of banking losses, but that there will be further losses related to smaller loans.

* Spain’s Banco Santander SA (SAN.MC) is set to be the sole bidder for a portion of Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc’s (RBS.L) U.K. branches, now expected to fetch about 1.8 billion pounds ($2.62 billion), people familiar with the situation said Monday.

* Resolution Ltd’s (RSL.L) management is starting to meet with shareholders this week to gain further support for its planned 2.75 billion pound ($4 billion) purchase of AXA SA’s (AXAF.PA) U.K. life-insurance operations, a deal generally welcomed by analysts as a “sensible” move.

PRESS DIGEST – Wall Street Journal – June 16

PRESS DIGEST – Wall Street Journal – June 15

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