PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - Oct 14
Oct 14 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories in the Wall Street Journal. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
* Senate leaders attempting to avoid a U.S. debt default remained at loggerheads Sunday and escalated the standoff by reopening the contentious issue of automatic spending cuts, damping hopes that some of Congress's most canny negotiators would break the impasse. ()
* The government shutdown and debt-ceiling fight are clouding the outlook for the global economy and markets, but they are bringing clarity to one area: The Federal Reserve is now likely to keep its foot on the monetary gas pedal even longer to offset damage from the standoff. ()
* Twitter Inc is parlaying its surging popularity and the intense competition among banks for Internet deals to squeeze unusually favorable terms from the firms that will take it public. The fees banks are set to collect for selling the shares - at 3.25 percent of the money raised, said people familiar with the deal - would be the lowest percentage paid on a U.S.-listed IPO in more than a year, according to Ipreo, a capital-markets data and advisory firm. ()
* Netflix Inc is in talks with several U.S. pay-television providers including Comcast Corp and Suddenlink Communications to make its online video service available as an app on their set-top boxes, people familiar with the matter say. ()
* General Motors Co on Monday will open a $200 million metal-stamping plant adjacent to its Arlington, Texas, factory. By locating parts near the assembly plant, GM hopes to save about $40 million a year in shipping costs. ()
* America's road to recovery faces a costly detour due to congestion in key shipping roads and a fraying transportation network that is expected to raise annual costs by $430 billion by 2020. ()
* Sifting through the wreckage of the worst municipal-bond rout since the financial crisis, some investors say they are finding bargains in the debt issued by states, cities and local government-related entities. ()
* Some investors and analysts are beginning to think about whether Berkshire Hathaway Inc will remain such a desirable place to work for senior executives after Warren Buffett turns over the reins. ()
* As investment banking in Asia suffers its worst year since 2009, instead of proclaiming their work on the latest IPO or merger deal, banks are touting their success in grind-it-out businesses like cash management and cross-border transactions. ()
* In July, Google Inc made what Chief Executive Larry Page called "the biggest-ever change" to its cash-cow search-advertising service, completing the transition to "enhanced campaigns". When Google reports its third-quarter results on Thursday, investors will see whether the new system is enhancing the bottom line. ()
