Banking, finance, and taxes

Media Digest (11/23/2011) Reuters, WSJ, FT, Bloomberg

China’s factory activity reaches a 32-month low. (Reuters)

Merck (NYSE: MRK) pays $950 million to settle Vioxx charges brought by the government. (Reuters)

FCC head wants more examination of the AT&T (NYSE: T) deal to buy T-Mobile. (Reuters)

GM (NYSE: GM) will have a hard time repairing its Opel division. (Reuters)

Banks that will face new stress tests by the Federal Reserve include Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), Citigroup (NYSE: C), JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC). Some tests assume 13% unemployment by early 2013. (WSJ)

Foreclosure practice settlement negotiations will move forward without California, which has goals for its own settlements. (WSJ)

Groupon (NASDAQ: GRPN) shares fall 15% on renewed concern about the viability of its business model. (WSJ)

The jobless rate fell in most states last month. (WSJ)

Virgin America’s website continues to crash. (WSJ)

EU banks have trouble as they seek new deposits. (WSJ)

The National Retail Federation says the number of shoppers will be 10% higher this weekend. (WSJ)

AMR (NYSE: AMR) will continue its suits against travel service providers. (WSJ)

The price of Research In Motion’s (NASDAQ: RIMM) tablet will be sharply reduced in America. (WSJ)

Large oil producers would like to hold OPEC to current production levels. (WSJ)

Bank borrowing from the ECB is up sharply. (NYT)

Nomura (NYSE: NMR) will continue to sell assets. (FT)

Bond markets keep yields on Spanish and Italian sovereign paper high. (FT)

Plans by Citigroup and Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) to raise dividends may not materialize. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

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