Media Digest (10/18/2011) Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

China’s GDP growth decelerates to 9.1%. (Reuters)

Concern about China growth and the EU disaster push global stocks lower. (Reuters)

Federal Reserve officials argue about the future rate of inflation. (Reuters)

IBM (NYSE: IBM) earnings send its stock lower. (Reuters)

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) may beat earnings forecasts by double digits. (Reuters)

Boeing (NYSE: BA) hurt by cancellations of 787 Dreamliner orders. (Reuters)

The government may settle some mortgage claims with big banks in a deal that would see more underwater mortgages refinanced, which would help housing. (WSJ)

Hedges that involved MBIA (NYSE: MBI) hurt Morgan Stanley’s (NYSE: MS) balance sheet. (WSJ)

Angela Merkel of Germany smothers hopes of a quick and comprehensive resolution of EU financial problems. (WSJ)

ITC says Apple’s iPhone does not violate HTC patents. (WSJ)

Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) cuts some advertising prices by 5% to 15%. (WSJ)

Portugal announces plans for significant government expense cuts to bring down its deficit over the next two years. (WSJ)

Anadarko (NYSE: APC) to pay BP (NYSE: BP) $4 billion to settle claims from the Deepwater Horizon disaster. (WSJ)

Apple sells four million iPhone 4S models in the first three days it is available. (WSJ)

Wall St. still wonders what Apple will do with its $70 billion plus in cash. (WSJ)

Hedge fund manager David Einhorn attacks business practices at Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (NASDAQ: GMCR). (WSJ)

Banks begin to make more loans. (NYT)

Global climate change allows cargo ships to use an Arctic passage to cut their times to certain ports. (NYT)

The Kinder Morgan (NYSE: KMI) deal to buy El Paso (NYSE: EP) may have antitrust implications. (NYT)

Bank results raise the question of whether mortgage delinquencies have worsened. (FT)

France may lose its Aaa rating, based on comments by Moody’s. (Bloomberg)

Car sales in Europe rise as Volkswagen and BMW post strong results. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre