Dec 7 (Reuters) – The following are the top stories in the
Wall Street Journal on Friday. Reuters has not verified these
stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
* Apple Inc plans to build some Mac computers in
the U.S. for the first time in about a decade, investing $100
million next year in an effort that could serve as a
high-profile test of American manufacturing competitiveness. ()
* U.S. officials launched a criminal probe of a $10 million
sale of stock by Big Lots Chief Executive Fishman before
the company announced news that sank its stock. ()
* The Securities and Exchange Commission said it may bring
suit against Netflix Inc and Chief Executive Reed
Hastings over a post that Hastings made on Facebook several
months ago, marking one of the higher-profile reverberations for
an executive for posting on Facebook Inc’s namesake site.
()
* Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co
spent their latest go-round in federal court by dickering over
more than $1 billion in damages set by a jury in August
following a high-profile patent trial. ()
* The Washington Post, one of the last holdouts
against the trend of charging readers for online access to
newspaper articles, is likely to reverse that decision in 2013,
according to people familiar with the matter. ()
* IBM, a bellwether for employee benefits, is
overhauling its retirement program to contribute once a year to
employee 401(k) accounts in a lump-sum payment. ()
* Tax uncertainty in Washington is setting off a mad
scramble among wealthy taxpayers and charities to maximize
donations before the end of the year. ()
* Military counterterrorism officials are seeking more
capability to pursue extremist groups in Africa and elsewhere
that they believe threaten the U.S., and the Obama
administration is considering asking Congress to approve
expanded authority to do it. ()
* Alcatel-Lucent is considering mortgaging parts
of its past and future as it looks to buy time for a
restructuring. ()
* Investors have been flocking to buy bonds issued by
top-rated companies. But some of the biggest fund managers warn
of risks in what were once seen as the safest investments. ()
* The rise in Deloitte’s nonaudit revenue spotlights a
recent resurgence in consulting and other nonaudit work by the
Big Four accounting firms, a decade after conflict-of-interest
concerns and corporate scandal sharply limited such work. ()
* Steelmakers, trying to reverse a prolonged decline in
prices, have demanded spot-market price increases of up to 15
percent in the U.S. over the last seven weeks, according to
letters sent to customers, but are only getting an average rise
of around 10 percent, marking a modest recovery for a battered
industry. ()
* Fidelity Investments is offering its retail clients access
to hedge-fund firms through a mutual fund launched in
partnership with Arden Asset Management. ()
* PokerStars is in talks to buy the Atlantic Club casino, a
move that could position the company to benefit should New
Jersey legalize online gambling. ()
