PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - Oct 11
Oct 11 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories in the Wall Street Journal on Thursday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
* BAE Systems Plc and EADS called off their merger after the UK, France and Germany failed to agree on how much influence they should have over the combined entity.
* JPMorgan Chase and Co's chief financial officer is expected to step down over the next two quarters and is likely to move into a different job at the bank, people close to the company say.
* Mitt Romney is deadlocked with President Barack Obama in two key battlegrounds - Florida and Virginia - while still behind in Ohio, according to new polls taken after the Republican's strong performance in the first presidential debate.
* Standard & Poor's Ratings Services cut its rating on Spain and maintained a negative outlook, citing the mounting pressures from the country's economic recession.
* Eastman Kodak Co said it would terminate its health-care and survivor-benefits program, resolving a $1.2 billion retiree-benefits liability.
* A top Federal Reserve official Wednesday called on Congress to consider capping the size of the nation's financial firms, marking one of the most high-profile challenges to the way Wall Street does business.
* H&R Block Inc is exploring how to escape the burden of being regulated by the Federal Reserve without giving up on financial services.
* Regulators are closely watching how much of a boost U.S. banks give their third-quarter profits by trimming their cushions against bad loans, highlighting an issue that will be in the forefront in coming days as banks report earnings.
* European Union Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas is preparing legal action against EU member countries to force faster action on a delayed program to unify the bloc's airspace, according to a speech he will deliver Thursday.
(Compiled by Bangalore Newsroom)
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