PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - July 30

(Reuters) - * Dow Jones & Co. Inc.'s controlling shareholders,
the Bancroft family, were still deliberating late Sunday
whether to sell to News Corp. , which has offered $5
billion for the publisher.




* John Malone's Liberty Global Inc. is weighing a
bid for Virgin Media Inc. , for which the Carlyle Group
[CYC.UL] has already offered $8 billion to $10 billion.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Liberty reportedly mulling Virgin Media bid

(Reuters) - Virgin Media had asked suitors to submit expressions of interest by the first week of August to kick off an auction of the company, people familiar with the situation told Reuters earlier this week.




About 10 suitors have expressed an interest, sources told Reuters, since private equity firm Carlyle Group made an initial offer earlier this month.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

UPDATE 1-Virgin Mobile USA files for $506 mln IPO

(Reuters) - Virgin Mobile USA provides prepaid wireless phone services
in the United States, claiming around 15 percent of that market
with about 4.9 million customers as of March 31.




It is jointly owned by British entrepreneur Richard
Branson's Virgin Group and Sprint Nextel Corp. . the No. 3
U.S. wireless operator in terms of subscribers.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Syron, Chanos, Faber See Defaults Increasing in Loans to Risky Borrowers

(Bloomberg) -- The worst is yet to come in the
market for subprime loans as defaults increase and holders of
mortgage-backed bonds are forced to sell as prices fall, Freddie
Mac Chief Executive Officer Richard Syron and investors James
Chanos and Marc Faber said.

``Unfortunately I don't think we have hit bottom'' in
defaults, said Syron, whose company is the second-largest source
of money for home loans behind Fannie Mae, said in an interview
yesterday from McLean, Virginia. ``Things are going to get
worse.''


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Virgin America to sell first tickets Thursday

(Reuters) - Virgin America will initially operate two daily flights between its San Francisco hub and New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, and five daily flights between San Francisco and Los Angeles.




Operating a fleet of new Airbus A319s and A320s and promising luxury amenities, Virgin America is taking aim at JetBlue Airways and other carriers that promote customer service.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News