PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal

PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - Sept 9 (Thomson Reuters)

Sept 9 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories in the Wall Street Journal. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

* The Federal Reserve plans to hit the biggest U.S. banks with a costly new requirement aimed at reducing the risk that some financial firms remain "too big to fail" nearly six years after the financial crisis erupted. (http://on.wsj.com/Zfj4OJ)

* European governments approved a new round of economic sanctions against Russia, but the measures won't enter into force for several days to see whether negotiations over the fate of war-torn eastern Ukraine show progress. Some nations, led by Finland, wanted to hold back on implementing the new sanctions while talks are under way, after last week's cease-fire between Kiev, Moscow and pro-Russia rebels. (http://on.wsj.com/1lOU8aO)

* The Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs broadly outlined his short-term plan for improving the organization and rehabilitating its image, but included few specific details. (http://on.wsj.com/1w8CXog)

* After three years of closely guarding his strategy for Apple Inc, Chief Executive Tim Cook will show his hand Tuesday, with an ambitious blitz of new products and services that aim to resolve questions about the company's ability to innovate. (http://on.wsj.com/1pJSq5Q)

* General Electric Co's deal to sell its appliance business to Electrolux AB is part of a shift driven by Jeff Immelt to focus the conglomerate on finance and industrial equipment. (http://on.wsj.com/YrP1mZ)

* Home Depot Inc confirmed on Monday that its payment systems were breached at its U.S. and Canadian stores in a security breach that may have stretched back to April. (http://on.wsj.com/1qBeftb)

* BGC Partners Inc is expected to make an unsolicited $675 million all-cash offer for rival GFI Group Inc according to people familiar with the matter. The takeover would bolster BGC, the second-largest broker by market capitalization, at a time of soft trading revenues and often-placid markets. (http://on.wsj.com/1lOHybM)

* The Federal Trade Commission on Monday sued AbbVie Inc and other drug companies over allegations they unlawfully sought to delay generic competition for AbbVie's blockbuster testosterone-replacement drug AndroGel. (http://on.wsj.com/YrPIwx)

* General Mills Inc agreed to buy Annie's Inc for $820 million, betting that a bigger presence in the natural-and-organic foods aisles will energize a business sapped by flagging consumption of breakfast cereals and other traditional fare. (http://on.wsj.com/1qBeQLq)

* The chief executive of Hertz Global Holdings Inc stepped down over the weekend amid disappointing results and accounting problems that had drawn outcries from activist investor Carl Icahn and other shareholders. (http://on.wsj.com/1nHlR9a)

* Brazil's state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA said it has requested access to the testimony of a jailed former Petrobras executive who has made allegations of a massive kickback scheme at the company. (http://on.wsj.com/1tGbZTY) (Compiled by Rama Venkat Raman in Bangalore)

"Bull markets climb the wall of worry...And that's why I think this bull has room to run"

"Remember, bull markets climb the wall of worry. You know, what's going on in the Mideast, Ukraine—those are the worries. Bull markets top off when no one sees a problem on the horizon, everyone is in, there's no one else to come in," he said. "We are not at that area, and we know the public is still very gingerly putting their toes in this market with disbelief. That does not mark a top of the market. And that's why I think this bull has room to run."

Siegel didn't see the Federal Reserve's expected reduction of asset purchases as much of a headwind, either.

"So, if the Fed eases in March or April instead of late in the summer (of 2015), so it goes to 50 basis points, is that going to end the bull market? I mean, that is still unbelievably low compared to anything historical," he said. "So, the 10-year goes from 2½ to 3—and maybe even 3½—that's still extraordinarily low from any historical (perspective). And that's why, again, stocks have that wind of the interest rates going with them no matter when the Fed starts tightening."

 Jeremy Siegel uber-bullish Wharton professor of finance said that the index, which hit an all-time high on Tuesday, has further to climb.

http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000305614