PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - Dec. 31

Dec 31 (Reuters) - The following were the top stories in The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

* Cities that haven't seen steep drops in housing prices, such as New York, may be in the worst shape because they have further to fall. * Chemical company LyondellBasell Industries AF SCA [ACCEIN.UL] told lenders it is considering filing for bankruptcy protection amid plunging sales and a cash crunch.

* Henry Kaufman, a former Salomon Brothers economist known as "Dr. Doom" for his bearish views, lost millions on Madoff investments.

* GMAC rolled out low-rate loans on General Motors (GM.N) vehicles after it received Treasury funding, including 0 percent financing on certain 2008 models.

* Heavy discounting by retailers in the days after Christmas didn't prevent the industry from turning in its worst holiday-season performance since at least 1970, and the situation isn't likely to improve before spring at the earliest.

* A scuttled Kuwait deal could affect not only Dow Chemical Co's (DOW.N) planned acquisition of Rohm & Haas Co ROH.N but a $22 billion joint venture in Saudi Arabia as well.

* Tapping emotional images such as a weeping Dora the Explorer and a distraught SpongeBob, Viacom Inc (VIAb.N) is launching a marketing blitz aimed at demonizing Time Warner Cable (TWC.N) over a television-programming contract dispute.

* The U.S. Treasury Department has committed nearly $10 billion more than the $350 billion Congress has authorized to date for the financial-sector rescue package, which could constrain how the incoming Obama administration deploys the rest of the fund.

* Consolidation in China's battered steel industry took a step forward with the planned merger of three major producers to create one of the country's biggest steelmakers by output. Shenzhen-listed Tangshan Iron & Steel Co 000709.SZ said it plans to merge with Chengde Xinxin Vanadium & Titanium Co (600357.SS) and Handan Iron & Steel Co (600001.SS), both of which are listed in Shanghai, through share swaps.