STOCKS NEWS US-Dell's president, marketing chief to leave

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0856 ET 31Dec2008-Dell's president and marketing chief to step down -----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Dell Inc Wednesday said that as part of a reorganization, its president and chief marketing officer would be leaving the company. President Mike Cannon is retiring, effective Jan. 31, and will be succeeded by Jeff Clarke.

The computer company also said it would restructure its operations around three major businesses - large enterprise, public sector and small and medium businesses.

Dell shares slid 0.5 percent to $10.18 before the bell on Wednesday.

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0836 ET 31Dec2008-Jobless claims fall more than expected -----------------------------------------------------------------------------


The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits fell by 94,000 to 492,000 in the week ended Dec. 27. The Reuters Estimate was for the filing of 565,000 new claims.

The Labor Department credited the decline with the timing of the year-end holidays and volatility in seasonal factors, warning that the situation could persist for several more weeks.

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0819 ET 31Dec2008-Viacom may pull TV networks off Time Warner Cable -----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Viacom Inc late Tuesday said that if it doesn't reach a carriage fee deal with Time Warner Cable by Jan. 1, it will pull its cable television networks off Time Warner.

Among the networks in question are Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and MTV. Viacom said it was seeking a fee increase of less than 25 cents per subscriber per month.

Viacom shares closed Tuesday at $19.26 while Time Warner shares ended at $21.76.

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0800 ET 31Dec2008-Futures flat ahead of 2008's last session -----------------------------------------------------------------------------


U.S. index futures were flat on Wednesday, ahead of the last session of 2008, a year many investors would no doubt like to see end. Impacting the futures was a further decline in crude oil prices, as well as the news that the Federal Reserve will move forward aggressively with an effort to lower mortgage costs by buying $500 billion in mortgage-backed securities by mid-2009.

Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 15 points while S&P 500 futures were up 2.5 points and Nasdaq 100 futures were down 0.25 points.

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0750 ET 31Dec2008-AIG seeks to relax disposal rules: FT -----------------------------------------------------------------------------


American International Group is preparing to ask the U.S. Federal Reserve to relax the rules on its disposals program in order to allow bidders to use a great proportion of shares to pay for its assets, according to a Wednesday report in the Financial Times.

Among the changes being considered are installment payments and other flexible options, the paper read.

AIG shares rose 2 cents to $1.58 in premarket trade.

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0733 ET 31Dec2008-Madoff has Wed deadline to disclose assets -----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Bernard Madoff, the confessed operator of a $50 billion Ponzi scheme, has a Wednesday Dec. 31 deadline to disclose his worth and where his assets are to regulators, though his investors may have to wait before they learn the figures.

Legal experts said that if it was discovered that Madoff failed to include all of his assets, it could be seen as perjury.

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