The U.S. National Highway Safety Traffic Administration (NHTSA) has launched a preliminary investigation into rust issues with Ford Motor's (F) F-150 pickups, according to a post on the agency's website. The automaker's 1997 to 2001 model year F-150 pickups have been the target of at least 32 consumer complaints, with drivers alleging that fuel tanks have dropped out onto the road due to corrosive rust in the support straps.

The investigation, which was opened Sept. 7, covers approximately 1.4 million pickup trucks. NHTSA says that no fires or injuries have yet been reported in conjunction with the rusted straps, but the issue nevertheless "presents a fire hazard from leaking gasoline as well as an obstruction hazard to vehicles following the subject trucks."

MAJOR PAPERS:

• According to people familiar with the discussions, the Wall Street Journal reported that Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) has held discussions with Time Warner Inc (NYSE: TWX) and News Corporation (NYSE: NWS), among others, about joining it in a deal that could lead to the breakup of Yahoo! Inc (NASDAQ: YHOO). Some of the sources said the preliminary talks are unlikely to result in a deal with Yahoo!
• Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) is reportedly in exclusive talks to sell its wound-care business Ethicon to the private-equity arm of JP Morgan Chase & Co (NYSE: JPM), according to the Wall Street Journal. Terms of the potential deal were not disclosed.

• Sources familiar with the inquiry said that the Justice Department has opened a formal antitrust investigation into a deal that would allow Google Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) to provide some search advertising for Yahoo!. The Washington Post reported that investigators will demand documents from Google and Yahoo!, as well as other large companies in the media and Internet industries.

• Reuters reported that regulators in the European Union are looking at the long-term effects of BHP Billiton Limited's (NYSE: BHP) $170B bid for Rio Tinto Group (NYSE: RTP). Sources familiar with the EU questionnaire said regulators have asked competitors and customers about effects of the deal on their businesses through 2015.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• The Wall Street Journal reported that probes by the U.S. Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission center on whether American International Group Inc (NYSE: AIG), as well as its financial products division, which has been the source of controversy and profits, intentionally inflated the value of contracts linked to subprime mortgages.
• According to a person familiar with the matter, the Financial Times reported that South Korea's LG Electronics may consider a bid for General Electric Company's (NYSE: GE) appliance business.

• Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) will sell the remaining gas stations it owns to gasoline distributors, according to the Associated Press. However, the distributors will continue to pay to use the Exxon and Mobil brand names.
• Xinhua reported that MetLife Inc (NYSE: MET) is seeking permission from Chinese regulators to combine its two ventures in China. The insurer said it believes the move will allow it to compete more effectively in the Chinese market.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• The banking unit of National City Corporation (NYSE: NCC) recently entered into a "memorandum of understanding" with federal regulators, the Wall Street Journal reported. The banking unit has bad loans, and the agreement basically means that the bank is on probation, as the government pressures financial institutions.
• The Wall Street Journal also reported that Justice Department criminal prosecutors and its U.S. attorney's office in Brooklyn, NY are investigating American International Group Inc (NYSE: AIG) to see if they overstated the value of contracts tied to subprime mortgages.

• Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc (NYSE: LEH) is thinking of releasing its Q2 results a week earlier than planned, and announcing a capital raising plan at the same time, according to the New York Post, in order to reduce negative speculation about its future.
• The Economic Times reported that Indian auto companies Tata Motors Limited (NYSE: TTM) and Mahindra and Mahindra may be interested in acquiring Hummer from General Motors Corporation (NYSE: GM).

MAJOR PAPERS:

• The Wall Street Journal reported that an alliance of cable, Internet and chip titans will announce plans to invest $3.2B in a company that will deliver Web access for laptops and cellphones using WiMax. The venture, valued at over $12B, includes Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE: S) and Clearwire Corporation (NASDAQ: CLWR) and will be backed by Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA), Time Warner Cable Inc (NYSE: TWC), Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) and Google Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG).
• According to people familiar with the matter, Robert Verrone, one of the most zealous commercial real-estate lenders during the industry's boom, will leave Wachovia Corporation (NYSE: WB) within the next week, the Wall Street Journal reported.

• Bloomberg reported that the Department of Justice is probing whether UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) helped clients evade American taxes. In an e-mailed statement, the firm said one senior bank employee was "briefly detained" by authorities.
• Bloomberg also reported that Vallejo, California's city council voted to go into bankruptcy. Officials said that after talks with labor unions failed to win salary concessions from police and fire fighters, the city does not have enough money to pay its bills.
• According to a rumor, TechCrunch reported that the Yahoo Inc (NASDAQ: YHOO) board of directors yesterday authorized Yahoo chairman Roy Bostock, rather than CEO Jerry Yang, to call Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer about re-starting negotiations.

MAJ

• According to people familiar with the matter, Yahoo! Inc (NASDAQ: YHOO) has stepped up talks with Time Warner Inc (NYSE: TWX) to possibly create an alternative to the unsolicited bid Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) made for Yahoo!, the Wall Street Journal reported. Though a Microsoft acquisition of Yahoo! is considered the "most likely outcome," Yahoo! and Time Warner have been in talks to incorporate the AOL Internet unit into Yahoo!
• The Financial Times reported that the European Commission is probing the process under which an important Microsoft document format could be adopted as an industry standard, according to The Financial Times. This move would carry substantial commercial benefits for the company.
• The Financial Times also reported that Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) will start selling wine in the U.S. in an effort to enlarge its expanding non-perishable groceries business.

• According to the chairman of parent group CITIC Group, Kong Dan, Reuters reported that CITIC Securities is in talks to acquire a larger stake in The Bear Stearns Companies (NYSE: BSC) in order to reflect the drop in shares of the broker.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• The Wall Street Journal reported that a New York law firm that was hired to probe into a bribes-for-business scandal at Siemens AG (NYSE: SI) has been hindered by many obstacles including lawyers' missteps and lack of subpoena powers, people familiar said.
• Yahoo! Inc (NASDAQ: YHOO) is expected to reduce its workforce by as much as 5%, according to sources in the company and reported by the Financial Times. The company is reportedly going to lay off some 500-700 of its employees as soon as next Tuesday.

• In an effort to save as much as $50M per year, General Electric Company's (NYSE: GE) NBC Universal head Jeff Zucker said the broadcaster would reduce its reliance on pilot episodes of new series on its NBC television station. Mr. Zucker cited the slowdown in the economy and the Hollywood writers' strike as reasons for cutting costs, adding that "it's clear we are in a recession in the United States," the New York Times reported.

• Real Clear Markets says that Google Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) would have the most to gain from acquiring The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT), a company that has declined in value by 70% over the last five years.

Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) CEO Mark Hurd cannot seem to remember anything about the board leak probe that got the company's previous chairman, Patricia Dunn, in hot water. It's not enough that the poor woman has cancer, Hurd also decided to move out of the way while the bullet hit her.

Perhaps it is time to send Hurd to the dog track with a note pinned on him with his name and address. When he is done watching the hounds chase the mechanical rabbit, they can send him home on the bus.

It appears that almost everyone else at the infamous July 22, 2005 meeting remembers what happened. Hurd was napping.

Apparently, Hurd lectured employees about leaking corporate information to the media. But that must have been a coincidence.

Hurd has more to answer for and there is no guarantee that his job is safe if it is clear that his memory loss was just a convenience.

Douglas McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.