Morning Links: 4 December 2008

First Horizon debt rating cut, the shrinking legal job market, city misses out on manufacturing project, and more...

Email | Print By Geert De Lombaerde

Two weeks after getting more than $800 million from the Treasury’s TARP program, the parent of First Tennessee (Ticker: FHN) sees its main debt rating dowgraded to ‘C’ by Fitch.

CNNMoney.com writes about the employment opportunities for legal graduates in a sector that has now lost jobs eight months in a row.

Frost Brown Todd, the Louisville firm that has a local 16-attorney office, is merging with Indianapolis firm Locke Reynolds.

A Seattle-based maker of fitness equipment has chosen Greensboro, N.C. for a 140-job plant. Nashville was one of the three finalists for the project.

Franklin-based Psychiatric Solutions (Ticker: PSYS) is looking to add 20 beds to one of its facilities in Louisville.

Entertainment Rights, the company behind Veggie Tales, is saying goodbye to its CEO for the second time in nine months and could cut local job as part of $7.5 million in cost cuts.

Landmark Media, the parent of NewsChannel 5, has taken its flagship paper, The Virginian-Pilot, off the table.

PETA is asking O’Charley’s (Ticker: CHUX) to report back next fall on what it’s doing to take into account animal welfare when it comes to its purchasing decisions.

Lecturer Chris Brown makes the case for a heath care system free of government intervention.

A Seattle-based investment fund has increased its stake in America Service Group (Ticker: ASGR) to 10 percent.

Two days after saying it will cut 150 jobs from its La Vergne plant, Bridgestone is laying off seven locals as part of a broader cutback at its Bandag unit.

AIG – which is still looking to sell its local unit – has lightened its debt load by shedding its obligation to back more than $50 billion in collateralized debt and selling its stake in three joint ventures.