Viacom stock drops over asbestos worries

Viacom shares fell 9% Monday on concerns that it inherited exposure to
asbestos lawsuits when it acquired CBS, which had once been industrial giant
Westinghouse.

Last Friday, oil-services company Halliburton Co. was ordered to pay $30
million in an asbestos-related personal-injury lawsuit.

Viacom SEC filings say that it faces almost 130,000 asbestos claims from
Westinghouse industrial products that had incorporated asbestos before 1970.

The company also said that `its reserves and insurance
'are more than sufficient to cover any potential claims.''