PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - Jan 26

Jan 26 (Reuters) - The following were the top stories in The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

* U.S. President Barack Obama intends to propose a three-year freeze in spending that accounts for one-sixth of the federal budget - a move meant to quell rising concern over the deficit but whose practical impact will be muted.

* Two days before it's set to unveil a major new product, Apple Inc (AAPL.O) reported a surge in quarterly profit and revenue that showed demand for its technology hasn't cooled off.

* A U.S. government investigator is opening a probe into disclosures made as part of the government's rescue of American International Group Inc (AIG.N) when the company's trading partners were paid billions in November 2008.

* The chairman of General Motors Co [GM.UL], Edward Whitacre , said Monday he will stay on as the auto maker's chief executive, ending a short stint as interim CEO and bringing to an end a search for an outsider to run the struggling company.

* Privately held Quad/Graphics Inc of the U.S. is expected to acquire Canadian rival World Color Press Inc WC.TO for roughly $1.3 billion to $1.4 billion, said people familiar with the matter, in a deal that would create North America's second-largest commercial printer by sales, behind industry giant R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co.

* More senators stepped up Monday to support a second term for Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke as business interests rallied to his defense and liberal grass-roots activists launched a push for his defeat.

* Worries about the heavy debts of a number of countries have gotten so extreme in some places that investors are betting that some businesses in those nations are more creditworthy than the nations themselves.

* Creditors and potential buyers are scrambling for control of a massive apartment complex in New York after the owners gave up Peter Cooper Village and Stuyvesant Town, once viewed as one of Manhattan's most valuable residential properties.

* Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) imposed a salary and bonus cap of 1 million pounds ($1.61 million) on the company's partners in London, forcing them to bear the brunt of a new U.K. tax on bonuses.

* The Justice Department gave the go-ahead Monday to the merger between concert promoter Live Nation Inc (LYV.N) and ticket-selling and artist-management powerhouse Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc TKTM.O, but imposed some significant conditions.

* Home sales plunged in December, raising fresh concerns over the housing market's ability to recover when government support winds down.

* The Securities and Exchange Commission wants Galleon Group founder Raj Rajaratnam and other defendants in a civil insider-trading case to turn over wiretap materials they have received from prosecutors in their criminal cases.