PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - April 27

April 27 (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.

* Republicans closed ranks Monday to block Democrats' overhaul of financial regulation, a standoff that throws the sweeping legislation into a period of uncertainty.

* Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) had a clear strategy of shorting the collapsing mortgage market and made $3.7 billion through the tactic, Senate investigators said, setting up a showdown with Goldman executives testifying before a Senate subcommittee Tuesday.

* A federal appeals court ruled Monday that a gender discrimination lawsuit against Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N) can go forward as a class-action case, in one of the biggest class-action lawsuits in history.

* As U.S. cities and towns wrestle with financial problems, investors are finding a new way to profit on their misery: by buying derivatives that essentially bet municipalities will default.

* A panel established by President Barack Obama to solve the country's fiscal crisis will assemble at the White House Tuesday for its inaugural meeting amid accusations from both the left and right that it will fall prey to election-year politics.

* Google Inc (GOOG.O) backed away from a plan to make its Nexus One smartphone compatible with Verizon Wireless, the largest mobile carrier in the U.S., a setback to the Internet giant's effort to reshape the cellphone market.

* Financial markets upped the pressure on debt-ridden Greece, as investors remained skeptical about its long-term solvency despite assurances that a rescue loan will keep it from defaulting on its obligations in as soon as just over three weeks.

* Merger negotiations between UAL Corp's UAUA.O United Airlines and Continental Airlines Inc CAL.N are hobbling along as the two sides continue to bicker over how to calculate the share price used in a potential stock-swap deal.

* The CIA announced a five-year strategic plan that would invest heavily in new technologies to combat non-traditional threats like cyber attacks from overseas and gain better intelligence on rogue states like Iran.

* The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to decide the constitutionality of a California law that seeks to ban the sale of violent videogames to minors. How the high court rules could affect videogame makers such as Activision Blizzard Inc (ATVI.O), producer of "Call of Duty," and Take-Two Interactive Software Inc's (TTWO.O) Rockstar Games, which makes "Grand Theft Auto."

* Ronald Perelman, the billionaire financier and chairman of cosmetics company Revlon Inc (REV.N), has joined a group of Philadelphia investors seeking to buy the city's two daily newspapers out of bankruptcy protection.

* Showing the breadth of the recovery in manufacturing, Caterpillar Inc (CAT.N) and Whirlpool Corp (WHR.N) posted strong results Monday, underscoring how demand is spreading across consumer and industrial suppliers.