PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - Jan 27

Jan 27 (Reuters) - The following were the top stories in The Wall Street Journal on Thursday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

* Just as the digital wave transforms the television industry, Hulu, a pioneer of Internet TV, is in internal discussions to dramatically transform itself.

* The federal budget deficit will reach a record of nearly $1.5 trillion in 2011 due to the weak economy, higher spending and fresh tax cuts, congressional budget analysts said, in a stark warning that will drive the growing battle over government spending and taxation.

* Treasury Secretary Geithner said a "level playing field" is a major goal of a corporate-tax revamp, which would allow the market rather than the tax system to drive investment.

* The Federal Reserve, acknowledging a slow recovery and stubbornly high unemployment, decided Wednesday to proceed with its plans to buy as much as $600 billion in long-term Treasury bonds as it awaits a stronger pickup in growth.

* Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N), which has made big, recent investment in natural gas exploration and production, is predicting the fuel will supply more than a quarter of the world's energy needs by 2030.

* Guinea's effort to use its vast iron-ore reserves to become among Africa's most prosperous economies is pitting multinationals Rio Tinto (RIO.L) and Vale SA (VALE5.SA) against each other, illustrating the difficulties of doing business on the continent.

* Texas judge found Robert Allen Stanford incompetent to stand trial on charges of operating a large Ponzi scheme, following conclusions by three psychiatrists that Mr. Stanford is mentally impaired.

* Life Partners Holdings Inc (LPHI.O), a company that arranges for individual investors to buy pieces of strangers' life-insurance policies is altering the way it sells to those investors, amid growing scrutiny of the firm's practices.

* The U.S. Treasury could sell its remaining stake in General Motors Co (GM.N) within the next year, an Obama administration official said Wednesday, signaling a much shorter time frame than the auto maker initially expected.

* Netflix Inc (NFLX.O) posted a 52 percent profit jump and a 34 percent revenue increase for its fourth quarter as the appeal of its movie-streaming service fueled the addition of 3.1 million subscribers over the holidays, cementing the company's status as a rising player in digital media.

* Warehouse giant AMB Property Corp AMB.N is close to an agreement to merge with larger rival ProLogis (PLD.N), people familiar with the matter said, in what would be the biggest deal since the recession involving publicly traded real-estate companies.

* Boeing Co (BA.N) executives on Wednesday said they were confident that they would deliver between 25 and 40 new 787 and 747-8 aircraft this year, despite persistent delays that have set both programs back by years.