PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - June 1

June 1 (Reuters) - The following were the top stories in The Wall Street Journal on Monday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

* General Motors Corp (GM.N) will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy early Monday, marking the humbling of an American icon that once dominated the global car industry and setting up a high-stakes gamble for U.S. taxpayers.

* Ford Motor Co (F.N) is preparing an effort to gain market share while its two main rivals are bogged down in bankruptcy and restructuring.

* A bipartisan group of legislators is pressing the Treasury Department to close a loophole that has allowed banks to seize Social Security and disability benefits from customers' accounts despite federal rules intended to protect these benefits from creditors.

* Chrysler LLC could exit bankruptcy reorganization as soon as Monday, after barely a month in Chapter 11 protection.

* Emulex Corp (ELX.N) escalated its fight against a $764 million hostile takeover bid from Broadcom Corp (BRCM.O), alleging in a lawsuit that Broadcom can't be trusted because the company hasn't fully disclosed details of widely publicized drug-related and stock-option-backdating charges involving its former chief executive.

* Merck & Co (MRK.N) and AstraZeneca Plc (AZN.L) plan to announce Monday an unusual agreement to test a potential new cancer regimen composed of two experimental agents that are still in early human trials and several years away from reaching the market.

* China, which has greatly benefited from open trade and investment, must now boost opportunities for U.S. firms in its economy, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will say Monday in a broad speech on U.S.-China economic relations at Peking University.

* International stock markets have long taken their cues from the U.S., but as it became clear that emerging-market economies would hold up best and rebound first from the downturn, the U.S. has in some ways moved over to the passenger seat.

* Travelocity.com, a unit of Sabre Holdings Corp, and Orbitz Worldwide Inc (OWW.N) plan to announce Monday that they will stop charging a fee when customers book airline tickets over the Internet.

* The U.S. Federal Reserve's program to keep mortgage rates low by buying securities and Treasury bonds so far has been costly and seems to be having a fleeting impact.

* Private-equity firm Carlyle Group and a group of investors are discussing an agreement to acquire Silverton Bank, the failed Atlanta "bank of banks" that serves small financial institutions throughout the U.S., according to people familiar with the situation.

* A hedge fund firm that reaped huge rewards betting against the market last year is about to open a fund premised on another wager: that the massive stimulus efforts of global governments will lead to hyperinflation.

* U.S. home foreclosures have a mixed impact on sales at Home Depot Inc (HD.N) and Lowe's Cos Inc (LOW.N), the top executives at both home-improvement retailers recently said.