PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - April 30

April 30 (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.

* Talks between the Treasury Department and lenders aimed at keeping Chrysler LLC out of bankruptcy broke down Wednesday, making it all but certain the car maker will file for Chapter 11 protection Thursday, according to people familiar with the discussions.

* Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) shareholders voted to strip Kenneth Lewis of his duties as chairman, weakening the embattled chief executive as he struggles to steady the troubled bank and fend off criticism of his rocky takeover of Merrill Lynch & Co.

* Apple Inc (AAPL.O) is building a significant capability to design its own computer chips, a strategy shift that the company hopes will create exclusive features for its gadgets and shield Apple's work from rivals.

* The U.S. economy contracted at a 6.1 percent annual rate in the first quarter, but inventories declined and consumer spending rebounded.

* California financier Danny Pang was released on a $1 million bond and confined to his Newport Beach home with electronic monitoring, according to a spokesman for the U.S. attorney in Los Angeles.

* The top securities regulator in Massachusetts said he is investigating whether State Street Corp (STT.N) misled pension funds by telling customers that funds that invested in volatile fare such as mortgage-backed securities were low-risk vehicles.

* China's efforts to quickly pump up its economy are providing a much-needed boost for U.S. businesses as well. A growing number of companies, from tire and excavator makers to fast-food chains, are benefiting from China's $585 billion stimulus program, which has quickly funneled money into everything from bridges to consumers' pockets.

* City Center, the $8 billion-plus resort under construction in Las Vegas, won a crucial victory Wednesday when its lenders and owners struck a deal that guarantees the project will be finished.

* The urge to not splurge by thrift-conscious consumers is giving the debit-card revolution a new push. On Wednesday, Visa Inc (V.N) reported that the total dollar volume of purchases made using its branded debit cards surpassed credit-card purchases for the first time during the last three months of 2008.

* Satellite-imagery concern DigitalGlobe Inc will launch its initial public offering of stock in mid-May, continuing a streak of technology-driven deals this year.

* Federal investigators looking into possible accounting violations at Freddie Mac (FRE.N) are raising questions about whether the giant government-backed mortgage company improperly delayed the recognition of billions of dollars of losses, according to people familiar with the matter.