Morning headlines

State Farms gives in: After a state appeals court turned down industry efforts to delay changes in how auto insurance premiums are set, State Farm said it would cut premiums an average of 8 percent. The state rules, which had been pushed by Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi, outlaw the use of ZIP codes in determining rates. The other major carriers are expected to follow.

Gathering crude: The state's refiners don't expect any cutbacks in gasoline production as a result of smaller amounts of oil flowing out of Alaska's oil fields. They apparently have lined up replacement crude. That would suggest prices will not be impacted, right? Meanwhile, oil prices have fallen sharply this morning, probably because of lower demand.

Boeing update: Not much new in this morning's papers. The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) says the company intends to announce the first steps toward winding down its C-17 cargo-plane program as early as tomorrow. Boeing still could win a last-minute reprieve, but if the line is actually shut down, the extra costs of bringing it up again will make the plane prohibitively expensive.

Direct to DVD: Universal Studios is finding success in bypassing the theatrical release of the cheerleading comedy "Bring it On: All Or Nothing" and taking it straight to DVD. A total of 750,000 copies were sold in the first week. Universal sold a million copies of "American Pie Presents: Band Camp" in the first week of release.

What crisis?: California hasn't lost its competitive edge in key industries such as high-tech, biotech and entertainment, according to a report by the California Budget Project. Jean Ross, executive director of the CBP, says, "Various interest groups are saying California is facing a crisis, but the data doesn't support that." Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., says the report's conclusions are just plain wrong. Here's the executive summary.

Greenhouse debate: Businesses are split on whether state legislation to cap greenhouse gas emissions will help them or hurt them. The usual business boosters like the state Chamber of Commerce are fiercely opposed to the measure, but some venture capitalists and entrepreneurs have pointed out that the cap might create a boom in alternative energy, such as solar power and biofuels. Democratic lawmakers and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger are trying to reach a compromise before the end of the month. Meanwhile, a UC Berkeley study predicted that reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the state would create 17,000 new jobs by 2020.

Satellite news: El Segundo-based DirecTV and its arch rival, EchoStar Communications, have been depserately trying to add wireless Internet to its services, but the two companies, acting as a joint venture, bowed out of an auction of licenses that would give them such capability. Apparently, the prices were getting too high. Cable companies have been outpacing the satellite providers recently because they're offering wireless as part of package deals. The satellite companies will now pursue partnerships or acquisitions for the high-speed stuff.

Pellicano Postponement: As expected, the federal wiretapping case involving private investigator Anthony Pellicano has been postponed to February. Both sides say they wanted more time to prepare.

GM sales: Not sure how big a deal this might be, but L.A.-based Capital Research & Management Co., the huge investment firm, sold 24 percent of its holdings in General Motors Corp. Capital Research had been GM's second-largest investor. Shares in the automaker have risen nearly 70 percent since reaching a 52-week low of $18.33 in December and some of the sell-off may involve profit taking.

Port traffic: July was a huge month for the Port of Los Angeles, with more than 400,000 inbound containers handled - the first time the port has reached that level. That was a 14.8 percent increase from a year earlier. The Port of Long Beach had a 5.4 percent growth in inbound traffic. Shippers have been trying to space out deliveries throughout the summer rather than waiting for the holiday crush in September.