Thursday morning headlines

Markets still shaky:: The Dow is up around 70 points and oil is trading at $99 and change, although at this point it's only a matter of time before we see crude closing at over $100 a barrel. Look out later today for December car sales, which are likely to be weak – and further evidence of an economy that’s slowing down. Tomorrow is a potentially big story: Release of December employment data, which could show a dropoff in job creation. (MarketWatch)

Late-night reviews are in: Are they ever. If only issues like health care and income inequality got the sort of attention that Leno and Letterman received for their return engagements. The general reaction seemed to be more positive for Leno, who didn't have his writers, than for Letterman, who did. Of course, there is controversy - namely, Leno’s apparent breaking of guild rules by preparing (writing) a monologue. Expect lots more noise from this silly sideshow. Here's the LAT story, though everyone is covering this thing to death.

Foreign buyouts: Just as protectionist sentiments are hitting the campaign trail, foreign investors have been snapping up American companies at the fastest pace in at least a decade. Overseas buyers accounted for an astounding 46 percent of the $230.5 billion of U.S. mergers and acquisitions announced in the fourth quarter. That excludes $17.9 billion of so-called passive investments by state-run funds in Asia and the Middle East in U.S. banks. The declining dollar had a lot to do with the buying. From Bloomberg:

The influx of overseas buyers cushioned a drop in domestic deals, as tighter credit markets ended the leveraged buyout boom that spurred record-setting takeovers in the first half 2007. Foreign acquirers, who stepped in as the dollar fell 10 percent against the euro last year, show no sign of losing interest, according to bankers and lawyers. ``In 2006 and the first half of 2007, it was cheap financing that allowed private equity firms to compete,'' said Lee Lebrun, head of M&A for the Americas at Zurich-based UBS AG. Now, ``foreign corporates with strong currencies'' dominate, he said.

Netflix on your TV: The popular DVD-rental company wants to move beyond red envelopes and send movies straight to TV screens over the Internet. Its first partnership is with South Korea’s LG Electronics, which is developing HD TVs with wireless capabilities (wireless is apparently the next big feature for high-definition televisions). From the NYT:

[Reed Hastings, chief executive of Netflix] said the new service would combine the benefits of an Internet browser with the luxury of watching movies and TV shows on large, high-definition TV screens. He said subscribers would be able to go to the Netflix Web site to create lists of movies they wanted to see. The Netflix service on the TV would offer a simple way to watch those movies. “We think we have solved the real fundamental problem, which has been that choosing movies on a television has been extremely challenging,” Mr. Hastings said. “Video-on-demand companies worked at it for a long time, but choosing movies on the TV just doesn’t have the power of the Web.”

Valley prices take hit: November's median price for a previously owned single-family house fell 6.3 percent from a year earlier, to $557,500. That's the lowest level in almost three years (though still higher than the median for all of L.A. County). Meanwhile, sales in the San Fernando Valley plunged 53 percent (just 355 transactions!). (Daily News)

Venue shopping over clean air: As expected, California is appealing the EPA's refusal to grant a waiver in connection with the state's beefed up greenhouse-gas emissions law. The feds say it interferes with the much tamer federal Clean Air Act. These kinds of suits normally wind up in the D.C. circuit, but this one was filed in the more accommodating Ninth Circuit. Whatever the outcome of the litigation - and this could go on for a while- California is required to slash overall greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. California was joined by 15 other states in filing suit. (LAT)

LAX is fourth-busiest: Its U.S. ranking for 2007 remains unchanged. Atlanta is tops in the number of takeoffs and landings, followed by Chicago and Dallas-Fort Worth (just edging out LAX). New flights by Southwest and upstart Virgin America contributed to an increase in traffic in L.A. (Daily Breeze)

Don Kott shuts down: That's the big Ford dealership right next to the 405 in Carson (the one with the giant electronic sign). The automaker has been trimming the number of Socal dealerships and decided to drop the Carson franchise. Sonic Automotive Inc., which ran the dealership, plans to open another one in its place. (Daily Breeze)

EZ Lube settles: The Santa Ana-based auto repair chain has been ordered to pay $5 million in a civil settlement for unfair business practices. The settlement comes after a two-year investigation by state and county investigators turned up "dishonest conduct" in 30 of the chain's stores. That included recommending unneeded services and charging for services that were never performed. The EZ Lube people deny there was a policy to defraud customers (LAT)

New Century lives on: Remember the failed OC subprime lender? It was one of the first companies to collapse from the housing fallout (its own financial irregularities didn’t help), and the company has asked a bankruptcy court judge for more time to work out a liquidation plan. Since entering Chapter 11 protection in April, New Century has been reviewing and challenging some of the $35 billion in creditor claims filed against it. (WSJ)