Friday morning headlines

GM dealers await word: The beleaguered automaker is notifying 1,100 dealers that their franchise agreements will not be renewed (the list is not being made public). The cuts come a day after Chrysler announced that it was dropping 789 of its roughly 3,200 dealerships (four of them in L.A. County). From AP:

The GM dealer cuts are likely to have a much greater impact than Chrysler's. While many Chrysler dealers also sell other brands and will stay open after losing their franchises, a large number of GM dealers sell only GM vehicles. So if their franchises are revoked, they run a greater risk of closing for good. In both cases, the cuts will cost thousands of jobs, create holes in local tax bases, eliminate community pillars and create economic ripple effects across the country.

Inflation takes tumble: April consumer prices fell 0.7 percent from a year earlier, which is the biggest 12-month decline since 1955 (reflecting the big drops in the price of gas). But the CPI was essentially unchanged from March. (Reuters)

Gas prices shooting up: The average price of regular in the L.A. area is $2.454 per gallon, which is up 8.8 cents from last week, according to the Auto Club. Oil prices have been inching up based on the expectation that the recession is winding down.

C-17 lives: Defense Secretary Robert Gates would like to see the Boeing-made cargo plane go away, but he doesn't have to get reelected. The plane provides more than 5,000 jobs in Long Beach and an additional 15,000 elsewhere in the state. The House has included $2.2 billion for eight more C-17s in a war-spending bill, though the Senate outlook is not clear. From the LAT:

The plane, in production since the early 1990s, has the backing of odd bedfellows, from liberal Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) to conservative Sen. James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.). A key reason: Its aircraft parts come from more than 650 suppliers in 43 states. "Parochial interests rule," said Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), who supports ending C-17 production.

Alameda Corridor takes hit: With container traffic having slowed to a crawl, the 20-mile rail route is feeling the effects. Fitch Ratings recently placed about $2 billion worth of Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority bonds on a "rating watch negative." From the LAT:

The corridor authority has enough of a revenue cushion to last until late next year, said its chief executive, John Doherty. If the situation doesn't improve by then, he said, the agency will have to turn to the governing boards of the ports, which are obligated to cover shortfalls of up to 40% in the authority's annual debt payments.

Valuating the Coliseum: Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky isn't thrilled about the governor's idea to put the historic stadium on the market. "If anybody thinks that you're going to get $250 million or $400 million for this property, guess again," he said. Any potential sale gets complicated because the state doesn't own the facility outright. (LAT)

Mexican migration plummets: That's what happens when there's not much work. The Mexican government reports that 226,000 fewer people emigrated from Mexico to other countries (mostly the U.S.) during the year ended August 2008. From the NYT:

With so many Mexicans remaining in their home villages, the population of illegal immigrants in the United States stopped growing and might have slightly decreased in the last year, an abrupt shift after a decade of yearly influxes, research by demographers in the United States shows. Mexicans account for 32 percent of immigrants in the United States, and more than half of them lack legal status, the Pew center has reported. Still, at least 11 million illegal immigrants remain in the United States, the demographers say. Despite collapsing job markets in construction and other low-wage work, there has been no exodus among Mexicans living in the United States, the Mexican census figures show.

Ex-KB executive settles: Former head of human resources Gary Ray agreed to pay $550,000 to settle SEC allegations stemming from an options backdating scheme. Ray has pleaded guilty in federal court of conspiring with then-CEO Bruce Karatz. (LAT)

Videogame sales take hit: So much for being recession resistant. April numbers were down 17 percent from a year earlier. NPD, which came out with the data, says the year-ago results were especially good because of several popular titles being released. (Video Business)

"The worst is yet to come": The ever-colorful (and opinionated) retail consultant Howard Davidowitz, who seems to have expanded his coverage of late, tells Tech Ticker that the economy is "in a complete mess." He sees the country going into a 10-year decline. Enjoy your weekend.