Tuesday morning headlines

Ho-hum market: Not much happening for the second straight day. Dow is down a bit in early trading.

Home prices stabilize: L.A. saw only a 0.1 percent drop in prices between April and May, according to the new S&P/Case-Shiller data. The drop from a year earlier was 19.8 percent, which is also an improvement from previous reports. From the release:

"The pace of descent in home price values appears to be slowing" says David M. Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at Standard & Poor's. "There is a clear inflection point in the year-over-year data, due to four consecutive months of improved rates of return, after the steep decline that began in the fall of 2005.

Traders pushed up oil: A government report shows that speculators played a big role in the wild swings of crude last year. The new report reverses an earlier government study that downplayed the role of traders. From the WSJ:

Speculators have been a lightning rod of criticism from politicians world-wide, who worry that rising oil prices could damp the recovery potential of their recession-hit economies. Many lawmakers and regulators say they want to ensure that speculators don't make it more costly for consumers to access heating oil, food and other essentials.

Gas prices dip: An average gallon in the L.A. area managed to drop by about a penny in the government's latest report, but prices are headed upward for a while, at least based on the current price of oil. (EIA)

Schwarzenegger signs budget bill: For better or worse, the package becomes law today. The governor is expected to make additional cuts through the line-item veto. From AP:

Social service advocates worry the Republican governor has little choice but to go after money counties receive to administer welfare and social service benefits. Likely targets include welfare-to-work assistance, in-home support, foster care and health insurance for poor families. With much of state spending tied up by federal and constitutional requirements, the Schwarzenegger administration believes more cuts are necessary to provide a cash cushion for the state in case of emergencies such as earthquakes and wild fires.

B of A closes branches: About 10 percent of the bank's 6,100 locations will be shuttered in a cost-cutting move, the WSJ reports. Online and mobile transactions are taking a bigger bite out of the traditional branch activity.

Big hit for Viacom: Falling ad sales and box office revenue lead to a 32 percent drop in second-quarter profit. (Bloomberg)

Lost jobs: Latino unemployment in California hit 15.7 percent in the quarter ending June 30, and is projected to reach nearly 18 percent a year from now. From the LAT:

Among 12 states with enough data to compare unemployment by ethnicity, California is the only one where Latino joblessness leads all other groups. "One thing that is driving the Hispanic unemployment rate is the collapse of the housing market, which means the collapse of construction," Austin said. "That has been a big factor."

Platinum Equity loses: The Bev Hills-based private equity firm failed in its effort to acquire Delphi Corp. The auto parts maker accepted a competing bid from its creditors. (LAT)

Live Nation probe? Lawmakers in the House and Senate want the Justice Department to closely scrutinize the Bev Hills-based concert promoter's proposed merger with Ticketmaster. From Reuters:

Fifty members of the U.S. House of Representatives signed a letter written by Rep. Bill Pascrell which also expressed concern about the deal. "We see little to commend this transaction," said the letter, which cited "competitive harm in the ticketing and other industry markets" because of the deal. "Consumers, business managers, artists, independent promoters, and music fans in every state are likely to suffer if the merger is allowed to occur."

Lacter on radio: This morning's business chat with KPCC's Steve Julian covers the future California economy and new ownership for the Newhall Ranch development. Also on kpcc.org and on podcast.

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