Friday morning headlines

Stocks cooling down: After yesterday's strong rally, the Dow is down about 80 points in early trading.

Disappointing number: Consumer spending fell in September, despite decent numbers at the start of the month, and that doesn't bode well for the holiday shopping season - or an early recovery. (AP)

Job watch: The White House says that the federal stimulus program has created or saved at least 650,000 jobs (officials say the actual number is closer to one million). But many economists are skeptical about the ability to gather such specific numbers. (CNN Money.com)

Toot-toot: Mayor Villaraigosa wants to complete several high-profile rail projects within the next decade rather than the 30-year estimates being thrown around (all of which is meaningless anyway because there's no money in sight to get many of them going). From the LAT:

The mayor's office estimates that the revenue from Measure R and other available funds would provide only an estimated $5.2 billion if they were to expedite the projects. The rest would have to come from private-sector partners, the federal government or other public funding.

Jamie's uphill battle: Frank has it in writing that he owns the Dodgers, and it apparently supersedes community property claims. Jaime says she didn't know what she was signing - never a great defense. All of which puts her in a tough spot. From the LAT:

[Charlotte Goldberg, professor of family law at Loyola Law School], said it could be a difficult standard for Jamie McCourt to meet. Jamie McCourt's biography cites her law degree from the University of Maryland, her master's in business administration from MIT and her experience practicing family law. "It's not like she's a 20-year-old girl married to a 60-year-old guy that says, 'I'll take care of you. Just sign this,' " said Lynn Soodik, who has handled celebrity divorces in her Santa Monica law firm.

Bid-rigging allegations: A Beverly Hills financial firm and three current or former executives have been indicted on charges that they defrauded government agencies. From the LAT:

The nine-count indictment, issued by a federal grand jury and filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, accuses CDR Financial Products Inc. of steering business to investment firms that paid it kickbacks. Also charged in the indictment are the firm's owner and president, David Rubin; its vice president, Evan Andrew Zarefsky; and its former chief financial officer, Zevi Wolmark.

Investors go after CA munis: But the state is being forced to offer interest rates that are higher than in an offering earlier in the month. This week's sale of so-called economic recovery bonds pays an annualized tax-free yield of 4.85 percent on a 13-year issue. (LAT)

Gas prices back up: An average gallon of regular in the L.A. area is of self-serve regular gasoline in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area is $3.023, according to the Auto Club.