Wednesday morning headlines

Flat market: Despite decent economic news (big increase in new home sales), stocks aren't doing much in early trading. Dow is up about 30 points.

Holiday rally?: For what it's worth, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and the Friday after normally show bigger gains than your run-of-the-mill Wednesday and Fridays. The week after the holiday, stocks usually fall. (WSJ)

Getaway day: A little busier this year than last, according to the Auto Club, with an 8 percent increase in the number of locals heading out. But it's still 32 percent below 2007 levels. Air travel will be down 60 percent from 2007.

Toyota replaces pedals: The Japanese automaker will install new accelerator pedals on about 4 million recalled vehicles. The old pedals have a tendency of getting stuck in the floor mats. From AP:

The recall involving the accelerators was Toyota's largest in the U.S. It was prompted by a high-speed crash in August involving a 2009 Lexus ES350 that killed a California Highway Patrol officer and three members of his family near San Diego. The Lexus hit speeds exceeding 120 mph, struck a sport utility vehicle, launched off an embankment, rolled several times and burst into flames.

Tesla update: The Downey City Council meets in open session this afternoon to discuss a memorandum of understanding that would have the automaker set up operations at an old NASA site. Long Beach is still believed to be in the running. (Press-Telegram)

New Calpers probes: What kind of shop were those folks running? The state's big pension fund is looking into its own oversight of hedge fund deals. From the LAT:

As part of the inquiry, California Public Employees' Retirement System officials found that $36 million was paid to two hedge fund advisors who had been working without contracts. The official who oversees the $5.8-billion hedge fund portfolio was temporarily placed on leave and fined, according to people briefed on the matter.

One more Calpers mess: That would be the $500 million sunk into a Manhattan housing complex that is now believed to be worthless. Calpers may dump BlackRock as a real-estate adviser that steered the pension fund towards the NY investment. (WSJ)

Squabble in Tribune bankruptcy: A large group of investment funds has asked a federal bankruptcy judge for permission to present its own reorganization plan. Tribune had wanted to extend its exclusive right to file the reorganization first. From the Chicago Tribune:

Calling itself Credit Agreement Lenders, the group owns $4.4 billion of the $8.6 billion in debt Tribune Co. Chairman Sam Zell used to take the Chicago-based media company private in 2007. It is composed of a large number of hedge funds and other investment firms, including such heavyweights as Angelo Gordon & Co., Oaktree Capital Management, Goldman Sachs Inc. and Kohlberg Kravis & Roberts. Absent from the group are the big lenders, including JPMorgan Chase and Merrill Lynch, that also own senior debt from the Zell deal.

Facebook moves toward IPO: The social network giant is converting all its current stock into Class B shares, which will have 10 votes each. Class A shares would be sold in an initial public offering, though the company adds that it has no plans to go public "at this time." From the DealBook:

In the event Facebook does sell shares, the arrangement would firmly preserve control of the company and its board of directors with Marc Zuckerberg, its founder and chief executive. "We did introduce a dual-class stock structure because existing shareholders wanted to maintain control over voting on certain issues to help ensure the company can continue to focus on the long term to build a great business," a Facebook spokesman, Larry Yu, said in an e-mailed statement.