Monday morning headlines

Stocks open higher: Quiet week of trading is expected, though low volume can create volatility. Dow is up about 100 points in early trading.

Economy picking up?: The year is ending at a better-than-expected clip, leading some forecasters to be a bit more bullish about early 2010. From the WSJ:

While the economy's strength in 2010 is still a matter of debate, a weekly consensus of forecasters compiled by Macroeconomic Advisers shows steadily rising estimates of fourth-quarter economic growth. At the end of August, the consensus saw 2% growth, at an inflation adjusted annual rate. Today, they see 3.9%. If realized, that would make fourth-quarter growth the best since the first quarter of 2006.

OC turnaround?: The Register's Big Orange Index, a batch of local economic indicators, has posted its smallest quarterly loss since early 2007. That's supposed to be good news.

In fact, two of the six slices that create The Big O -- indexes of bill payments and consumer confidence -- actually rose in the past three months. It's the first time two Big O subindexes have jumped in unison since the spring of 2007. And if local bankers and shoppers of all stripes are truly in the right mood, the economic recovery could be near.

Downtown vacancies inch higher: They reached 14.6 percent in the third quarter, up from 13.1 percent a year earlier. There's also been a slight drop in rents. (Downtown News)

CA buildings for sale: Both the Ronald Reagan State Building and the Junipero Serra building have been put on the block, though any sale would come with guaranteed long-term leases for state workers. (Downtown News)

On Brittany Murphy's death: The Wrap's Sharon Waxman spoke to Amy Heckerling, who directed the actress in "Clueless":

"Everybody's shaking their heads and going 'drugs,' of course. I don't know what was happening on the last movie. I know that, you know, she seemed to go through a change ... on 'Clueless.' Maybe she felt like she was not the, like, skinny, pretty girl, you know? And then the next few movies she was, you know, thinner, blonde ... and going out with Eminem and Ashton Kutcher, and, you know, suddenly got more into that whole glamorous scene ... I think she felt the pressure to become a different sort of commodity to survive in show business, and I think it was awful."

Good start for "Avatar": The $73 million opening weekend tally would have been higher were it not for the snowstorm back east. Also, word-of-mouth has been very positive. (Bloomberg)

Villaraigosa's tab: His trip to Europe will cost taxpayers about $120,000. The mayor didn't just go to Copenhagen for the climate conference, but to London and Berlin. With aides. (LA Daily)

Calpers keeps probing: California's pension fund wants to know more about the relationship between Alfred J.R. Villalobos and a La Jolla advisor that resulted in Calpers shelling out millions of investment dollars to two private equity firms. From the LAT:

Villalobos' lucrative work for Apollo and Aurora in 2007 was disclosed in October by CalPERS. But only recently has CalPERS revealed the Villalobos ties to Pacific Corporate Group, the La Jolla firm that recommended the Apollo and Aurora investments and has been under contract with the pension fund to provide independent advice on its investments for two decades. In addition to its consulting work, the company has an investment division that actively seeks business from pension funds. The company has maintained that the divisions operate independently and that as a result, the relationship does not pose a conflict of interest.

Ron Popeil on the market: The "Set It And Forget It" infomercial king is offering $5.9 million for his English Country-style home in Bev Hills. (Business Journal)