Monday morning headlines

Stocks taking off: The Dow is up more than 130 points on the first day of the trading year. Market soothsayers consider January to be an important barometer for the rest of the year (though that wasn't the case in 2009). From the WSJ:

The first few trading days of January have been among the strongest for stock performance, because this is when individuals and pension plans add big chunks of new money to retirement accounts. Whether people follow their normal pattern and pump money into stocks in January can be a sign of the market's prospects for the coming weeks, and even for the entire year. If stocks rise in January, they often finish the year strongly. If stocks are weak during this normally propitious time, stocks tend to do poorly.

Oil over $80: Renewed optimism of an improving economy - and with it, greater demand for crude. But look out for higher gas prices. (AP)

For what it's worth...: Nearly a quarter of employers in the West plan to add full-time workers this year, according to CareerBuilder. That's the highest of any region. (OC Register)

Ads picking up: The year-end flurry will help offset - a little - the terrible losses from earlier in 2009. From the WSJ:

Publishing executives attribute the recent influx of ad money in part to marketers hurrying to spend the remainder of their annual ad budgets after doling out those funds sparingly earlier in the year amid fears of an economic collapse. Auto makers, particularly General Motors Co., which spent part of the year in government-sanctioned bankruptcy proceedings, also have ramped up marketing after months of spending almost nothing to promote their cars.

Car sales improve: The last few days of the year were quite strong as consumers took advantage of incentive programs to clear out dealer inventory of Saturns and Pontiacs. December sales results are due out tomorrow. (WSJ)

Mattel's takedown: The El Segundo toy company announces a partnership with World Wrestling Entertainment and plans to sell plastic action figures of WWE stars. (NYT)

Super Bowl selling out: CBS has only four spots left. Despite the recession, demand has held firm because the big game still reaches the widest TV audience each year. (LAT)

Bidder seeks Int'l Lease Finance: Allied Aviation Services, one of the nation's largest providers of fuel for commercial aircraft, says it's offering more than $12 billion for the unit of AIG. But AIG has refused to respond to the offer, according to the LAT.

Theaters over DVDs: For the first time since 2002, consumers spent more money buying movie tickets than buying movies to watch at home. From the WSJ:

The figures indicate that studios will likely have to continue looking for ways to survive in a marketplace where they can't count on hefty home-entertainment revenue to offset giant production costs. Those costs often more than eat up the studios' half of the box-office receipts, which are split with theaters. The ongoing decline in home-entertainment revenue has already fundamentally altered the way studios do business, forcing them to place big financial bets on hoped-for mass-market blockbusters at the expense of features that cost less to make but that also have smaller earnings potential.