Tuesday morning headlines

Stocks fall again: Dow is down about 40 points in early trading. More concerns about earnings, the economy and Obama.

Home prices keep improving: The Case-Shiller numbers for November show a 0.8 percent increase in L.A. prices from a month earlier and a 3.5 percent decline from a year earlier (seasonally adjusted, it's even better). Overall results among the metro areas sampled, however, were mixed. (press release)

One more Xmas stat: Shoppers spent an average of $811 on holiday gifts, over $100 more than they initially planned, according to a Consumer Reports survey. (LAT)

Consumer confidence rises: The index is now at a 16-month high, though it remains way below average and there's no indication of any significant pickup in the coming months. (MarketWatch)

Truckers and texting: Government is announcing rules that prohibits interstate commercial truckers and bus drivers from sending text messages while they drive. Violators face civil or criminal fines of up to $2,750. From the NYT:

The Department of Transportation said that it is still working on additional regulations that would govern the use of such computers by truckers, as well as when truckers are allowed to use cellphones for conversation. But the federal agency said that it wanted to start by issuing regulations banning texting. It noted that research shows that texting motorists take their eyes from the road for nearly five seconds, enough time to cover a football field at highway speeds.

New game at Sundance: The Wrap's Sharon Waxman calls it, "Buy Late, Bid Low."

All the buyers want something with a hook - humor, preferably, or horror or a pedigree - that has a marketing notion on which to hang a release. A "Thank You for Smoking," or a "Napoleon Dynamite," or a "Brokeback Mountain." Distributors might have finally found one in Lisa Cholodenko's last-minute entry to the festival, "The Kids Are Alright," starring Julianne Moore and Annette Bening.

Latest on Oscar race: LAT columnist Patrick Goldstein says bumping the number of best picture nominations to 10 won't mean much because only four have a real shot at winning the Oscar: "Avatar," "The Hurt Locker," "Inglourious Basterds" and "Up in the Air."

It's a four-film race. Period. It will hardly be a surprise to see the final 10 nominations include such worthy contenders as "Precious," "Up," "An Education," "A Serious Man" and perhaps one or two studio blockbusters, but they are just along for the ride. Next week we'll be hearing a host of nominees tell the press how delighted they are to be honored by their peers while their distributors dig into their pockets and pony up for a new round of Oscar ads, but it will all be for show -- none of the films outside of the Fab Four is going anywhere.

Rumbles at Hanmi: Chairman of the Koreatown bank has traveled to South Korea to seek investors. Hanmi has been stung by commercial real estate losses and it's been ordered by regulators to raise capital. (LAT)

Another Calpers loss: It's a $500 million investment in NY's Peter Cooper Village and Stuyvesant Town apartment complex. The development is being abandoned to its creditors after defaulting on a $4.4 billion mortgage. Calpers was among the high profile investors. (Sac Bee)

Another dip for gas: An average gallon of regular in the L.A. area is $3.046, down a couple of pennies from last week, according to the government survey.

Lacter on radio: This week's business chat with KPCC's Steve Julian looks at December housing numbers and the public's gloomy view of the economy. Also at kpcc.org and on podcast.

Jane Bryant Quinn tickets: She's the headliner at the Drucker Business Forum this Thursday morning. Email me if you'd like free tickets.