Friday morning headlines

Whiplash mode: World markets have been falling today, and the Dow is bouncing all over the place in early trading. At last check it was up a bit.

Financial regulation likely to pass: There are differences between the Senate and House version, especially regarding regulation of derivatives, but passage is considered quite likely, probably next month. From DealBook:

While Republicans criticized the bill in mostly political terms, arguing that it was the latest example of Democrats' trying to expand the size and scope of government, some experts have warned that the bill, by focusing too much on the causes of a past crisis, still leaves the financial system vulnerable to a major collapse in the future.

Lacking jobless benefits: One in three out-of-work Californians don't have any, according to the Economic Policy Institute. From the OC Register:

Some were self-employed and therefore didn't qualify. Others were just entering the workforce for the first time or had been out of work so long that their former employer had not paid enough in recent unemployment insurance premiums for them to qualify. If a worker voluntarily quits or is fired for misconduct, they also are ineligible. And some workers who might qualify for benefits never apply.

Facebook loophole: Advertisers are receiving information that could be used to look up individual profiles, which include a person's name, age, hometown and occupation. MySpace and other social networking sites offer the same information. From the WSJ:

Across the Web, it's common for advertisers to receive the address of the page from which a user clicked on an ad. Usually, they receive nothing more about the user than an unintelligible string of letters and numbers that can't be traced back to an individual. With social networking sites, however, those addresses typically include user names that could direct advertisers back to a profile page full of personal information. In some cases, user names are people's real names.

Playing with welfare numbers: Most of the 167,000 families in L.A. County who would lose state aid under the governor's budget proposal would qualify for county assistance grants. The new claims would cost local taxpayers $450 million a year. From the LAT:

A similar story would play out in the rest of California's 58 counties, amounting to a bookkeeping shift, said Frank Mecca, executive director of the County Welfare Directors Assn. of California. The money would come from local property and sales taxes instead of the state budget. "We're not talking about a savings to the taxpayer," Mecca said. "It's a savings to the state's general fund."

Tesla deal: Toyota has agreed to buy $50 million of common stock in the electric car company as part of the deal to make Tesla sedans at the closed Nummi assembly plant in Fremont. The two companies said they will cooperate on the development of electric vehicles. (NYT)

Another drop in gas prices: Credit the oil and wholesale markets. An average gallon of regular in the L.A. area is $3.098, almost 4 cents lower than last week, according to the Auto Club.

More DWP shenanigans: The DA's office is looking into whether two employees made unauthorized charges on the utility's corporate credit cards. Search warrants have been served. (LAT)

Council considers foreclosure ordinance: Lenders would have to keep their foreclosed properties in good order (no garbage, overgrown vegetation, etc.) Failure to maintain the properties would result in a fine of $1,000 per day. (KPCC)

Rent control vote: Proposed city ordinance would prevent the owners of apartment buildings (two or more units built before 1978) from raising rent at least through this fall. (KPCC)

No break on Boeing strike: Only a few of the 1,700 C-17 workers have returned to work. Production has been suspended, and both sides are digging in. (Press-Telegram)

iPads in short supply: A Piper Jaffray analyst found that 74 percent of the 50 Apple retail stores were either sold out or in limited supply. No stores had any 3G models available. (Digital Daily)

eBooks are taking over: Consider this forecast from a WSJ report:

"By the end of 2012, digital books will be 20% to 25% of unit sales, and that's on the conservative side," predicts Mike Shatzkin, chief executive of the Idea Logical Co., publishing consultants. "Add in another 25% of units sold online, and roughly half of all unit sales will be on the Internet."