Wednesday morning headlines

Rally taking shape: Continuation of the buying action from yesterday. Dow is up about 120 points in early trading.

Refis are up, purchasing down: It's what you might expect when interest rates are so low, but home buyer tax credits have expired. (Reuters)

Big jump in new home sales: Lots of buyers in April wanting to take advantage of the federal tax credit. But what now? (Census Bureau release)

Oil rig was in trouble: Hours before last month's explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, equipment readings suggested that gas was bubbling into the well, a potential sign of a blowout. From the NYT:

Drilling logs from the Deepwater Horizon suggest that shortly after midnight on the morning of the explosion, attention had turned to temporarily plugging and capping the well so the rig could disconnect and move to another job. Halliburton, the contractor hired by BP to provide cementing services, had spent the past several weeks cementing each new segment of the well into place. Halliburton was also responsible for plugging it. BP and Congressional investigators have raised questions about the cementing, suggesting that the seal might have been faulty and failed to keep gas from rising up in the well. According to BP, the cement work took longer than normal, and there were concerns that the quality of the cement might have been compromised by contamination with mud.

Coda looking at Ohio plant: The Santa Monica-based maker of electric cars would like to build a battery factory in that state. The car itself would still be assembled in the L.A. area. From the WSJ:

Initially, Coda plans to import batteries from Tianjin, China, where Coda recently opened a battery plant it jointly owns and runs with Tianjin Lishen Battery Joint-Stock Co. That plant can make more than 20,000 battery packs a year, but because electric-car-grade batteries are heavy and expensive to ship across the Pacific, Coda has been searching for a production site in the U.S.

Apple faces inquiry: The Justice Department is investigating how the company does business in digital music. Some of this involves allegations that Apple persuaded music labels not to give Amazon exclusive access to music about to be released. (NYT)

Ad spending is up: A 5.1 percent increase in the first quarter was the largest gain in four years. Fueling the jump was higher spending by the likes of P&G, AT&T and GM. (NYT)

LAX overhaul: The newly remodeled Bradley Terminal is getting good marks so far. Today is the formal completion of the $737-million renovation (not to be confused with the multi-billion dollar makeover of the terminal). From the LAT:

LAX officials hope the projects will improve security, give the aging facility a contemporary feel and eliminate the crowding that frequently bothers travelers at peak times in the morning and late evenings. The current project, which began in February 2007, involved a major renovation of the Bradley's interior and included new flooring, improved lighting, better signage for flight information, wider corridors and remodeled restrooms.

Hanmi gets investor: South Korea's Woori Finance Holdings puts down a majority stake of at least $210 million in the Koreatown bank's parent company, heading off a potential seizure by U.S. bank regulators. (LAT)