Wednesday morning headlines

Mixed market: Fresh round of upbeat earnings, but retail sales fell in June. Dow is up a bit in early trading.

Why the drop in retail sales?: Blame declines in auto sales and gas prices. But taking out those categories, sales would have only risen 0.1 percent. (AP)

More Californians kicked off jobless rolls: The Senate standoff over extending unemployment benefits means no more checks for almost 430,000 people in the state, according to the he National Employment Law Project, an advocate for workers. (OC Register)

Government doesn't get it: More than 9 out of 10 CEOs in Southern California say state and federal officials don't understand the challenges they face, according to a survey. (OC Register)

Ex-Indymac executives sued: Federal regulators allege that money was lent to developers and home builders who were unlikely to repay their debts. From the LAT:

The suit alleges that IndyMac's compensation policies prompted the home-building division to increase lending to developers and builders with little regard for the quality of the loans. "[Homebuilder Division's] management pushed to grow loan production despite their awareness that a significant downturn in the market was imminent and despite warnings from IndyMac's upper management about the likelihood of a market decline," the FDIC said in its complaint.

Port traffic means jobs: There's so much work that hundreds of part-timers, known as casuals, have been brought on. Last year, there was no such work. (LAT)

Santa Monica investment firm wins bidding: Colony Capital and a minority-owned investment firm pick up a $1.85 billion portfolio of distressed commercial real-estate loans that was auctioned off by the FDIC. From the WSJ:

Under terms of the transaction, Los Angeles-based Colony and New York-based Cogsville Group LLC agreed to pay 59 cents on the dollar, or $445 million, for a 40% equity stake in the assets consisting of 1,660 commercial-property loans held by 22 now-defunct banks, including Community Bank of Nevada, First Bank of Beverly Hills and New Frontier Bank.

CNN close on Larry King spot: Looks like Piers Morgan is all but certain to land the coveted slot. From the NYT:

What many people in the United States might not know is that Mr. Morgan, 45, is an A-list interviewer, and he has essentially been rehearsing for CNN for the past year by hosting "Piers Morgan Life Stories," a series of well-received and high-rated interviews with figures like Gordon Brown and Simon Cowell, on the British network ITV.

Good year to die: George Steinbrenner is saving his heirs hundreds of millions of dollars because of an unplanned year-long gap in the estate tax. That deprives the government of billions of dollars in annual revenue. (AP)

Ban on supergraphics: The City Council approved a motion for a permanent ban on the mega-signs in Hollywood. A moratorium has been in place for nearly two years. (LABJ)

School complex costs what?: The price tag for the Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools, which is being built on the old Ambassador Hotel site, has surpassed $578 million. From the LAT:

The high cost was substantially propelled by the timing of the construction. A 2007 budget estimated building costs at $300 per square foot. An internal study then warned of an increase to $500. But bids came in at $700 and more. (Construction costs have since declined by half.) That peak cost drove up the budget from $309 million in 2007 to $570.5 million a year later.

Cruel irony for Schwarzenegger: Just 22 percent of registered voters approve the way he is handling the job, the same rating as that of Gray Davis just before his recall in 2003. (Sacramento Bee)