Tuesday morning headlines

Stocks edge higher: Maybe the five-day losing streak will be broken. Dow is up about 40 points in early trading.

Mixed bag at Wal-Mart: The world's largest retailer posted a higher-than-expected quarterly profit, in part due to cost-cutting. But U.S. same-store sales were down. (Reuters)

Sluggish sales at Home Depot: Here's another economic bellwether that missed Wall Street sales estimates, though the company did report a slightly higher-than-expected quarterly profit. (Reuters)

Big trouble for American Apparel: The L.A.-based manufacturer and retailer says it doesn't expect to have sufficient liquidity over the next 12 months. That raises doubts about whether the company can continue as a going concern. Second-quarter results have been delayed. (Dow Jones)

Ellison raises $350 million to make movies: Not Oracle founder Larry Ellison, but his 27-year-old son David. He's co-financing a slate of movies with studio partner Paramount. From the LAT:

Ellison's father, ranked by Forbes magazine as the sixth richest person in the world with an estimated net worth of $28 billion, provided an undisclosed portion of the equity, according to people with knowledge of the deal. The remainder came from multiple investors. Ellison hopes to make four to six movies a year at his 4-year-old Santa Monica-based production company. Skydance will focus on big-budget action, adventure, science fiction and fantasy films as well as modestly budgeted comedies and genre pictures.

Cost of CA housing bust: New housing construction contributed $13.8 billion to the state economy in 2009, down from $67.7 billion in 2005, according to a report. Employment took a major hit: only 77,000 jobs last year compared with 487,000 jobs in 2005. (LAT)

U.S.-Mexico trade dispute: Another 26 American products are being added to a list of goods that Mexico will impose tariffs on, though 16 items have been removed. From the WSJ:

Mexico's latest move promises to add to the friction between a White House that says it wants to expand trade opportunities and congressional Democrats aligned with unions who support the trucking ban, citing safety concerns. Mexico first imposed the tariffs last year after President Barack Obama signed legislation canceling a pilot program that had allowed Mexican trucks to carry cargo on U.S. roads.

Tribune needs more time: The media giant and owner of the LAT wants to delay a Friday creditors vote on the company's long-delayed reorganization plan. Tribune says it's working on a new settlement with its creditors. (Chicago Tribune)

When it comes to chutzpah...: We can always count on Sam Zell, who is pushing to get repaid at least some of the $315 million he invested in Tribune. As it now stands, Zell wouldn't receive a dime. (Crain's Chicago Business)

Gas prices stabilize: Average gallon in the L.A. area is $3.166, a slight drop from last week, according to the government's survey.