Thursday morning headlines

Stocks still shaky: Kind of a zigzag session so far, with the Dow down about 50 points.

Oil prices hit $103: Then they came back down to around $100 a barrel, but there's a lot of volatility. Meanwhile, local gas prices continue to head higher.

Air fares going up? Carriers have already increased their prices four times since the start of the year, and with fuel prices taking off there could be more to come. (NYT)

Jobless claims fall: Another sign of an improving economy (assuming that oil prices don't mess things up). Weekly filings fell to 391,000, and the four-week average was 402,000. (Reuters)

GM reports annual profit: It's the first time the automaker has been in the black since 2004. From the NYT:

Globally, G.M.'s sales rose 12.2 percent in 2010, to 8.39 million, coming within about 30,000 vehicles of retaking the title of world's largest automaker from Toyota. For the first time, it sold more cars and trucks in China, where its sales rose 28.8 percent from 2009, than in the United States, where sales were up 6.3 percent. "Their recovery has been fueled by significant cost-cutting, arrival of new products that consumers were seeking along with better management of incentives and supply," said Jesse Toprak, vice president of industry trends and insight at TrueCar.com, which tracks industry pricing and sales.

More Toyota recalls: The automaker is expanding last year's recall of floor mats to include 2.2 million Lexus and Toyota vehicles. Models affected include Lexus GS, Lexus RX, Toyota Highlander, Toyota 4Runner, Lexus LX, and Toyota RAV4. From USA Today:

This should be the end of it, according to NHTSA Administrator David Strickland : "The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reviewed more than 400,000 pages of Toyota documents to determine whether the scope of its recalls for pedal entrapment was sufficient. As a result of the agency's review, NHTSA asked Toyota to recall these additional vehicles, and now that the company has done so, our investigation is closed."

Global box office sets record: Ticket sales totaled $31.8 billion in 2010, an 8 percent increase from a year earlier. The Asia-Pacific region was strong, especially China. (THR)

Apple shareholders reject succession plan: The board would have been required to disclose the criteria for the CEO position and identify internal candidates. Shareholders did adopt a majority vote requirement for board elections. (WSJ)

Caruso has big plans: The L.A. developer wants to double the size of his firm's real estate portfolio over the next five years. (NYT)

American Apparel goes topless: The L.A.-based manufacturer/retailer, struggling for survival, has new swimwear ads that are too risqué to be published in any American publication. (Fashionista)