Monday morning headlines

Stocks off sharply: S&P cut its outlook for the U.S. government, and Citigroup's first-quarter profit fell 32 percent. Looks like a bad day - Dow is down 220 points.

But economists remain encouraged: The recovery is moving along, according to a survey by the National Association for Business Economics, despite problems overseas. From AP:

In the first quarter of this year, 63 percent of economists said sales rose from the previous quarter -- the highest percentage since 1994. The NRI rating for sales rose 11 points from the previous quarter to 54, and the improvement was across all industry sectors: goods, utilities, information and communications, finance, insurance and real estate, and services. Profit margins rose to an NRI figure of 31 -- the highest rating since 1983.

Comeback for commercial real estate: First-quarter lease deals were up 37 percent from a year earlier, according to Cushman & Wakefield. Even so, overall vacancy rose to 19.5 percent from 18.9 percent a year ago. From the LAT:

While an economic recovery is underway, hiring so far has been insufficient to drive many tenants to expand their offices. Frequently, brokers say, when tenants renew their leases they are taking less space than they had a few years ago because they have downsized or are fitting employees into smaller work spaces. That pattern puts pressure on landlords, who "are getting more and more aggressive," said broker Whitley Collins of Jones Lang LaSalle. "Landlords are desperate to get new tenants because there is so little demand."

Air fares on the rise: Higher fuel prices and greater demand could boost prices by 15 percent this summer. Fare hikes have already begun, with six of the nation's largest airlines each raising rates at least five times since Jan. 1. From the LAT:

Passengers may see the biggest hikes in the price of international flights, partly because of less competition among airlines for those routes. For example, the cheapest round-trip flight from Los Angeles International Airport to Frankfurt, Germany, in the first week of May 2009 was $499, including taxes and surcharges, Parsons said. Last week, he said, the least-expensive flight for the same time period on the same route was $1,067.

Warnings about older planes: Same old story - regulators are going after problems once an incident has already happened. The most recent case involves the Southwest plane that came undone. From the NYT:

John J. Goglia, a former member of the National Transportation Safety Board, which investigates accidents, says the F.A.A. needs to do more than wait for the industry to set plane-retirement deadlines and rely on the airlines to do piecemeal inspections. The Southwest incident showed, he said, that the agency should order thorough inspections of a couple of the older and most heavily used 737s, using the latest technologies, to determine where cracks might develop. Right now, he said, "it looks like you're putting Band-Aids on the airplane."

McCourt gets loan to meet payroll: The Dodgers owner is borrowing $30 million from Fox, the LAT reported. The loan was made to McCourt personally, so it didn't require the approval of Commissioner Bud Selig.

Stadium deliberations will take at least a year: So much for AEG wanting a quick go-ahead from the city. Chief Legislative Analyst Gerry Miller says that the council won't even get to consider the plan for a football/convention center complex for another 12 months. (City Maven)

Deadlock over state union contracts: The deals worked out by Gov. Jerry Brown include concessions, but Republicans say they won't go far enough - and Brown needs at least token GOP support in order to get the necessary two-thirds vote. The agreements would not do much to shave the state deficit. (Sacramento Bee)