Monday morning headlines

Wobbly stocks: A mixed bag of earnings results is bringing the market back to reality. Dow is down about 50 points.

Oil back up: Crude is trading at over $113 a barrel, which is not good news for gas prices. (DJ)

Support builds for cutting public pensions: Seven out of 10 respondents in a Times/USC poll support a cap for current and future employees, and nearly as many say that government workers should contribute more to their retirement. From the LAT:

Voter support for rolling back benefits available to few outside the public sector comes as Gov. Jerry Brown and Republicans in the Legislature haggle over changes to the pension system as part of state budget negotiations. Such benefits have been a flashpoint of national debate this year, and the poll shows that Californians are among those who perceive public retirement plans to be too costly. Voters appear ready to embrace changes not just for future hires but also for current employees who have been promised the benefits under contract.

Californians on how to handle deficit: A majority of those surveyed in that same poll want a combination of tax extensions and budget cuts. An all-cuts budget received only 33 percent support. (LAT)

Ron Burkle joins Steve Garvey in looking at Dodgers: The Bev Hills billionaire teamed up with Mario Lemieux in buying the Pittsburgh Penguins some years back. But his other efforts at buying sports teams have not been successful, and with the Dodgers he'll have lots of company. (LAT)

Hancock settles on death benefits: The state of California came to terms with the life insurance company over allegations that benefits were withheld because the insurer failed to determine if its customers were dead. Hancock has denied any wrongdoing. From the WSJ:

The dispute centers on just how far insurers must go to determine if customers whose accounts go dormant are still alive. A California state law generally requires businesses to annually report and deliver property to the controller's office after there has been no customer contact for three years. The controller can then route the unclaimed property to its owner. Insurers, for example, must report accounts considered lost or abandoned to the state after three years of inactivity, according to a spokesman for the controller. [Controller John Chiang] said insurers, including John Hancock, have routinely failed to contact the controller as required.

Big jump in venture funding: California led the nation in first-quarter deals, with 262 (75 of them in Socal), according to Dow Jones VentureSource. Consumer services led the L.A. area's biggest investment growth. From the LAT:

Some of the region's biggest deals included $40 million raised by Legendary Pictures, a movie production studio in Burbank; $23 million by One Kings Lane, a members-only shopping website for home decor based in Los Angeles; and SocialVibe Inc., an Internet social advertising platform for microtransactions based in L.A.

Plane rupture tied to Boeing assembly: A manufacturing lapse 15 years ago could be the reason that the top of a Southwest jetliner ripped open in flight. From the WSJ:

Investigators led by the National Transportation Safety Board are trying to unravel the potential impact of riveting techniques and certain sealants going back to around 1996, according to the officials. They said investigators also are looking into factory tooling used to hold plane parts during assembly. Possible production problems were reported Saturday by ABC news.

May upfronts looking good: Barclays Capital projects 7 percent to 8 percent growth for the broadcast networks and 15 percent for the cable networks. (WSJ)