Monday morning headlines

Stocks slightly higher: It's a struggle this morning, as a bunch of cross-currents has the Dow up only five points.

Oil back up: But it's still below $100 a barrel, which should mean relief at the gas pump. Still quite volatile, however. (Bloomberg)

Home prices keep falling: The Zillow Home Value Index was at $486,000 as of March, a 7.6 percent drop from a year earlier.

LAPD is inundated with lawsuits: At least 16 officers have won million-dollar-plus jury verdicts or settlements related to sexual harassment, racial discrimination, retaliation and other workplace injustices. From the LAT:

Litigious officers have bedeviled Los Angeles police chiefs and city lawyers for decades, and a survey of large police departments across the country indicates that LAPD officers file suit more than others. Los Angeles police, for example, brought an average of about three times more lawsuits a year per officer than officers in Chicago and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. And there were about a third fewer lawsuits among Boston police.

Music conference returns to L.A.: Lots of music company start-ups will be represented at the National Association of Recording Merchandisers gathering in Century City this week. It's been 20 years since the organization last came to L.A. (LAT)

Hertz goes after Dollar Thrifty: Car company's offer of $2.24 billion tops the $1.8 billion bid by Avis, which is awaiting regulatory approval from the Federal Trade Commission. (DealBook)

AT&T investing in L.A. network: Struggling to counter complaints among smart phone and tablet users, the company has upgraded its network software and aims to build at least 40 more cell sites around L.A. County. We'll see if it makes any difference. (Daily News)

Mel Gibson's fares poorly: Jodie Foster's "The Beaver" opened this weekend to a disappointing $104,000 from 22 theaters. Of course, this isn't the easiest movie to sell, no matter who the star happens to be. (THR)

LinkedIn goes public: The IPO could raise up to $274.4 million for the professional networking website. LinkedIn, which focuses on job-related connections, has more than 100 million members. (AP)