Wednesday morning headlines

Stocks edge lower: Killing time until earnings season - and Friday's jobs report. Dow is up about 10 points.

Layoffs rise in June: Second month in a row that planned firings have increased, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas. The government and non-profit sector continued to see the heaviest downsizing. (Reuters)

Film shoots level off: On-location filming was nearly flat for the April-June quarter, according to Film LA, with commercial activity down 7.5 percent from a year earlier. Features were up 4 percent and television was down 0.7 percent. (press release)

Parts maker sold for $772 million: Pasadena-based Ameron International, whose CEO had come under pressure from shareholders, is being acquired by National Oilwell Varco. Ameron makes fiberglass-composite pipes. (LAT)

Chapman bids for Chrystal Cathedral: The offer is part of a proposal in which the church, now in bankruptcy protection, would be allowed to lease back its buildings. Chapman plans to use portions of the property as a satellite campus, (OC Register)

Hollywood office building to be sold: The 22-story Sunset Media Tower is expected to be bought by Kilroy Realty for about $76.5 million, THR is reporting.

Dodgers seek MLB documents: Lawyers for owner Frank McCourt want to show a bankruptcy judge that the team ran out of money because Commissioner Bud Selig would not bend on the Fox television contract. (LAT)

PTA moms accused in Ponzi scheme: Victims thought they would be getting high rates of a return from a company that supposedly had exclusive rights to distribute its products at Disneyland. From the LAT:

One person invested $208,000 in cash, [said Los Angeles County Sheriff's Capt. Mike Parker]. He described the victims as "good, hard-working people" who didn't want to miss out "on the opportunity to make a better life for themselves and their families." The suspects racked up investors and cash between 2008 and 2010. But eventually people began to ask questions and began demanding payment. The suspects called meetings and attempted to "pacify investors by explaining the delays in payment were a result of an internal audit of the business," Parker said.