Tuesday morning headlines

Stocks fall: New worries from Europe and some less-than-rosy economic reports are bringing down the market. Dow is down about 60 points.

Netflix plummets: Really bad morning for shareholders of the movie rental company - the stock is down more than 36 percent, or $43 a share. Wowser! It's all about weak financial results and a poor outlook. (Barron's)

Disappointing home price report: The L.A. area saw a 0.4 percent drop between July and August, according to the Case-Shiller Index, which is a poor showing compared with the 20 metros surveyed. L.A.'s year-to-year decrease was 3.5 percent. (press release)

Consumer confidence resumes fall: The index stands at 39.8, down from 46.4 in September. Kind of surprising, given the recent batch of decent news. From Conference Board press release:

Consumer confidence is now back to levels last seen during the 2008-2009 recession. Consumer expectations, which had improved in September, gave back all of the gain and then some, as concerns about business conditions, the labor market and income prospects increased. Consumers' assessment of present-day conditions did not fare any better.

Small drop in gas prices: But unusually high for this time of year: An average gallon of regular in the L.A. area is $3.896, according to the government survey, down a couple of pennies from last week.

How much did McCourt "loot" from Dodgers?: Major League Baseball puts the price at $189.2 million. From the LAT:

The league alleged McCourt had broken 10 MLB rules -- any of them grounds for termination of his franchise -- including what MLB termed the "siphoning" of team revenue for non-baseball use. "The Dodgers are in bankruptcy because McCourt has taken almost $190 million out of the club and has completely alienated the Dodgers' fan base," the MLB filing read. In the filing, the league claimed McCourt funneled $73 million in parking revenue through Blue Land Co., a non-team related entity; used $61.16 million in team revenue to pay off personal debts; and took $55 million from team revenue for personal distributions.

Pension board to consider changes: This may not sound like much, but the City Employees' Retirement System board is scheduled to vote today on whether to lower the long-term projection of its investment return from 8 percent to 7.75 percent. A drop in the return would increase the city's payment to the fund by nearly $27 million next year. From the LAT:

Similar adjustments already have been made by other public pension agencies during the economic downturn. But Villaraigosa wants the decision delayed for one year to lessen the effect on the city budget. "This request is completely reasonable ... given our own financial situation," he said Monday.

Rand retracts pot study: Highly unusual move by the Santa Monica-based research organization. The study had suggested that marijuana dispensaries might actually help reduce crime in their neighborhoods, but the researchers made mistakes in compiling data. (LAT)

More passengers at LAX: Airport traffic was up 6 percent in September compared with a year earlier. Year to date, traffic is up 5.6 percent. At other airports, Ontario was down and John Wayne was up slightly. (Eye on L.A. Aviation)