Wednesday morning headlines

Stocks keep climbing: The news from Slovakia is good - it looks like the government will approve a plan to expand the euro zone rescue fund. Dow is up about 100 points.

Senate Republicans kill jobs bill: The legislation, which President Obama has been strongly pushing, fell short of the 60 votes needed to overcome procedural hurdles. From the NYT:

Several Democratic senators said they might join a handful of Republicans in searching for job-creation proposals that could gain bipartisan support -- a formidable challenge in a chamber where comity seems to worsen by the week. House Republican leaders have said they do not intend to take up the president's bill as a whole. But they welcomed the signal from the White House that the administration would be open to a piecemeal effort.

Zynga releases new platform: The coal-hot games developer wants to lessen its reliance on Facebook users. The company, which is in the midst of a public offering, also released a bunch of new games. From Reuters:

Like Hollywood studios, the publisher also needs to keep releasing new hits to sustain its growth. After a months-long dry spell for new games, Zynga said in September that its profit dived to $1.4 million from $14 million a year earlier. Its sequential quarterly profit also fell more than 90 percent, from $16.8 million in the three months ended March.

Brown and unions: Kind of a mixed bag - the governor finished his first legislative session by signing bills that help supermarket workers and firefighters. But he turned down some proposals. From the LAT:

The governor has a complicated relationship with labor. More than three decades ago, during his first stint in the office, he marched with Cesar Chavez and farmworkers and granted collective-bargaining rights to state workers, giving rise to a politically potent public sector. But he also vetoed pay raises for public employees and sought to curb generous public pension benefits.

L.A. faces more layoffs: The city's pension board might reduce its assumed rate of return from 8 percent to 7.75 percent. If that happens, L.A.'s budget deficit will jump by $300 million and officials will be stuck making up the difference. That means cuts. (LAT)

NFL owners talking tough: If L.A. really wants a pro football team, it's going to cost more than what AEG seems willing to fork over. From the LAT:

"The bottom line is, if an owner's going to go in there, and if he's going to sell 10% or 20%, he's not going to sell it for $5 million a point," [said Indianapolis Colts owner Jim [Irsay], referring to the deal AEG is believed to be seeking. That would represent half price for a franchise with a valuation of $1 billion. "I think it could be a tremendous deal. I've always said that if it's done the right way it's going to be a great deal. But I think things have fallen apart there in the past because, quite frankly ... no one's going to steal a minority interest for an outrageous price."

Accusations flying in Dodger bankruptcy case: Major League Baseball, Fox Sports, and of course the Dodgers are having at each other in filings that will set their positions for a crucial hearing later this month. (LAT)

Gas prices slip: An average gallon of regular in the L.A. area fell by a penny, to $3.846, according to the government survey.

Ethics Commission imposes maximum penalty: Koreatown developer Alexander Hugh was fined $183,750 for his role in an alleged money laundering scheme that involved Mayor Villaraigosa's reelection campaign. (LAT)