Tuesday morning headlines

Stocks move higher: Perhaps some overhang from yesterday's surge. Dow is up about 80 points.

American files Chapter 11: The parent company of the legacy carrier is trying to reduce labor costs, as well as a heavy debt load. From DealBook:

American's parent, the AMR Corporation, was the last major airline in the United States to resist filing for Chapter 11 in an effort to shed contracts, a move that analysts said left it less nimble than many of its competitors. AMR intends to operate normally throughout the bankruptcy process, as previous airlines have done. The company doesn't expect the restructuring to affect flights or frequent flier programs.

Home prices keep falling: The L.A. metro area saw a 0.8 percent drop between August and September, according to the Case-Shiller Index, and a 4.2 percent decline over the previous 12 months.

Occupy update: Still no movement by the cops, and you're starting to hear grousing about why the eviction is being dragged out. From the LAT:

Stuart Waldman, president of the Valley Industry and Commerce Assn., said L.A. leaders lost credibility by failing to enforce an announced midnight Sunday closure of the City Hall park. "By not sticking to the 12:01 deadline, they're essentially saying, 'You need to leave by this time, but it's OK if you don't,'" he said. "There need to be consequences."

Cyber Monday is huge: Online sales were up 15 percent from a year earlier. From AP:

The strong start to Cyber Monday, created by a unit of The National Retail Federation, follows an even stronger kickoff to the holiday shopping season over the weekend. Americans shopped in record numbers, driven by earlier store openings and a push by retailers for online sales. A record 226 million shoppers visited stores and websites during the four-day holiday weekend starting on Thanksgiving Day, up from 212 million last year, according to the NRF.

USC gets big gift: The charity established by Sol Price, who founded the Price Club retail chain, is donating $50 million to the School of Public Policy. The school will be renamed for Price, who earned an undergraduate and law degree from USC. (LAT)

Gas prices take a dip: But still on the high side - a gallon of regular in the L.A. area is $3.756, about seven cents lower than last week, according to the government survey.

Facebook readies for IPO: It's shaping up to be huge, reports the WSJ: The company might try to raise as much as $10 billion, which could value the operation at a cool $100 billion. Look for the offering sometime next spring.

The company now appears poised to go ahead with a deal. But it will likely come to market at a time when investors are beginning to question the value of some newer Internet businesses. The most recent IPO, an $805 million float of discount-deal service Groupon Inc. on Nov. 3, has plummeted 42% in price in the past five trading days after surging in its first day of trading. Business-networking service LinkedIn Corp., whose stock more than doubled from its IPO price on its first day of trading May 19, has since fallen 36%, but remains 33% above its IPO.