Wednesday morning headlines

Stocks head lower: The usual worries about Europe, being fueled by a drop in the euro. Dow is down 120 points.

Economy shows moderate growth: It's still a gradual recovery, according to a Reuters poll of economists, but there's little risk of a recession in 2012.

Economists in the Reuters poll sharply raised their forecasts for U.S. fourth-quarter gross domestic product to an annualized rate of 2.9 percent, up from expectations of 2.3 percent seen in a similar Reuters poll last month. Growth of 2.9 percent would be the fastest of any quarter in 2011 after Japan's earthquake and tsunami hit supply chains for manufacturers and a spike in oil prices in the early part of the year hurt growth.

L.A. Unified to sue state: California's largest school system wants to block the cutting of $248 million in school bus funding. Superintendent John Deasy said that his district is under a 1981 court order to run buses for 35,000 students as part of a desegregation case. The district must also provide transportation for 13,000 students with disabilities under state and federal laws. (Capitol Alert)

UCLA squabbling with Blue Cross: At issue are reimbursement rates for treatment at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center. From the LAT:

Blue Shield says the rates for care at the hospitals have nearly doubled in the last five years, and the costs for inpatient treatments are already 41% higher than what it pays on average in Southern California hospitals overall. "Every dollar they asked for comes from our customers, and they certainly aren't in any mood to be paying large increases," said Paul Markovich, Blue Shield's chief operating officer. UC officials say they have negotiated in good faith and hope to reach an agreement before the contract expires Dec. 31.

Fox Sports appeals Dodger ruling: A bankruptcy judge determined that television rights can be sold along with the team. The Dodgers' contract with Fox prohibits the team from negotiating with other media outlets before late next year. (LAT)

Liz Taylor's jewelry sells for $115 million: Many of the 80 lots sold went for more than 10 times the catalog estimates. From the NYT:

The famous pear-shaped "La Peregrina" pearl, with its ruby, diamond and pearl necklace by Cartier, sold for $11.8 million, a world record for a pearl jewel. Richard Burton purchased the pearl for Taylor in 1969 for $37,000. The "Elizabeth Taylor Diamond" ring, also a Burton-given bauble, fetched $8.8 million for its 33 carats, more than twice the high estimate of $3.5 million. It set a new price-per-carat record for a diamond.

William Morris building is sold: Real estate investor CIM is buying the three-story Bev Hills property for $47.8 million. William Morris had unloaded the offices in 2008. (THR)

LAX is top social airport: FWIW: Facebook says that more people share that they are at LAX than any other airport in the world. Atlanta was in the No. 2 spot. (LAT)