Wednesday morning headlines

Stocks take a breather: Today the news out of Europe is not so good (Italy this time) - and perhaps some early profit-taking from yesterday. Dow is down about 30 points.

Big month for Chrysler: And a big year, too. The U.S. automaker practically left for dead reported a 37 percent increase in December sales, and a 26 percent jump for the entire year. GM was up 5 percent in December and 13 percent for the year. Ford was up 10 percent in December and 11 percent for the year. From the NYT:

For all of 2011, analysts said the industry sold about 12.8 million cars and trucks, a 10 percent increase from the 11.6 million sold in 2010. Sales are expected to climb further in the year ahead. The automotive research Web site Edmunds.com is forecasting 2012 sales of 13.6 million, while another site, TrueCar.com, expects 13.8 million. Either figure would represent the industry's best year since 2007, when sales totaled 16.1 million. G.M. forecast 2012 industry sales of 13.5 million to 14 million.

L.A. gas prices on the rise: An average gallon of regular is $3.708, according to the government survey, an increase of about seven cents from the previous week.

Christmas sales looking good: The November-December period saw store revenues increase 3.8 percent, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers, up from its earlier 3 percent forecast. The chain stores come out with their numbers on Thursday. (AP)

Obama to name consumer agency chief: Richard Cordray is being nominated while the Senate is still out of town, so he will not be subject to the confirmation process. From the NYT:

Mr. Cordray said that he would make judicious use of lawsuits to enforce financial regulations. That would allow the agency to establish new regulations over financial institutions, putting into effect elements of the financial regulatory overhaul that was one of the administration's main achievements in Congress. Mr. Obama's exercise of constitutional powers to name top officials without Senate confirmation while Congress is in recess is a stiff challenge to Republicans, who have attempted to block the maneuver by holding "pro forma" sessions over the holidays.

High-speed rail gets thumbs down: An influential peer group review says the state legislature should not authorize billions of dollars in bond spending for the first phase of project. From the SF Chronicle:

"We cannot overemphasize the fact that moving ahead on the (high-speed rail) without credible sources of adequate funding, without a definitive business model, without a strategy to maximize the independent utility and value to the state, and without the appropriate management resources, represents an immense financial risk on the part of the state of California," wrote Will Kempton, chairman of the California High-Speed Rail Peer Review Group.

Pension reform might cost lots more: Up to $1 billion a year, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office. That's because removing new workers from the traditional pension plans will leave less money in the pot for current workers and retirees. Governments would need to make up for the shortfall. (OC Register)

Venture firms slowing down: It's just too volatile out there to make investments on big deals. From the WSJ:

While there still is clamor to invest in the best-known and priciest start-ups--human-resources software-maker Workday Inc. and online file-sharing start-up Dropbox Inc. commanded valuations of more than $1 billion each in recent months, people familiar with the matter have said--there is a change from 2011 when "investing was indiscriminate," said Todd Chaffee, a venture capitalist at Institutional Venture Partners. "Now it's definitely slowed some, and investments aren't as thoughtless as they were," Mr. Chaffee said.

Oprah's good and bad news: More than a million viewers watched her interview with Aerosmith rocker Steven Tyler - the second largest audience for any show on her struggling cable network OWN - but during her final days on broadcast TV Winfrey averaged 6.5 million viewers. (WSJ)

Martha Stewart's bad news: Hallmark Channel is canceling her daytime show at the end of the broadcast season in April, the NY Post reports. The show averaged only 225,000 viewers last year.

NBCUniversal cancels development plans: The 1.5 million-square-foot production and office project would have been built on top of the Universal City subway stop. (This is separate from a 20-year, $3 billion plan to transform the 391-acre Universal Studios backlot.) From THR:

"In light of NBCU's changing requirements for office and post-production space, the planned MetroStudios@Lankershim project was not considered economically viable at this time," [an SEC] filing said. The cancellation of the project is the most significant real estate decision made by management since Comcast completed its purchase of a majority share of NBCUniversal from General Electric in January 2011.

Small bump in traffic at John Wayne Airport: The OC facility reported a 2.1 percent increase for 2011 compared with a year earlier. (press release)