Monday morning headlines

Stocks open strong: Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke presented a somewhat pessimistic picture on jobs this morning, but Wall Street is looking at the bright side. Dow is up 125 points.

What about long-term unemployed?: Despite recent job gains, the average unemployed worker has been out of work for 40 weeks. From the WSJ:

The diverging fortunes of the long and short-term unemployed worry many economists because it suggests the emergence of deeper, structural problems that could persist long after the rest of the economy recovers. Rather than returning to work as the economy recovers, as they have after past U.S. recessions, the long-term unemployed could effectively break off from the normal job market, ultimately forming an underclass of the more or less permanently unemployed. "It's really as though you just take a certain number of workers and just chop them off, throw them away and the rest of the economy behaves just fine," said Laurence Ball, an economics professor at Johns Hopkins University. "I've been surprised that this isn't viewed as more of a crisis."

Health care arguments under way: Pretty boring stuff this morning - Tuesday's session before the Supreme Court gets to the meat of the case: Arguments over the constitutionality of the insurance mandate. (NYT)

Public still confused about health care: That's unfortunate because as LAT columnist Mike Hiltzig writes, the legislation has already done plenty of good:

The effects of many such regulations are already visible in California, which has been ground zero of the insurance crisis. California's uninsured rate runs four to five percentage points higher than the national rate, in part because of its preponderance of small employers and big-box retailers such as Wal-Mart, which traditionally stick government and other coverage providers with the burden of insuring its workers. The state's individual insurance market is the nation's biggest, encompassing more than 2 million people whose lives have been at particular risk from insurance practices such as cancellation of coverage for sick or injured customers.

Gas update: Prices still flat - an average gallon of regular in the L.A. area is $4.366, basically unchanged from Sunday but down a couple of pennies in the past week, according to the Auto Club. Oil is still trading in the $105-$107 a barrel range.

Huge weekend for "Hunger Games": The action thriller about teenagers battling to the death generated $155 million, the third-biggest opening ever - and higher than even the most optimistic expectations. From the NYT:

The Hunger Games," rated PG-13, represents the kind of out-of-the-park successes that can transform a studio. The release represents a stunning reversal for Lionsgate, which has been struggling mightily of late, with flops over the last two years like "Killers," "Conan the Barbarian" and "Warrior." Lionsgate, until now mostly known for the defunct "Saw" franchise and for distributing Tyler Perry's movies, pursued "The Hunger Games" as part of a strategy -- set by its former movie chief, Joe Drake -- of taking on more ambitious films for bigger box-office payoffs. Mr. Drake, who was replaced at the studio in January but has remained to see "The Hunger Games" to fruition, was understandably ebullient over the weekend as ticket results trickled in.

Support for Brown's tax hike plan: Nearly two-thirds of those surveyed in an LAT-USC poll favor increasing the sales tax and raising taxes on the rich. The poll shows that taxing high earners is overwhelmingly popular. (LAT)

Dodger bidding down to three: After Major League Baseball signs off on the reamining players, which include investment groups led by hedge fund billionaire Steve Cohen and Magic Johnson, owner Frank McCourt and his advisors will pick a winner, possibly this week. (LAT)

Cable ratings sink: The average audience for 11 of the 15 most-watched cable channels has fallen from a year earlier. The biggest losers include Nickelodeon, TNT, and FX. Meanwhile, several channels have seen sharp growth. From the WSJ:

The big swings highlight a volatile new world, where viewers' taste and behavior are especially fickle. The on-demand availability of shows on the Web and cable services may damp the appetite for repeats of featured programs, as well as the syndicated reruns that have long been a mainstay of many cable channels. Increased investment in original programs--such as AMC's "Mad Men," whose new season debuted Sunday night--is making many cable channels more competitive with one another. Digital video recorders also make it easier for people to follow only hit shows and ignore others. That means a network's fortunes can rocket up one season, and crash down the next.