Monday morning headlines

Stocks still down: Predictably negative reaction to Sunday's election results in France and Greece. But early losses have been pared. Dow is down about 25 points.

So much for austerity? France's newly elected president, François Hollande, could be headed for a collision course with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the European debt problems. From the NYT:

In broad terms, the French vote unsettled center-right governments across Europe, while their center-left adversaries felt emboldened, hoping that the triumph of one socialist leader presaged a wider resurgence. But the nub of the ideological and fiscal contest lay in the continent's traditional driving axis between Berlin and Paris, with Mr. Hollande promising to rewrite the austerity-driven pact struck between Mr. Sarkozy and Ms. Merkel.

Gas update: L.A. area prices are up about a nickel a gallon from last week, with regular now at $4.232, according to the Auto Club. Oil is trading at $98 a barrel, which is about $10 cheaper than several weeks ago.

California's Facebook windfall: CEO Mark Zuckerberg will be cutting the state a check for roughly $189 million. From the LAT:

And that's just the payout from Zuckerberg. The windfall for California from the rest of the IPO could net California hundreds of millions more, [said Sam Hamadeh, CEO of research firm PrivCo.]. "More taxes will come due as more shares are sold beginning in December and well into 2013 after the traditional 180-day post-IPO 'lock-up' period expires and employees can sell even more shares, resulting in new capital gains taxes to California -- and the IRS -- with each new stock sale," he said.

Who gets what out of Dodger Stadium parking lots?: LAT reports that the new owners will pay $14 million a year to rent the lots from an entity half-owned by Frank McCourt.

Guggenheim Baseball agreed to a 99-year lease with the company that owns the parking lots, a joint venture between McCourt and an entity affiliated with the new team owners. Walter said McCourt would get some portion of the annual $14-million rent, after accounting for expenses and return on investment. The $10 Dodger Stadium parking fee will be collected by Guggenheim. Aside from the annual lease payment, [Mark Walter, the team's controlling owner], said McCourt would not share in any team revenue, including parking fees.

Huge weekend for "The Avengers": The Disney blockbuster took in $200.3 million at North American theaters - what could be the biiggest opening weekend of all time. Worldwide box office is likely to top $1 billion. From the NYT:

It marks an important win for Disney, which has struggled mightily at the box office in recent months. The studio's last major release was "John Carter," a failed science-fiction epic that prompted Disney to take a $200 million write-down. The company fired its movie chairman last month and has not yet announced a successor. Hollywood will now try to keep the "Avengers" momentum going by releasing blockbusters every weekend until Labor Day, a season that typically accounts for 40 percent of the industry's annual ticket sales.

ABC and Univision team up: The two media giants are planning a 24-hour English-language cable channel for Hispanics. The channel is expected to start sometime in the first half of 2013. (NYT)