Monday morning headlines

Stocks open higher: With the market being down 12 out of the last 13 days, maybe it's time for Wall Street to bounce back. Dow is up 80 points.

Facebook down sharply: Underwriters can only do so much to prop up a new stock. Shares in the social network company are down sharply this morning - $33.68 at last check, down $4.64 from Friday. (Yahoo Finance)

Nasdaq says it bungled Facebook IPO: Trading glitches and strong investor demand resulted in huge delays and lots of confusion. From the WSJ:

Nasdaq was accepting orders before trading began. But in some instances, if an investor then tried to cancel an order or change the price or size, Nasdaq didn't confirm the requests, confusing some traders, traders said. Around 11 a.m., Nasdaq indicated there would be a five-minute delay in the deal, not abnormal for an IPO. When 11:05 came and went without the opening or further detail on when it would happen, anxiety spread.

L.A. gas prices easing: The big run-up two weeks ago appears to have been short-lived - an average gallon of regular is $4.363, according to the Auto Club, down a couple of pennies from last week. Prices, however, remain elevated.

AMC bought by Chinese company: Dalian Wanda Group's $2.6-billion purchase of the theater chain is China's biggest takeover of an American company. From AP:

Wanda said the deal will create the world's biggest movie theater operator. The Beijing-based company said it will invest an additional $500 million to fund AMC's development. AMC operates 346 cinemas, mostly in the United States and Canada, and says it has 23 of the 50 highest-grossing U.S. outlets. "We support AMC becoming bigger, not only in the United States but in the global market," said Wanda chairman Wang Jianlin at a signing ceremony for the acquisition.

Council considers budget: The $7.2 billion package would trim nearly $70 million in city services and shrink the workforce by more than 400 positions. But plans to lay off 269 employees are being put off until next year. (CBS Los Angeles)

Health plan could help state economy: The federal Affordable Care Act would create tens of thousands of jobs in California, according to a new report, and most of them will be in Southern California. From KPCC:

"That is perhaps surprising to a lot of folks in the public debate where the affordable care act is sometimes called 'job-killing.' But there's no evidence for those claims," said Micah Weinberg, a senior fellow with BACEI and co-author of the report. Among the issues he examined: the expansion of Medicaid coverage to poor Californians, the effect of the law's tax credit on small businesses and the ways consumer spending might be affected by the individual -- that controversial provision in the law that would require all U.S. citizens to purchase medical insurance. "A lot of proponents of the bill will point to only the good parts; a lot of critics will only point to the bad parts. We looked at everything we could possibly throw in there, positive and negative, and on net it's very positive," Weinberg said.

Big health care purchase: Torrance-based HealthCare Partners, which manages medical groups and physician networks, is being acquired by DaVita Inc. in a $4.4 billion deal. DaVita, a provider of kidney dialysis services, is expected to expand its business in California, Nevada, and Florida, where HealthCare Partners has large operations. (Bloomberg)

"The Avengers" still on top: Disney's superhero blockbuster was good for $55.1 million in its third weekend, raising the domestic box office to $457.1 million, the studio's top release ever. Finishing a distant second was Universal's "Battleship," which brought in $25.3 million in its opening weekend. (LAT)