Friday morning headlines

Stocks still shaky: The overseas markets had a bad day. The Dow, after opening off around 150 points, is recovering, sort of. But here's a scary number: Citigroup shares are trading at $2.08.

Voters to get budget: Well, at least portions of it - and that raises a whole new set of worries. A May special election could wipe out several portions of the compromise package, including restraints on government growth, borrowing against future state lottery revenues, and cuts in mental health and early-childhood education programs. Good luck getting all that approved (yet one more reason to ditch the initiative process). From the LAT:

There are any number of reasons voters may not cooperate. The four temporary tax hikes in the budget are substantial and the ballot proposals would prolong them. Polls show that voter disgust with the Legislature has reached all-time highs. Some well-funded special interest groups are already plotting campaigns against the measures. "Given how disaffected voters are and how really disgusted they are, you might find all the ballot measures could get swept away," said Democratic strategist Darry Sragow.

Why voters will balk: The raising of personal income tax rates by 0.25 of a percentage point will keep California in the top tax spot, though a little of that increase might be offset by the federal stimulus. AM radio must be flooded this morning. (LAT)

Hollywood gets break: The state legislature finally pushed through the incentives for movie and TV producers that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and others long have been lobbying for. The program will provide up to $100 million per year for qualifying film and TV productions. (Reuters)

Another opening, another breakdown: So much for a quick SAG agreement. Talks with the group representing the studios and networks broke off late Thursday. The media companies issued a best and final offer, while the actors guild wanted some tweaking, such as limiting the contract terms to two years and three months as opposed to the usual three years. From Variety:

The companies have insisted that they need the full three years to provide stability amid a volatile outlook for the industry. But such a term would push SAG's expiration to at least March 2012 and de-couple the end of the SAG contract faw away from the WGA's in May 2011 and the DGA's and AFTRA's in June 2011 - thus diminishing SAG's bargaining clout since there would be much smaller chance of SAG being on strike at the same time as another Hollywood union.

Oscar business dips: ABC is being forced to shave the cost of a commercial for Sunday's annual Academy Awards show. The economy is mostly to blame, but there's also the show itself. From the LAT:

Several longtime Academy Award sponsors, including troubled General Motors Corp. and L'Oreal Paris, bowed out of this year's telecast. So did Dove soap. American Express Co., traditionally one of the biggest advertisers in the Oscars, purchased only one spot. American Express, like other large financial firms, has been pulling back on promotional spending.

Westfield reduces hours: Here's a real sign of the times: The huge shopping-center owner will open most of its malls 30 minutes later and close them 30 minutes earlier. On Sundays, about half of the locations will close an hour earlier. Just not enough business for warrant the current hours - and besides, it'll save on energy costs. (Bloomberg)