Friday morning headlines

Market opens lower: Still can't move into the black for 2009 (as if the indexes being up for the year really means anything). Dow is down in early trading.

Goodbye to analog: TV stations finally switch over to all-digital transmission, a move that's expected to leave more than 1 million homes without service. From AP:

The Federal Communications Commission put 4,000 operators on standby for calls from confused viewers, and set up demonstration centers in several cities. Volunteer groups and local government agencies were helping elderly viewers set up digital converter boxes that keep older TVs functioning. Sets hooked up to cable or satellite feeds are unaffected by the transition.

Plunge in videogame biz: May sales were down 23 percent from a year earlier, though the 2008 numbers were inflated by the smash-hit "Grand Theft Auto" having debuted the previous month. Analysts still think the sector will remain relatively resilient in an economic downturn. (Reuters)

Mixed report on airlines still gloomy: No big turnaround is seen for business and international travel, which is where the carriers make their big money. American and Delta just announced more layoffs and fewer seats. (Bloomberg)

New resort in Rancho Palos Verdes: A 582-room luxury hotel and spa opens for business today, though the timing is a little off with the recession and all. From the LAT:

It took an $8-million loan from the city just to get Terranea open this week. The five-star St. Regis Monarch Beach in Dana Point, a competitor of Terranea's, may be sold in a foreclosure auction because its owners have defaulted on a loan, and the owner of the tony W Hotel San Diego said it would default on its June mortgage payment and hand over the hotel to its lenders. Occupancy at top coastal resorts in Southern California is down more than 15% from last year, said Bruce Baltin, a hospitality industry analyst at PKF Consulting Corp. Room prices are also falling.

Tussle at Tesla: Founder Martin Eberhard claims in a lawsuit that CEO Elon Musk waged a campaign of defaming and disparaging him in the media. Tesla makes the Roadster electric sports car, and in March, the company introduced its Model S sedan. From Information Week:

Eberhard claims that, after he was ousted from the company in November 2007 by then-chairman Musk, a co-founder of PayPal and a major Tesla investor, Musk "began a pattern and practice of defaming and disparaging Eberhard in various widely distributed media outlets, including National Public Radio, USA Today, Newsweek, and The New York Times."

Ahmanson price cut: The former Hancock Park estate of financier and philanthropist Howard F. Ahmanson Sr. is now priced at $12.5 million, down from an earlier listing of $17.5 million. The 1929 English-revival home of brick and stone measures about 14,000 square feet and has seven bedrooms. (WSJ)