Wednesday morning headlines

Stocks push higher: Several new mergers are announced and China reports a boost in exports. Dow is up about 25 points.

Jobless bill pending: Senate is expected to pass a measure today to extend benefits and provide a bunch of tax breaks for businesses - even though it would add $130 billion to the deficit over the next year and a half. This is different than the job creation bill that's also up for a vote. (AP)

Toyota sales spike: Deep discounts pushed sales by around 50 percent during the first eight days of March, according to a company executive. No details on the figures, so reader beware. Great quote from Don Esmond, senior vice president of automotive operations for Toyota Motor Sales:

"Now that the congressional hearings are behind us, it's time to move on," Esmond said. "We said we're sorry. I think we've taken responsibility in terms of the recalls."

Variety gets sued: The producers of "Iron Cross" accuse the trade paper of luring them into taking an expensive Oscar-related promotional package, only to then give the film a bad review. (NYT)

Alarcon wants out of banks: The city councilman thinks that Dexia Credit Local and Bank of New York Mellon should rework the terms of their lending deals with the city. Engaging in risky interest-rate swaps was supposed to reduce borrowing costs but instead has increased them. From the LAT:

Union leaders have tried to tie the borrowing arrangements to the budget crises plaguing many cities, which have been forced to slash payroll and impose furloughs to reduce expenses. But Natalie Brill, the chief of debt management for Los Angeles, said the higher cost of the swaps will not affect the budget because the wastewater program is maintained separately from the general fund, which pays basic services such as police and fire protection.

Little relief for policyholders: Remember when Anthem Blue Cross and other insurers agreed to offer new coverage to nearly 6,000 people who were dropped after being diagnosed with serious illnesses? Well, it's more than a year later and less than 300 of those 6,000 have gotten new coverage, according to a report. From the LAT:

The report was prepared by Bryan Liang, director of the Institute of Health Law Studies at the California Western School of Law, and based on data from the regulators. It concluded that so few eligible consumers obtained new coverage because the settlements were too complicated and because the cost of the new coverage was too high.

CEO bonuses are slashed: Preliminary proxy data shows that payments fell to $689,000 in 2009 from $882,000 in 2008. Of course, that doesn't factor in stock rewards, whose value probably shot up because of the market gains. (Reuters)