Monday morning headlines

Stocks edge higher: Perhaps a chance to buy low(er) after Friday's drubbing. Dow is up about 30 points.

New worries about Gulf well: Seepage of some sort was discovered on the seafloor. BP and the government are trying to figure out how serious it is. (NYT)

Tough office market: Local tenants are still shopping for the cheapest deals and avoiding long-term commitments. There's lots of space available. From the LAT:

Overall vacancy in Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside counties rose to nearly 20% from 17% a year earlier, while average asking rents dropped to $2.37 a square foot per month from $2.52, according to [Cushman and Wakefield]. The weakest market was the Inland Empire, where vacancy surpassed 25% in the second quarter. Orange County was also weak, with 22% of its office space unleased.

Villaraigosa checks out: Daily News editorial concludes that the L.A. mayor "seems to have run out of steam. He's acting like a lame-duck official - but with three years still to go."

Udvar-Hazy wasting no time: His new airplane leasing company, L.A.-based Air Lease Corp., will announce orders this week from Airbus and Boeing for more than 100 jetliners. Air Lease has already agreed to buy 60 jetliners from other leasing companies and airlines. (WSJ)

Socal venture deals are up: Second-quarter investment totaled $857 million, up sharply from both the previous three months and the year-earlier quarter, according to .PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association. From Socaltech:

Los Angeles saw $407.2M in 45 deals, Orange County saw $279.5M in 21 deals, and San Diego saw $170.6M invested in 24 deals. Both LA and OC were both up in terms of deals and dollars. Southern California's venture totals were significantly boosted by clean technology, and more specifically, financing for electric car manufacturers. Investments in the Industrial/Energy sector, which includes those manufacturers, was the single biggest area for investments in the quarter in Southern California, totaling $231.1M.

Private equity looking better: Seven local funds raised a combined $3.9 billion in the first half of the year, much of that coming from Oaktree Capital Management. (LABJ)

Big jump in bankruptcies: Small-business filings in the L.A. area were up 15 percent in the first quarter compared with the year earlier. Six of the 10 metro areas with the most small-business bankruptcies are in California, according to Equifax. (OC Register)

California workers not happy: Gov. Schwarzenegger is not exactly winning friends with his efforts to impose the minimum wage on most state employees. From the Sacramento Bee:

Schwarzenegger was heckled by fairgoers when he toured the State Fair this week. His office has received a flood of e-mails critical of his actions toward state workers, some so colorful they were reviewed by the California Highway Patrol. "He's the wrong captain on the wrong boat in a bad storm," said Kevin Menager, a Franchise Tax Board employee for roughly 20 years.