Friday morning headlines

Market stays positive: The Dow is up 4 percent so far in September, but good luck trying to find a reason. This morning the index is up about 40 points.

Why Krugman is worried: The NYT columnist sees what everyone else does: A looming Republican takeover of Congress:

It's hard to overstate how destructive the economic ideas offered earlier this week by John Boehner, the House minority leader, would be if put into practice. Basically, he proposes two things: large tax cuts for the wealthy that would increase the budget deficit while doing little to support the economy, and sharp spending cuts that would depress the economy while doing little to improve budget prospects. Fewer jobs and bigger deficits -- the perfect combination.

Shop the night away: Events are planned tonight throughout Socal as part of the nationwide Fashion's Night Out. Stores will be open late, with all kinds of parties, receptions, and discounts. (LAT)

Another downer for video games: Overall August sales fell 10 percent, and game software tumbled even more. From the Mercury News:

The overall sales numbers were "shockingly low," said Michael Pachter, a financial analyst who covers the game industry for Wedbush Securities. Total sales for last month were only $5 million higher than the industry posted in August 2006, Pachter noted. He blamed the poor results on a variety of factors, including the lingering economic slowdown, relatively high prices for game consoles, increased time spent playing the free online multiplayer features of games such as "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2," and consumer fatigue with the Wii. And none of those factors is likely to change any time soon.

Gas prices nearing $3 level: An average gallon of regular in the L.A. area is $3.007, 14.2 cents lower than last month, says the Auto Club. Prices are not likely to fall much further.

Coffee prices are soaring: Bad weather in South America and low stockpiles in the U.S. help explain a 44 percent jump in coffee futures since June. From CNNMoney.com

Bagged coffee from Folgers, Dunkin' Donuts and Millstone already cost 10% more. Parent company J.M. Smucker, which announced the price hike last month, cited "sustained increases in green coffee costs." Kraft Foods raised prices of Maxwell House Coffee and Yuban coffee products by about 9% last month as well. That translates into a price hike of 5 cents to 30 cents per pound of ground coffee and an increase of 2.5 cents per ounce for instant coffee.

Tiger Woods' ex scores in People: Elin Nordegren's cover story helped sell more than 2 million newsstand copies, way higher than the 1.3-million average. (NY Post)

Big start for NFL: Last night's Saints-Vikings opener drew the best ratings for an NFL primetime game in 13 years. (Deadline.com)