Wednesday morning headlines

Stocks open higher: A mixed batch of earnings news - and the Dow is already falling from its opening high. It's now up by about 50 points.

Behind Apple's rare miss: In a nutshell, iPhone sales, while still strong, did not match expectations. From the NYT:

In a now-familiar pattern, analysts have been warning of potential weakness in iPhone sales because of the likelihood that the company would introduce a new version of the phone in the fall. Apple invariably brings out a new model around that time, and the anticipation can cause many phone shoppers to delay their purchases, leading to a surge in the holiday quarter. In a conference call with analysts, Apple executives blamed economic weakness in Europe, Australia, Brazil and other countries for some of the shortfall in iPhone sales. But the company also said that the widespread chatter about whatever smartphone it will sell next was a significant factor.

Earnings roundup: Ford reported a drop in second-quarter earnings compared with a year earlier because of weak European sales. Caterpillar profits rose sharply on growing demand for construction and mining equipment. Boeing reported better-than-expected results because of strong sales of its commercial planes.

California 9th largest world economy: That's according to a new forecast by the Economic Development Corp. of Los Angeles County. If the state were a nation, it would be just behind Italy and just ahead of Russia. From Capitol Alert:

The report says that Los Angeles and four surrounding Southern California counties would rank 16th among the world's economies at over $900 billion a year, just behind South Korea. Los Angeles County by itself, at $557.5 billion, would be 21st, lodged between No. 20 Saudi Arabia and Sweden. Overall, the forecast is for California to recover from recession "slowly but steadily," albeit with double-digit unemployment rates for at least another year.

Weak job growth expected in L.A.: Just 0.8 percent this year and 1.2 percent in 2013, according to the EDC forecast. The unemployment rate will drop only slightly. (Daily Breeze)

San Bernardino approves emergency budget: With a bankruptcy being prepared, the city will be able to make payroll through September. The council plans to consider deeper cuts. (Riverside Press-Enterprise)