Tuesday morning headlines

Stocks move lower: On the five-year anniversary of the market's record high, the Dow has slipped about 80 points. From MarketBeat:

On Oct. 9, 2007, the Dow closed at an all-time high of 14164.53. Fast forward through the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, a stubbornly slow economic recovery and an extremely accommodative Federal Reserve, and the Dow is only 4.1% away from that record level. The market's roundabout route, though, doesn't tell the complete story of what has transpired over the last five years. "The landscape has changed considerably," says Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst at S&P Dow Jones Indices.

Gas prices unchanged: Given the last few days, that's good news. An average gallon of regular in the L.A. area is $4.705, according to the Auto Club. Prices are expected to come down in the coming days. From the OC Register:

"If you're not out of the woods, you sure as hell can see the meadow," said Tom Kloza, the chief oil analyst at Oil Price Information Service. He predicted that prices would be down by "nickels and dimes" by the end of the week. Market analysts said that drop in pump prices should begin within the next day or two. Wholesale prices have begun to fall as supplies improve, and prices at the pump typically follow shortly afterward. Gregg Laskoski, a senior petroleum analyst with GasBuddy.com, said California drivers should see lower prices by Thursday.

Slow recovery in IE: The hard-hit areas of Riverside and San Bernardino counties have seen some job growth over the last year, but the unemployment rate is expected to run much higher than California as a whole, according to a report from Claremont McKenna College and UCLA. From the LAT:

A nascent housing market recovery has been one boost. Home prices in the Inland Empire rose 5.1% in the second quarter of 2012 compared with the same period a year earlier, the report said. The rise was largely driven by low inventories of properties for sale and high demand for low-priced homes to flip into rentals. That has provided a modest boost to construction jobs, which grew by a few thousand in the last year. The area had lost almost 54,000 such jobs during the downturn. An even brighter spot is the professional and business services sector, which has accounted for roughly two-thirds of the area's job gains in the last year.

Bleak world outlook: The International Monetary Fund is lowering its growth forecast for the rest of this year and next. From AP:

Underpinning that bleaker scenario are the assumptions that Europe will continue to ease monetary policy and that the U.S. will avert a crushing blow to growth by fending off a so-called "fiscal cliff" that could result from a failure to reach a compromise on its budget law and tax cuts. Conditions could worsen if the United States doesn't deal with its budget crisis soon, the IMF said.

Space X hiccup: One of the nine engines on the Hawthorne company's Falcon 9 rocket failed Sunday seconds after launch. That means a private satellite that Space X was supposed to launch is out of position, though the main mission to the International Space Station was not affected. (AP).

Variety sold to Penske: See post below.

Katzenberg tightens control: The CEO of DeamWorks Animation now holds all Class B shares, which gives him greater voting control. DreamWorks co-founder converted the rest of his Class B Stock to Class A. (THR)

Boeing sells off aircraft manufacturing site: An OC real estate company has purchased 160 acres near Long Beach Airport that had been used for the Boeing 717, as well as a host of other aerospace work. From the Press Telegram:

The purchase includes a 52-acre parcel on the site of the former Boeing 717 hangar at Lakewood Boulevard and Conant Street across from the airport. Known for its iconic neon "Fly DC Jets" sign that is still on its rooftop, the building was shuttered in 2006 after the company ceased its commercial aircraft manufacturing there. The site consists of a 575,000-square-foot building and a 434,200-square-foot building.