Tuesday morning headlines

Stocks back up: Better-than-expected third-quarter earnings could be one explanation. Dow is up around 110 points.

Slow go for gas: Average price of regular was down a little over a penny to $4.633, according to the Auto Club, but that's only seven cents below the all-time high. From the LAT:

Once the crisis has passed "there's always a reluctance among gas station owners to drop prices too quickly," said Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst for the Oil Price Information Service. Another reason, [said Joe Hahn, a professor at Pepperdine University's Graziadio School of Business and Management], is that the expensive gasoline has to be sold before cheaper supplies can be purchased. "How quickly it does depends on where those stations are located and on how busy they are," Hahn said. In addition, as prices fall after a sudden surge, service station operators try to capture profits lost on the way up when they couldn't hike prices fast enough, analysts said.

L.A. inflation picking up: The Consumer Price Index rose 0.4 percent in September compared with a month earlier and 2.2 percent from a year earlier. Higher gas prices are largely to blame, though the recent spike will really be felt with October's numbers. (press release)

Citigroup CEO stepping down: Vikram Pandit says it's "the right time for someone else to take the helm." Resignation is "effective immediately," which would indicate that there's more to the story. Pandit will be succeeded by Michael Corbat, CEO of Citigroup's Europe, Middle East and Africa division. (AP)

Moonves re-ups: The CBS chief executive has extended his contract through 2017. Last year Moonves received nearly $70 million, much of it from performance-related bonuses. (LAT)

Mattel earnings get boost: Strong sales of American Girl dolls and Fisher-Price toys are cited in the better-than-expected third-quarter results. (AP)

Cash pouring out of China: For the 12 months through September, roughly $225 billion, equivalent to about 3 percent of the economic output last year, left the country, according to the WSJ.

Chinese individuals aren't allowed to move more than $50,000 per year out of the country. Chinese companies can exchange yuan for foreign currencies only for approved business purposes, such as paying for imports or approved foreign investments. In reality, the closed system has become more porous and the rules are routinely ignored. "The wealthy in China have always had an open capital account," says Eswar Prasad, a Cornell University economist and former International Monetary Fund official.

New concerns about digital billboards: Neighborhood groups say that the City Council is working on a plan that would let the signs stay for good. From the LAT:

Councilmen Ed Reyes and Paul Krekorian said in their proposal that a new billboard agreement could deliver a "significant" chunk of digital billboard revenue to the city, money that would then be used to preserve basic services. But billboard foes contend that council members are doing the bidding of the outdoor advertising industry, keeping neighborhood activists in the dark about the planned talks and bypassing the committee where outdoor sign issues are typically vetted.

Molly Munger pulls attack ad: The principal backer of Proposition 38, a tax initiative competing with Gov. Brown's Proposition 30, made the move at a time when the governor's proposal is losing support. (Bay Area News Group)