Posted by Katharine Crnko

For Marketplace Morning Report, Monday June 27, 2011

Here are today’s top headlines from the Marketplace Morning Report and from around the web.

We just got a report from the Commerce Department that shows gas prices are taking a toll on how much money Americans are dishing out. Consumer spending for May was unchanged. But that was the worst reading in nearly 2 years.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have filed for bankruptcy protection giving the team’s owner Frank McCourt more time to work out a TV deal he says will ensure the Dodger’s long-term financial stability. The team was recently taken over by Major League Baseball because of poor management by McCourt.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said today the government has agreed with French banks to help Greece with its debt problems. That comes the same day Greece’s parliament — the Vouli — begins debating the next round of drastic spending cuts.

Gas prices are down 11 cents in the past two weeks. According to the Lundberg Survey the average price of regular unleaded? $3.63.

Japan could face a third “lost” decade of sluggish economic growth that will leave it struggling to whittle down the heaviest debt burden among developed nations, Moody’s ratings agency said on Monday.

One thing heading higher– the price of a burrito at Chipotle Mexican Grill. The chain says it’s raising prices at many of its stores for the first time in three years because of the rising cost of avocados and beef.

To the U.K. where the Birmingham airport put one of its old magnetic levitations train cars up for sale on eBay. Someone bid about $40,000 for it — but they never paid up. So it went to bidder number two: for just $160. But the winner — a guy named Andy Jones — told the local newspaper, “Now I’ve got a five ton train in the field opposite my house. And I’ve got to find a suitable use for it.”

For a British border collie sheepdog named Ci, there’s a new workplace hazard. Ci has been named Britain’s worst sheepdog after developing a fear of sheep. His owners say Ci will still go after the sheep like a proper sheepdog should. But the minute the flock turns to face him he runs away.

You can read the rest of today’s stories from the Marketplace Morning Report here.

Here are the songs we played:

• Geek Dreams — RikkiBuy

• Kush — Dr. Dre Buy

• Nicoman — Gang Gang DanceBuy

• Weapon of Choice — Black Rebel Motorcycle ClubBuy

• Landforms — Other LivesBuy