peHUB First Read

* Platinum Equity has agreed to buy The San Diego Union-Tribune. Even if the price was extremely low, what does Platinum know that the rest of us don't? Or, more to the point, what does Platinum know that Avista Capital didn't, when it bought out the (now bankrupt) Minneapolis Star-Tribune a couple of years back. Or that the PE buyers of the (now bankrupt) Philly Inquirer didn't know? Etcetera, etcetera. * Forget Grand Theft Auto. The must-have videogames of the season are Layoff and Bailout. * Morning Call: U.S. futures point to lower open, European shares pare early gains, the Nikkei and Hong Kong both dip. * Should ad buyers follow a VC model? * Joe Weisenthal: Aggressive acquistions won't help boost tech stocks. * Some Catalonian teens capture an amazing space image with just $75 and a balloon. NASA should recruit them.