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More Mel coverage: Most of the attention this morning is focused on ABC's decision to drop plans to make a miniseries about the Holocaust with Gibson's production company, Icon. The Los Angeles Times manages to get a few prominent Hollywood executives to condemn Gibson's behavior. Best quote came from producer Arnon Milchan: "To make all of your money from Jews" and then "say you hate Jews is shocking." LAT, NYT.
Inflation worries: Stocks are taking a hit this morning after a report put core inflation at an 11-year high. That places more pressure on the Fed to raise interest rates - even though the economy is slowing.
More gas hikes?: That's the concern after crude oil futures jumped by more than a dollar on Monday. There's just a lot of stuff going on - from the summer vacation season to the Middle East crisis to the hot weather back east. Last week, though, local prices took a small dip. The average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in the Los Angeles area was $3.24, down 3 cents from the previous week.
Disney bears: The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) devotes its Heard on the Street column to concerns among investors about Disney's outlook in 2007. Those worrries range from tough earnings comparisons to the rising cost of buying the rights to sports events. But on the plus side are savings from the recent round of cost cuts and the blockbuster performance of "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest." Since Robert Iger took over last fall, Disney stock has been up 22 percent.
Post Adelphia: Now that the sale of bankrupt Adelphia Communications has been completed, will there be further jockeying in the cable and satellite worlds? Wall Street suspects there will be.
Really hot: Not that most of us will be around, but a new report projects that Califoria temperatures could be up to 10.5 degrees warmer by 2100 - and there could be up to 100 more days a year when temperatures hit 90 degrees or above in Los Angeles (it's now about 20). Those numbers could be reduced considerably If emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are cut.
Who is he kidding?: L.A. convention officials are trying to put a positive spin on a really bad piece of news: the loss of the big E3 trade show. In a memo to hotel general managers, L.A. Inc. President Mark Liberman said that while the loss of 36,000 room nights each May is a big blow, it opens up the opportunity to get two or three convention commitments in its place. Er, is he talking about L.A.?
Mark Lacter created the LA Biz Observed blog in 2006. He posted
until the day before his death on Nov. 13, 2013.