Tuesday morning headlines

Housing endangers economy: That's what Treasury Secretary Paulson is saying this morning (you mean he just found out?). "I have no interest in bailing out lenders or property speculators," Paulson said in a speech. "Still, we must recognize the very real harm to families affected by the housing downturn." Last night, Fed Chief Ben Bernanke offered a middling economic forecast, noting that the drop in interest rates will perk up growth but adding that housing troubles will be a significant drag well into next year. No clues on whether the Fed might lower interest rates again at the next policy meeting in two weeks. (MarketWatch)

Market jitters Keep an eye on oil prices; they approached $90 a barrel early this morning over concerns that Turkey might attack the Kurds and new forecasts of fourth quarter shortfalls. At last check, they had pulled back. Meanwhile, stocks are down for the second day in a row over worries about oil, housing and stuff in general. (Bloomberg)

Default concerns: Here's a discouraging nugget: Borrowers who took out loans in the first half of the year are falling behind on payments faster than homeowners who took out loans last year. That suggests more Americans are on track to lose their homes, further protracting the housing doldrums. Michael Youngblood, a portfolio manager and analyst at Friedman, Billings, Ramsey who came up with the numbers, said that most mortgage companies and banks, including our buddies at Countrywide, had not tightened lending standards for borrowers with subprime credit until July or August, well after the credit problems began to percolate. From the NYT:

“There are $10.6 trillion of mortgage loans outstanding in the U.S., and even if the brakes had been slammed, it was going to take a long time to slow this locomotive down,” said Mr. Youngblood, who has researched home lending for more than 20 years. “And I don’t see that the brakes were slammed on or that the engineer had a new track to follow. That track only now seems to be appearing.” He noted that Countrywide Financial, the nation’s largest lender whose practices are often emulated by smaller companies, did not significantly tighten standards until August. And it was only in mid-July that Moody’s Investors Service and Standard & Poor’s, the large ratings agencies, said they would make major changes in the assumptions that they use to evaluate pools of home loans sold to investors.

Unions giving up on Arnold: At least when it comes to the governor's fast-fading health care plan. A coalition of labor unions and consumer groups will hold prayer vigils and news conferences, and run nasty ads on television under the heading "Arnold Middle-Class Gouge." But weren't the unions encouraging Schwarzenegger's efforts? Well yeah, but an updated version of the plan has gotten labor leaders all worked up. From the LAT:

The campaign could backfire by turning voters against big changes to the state's healthcare system, including methods favored by unions. That might benefit Republican lawmakers, Blue Cross of California and business groups that have opposed a wholesale overhaul along the lines envisioned by Schwarzenegger and Democratic leaders. "There is a chance the voters might say, 'This is all too complicated and let's wait,' " said Mark Baldassare, president of the Public Policy Institute of California, a nonpartisan research group. The planned campaign also could undermine whatever goodwill there might be in healthcare negotiations between Schwarzenegger and Democratic lawmakers long aligned with unions.

Business likes Arnold: The California Chamber of Commerce labeled 12 bills as "job killers" and the governor wound up vetoing all of them. That's an even better record than last year, when nine of 11 Chamber bills were vetoed. The measures would have required retailers to protect their customers' financial information from being hacked in security breaches; increased benefits for permanently disabled victims of on-the-job accidents; and allowed farm workers to organize unions by signing cards instead of voting in secret-ballot elections. Actually, many of the positions seem pretty reasonable (as long as you’re looking at life from a middle-of-the-road biz perspective). (LAT)

Strike rules bashed: The studios and networks will be back "talking" to the Writers Guild today, but don't expect much progress. Actually, things are getting darn right ugly, with Nick Counter, president of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, threatening to sue the guild over those hardline strike rules. Counter says he’s outraged over threats of fines, punishment and blacklisting – none of which the producers would dare inflict on the writers, of course. The AMPTP also posted ways in which WGA members can file for "financial core" status (they resign their guild membership but can still work on union jobs). (Variety)

Verizon Wireless and privacy: So you're a customer of the cellphone carrier and you get a letter that says information on who you call will be shared with Verizon’s "affiliates, agents and parent companies." Whoa. The company says it's only for Verizon divisions (and customers have 30 days to opt out if they did not want their information shared), but it's creating concern among consumer groups. Their big worry is that the company is gathering information to tailor advertising it displays on cellphone screens based on customer habits and attributes. From the NYT:

YouTube's anti-piracy plan: It's some sort of video-filter system designed to give owners of copyrighted videos - as in studios and networks - more control over whether their material appears on YouTube, which is now owned by Google. The big media guys are all saying that it's a step in the right direction, but Louis Solomon, who represents several content-owners in a copyright suit against Google, was less charitable. "It is too late in coming; it offers too little protection; it gives YouTube and Google content that they don’t need and shouldn’t have," he says.(San Jose Mercury News)

Pinkberry gets funding: And from Starbucks founder Howard Schultz no less (actually, his venture capital firm, Maveron, which is run by former investment banker Dan Levitan). Interest in the yogurt chain goes back to last year, when Levitan got a call from Schultz's wife. The $27.5 million investment will be used to expand the franchise; there are now 33 stores, mostly in Socal. From the LAT:

Pinkberry's founders knew they had a hit in the early days. They were summoned to the first store because the ceiling had sprung a major water leak and discovered it was mobbed with customers anyway. Hyekyung "Shelly" Hwang focused on the dessert, while a friend, kickboxer-turned-architect Young Lee, designed the pastel-hued interior of the stores. Lee said the stores' loud music helped evoke the feeling of an old-fashioned ice-cream truck. All but three of the 33 Pinkberry stores are owned by franchisees, and the operational headaches have mounted accordingly.

LAX work going up: Costs have increased by more than $12 million just to look at the future site of the Midfield Concourse, which is west of the Tom Bradley terminal. Apparently, there's all kinds of environmental hazards that could present a problem in putting up the concourse, a $1.2 billion project that supposedly will be completed in early 2012. (Daily Breeze)

Moving Milberg Weiss case?: Even with all the plea deals, there will a trial, and one of the lawyers representing Melvyn Weiss – one of the few still duking it out - suggested that it be moved from L.A. to NY in the interests of "judicial economy." All federal witnesses, as well as the nearly 30 Milberg Weiss employees that he plans to call, are in New York. The lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, said witnesses for a New York trial are only a cab ride away, but those traveling to California would have to make a four-day trip (but isn't it just a 5-hour plane ride?). Brafman also said that he might move to sever Weiss’s case from that of the law firm. (NYT)

Judge bars ticket hoarding: Federal Judge Audrey Collins issued a preliminary injunction against a company that sells software allowing users flood the Ticketmaster Web site and buy tickets in bulk. That, of course, gives scalpers an edge. West Hollywood-based Ticketmaster brought the suit. The judge's order bars the company, RMG, from "creating, trafficking in, facilitating the use of or using computer programs or other automatic devices to circumvent" the copy protection system on Ticketmaster's Web site. (Reuters)

Lacter on radio: This morning's chat with KPCC's Steve Julian covers the economic importance of the I-5 and the ongoing squabble over a port plan to reduce emissions.