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January 31, 2008
L.A. has never been known for its big corporate presence, but this is getting ridiculous. Computer Sciences, a very large...
Let’s call this shareholders revenge. SRM Global Fund, the hedge fund run by former UBS trader Jon Wood, has taken...
January 30, 2008
More money for Tribune to pare down that monster debt. Hudson Capital, which already owns Sunset Gower Studios, has purchased...
I have deadline commitments elsewhere so posting will be very spotty over the next couple of days....
January 29, 2008
Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis told an investor conference today that the purchase is moving along and won't require...
How bad are L.A. homes prices?: Well, they're not dropping quite as much as those in San Diego, Vegas and...
January 28, 2008
They're already calling it the clash of the titans. John Malone's Liberty Media is trying to seize control of Barry...
Sky Dayton, who had been CEO of the L.A.-based wireless carrier, is replaced by Wohnee Sull, who had been president...
It's taken a while - and it might not last long - but there's been a significant drop in the...
Will the Fed lower rates?: It's a pretty good bet - even after last week's big cut - although now...
January 27, 2008
The always entertaining Ben Stein has an interesting theory in the NYT about the current market uproar. Under the heading...
January 26, 2008
You simply can’t get away from all the recession chatter. Are we in one? Are we not? How bad? How...
January 25, 2008
There are lots and lots of business organizations in L.A., but apparently they're unable to control the agenda the way...
That's right, bolsters production. On-location shooting was up almost 13 percent last year, according to FilmLA, with much of the...
She's settling her $100 million lawsuit against HarperCollins parent News Corp. for undisclosed terms. Natch. But inquiring minds want to...
Say this for the former Mouse House CEO: He's not afraid to try new things, even at the risk of...
Too much, too fast: Did Fed Chairman Bernanke act too quickly and hastily in lowering interest rates on Tuesday? That...
January 24, 2008
Those woe-is-us whiners keep insisting that the writers strike will practically destroy the local economy as we know it. A...
C'mon, that's what the cable business channels really boil down to, right? Or, putting it another way: Young babes interviewing...
Times Publisher David Hiller used his internal blog to lay out the job description for the big job. Several items...
So much for one of Rupert Murdoch's early ideas for the WSJ. You might recall his interest in lifting the...
Stocks still shaky: Positive earnings at AT&T, Lockheed and Nokia seem to be helping, along with reports of a bond...
January 23, 2008
People is the only celebrity magazine to have the young actor on its upcoming cover, the result of a production...
Mortgage rates have fallen to their lowest levels since the peak of the real estate boom in 2004. Also, mortgage...
Markets still down: The Dow was off more than 200 points in early trading, then came back quite a bit...
January 22, 2008
This is a big development because it means that the guild will now focus squarely on Internet compensation, which has...
The Fed's decision to cut interest rates by three-quarters of a point is being jeered in some circles as a...
Shares in the Calabasas-based mortgage company are up around 7 percent today, presumably on the comments of Bank of America...
Not that we need this kind of news on a day when the financial markets are struggling to keep it...
Market coming back: After opening down more than 400 points, the Dow is recovering somewhat, with the index down only...
January 21, 2008
Why is this getting to be so complicated? Well, maybe it tells you something about relations between Publisher David Hiller...
Judging by today's trading in stock index futures, Tuesday could be a very, very tough day on Wall Street. The...
That's the lament of David Simon, former Baltimore Sun reporter and now executive director of HBO's "The Wire," whose Washington...
Editor & Publisher is quoting a source "close to Los Angeles executives" (whatever that means) as saying that Russ Stanton,...
Overseas markets plunge: U.S. exchanges are closed for the MLK holiday, but trading in most Asian markets has been grim....
January 20, 2008
LAT Editor James O'Shea apparently refused to trim $4 million from the newsroom budget, leading to some sort of confrontation...
January 19, 2008
The groundbreaking ceremony is being postponed for the third time, which is bound to raise questions on whether the much-ballyhooed...
January 18, 2008
Well, at least when it comes to their own employees. Portfolio's Jeff Bercovici says that the average Zagat employee is...
The December jobless rate in L.A. County was 5.6 percent, up from 5.3 percent the previous month and 5 percent...
Here's another reality check for Writers Guild members: NBC Universal's 10 percent increase in fourth-quarter operating profit and 8 percent...
Will writers buy into directors deal?: Writers Guild President Patric Verrone isn't saying much ("We need to assess how this...
January 17, 2008
Susan Estrich, the Fox News columnist and USC law professor, has joined the L.A. powerhouse law firm of Quinn Emanuel,...
The tentative contract agreement with the networks and studios was just announced after six days of formal negotiations. the LAT...
When the chairman of the Federal Reserve testifies on Capitol Hill and strongly hints of more interest rate cuts, investors...
Merrill Lynch's medicine: Everybody expected a bad number, so the $9.8 billion fourth-quarter loss wasn't that much of a surprise...
January 16, 2008
The February issue of the Conde Nast biz mag reviews Hollywood's financial winners and losers. Here's a sample of a...
The opening night of Fox's megahit beat out the network competition by a healthy margin, but viewership was 10 percent...
A planned 78-unit condo development on the corner of Wilshire and Barrington in West L.A. is on hold until June,...
High anxiety: Today, it's a profit warning from Intel and a 34 percent decline in earnings at JP Morgan. Markets...
January 15, 2008
The Pasadena-based mortgage lender is cutting its work force by more than 2,400 people, or 24 percent. Regional wholesale mortgage...
The Bev Hills real estate investor gets the up close and personal treatment in a P1 WSJ profile in which...
Yep, he wore black during this morning’s presentation at Macworld in SF and introduced the stuff that had been expected...
The December median price in L.A. County was a jaw-dropping $470,000, which is down 10.5 percent from a year earlier...
Citi's ugly numbers: The bank's fourth-quarter loss weighed in at close to $10 billion, the result of $17.4 billion in...
January 14, 2008
What really got Wall Street is a tizzy about the economy was last month's sour employment reports, which showed a...
This award show one seemed to be on safe ground, but now it seems that several big-name recording artists who...
The early writeups on last night's ratings point to the abysmally low viewership for NBC's hour-long program announcing the winners,...
Will directors cut quick deal? That's the Hollywood chatter this morning after contract talks over the weekend between the Directors...
January 12, 2008
Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis got a phone call in early December from Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo, who said...
January 11, 2008
They'll begin formal contract talks with the studios and networks tomorrow. But they won't be starting from scratch - members...
BW media writer Jon Fine offers some advice for the new press baron - stuff like cutting more deals with...
This is the time of year we start hearing about profits per partner at local law firms. It's the very...
Or so says Henry Blodget writing in Silicon Valley Insider - and quite at odds with the Pollyanna forecast of...
Countrywide followups: There will be lots of hand-wringing on this one, much of it centered on the wisdom of Bank...
Depends on which newspaper you're reading - or which compensation expert you're using. The NYT expert pegs the exit package...
The $4 billion all-stock deal announced this morning puts an end to the daily soap opera starring the nation's largest...
January 10, 2008
Yeah, I know - it's impossible. But former MGM vice chairman Chris McGurk thinks he's on to something. Really. He's...
Talk about a deal that's hard to turn down. You might recall that Bank of America came to Countrywide's rescue...
An agreement could be announced today, according to the indie's co-founder Harvey Weinstein, who was interviewed by the NYT. Apparently,...
The WSJ reports that the bank is in advanced talks to acquire the struggling Calabasas-based mortgage lender. Two sources are...
It's time for tech writers to sum up the annual craziness at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Tech...
Break out those anti-depressants. It’s a glum news day. Deep cuts in state budget: That includes closing 48 state parks,...
January 9, 2008
Pretty low, it seems. Today's close was $5.12, down 6.4 percent from yesterday's awful showing. At one point it was...
It's a tentative agreement that will give union employees in the news division a 3.5 percent wage increase and a...
With the networks about to launch their mid-season, strike-impaired schedules, Michael Learmonth at Silicon Alley Insider handicaps the winners and...
The annual United Van Lines tally of who is moving where finds that L.A. had more outbound traffic in 2007...
Countrywide's shaky December: The mortgage lender said its delinquency rate continued to climb last month - 7.2 percent of unpaid...
January 8, 2008
There's not much information, but THR has a short story reporting that Axium International, which is Hollywood's top payroll services...
We refer to Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo, who over the years has managed to say the darndest things. In early...
Again. The Dow lost another 238 points, in part because of the concerns about Countrywide (see below), but more broadly,...
Hillary Clinton will be losing many of her fair weather show biz supporters, who appear ready to join the Barack...
The stock is getting whacked this morning - at last check down 17.5 percent, to $6.30 (it had been as...
The L.A.-based defense contractor, which normally sticks to the air and sea, now wants a chance to build as many...
KB takes big hit: The L.A.-based homebuilder reported a $772.7 million fourth-quarter loss, compared with a $50 million loss a...
January 7, 2008
After hovering just below $100 a barrel last week, oil futures are coming down, closing today at $95.09. The sell-off...
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association will forgo the fancy-schmancy awards ceremony and instead hold what sounds like a press conference...
The online traders were right on the money last week in Iowa, and for tomorrow's New Hampshire primary they've given...
As in L.A., no one has reliable numbers, but Crain's NY Business estimates that thousands of the area's 78,000 production...
Don't try telling that to anyone waiting in a cab line during this week's Consumer Electronics Show. But with 30,000...
More bad housing numbers: December home sales in L.A. County plunged 66 percent from a year earlier and the median...
January 4, 2008
The boxing star's investment company, Golden Boy Enterprises, had teamed up with two local developers in trying to buy the...
Akre Capital Management, which reports holding a 13.4 percent stake in the retailer, wants to see a turnaround plan, including...
That means none of the more than 70 actors nominated for a Golden Globe, according to Screen Actors Guild President...
No, not the weather - the stock market. The Dow took a 256-point hit as December's job numbers turned out...
Has recession arrived?: This morning's jobs report would certainly suggest as much. December payrolls rose by a mere 18,000, way...
January 3, 2008
The government says that two studies confirm the potential danger of anemia drugs sold by the Thousand Oaks-based company, as...
Traders who dabble in the political prediction markets (yes, there is such an animal) are betting that it'll be Obama...
The nifty Netflix deal with Korea's LG Electronics to bring online video to your TV screen is getting a bunch...
It's only the first night, but the "Tonight Show" bested the "Late Show" by a bunch - 5.8 million viewers...
Markets still shaky:: The Dow is up around 70 points and oil is trading at $99 and change, although at...
January 2, 2008
"Nice to be with you, rabbi,” Robin Williams tells Dave during his appearance on tonight's "Late Show." As reported by...
When Sung Won Sohn took over as head of L.A.-based Hanmi Financial two years ago, the stock was trading at...
All commodity prices are up today, as the dollar keeps slumping and investors start to worry about inflation. The $100-a-barrel...
Happy New Year! Here's wishing everyone a healthy and fulfilling 2008. Bad start for economy: The Dow is already down...
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| While the 405 widening project slogs along late and over budget, one nugget of good news if you drive that stretch of freeway. As of Friday, a northbound lane will open for 1.7 miles between the 10 Freeway and Santa Monica Boulevard.
| If city officials still don't know how many dispensaries are operating in the city, how on earth will they enforce a ballot measure that restricts the number to 135?