Monday morning headlines

Stocks higher: Credit markets seem to be opening up and there’s more talk of a second government stimulus plan.

SAG seeks compromise: The Screen Actors Guild has asked that a federal mediator try to revive contract talks with the studios and networks. There also are plans for a strike authorization vote, but only if the federal mediators fail to make progress. No immediate comment from the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers. From Variety:

Sunday’s decision to ask for a mediator also represents a policy reversal for [SAG President Alan] Rosenberg, who repudiated a similar resolution in August when SAG’s New York Division board asked for a mediator to be brought into the talks. At the time, Rosenberg accused the New York leaders of playing politics, warned that such a move had not worked during the WGA negotiations and asserted that it could be counter-productive.

Hollywood cutbacks: In a nod to the economic bad times, NBC Universal wants to trim $500 million from next year's budget (only about 3 percent). The focus is said to be on promotional expenses and discretionary spending for travel and staffing. Actually, NBC has been one of the few bright spots for its parent, GE. From the WSJ:

Keith Sherin, GE's chief financial officer, said the company is worried about profits and advertising at the local station level and at the NBC broadcast network. "We are cautious on the outlook here," he said. Local stations, including NBC Universal's, have been battered by declines in local advertising, especially from the automobile and retail industries. Overall ad spending on local stations was already down 4.4% in the first half of 2008, according to TNS Media Intelligence. In the spring.

Green is good: The state's energy-efficiency policies created 1.5 million jobs from 1977 to 2007, while eliminating fewer than 25,000, according to a new study. “When consumers shift one dollar of demand from electricity to groceries,” the study said, they create jobs among retailers, wholesalers, food processors and other businesses. (NYT)

Hanmi under scrutiny: L.A.'s largest ethnic Korean bank has been directed by regulators to shore up its capital levels, Hanmi, which posted a second quarter loss of $106 million, is restricted from paying dividends, acquiring stock or hiring new executives without regulatory approval. A similar agreement was made with Alliance Bancshares California in Culver City. (Business Journal)

Viacom for sale? Sumner Redstone's cash crunch is so severe that selling Viacom or CBS - which he also controls - is now a real possibility, according to the NY Post. Redstone used shares in the two companies as collateral for his privately-held National Amusements. Viacom, which owns Paramount, is considered more valuable but could be harder to sell.

"Sumner needs more money," said one source with knowledge of the situation. A second source described the situation as grim enough that the sale of pieces of CBS - like some radio stations, or the publisher Simon & Schuster - or some of the Viacom properties would not be enough to cure the cash shortfall. That's because if CBS sells a unit the proceeds from the sale would stay with CBS and not flow up to Redstone's NAI. However, proceeds from the sale of all of CBS would flow to NAI.

Mattel misses expectations: The El Segundo toy maker's third quarter profit edged up on higher sales of its Fisher-Price and American Girl brands, but sales of Barbie remained weak. (AP)

Disney Hall turns five: The Downtown News talks to a bunch of movers and shakers about what the Frank Gehry-designed venue has meant for downtown L.A. Best line comes from Councilmember Jan Perry: "[Tourists] stand in the middle of Hope Street with their cameras pointed up, and I go, 'Please God, don't let them get hit.'"