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Why stocks are down: Analysts say it's nothing personal - Wall Street had anticipated an Obama win and so the actual voting was a non-event in Wednesday's trading. "It's virtually all technical, psychological, and very little to do with politics," Jack A. Ablin, chief investment officer at Harris Private Bank, told AP. "Everyone was buying the rumor yesterday and selling the news today ... Everything pretty much occurred as expected, so now we're kind of moving on to the next thing."
ABC leads election coverage: Early Nielsen numbers show the network had a 9.3 rating for the 8-11 p.m. period. NBC was second, followed by CBS and Fox. Four years ago, NBC was first in the ratings. (MediaWeek)
Office market could weaken: Already-declining demand in the L.A. area is expected to accelerate, according Whitley Collins of Jones Lang LaSalle Americas. His worst-case scenario is 10 million square feet of space back on the market and rents falling by as much as 25 percent. Getting close scrutiny is the office space held by IndyMac and Countrywide. (WSJ)
Mortgage scam alleged: Criminal charges have been filed against eight people who are alleged to have duped homeowners into believing that their mortgages were being modified. The alleged scam involves a fictitious company known as First Gov (aka Foreclosure Prevention Services). The 39-count complaint includes felony charges of grand theft, money laundering and conspiracy. (LAT)
CB Richard Ellis splits up: Under terms of the separation, the struggling investment subsidiary, CBRE Realty Finance Inc., will operate on its own (its new name is Realty Finance Corp.). There has been confusion about the real estate and investment sides of the business. (LAT)
Mervyns may pay workers: The department store chain, now in the process of being liquidated, will provide accrued vacation pay after all, provided that a going-out-of-business sale raises enough cash to pay off its debt to Wachovia. Mervyns’ employees say they need their vacation pay to carry them through the weeks of unemployment. (WSJ)
U.S. News becomes a monthly: An earlier plan to publish every two weeks never got off the ground. Sounds like the focus will be more on special issues about consumer advice and product ratings. (NYT)
Mark Lacter created the LA Biz Observed blog in 2006. He posted
until the day before his death on Nov. 13, 2013.