Follow LA Observed on Twitter here
Foreclosure tally: The L.A. area had a foreclosure rate last year of 2.89 percent – well below Stockton, Vegas and Riverside that topped the list with rates in the 8-9 percent range. All told, L.A. had 97,000 foreclosure filings, which is a 113 percent jump from 2007. The numbers from Realty Trac include all filings: default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions. From the release:
The California law (SB1137), which required lenders to provide written notice of their intent to initiate foreclosure proceedings 30 days prior to issuing a notice of default (NOD), resulted in a reduction of NODs from 44,278 in August to 21,665 in September. Notice of Default filings then surged by 122 percent, to over 42,000, in December. Similar patterns have occurred in other states, such as Massachusetts and Maryland, where similar types of foreclosure prevention legislation has been enacted.
Market downdraft: The Dow is down about 130 points in early trading - for all the obvious reasons.
Transitioning Chase: More than 700 Washington Mutual branches in California will be rebranded with Chase's octagonal blue logo by March 31 as part of the acquisition by banking giant JP Morgan Chase. CEO Jamie Dimon, who has been doing the road tour this week, says, "we're trying to do this very gently for the customers." No WaMu branches will be closed in California, but JP Morgan will eliminate 4,200 jobs. (LAT)
JP Morgan reports slim profit: For that the banking giant can thank gains made from the Washington Mutual purchase. The bank did have to mark down another $2.9 billion of leveraged loans. Dimon called the results "very disappointing," and he said it may get worse. (NYT)
Troubled office market: L.A. landlords could be forced to slash rents by as much as 30 percent in the first half of 2009 because job cuts have emptied out a bunch of offices, according to Grubb & Ellis. In OC, office rents will probably drop 10 percent over the next 12 months. (Bloomberg)
What about Steve?: Both the NYT and WSJ cite unnamed sources as saying that Apple CEO Steve Jobs does not have a recurrence of cancer, as some have speculated, but rather a condition that’s preventing his body from absorbing food. Doctors have advised him to cut down on stress, which may be making the problem worse. No comment from the Apple people.
DreamWorks to pay Paramount: The $26.5 million bill is for the right to keep 17 films. (DreamWorks left the Paramount fold last year.) Variety reports that Steven Spielberg will be shelling out his own money to pay half the bill. The other half will be paid by Reliance, the Indian media giant that has invested heavily in the refashioned DreamWorks.
Biz-mag ad pages take dip: Only Fast Company had a strong year, with a 23.9 percent increase in advertising pages. On the other side were Forbes, dropping 14.1 percent, and SmartMoney, falling 29.7 percent. Fortune was flat. (Folio)
Mark Lacter created the LA Biz Observed blog in 2006. He posted
until the day before his death on Nov. 13, 2013.