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Market recovering: The Dow is up about 100 points in early trading. Maybe Wall Street is getting used to the idea of GM filing for bankruptcy.
Bulls vs. bears: The rift between the two sides is especially wide these days. Bulls suspect the worst of the downturn is over and bears remain convinced that March was a sucker's rally. The NYT gets the view from both sides.
Home prices fall - again: The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index for January showed another big drop nationwide, though the L.A. percentage decline was little changed from the past few months. L.A. prices were down 2.9 percent from a month earlier and 25.8 percent from a year ago. What stands out is that all 20 cities in the report showed monthly and annual price declines. (AP, release)
Big jump in gas prices: An average gallon of regular in the L.A. area was $2.256, up more than a dime from last week, according to the government's latest report. (EIA)
Disney cruises to L.A.: The Port of Los Angeles becomes the new home for the Disney Wonder ship, starting in 2011. The move is expected to generate 2,600 new jobs and $7 million in annual tax revenue for the region. From the Daily Breeze:
It's something of a coup for the port, which has been trying to woo Disney for years. Temporary stints in 2005 and 2008 in which the Disney Magic cruise ship offered sails out of San Pedro were sold out each time. The new line will be "fantastic" for local business, predicted Jayme Wilson, manager of Ports O' Call Village on San Pedro's waterfront. Others had a more cautious outlook, saying Disney will likely shuttle passengers to Disneyland in Anaheim, rather than leave them to wander around San Pedro.
Disney-YouTube deal: The video site will launch several channels featuring short-form programming from both ESPN and Disney/ABC. Disney Media Networks will sell its own advertising inventory in a revenue-sharing arrangement with YouTube parent Google. The short-form videos will all be less than five minutes in length. (Variety)
Internet ad sales are up: But growth is starting to flatten, certainly compared with previous years. At least there was still growth - spending in network television declined 3.5 percent, in national magazines 7.6 percent and in local newspapers 7.8 percent. (NYT)
Karatz pleads not guilty: The former CEO of KB Home is accused of secretly backdating stock options for his own financial gain. Trial date is set for May 19. He's free on $750,000 bond secured by his Bel-Air mansion. (LAT)
Ticketmaster CEO is out: Not a huge surprise - when the big merger with Live Nation was announced earlier this year, Sean Moriarty was nowhere to be seen. The resignation happened last week, but wasn't announced until Monday. (THR)
Lacter on radio: This week's business chat with KPCC's Steve Julian covers the state's successful - and expensive - bond offering and the prospect for new home sales. Also on kpcc.org and on podcast.
Mark Lacter created the LA Biz Observed blog in 2006. He posted
until the day before his death on Nov. 13, 2013.