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LA Biz Observed archive
Mark Lacter covered business, the economy and more here from 2006 until his death on Nov. 13, 2013.
The entire LA Biz Observed archive — more than 10,000 blog posts by Mark —
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April 2010
The L.A. billionaire and long-time partner of Warren Buffett says that the bad behavior "came right at the top."
I'm on jury duty and out of pocket for much of the day. Two important local business stories so far this morning:
Mike Milken and Nouriel Roubini took a crack at where things stand today and where things are headed.
The combined airlines would top Delta as the world's largest carrier based on passengers carried.
L.A. City Councilman Ed Reyes has a hard time specifying the ways in which the deficit can be pared down.
If you want to understand why California's pension problems are getting so out of hand, look no further than these numbers,
We're talking cotton gabardine Khakis, and you can buy a pair at Bergdorf Goodman.
Goldman may want to cut a deal, high foreclosure rates in CA cities, new optimism about a deal for Greece, and Chase adds branches in Socal.
Modern Luxury Media has been approached by several parties. Earlier this year, lenders seized control of the company.
The airline will have five weekly flights between L.A. and Rome, beginning June 5.
The jump in retail sales, much ballyhooed as the start of a stronger-than-expected recovery, is not indicative of what's going on.
It's somehow appropriate that a gambling portal is placing odds on how the Wall Street saga will play out.
Virtually all of California had double-digit unemployment in March, with El Centro topping the list of all metro areas in the nation.
If the case against Goldman Sachs sounds complicated, just think about trying to fix a horse race.
Greece on the verge of financial collapse, bank foreclosures likely to rise, WellPoint profit soars, and NY to charge for filming.
The Santa Monica-based company has been sued by 38 former and current staffers of its development studio.
No offense to Joel Kotkin, but I just don't believe that L.A.'s job growth picture is worse than in Buffalo, NY.
That might seem nutty, considering that the firm is getting its butt kicked on Capitol Hill.
Everybody is taking their shot at the immigration law, including L.A. City Councilwoman Janice Hahn.
Ted Turner and T. Boone Pickens pushed for federal legislation that would stress cleaner, greener domestically produced energy.
All it took was S&P downgrading Greek debt to junk status. Financing risks are growing.
Lots of live coverage on today's Congressional testimony involving the Wall Street giant.
Goldman hearing under way, L.A. home prices dip, LAX vendors crying foul, and Disneyland alone in local attendance gains.
Try Greek government bonds. Two-year yields are running 13.522 percent.
Advertising man Richard Beckman will be running THR. He seems like a perfect Hollywood fit.
Her actions are like a mega-millionaire movie star accepting award show swag: Tacky but permissible.
All told, 82 flights, or 12 percent, will be trimmed from the airline's weekly schedule out of Burbank.
Live Nation's chairman reminds us why nothing that's said in the entertainment industry should be taken all that seriously:
A provision in the financial reform bill would have allowed Berkshire Hathaway to avoid taking a significant hit.
Big dip in LAT circulation, Carl's Jr. parent accepts buyout bid, rental car costs fall in L.A., and Parks says bankruptcy can't be ruled out.
The SEC may be accused of falling asleep these past few years, but it's not because a few of its employees are watching porn on the job.
With Arizona turning into a police state when it comes to undocumented workers (see NYT story), and with immigration reform stepping into the center ring in Congress, perhaps it's worth remembering the economic benefits of having a flexible and humane immigration program. A recent UCLA study says that legalization of undocumented immigrants would add about $1.5 trillion to the U.S. gross domestic product over 10 years. A study by the Fiscal Policy Institute shows that...
One in five American workers think it is "very" or "fairly" likely that they will lose their jobs during the next 12 months.
The story behind the premium jean maker's Chapter 11 filing seems to center on the company's biggest creditor Richard Koral.
Higher premiums of as much as 39 percent couldn't be put in place until the end of May at the earliest.
The homebuyers tax credit runs out a week from today, and the big boost in March new home sales seems to reflect that.
The financial crisis has shaken everybody up, including folks who would seem to have it made.
Countrywide deal in works, CA's $325 billion pension bill, MTA endorses "30-10" transportation plan, and LAX backlog clearing.
By sharing the rights to the NCAA tournament with CBS, Turner can apply more pressure on cable companies to boost its program fees.
The average household spent $99,624 last year, which isn't in the same league as Kenilworth, IL. Where?
You can learn a lot about different regions of the country just by tracking the way money travels.
The two industries best positioned to capitalize on what could be a $40-billion market are tobacco and pharmaceuticals.
Now Villaraigosa says that the utility's problem lies with its high-level supervisors - something he says it out of his control.
Besides rising health care costs, L.A.'s affluent are increasingly concerned about whether they'll have enough money to last their lifetimes.
Why Karatz was convicted, Goldman case gets tougher, L.A. mayor talks pension reform, and Kindles on sale at Target.
Yale economist Robert Shiller sees unusual activity in both the housing and stock markets, putting the recovery at some risk.
One question kept coming up in the years after the former KB Home CEO was implicated in a backdating scandal: Why?
Daily Journal reports that the former CEO of KB Home was convicted on four of 20 counts, including mail fraud and making false statements to accountants and shareholders for backdating stock options to boost his pay. From AP: A federal jury on Wednesday found Bruce Karatz guilty of two counts of mail fraud, one count of lying to company accountants and one count of making false statements in reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission....
You know things are bad when one of the cost-saving measures trotted out in the mayor's new budget is the email system.
SEC goes after banks, City Hall lacking credibility, clean truck trial opens, and new hope for Chrysler.
The CEO of Playa Vista tells the LAT that he's looking for another big challenge.
The mayor is proposing a five-step program that includes furloughs, layoffs, and public-private partnerships.
This video of a 58-year-old woman accused of hitting a federal security agent at Bob Hope Airport is one more example.
The giant land developer figures it's in a financial better position than many homebuilders.
First-quarter notices of default in L.A. County tumbled 43.5 percent from a year earlier.
New report finds that bank overdraft fees continue to be excessive and confusing.
One of the WSJ's star financial reporters was approached about the same time Charlie Gasparino bolted to Fox Business News.
Every once in a while we get reminded that the government reports everybody pays so much attention to are only estimates.
Goldman makes big money, mayor to outline budget plans, flights to Europe opening up, and Pinkberry closes original store.
Happy Monday. I have an infected computer on my hands. No posts for a while....
Here's another case of how a hedge fund bought collateralized debt obligations and then bet against its own securities.
Here's the 66-page presentation of the deal that's at the center of the SEC's case.
Travelers who took out insurance before April 13th stand a chance of being covered; volcanic eruptions are sometimes included in benefits.
It's not that easy to follow, but here's a good summation of what the SEC charges really amount to.
The mayor's "jobs czar" stressed that it would be a temporary assignment, and that he would still work as Villaraigosa's point man on business matters.
It's not just that the SEC is coming down on the Wall Street powerhouse, it's that the accusations involve securities fraud.
Unemployment appears to be peaking out, but those numbers show little sign of dropping significantly any time soon.
Tech hires picking up, Socal venture capital jumps in Q1, export traffic improving out of L.A. and Long Beach, and another NFL stadium idea.
The Santa Monica startup has hired Goldman Sachs to look into a public offering, possibly later this year.
This year's US News ranking has Harvard and Stanford tied for the top spot. UCLA is 15th, USC 20th.
That's one of the strange but true questions asked by business school admissions officers
Maybe the promoters are right when they say the concert business is recession-resistant.
City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana returned to work today almost three weeks after being arrested on suspicion of drunk driving.
Forget about getting to London today -- nine flights have been cancelled out of LAX because of the volcanic ash problems
Economists may have underestimated recovery, eating out is back, and foreclosures and bankruptcy filings take off.
It's the same 0.6 percent rate increase that was passed earlier this month - and the mayor seems fine with it.
Who knows how long this might go on, but markets typically change course after extreme volatility, and that's not happening.
The Republican National Committee offers a preview of what we're in for this fall. Fair and balanced it ain't.
Some ideas are offered for getting the city's wealthiest donors to contribute to local nonprofits that are aimed at the needy.
It's not a question of whether the economy is getting better. It's whether growth will get beyond the current okay-but-not-great levels.
Bernanke worries about deficit, shoppers are coming back, bids due on CA properties, and iPad sales are booming.
Details about her speaking gig at Cal State Stanislaus have not been made public, but students say they found some snippets.
Santa Monica-based electric car startup Coda Automotive is said to be in advanced talks with the CRA.
Business writer Roger Lowenstein is in town this Thursday to plug his book, "The End of Wall Street." It's part of the Drucker Business Forum series - he'll be talking with Tess Vigeland of Marketplace. The event takes place at KPCC's brand new Crawford Family Forum. Breakfast is at 7:45 and the program starts at 8:30. If you're interested, just email me at marklacter@aol.com....
The California Franchise Tax Board says it's Cnet founder Halsey Minor and his wife Shannon.
All told, it was a pretty good month, though not good enough to rule out more trouble later this year.
Wamu executives get grilled, trouble for Mercury Insurance, good readings on economy, and Twitter starts taking ads.
A five-year deal was done in 72 hours. Turner executives say they assumed O'Brien would sign with Fox.
The state had the fifth-highest rates in the country, with an average annual premium of $1,74.41,
The latest effort by Idealab impresario Bill Gross is something called TweetUp, which is basically a Twitter search engine.
So much for Fox - O'Brien will start up a new late-night show on TBS, beginning in November.
Not a big surprise here, but more questions are being raised about that multibillion-dollar bullet train between SF and L.A.
Well, at least dozen of them holding more than $3.6 billion in claims at the media company
Still not calling recession, Karatz jury is deliberating, CPK looks and options, and new rules for using interns.
These are tough times for organizations that help the needy. So why isn't L.A.'s wealthy class would pitching in?
This is the futures exchange that would allow investors to bet on the future box office performance of films.
The popular restaurant chain (aka California Pizza Kitchen) has been soliciting interest from private-equity firms, the WSJ reports.
That would be listening to Peter Kazanjy, who is the 30-year-old co-founder of a Web site called GetUnvarnished.com, where most anyone can post "reviews" about anyone else - anonymously. You might have heard about this nonsense - just out of beta testing, it's gotten tons of press, much of it negative (here's an LAT piece). Lawyers say the site is a "litigation nightmare" (we can only hope). Anyway, Kazanjy was on KPCC's "Airtalk" this morning,...
Briefly - and for the first time in 18 months. Then it slid back near the close. At the close, the Dow stood at 10,997....
More than 100 federal lawsuits involving sudden acceleration incidents will be consolidated in the Central District of California.
It's not a big enough crisis to shut down city services two days a week, but L.A. faces a shortfall of $222.4 million.
The owners of private planes are allowed to block their flight plans from the government's air traffic system.
Mood swings on the economy, big banks mask risk levels, L.A. property taxes save the day, and closing arguments in Karatz trial.
Today the mayor is saying that the budget crisis might be averted after all. Huh? How'd that happen?
March tax money coming into state coffers beat budget estimates by $356 million. Also, expenditures were lower than expected.
The state legislature passed a measure that would exempt certain homeowners from paying taxes on canceled debt.
First-quarter film, television and commercial production were up a total of 18 percent from a year earlier.
If economic forecasts going out as little as 12 months are more than a little iffy, what about an economic impact study that covers 30 years?
Anybody graduating this spring with a computer-related degree should be in pretty good shape.
Everything's back to normal at LAX after some jerk took off before his bag went through a secondary screening.
Villaraigosa backs down, B of A foreclosure jump expected, many Californians still satisfied with their state, and Oprah goes nighttime.
Any deal is at least several weeks off, according to the NYT, and might not even happen.
Among the 29 metro areas with unemployment rates of at least 15 percent, 13 were in California.
Several motions are scheduled to be introduced today that would make the department more accountable for its actions.
The mayor said he would ask the DWP board for some of the $73 million that the utility owes the city.
Estimates of a $525 billion shortfall were off base, says the pension fund, but the study's authors stand by their findings.
Fewer passengers are choosing to check in their items, which means the airlines have not been losing as many bags.
They're less than thrilled with Villaraigosa's plan to shut down city services two days a week.
Greenspan defends himself, L.A. budget battle called "a manhood contest," city's bond rating is cut, and Carl's Jr. parent gets better offer.
The Weinstein brothers, the Gores brothers and a third unnamed party have submitted new offers.
Company CEO was described by Rolling Stone as "a villain ripped straight from the comic books."
The City Controller was on Bloomberg News this morning, talking about the budget crisis
Members demanded that the DWP board "honor their commitment" to transfer $73 million the city had been counting on to remain solvent.
Villaraigosa is proposing that all city agencies, excluding public safety, be shut down for two days a week, beginning April 12.
That's how much California's public pension systems are underfunded, according to a report.
No-interest loans (in some cases for as long as five years) and discount leases will be offered for another month.
The company paid an extra $151,000 last year on a variety of measures for Angela Braly and her family.
Supermarkets and restaurants do it all the time, despite the desperate need for surplus food.
Boost in CA's economy, actress sues "Desperate Housewives" creator, Loehmann's in trouble, and oil prices head higher.
Mortgage Guaranty Insurance insured a bunch of Countrywide mortgages and says some of them never should have been made.
Without a $90 million transfer of reserve funds, the city will be in the red by May 5, according to Controller Wendy Greuel.
The federal government will seek a $16.375 million civil fine against Toyota, the largest allowed.
It goes back several decades ago when separate pensions were created for cops and
firefighters.
UCLA's Anderson School will honor Fred Smith as recipient of this year's John Wooden Global Leadership Award.
A timely primer about how the city's fiscal condition could have deteriorated so badly.
Financial reform could be getting close, 300,000 iPads sold on first day, corporate jet use increases, and strawberries are cheap.
Sales begin tomorrow morning at 9 and you had better get in line early.
He was none too pleased to hear about one juror's inappropriate hand shake. Also today was the testimony of Eli Broad.
The idea is to have Masaharu Morimoto create the menu for a restaurant at the airport.
Rock & Republic, the Culver City-based clothing house that filed for Chapter 11, does a lot of "inspired bondage numbers,"
Where exactly are those folks supposed to find a job? The short answer is no one knows.
Jobs report shows manufacturing revival, Riordan on Karatz, L.A. budget troubles intensify, and fewer viewers for CBS and ABC newscasts.
It's a mushy report that can be interpreted in any number of ways. The early read is that it's decent but not terrific news.
iTunes has a number of them available for purchase; the device goes on sale this Saturday.
She's dating a big-time hedge fund manager based in Los Angeles, according to the NY Daily News. But who?
Most economic work is aimed at prediction, and most predictions are forgotten almost as quickly as they're made.
...Hedge fund manager Richard Grubman holds a special place in our spleens. Yesterday, he was just another super-rich guy - today he's the jerk who parked his silver 2007 BMW X5 SUV in the wrong place and then went ballistic, throwing his car keys into a valet's face. From the Boston Herald: Grubman pitched his alleged curbside fit Tuesday at about 7 p.m. when he tried to head into the Ritz's Blu restaurant and was...
Some experts point to the $3-a-gallon threshold as a turning point for demand in the state.
A raft of incentives obviously helped push deals, though everyone admits it's a questionable strategy.
For what it does, the Apple tablet device is terrific. But there's a fair amount that it doesn't do as well as a laptop.
Markets betting on jobs report, Villaraigosa's aide takes shot at unions, hedge fund managers clean up in 2009, and Broad to defend Karatz.
Mark Lacter
Mark Lacter created the LA Biz Observed blog in 2006. He posted until the day before his death on Nov. 13, 2013.The multi-talented Mark Lacter
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