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Stocks are falling: Weaker-than-expected retail sales and a sour deficit outlook could be playing a role in early trading. Dow is down about 60 points.
Big cuts considered for LAUSD: Faced with a $408 million deficit, school officials are looking at several thousand teacher layoffs and a cut in employee benefits. (Daily News)
Kerkorian transfers foundation to UCLA: The Lincy Foundation's assets, which total around $200 million, will establish the Dream Fund, to be used to support medical research and academic programs, as well as other "charitable projects throughout the United States." (LAT)
Another rise in gas prices: This is the 11th straight week of increases. An average gallon in the L.A. area is $3.453, up about four cents from last week, according to the government survey.
Brace yourself for higher prices: On most everything. Manufacturers are ready to pass them onto consumers. From the NYT:
Cotton prices are near their highest level in more than a decade, after adjusting for inflation, and leather and polyester costs are jumping as well. Copper recently hit its highest level in about 40 years, and iron ore, used for steel, is fetching extremely high prices. Prices for corn, sugar, wheat, beef, pork and coffee are soaring. Labor overseas is becoming more expensive, meanwhile, and so are the utility bills to keep a factory running. "There are cost pressures from virtually everywhere," said Wesley R. Card, the chief executive of the Jones Group, whose brands include Nine West and Anne Klein. After trying to keep retail prices flat or even lower during the recession, Jones says prices for its brands will climb 15 to 20 percent by autumn.
CA foreclosures taking off: They jumped 51.2 percent from December to January, according to ForeclosureRadar, and things could get worse next month. From Business Insider:
"Despite months of slow sales, we've simply returned to prior levels, which to me indicates banks remain reluctant to aggressively foreclose despite the time it takes to foreclose being at or near record levels," said Sean O'Toole, founder and CEO of ForeclosureRadar. "And large inventories of properties [are] still scheduled for foreclosure sale."
CB Richard Ellis makes $1-billion purchase: The L.A.-based real estate company will acquire the bulk of ING Group's real estate investment management business. The deal will add almost $60 billion to CB's properties, (Reuters)
Mark Lacter created the LA Biz Observed blog in 2006. He posted
until the day before his death on Nov. 13, 2013.