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Newsy day over at Mark Lacter's daily business blog. 
He posted on the troubling questions over Pixar's stock options, Wonder Bread's product placement in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby and speculation about how deeply Macy's will cut its ad buys. Mark is also keeping an eye on the Alaskan oil pipeline shutdown and how it's going to hurt us at the gas pump here. I'm feeling achy already. LA Biz Observed
Elsewhere on the beat: The LA Business Journal has a new real estate reporter, replacing the departed Andy Fixmer. Hard shoes to fill on a high-profile LABJ beat. The new guy is Dan Miller, who graduated last year from UCLA and is coming off an internship at the Ventura County Star. Editor Charles Crumpley's email to the staff follows:
Daniel Miller will join us as a reporter beginning Friday, Aug. 11. He will cover real estate and sit at Andy Fixmer’s former desk.
Daniel is a young reporter who’s just finished a year-long internship at the Ventura County Star. He graduated last year from UCLA, where he worked four years on the Daily Bruin. He also worked as an intern at the Daily Breeze and the OC Register.
As a conversation starter….Daniel plays guitar in a rock band, and the band has a song in an upcoming movie.
Charlie