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What about gas prices?: The L.A. Times' Elizabeth Douglass provides an excellent look at how the BP oil field shutdown might affect local pump prices. Pessimists are talking $4 gas, but no one really knows. There are, however, several contingency plans that might mitigate the loss of so much oil.
Another options case: Video game publisher THQ Inc. becomes the latest company to be scrutinized by regulators over the way it has granted stock options. The Calabasas Hills-based company said it's also conducting an internal review. The SEC has more than 80 investigations underway into how companies have been granting stock options. The question is whether they're manipulating the dates to boost payouts for their executives.
In-N-Out update: The burger chain's new president, Mark Taylor, says that the death of co-founder Esther Snyder won't change the company's growth plans, which have been slow and steady. By the way, the main heir to the family fortune is 24-year-old granddaughter Lynsi Martinez. She won't gain majority control until she turns 35. The Daily News notes Snyder's pioneering efforts in the fast food business.
What's wrong at LAX?: We knew that the runway construction was going to cause problems, but what about a computer snafu involving a landing system? The problem delayed flights by more than 90 minutes as jets were forced to circle around the airport. Last month, flight operations were shut down because of a radar failure.
Concerns at Countrywide: The Wall Street Journal's Heard on the Street column (subscription required) focuses on mortgage lender Countrywide Financial as it cuts costs in a slowing housing market. Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo is preparing for a rocky ride. "I've never seen a soft landing in 53 years," he said in a conference call. A down housing market means fewer home loans and more defaults for the Calabasas-based company.
Movie madness: August is shaping up to be an unusually strong month at the box office, fueled by "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby" and perhaps by the Oliver Stone-directed drama "World Trade Center," which opens Wednesday. Grosses for summer 2006 have surpassed 2005 in 18 out of the last 20 weekends.
More "Today": Daily Variety is reporting (subscription required) that NBC might add a fourth hour to the "Today" show. The move would push the show to 11 a.m. and could impact the syndication market.
Bebo sale?: Viacom, which was outbid by News Corp. for MySpace, is apparently going after another social networking site, Bebo. The site has a limited presence in the U.S., but apparently it's quite hot in the UK.
Billboard layoffs: VNU Business Media announces the cuts at Billboard Information Group, publisher of Radio & Records and Billboard magazine. They come a few weeks after after VNU acquired Radio & Records and merged it with VNU’s radio industry publication Billboard Radio Monitor.
Sterling sued: The Justice Department files a discrimination suit against Clippers owner and real estate mogul Donald Sterling. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court, accuses him of favoring Korean tenants while seeking to exclude African Americans and families with children from his apartment buildings in Los Angeles County.
Mark Lacter created the LA Biz Observed blog in 2006. He posted
until the day before his death on Nov. 13, 2013.