Monday morning headlines

Home price illusion: May's median price for L.A. County was $585,000, up 6.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the Business Journal's monthly tally prepared by HomeData Corp (online version not available). That defies anything the experts had projected last year - and it defies the patterns in many other metro markets. Here’s the explanation: higher-priced homes are selling more briskly than the low- and mid-priced ones (L.A., after all, remains a desired locale for the affluent). That pushes the numbers higher, but hardly reflects the overall market - a market that at the lower end is being smacked by tighter subprime loan requirements. All of which merely confirms a rich-poor economic divide that's getting a lot of attention in recent months - even if no one seems to have the first clue on how to fix it.

More box office trouble?: After a torrid movie-going May ("Spider-Man 3," "Shrek the Third" and "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," and "Knocked Up"), June is turning much cooler, with hopes of Hollywood's first $4 billion summer starting to fade. One big cause for concern: the numbers for those May blockbusters are falling fast. Keep in mind that the kids are still not out of school and that's typically when the numbers start to pile up. By the way, to our question about whether horror movies are in or out: “Hostel II” opened in the No. 6 spot, taking in $8.8 million – not a terrific start. LAT

What's with burger recall?: It's funny how little we know about companies in our own backyard until bad stuff happens. So it is with Vernon-based United Food Group, which is voluntarily expanding a recall of possibly contaminated fresh and frozen ground-beef products. The recall involves 5.7 million pounds that may have been contaminated with E. coli. At least 14 cases have been linked to the beef. As for United Food, it's been around since 1995, employs about 500 people and had sales in 2005 of $400 million. That limited info comes from American Capital Strategies Ltd., which last year acquired a stake in United Food. No specifics. Based on the American Capital Web site, United Food manufacturers fresh or frozen beef packaged in a plastic casing and frozen patties (yum-o!). The beef was on sale at retailers in 11 states, including California.

Executive comp lists: Both the LAT and Business Journal came out over the weekend with their annual lists of highest-paid CEOs, and there's really not much that hasn't already been reported by the NYT, WSJ and others. (Some pubs will delay their lists until about now in order to catch the stragglers filing proxies.) At least the Times includes a ranking of the compensation as a percentage of a company's net income - an exercise that finds Ryland CEO R. Chad Dreier taking out 8.7 percent of what otherwise would be going to shareholders. That's crazy high, especially since Ryland is in the not-so-healthy homebuilding business. By contrast, Occidental CEO Ray Irani is an absolute bargain, at just 1.3 percent of net income. Thing is, Irani's numbers are based on his compensation being $55.6 million, which is pretty misleading since it doesn't include cashing out deferred compensation and exercising options that gave him total take home pay last year of $464 million. There are all different ways of slicing and dicing this stuff - in fact, companies were allowed to report their numbers under old and new SEC rules, which prompted the Times to run two lists of California companies.

Disney cuts overseas deals: In the old days most every kind of Mouse House content originated from Burbank. It was an effort to keep a tight lid on the Disney brand, but it also stifled growth overseas because, well, Burbank didn't always know what Shanghai or Mumbai wanted to see. That grip seems to be loosening. The WSJ reports that Disney and family friendly Yash Raj Films are announcing a joint effort in which Disney-branded animated films will have the voices of Bollywood stars.

The company has given more power to local managers and is tailoring its strategies for the local markets. In China, for instance, where state regulation of television and movies is aggressive, Disney is leading its charge in retail, selling its plush toys and Mickey Mouse clothing to consumers on a nationwide buying binge. In Latin America, where Disney is well-known but historically considered an elite brand, the company is attempting to move into the broader mass market. In each case, Disney's international president, Andy Bird, says the goal is to build "a new generation that grows up with the Disney brand."

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Previously Disney stumbled badly in China after overlooking cultural differences. When it released its U.S. film "Mulan," based on a Chinese folk tale, a decade ago, the story was seen as too Westernized a version. When Hong Kong Disneyland first opened its doors in 2005, many Chinese visitors expected an amusement park like others in the country and were baffled by the storylines and unfamiliar characters connected with the rides. Some efforts to accommodate Chinese culture also went awry: Serving shark-fin soup at the theme park drew fire from conservationists.

Macy's kills KB store homes: It was just the sort of thing you'd expect from former KB CEO Bruce Karatz: build a bunch of Martha Stewart-adorned homes in the middle of Macy's stores in NY, Chicago and SF. Karatz, of course, first made a name for himself by teaming up with a French marketing executive to build a model house on top of an Au Printemps department store in Paris. This time, though, Macy's decided to scrub the idea, citing a soft housing market. KB Home spokeswoman Caroline Shaw told the WSJ that the idea was preliminary and the companies never got down to details - "one of those fun ideas that they talked about." Karatz was forced out of KB last fall because of the company's stock option backdating scandal, but Shaw said that had nothing to do with the Macy’s decision. Meanwhile, KB continues to market Martha Stewart-branded homes. So far, five Martha subdivisions have opened.

GE drops Dow Jones plan: The idea was for General Electric, in concert with Microsoft, to buy Dow Jones and then combine it with some portions of NBC Universal. NBC and Microsoft reps even talked to advisers for the Bancroft family, which controls the DJ voting shares. The idea was dropped, but that it was considered at all speaks volumes about how the News Corp. bid for DJ is scaring the daylights out of the folks at GE. The concern is that Rupert Murdoch's purchase of DJ would provide added value to his new business channel, and in the process devalue GE's CNBC. WSJ NYT

Tom Ford's L.A.: The former Gucci designer who has made his own mark on the fashion world, plans to open stores in Los Angeles, Milan, London and Hawaii over the next three years (and 100 stores worldwide over the next 10 years). That's an ambitious plan given that Ford has no track record as a retailer, but his focus is on luxury brands and the luxury business is booming. Ford also will start opening shops next year in Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman. Fashion Wire Daily