Thursday morning headlines

Strange day: Man, talk about a morning when you don’t want to go to work. Don’t expect productivity to be especially high, what with the heat, the absences, and just two days to the weekend. After about an hour of trading, the market was appropriately flat.

Other hotel deals in the works?: Now that Bev Hills-based Hilton has been snapped up, there’s a lot of chatter – and so far that’s all it is – about Marriott and Starwood being next in line for takeovers. The WSJ notes that the major private equity firms like Blackstone are acting less like short-term buyers and more like strategic investors – much as a direct competitor might. (WSJ)

Falling behind on debt: The first-quarter delinquency rate on all loans was 2.42 percent, which was the highest level since 2001, when the nation had to deal with 9/11, the tech bust and a recession. Much of the current debt woes can be traced the housing slump (falling home prices and tougher financing requirements). What’s amazing is that delinquencies on credit card bills fell slightly during the quarter. (LAT)

Supermarket update: We can assuredly report that contract talks have recessed until next week. What’s unclear is why. The United Food and Commercial Workers union says the negotiations have stalled, while the three chains say that they’re only breaking to give negotiators and the federal mediator a long holiday weekend. Meanwhile, the union is selecting picket captains and stocking food banks – just in case. (LAT)

Pressure on Telemundo: How much did managers at the Spanish-language network know about the relationship that Mirthala Salinas had with Antonio Villaraigosa – and when did they know it? That’s a very good question, but the Telemundo folks have not gone beyond their silly canned responses (they’re clearly unprepared to deal with this kind of story; has Mike Sitrick been called?). An outfit called ERS News.com is reporting that Salinas told her supervisors on three occasions in the past year that she was not having an affair with the mayor.

Chinese fess up:Nearly one-fifth of the products sold in China products failed to meet the nation’s quality standards (whatever those are). The items ranged from baby clothes to bottled water to grass-cutting equipment. Beer, however, seemed to be safe. From the WSJ:

Chinese officials and media have been sending mixed messages on the safety of China's products since late March, when U.S. authorities first linked the death of pets there to tainted pet food imported from China. The pet food contained the industrial chemical melamine. Yesterday, the state-run Xinhua news agency quoted Li Yuanping, a senior official in charge of imported and exported food safety at the quality-control watchdog, as saying that "99% of food exported to the United States was up to safety standards over the past two years, which is a very high percentage." At the same time, an editorial in the state-run China Daily newspaper said food exports have sometimes failed foreign guidelines "not because the food itself was of low quality but because the standards we use may be lower."

Jacked-up rents: No, it's not your imagination. Commercial rents are shooting up not only in L.A. but all over the nation. One explanation is a shortage of available space. Another is a much harder line being taken in lease negotiations by private equity groups that have snapped up office properties (they're looking to offset the top dollar they paid for these buildings). Nationwide, effective rents on office properties jumped an average of 3.1 percent in the second quarter, up 2.1 percent a year earlier. (WSJ)

2nd Quarter Rent (% change from 1st Quarter)

--New York +7.8%

--San Francisco +6.3%

--Seattle +5.4%

--San Jose +5.4%

--Los Angeles +3.8%

--Washington, D.C. +3.5%

Source: Reis Inc. via WSJ

Barneys deal not done?: Jones Apparel Group received an unsolicited offer this morning for its luxury retail chain (NY, Bev Hills, etc) that's higher than agreement it made last month with Dubai government's investment arm. Japan's Fast Retailing Co. has offered $900 million to buy Barneys (the deal with Dubai's Istithmar was for $825 million). Fast Retailing operates 1,800 stores in more than 12 countries with sales of $3.7 billion last year. Actually, Jones is allowed to receive counter offers (it would have to pay Istithmar a termination fee of up to $22.7 million). (Marketwatch)

Do you believe this stat?: Nearly 50 percent of Americans between 21 and 32 have at least one tattoo or a piercing other than in an ear, according to a 2006 study by the University of Chicago and Northwestern University. A 2003 Harris Poll found that both men and women say their tattoos make them feel sexy and rebellious. The survey results are embedded in an LAT story about how some employers have become more accepting of piercing and body art, though it depends a lot on the job, the region of the country, and the extent of the markings.

Policies are all over the map. PricewaterhouseCoopers' says only that employees must wear "professional" attire, making no mention of ink. Employees at aircraft maker Boeing Co. can show off tattoos so long as the designs aren't what a spokesman called "offensive," but grocery workers at Vons are advised to totally cover up. The dress code for Disney theme parks and resorts is among the most explicit and conservative: no visible tattoos, and the only permissible piercings are one per earlobe. Earrings must be "a simple matched pair in gold, silver or a color that blends with the costume," company spokesman Donn Walker said. Hoops can't be bigger than a dime. Many law firms also prefer conventional looks, as Nicole Wool discovered. Six years ago, on her second day as an associate with an L.A. entertainment firm, one of the older partners took her aside and told her to take out her tongue stud.