Wednesday morning headlines

L.A. incomes rising: The local economy is in decent shape. Really. The latest numbers from the Census Bureau show that median household income in L.A. County last year was $51,315, up 6.3 percent from 2005, while the percentage of residents living in poverty dropped from 16.3 percent to 15.4 percent. Not unexpectedly, the city of L.A. trailed the county as a whole, with median household income climbing 4.2 percent, to $44,445. The poverty rate in the city declined to 19 percent. (The poverty level for a family of four was set at $20,444.) (Daily News)

Countrywide still down: Shares of the mortgage lender are off another 3.5 percent this morning - perhaps explained by a less-than-flattering piece in the WSJ in which analysts question whether there are future financial bombshells awaiting the company. Meanwhile, stocks are recovering a bit this morning after Tuesday's 280-point drubbing. After a couple of hours of trading, the Dow is up around 120 points.

IndyMac shifts focus: The Pasadena-based mortgage lender will concentrate on customers with the best credit and expand aggressively into the retail market. As part of that move, IndyMac is hiring 800 former employees of American Home Mortgage Investment, which has filed for bankruptcy protection, and take over 90 of the lender's direct-to-consumer offices to make prime loans. The company also said that the market for "jumbo" mortgages - the really big ones that are often used in pricey California- might be returning to normal. (LAT)

Mattel up close: Another strong NYT piece on the problems at the El Segundo-based toy company as it struggles to rebound from all those recalls. Mattel executives say that more recalls may be on the way. The company has quietly carted loads of toys and dolls to its own factories in Mexico to recheck the ones that have arrived from Chinese contractors in recent weeks. Here's how the piece opens:

The alarm bell went off for Mattel just as it was preparing to announce that it would recall 1.5 million Chinese-made toys tainted with lead paint. Surrounded by boxes of Barbie dolls, Hot Wheels cars and other sample toys, Thomas A. Debrowski, Mattel’s executive vice president for worldwide operations, was leading a tense early morning trans-Pacific telephone conference with his team in Hong Kong, where it was 9 p.m. At the time, recalled Mr. Debrowski, Mattel thought it was dealing with at most “a single failure, from a single vendor who made a big mistake.” But in the middle of the meeting on July 30, Mattel learned otherwise. “I’ve got bad news,” interrupted David Lewis, senior vice president for Asian operations, who had just taken a call from the company’s safety lab in Shenzhen, China, where toys made by outside companies are tested. “We’ve had another failure. It was one of the toys in the Pixar cars.”

Wages up in China: There are no reliable figures, but factory owners are having a hard time finding able-bodied workers and must pay more money to the workers they can find. And higher wages in China are likely to lead to higher prices in the United States. It's already starting to happen: Prices for goods from China, after years of gradual decline, have risen 1.2 percent since February. From the NYT:

Plant owners’ refusal to hire blue-collar workers over 35 or 40 is colliding with the demographic reality of China’s one-child policy. The number of workers in the 20-to-24-year-old range is already shrinking as more of them go to universities instead of entering the work force after high school, and the International Labor Organization projects that workers in this age range will edge slowly downward through at least 2020.

Lerach calls it quits: This wasn't exactly a big surprise, though it is a momentous event in the world of securities law. Lerach, who has been a target of a criminal investigation surrounding his former law firm (now called Milberg Weiss LLP), is in advanced talks with prosecutors on a plea deal that could be announced in a few weeks - and could involve jail time. The criminal case, brought last year in Los Angeles, alleges that Milberg Weiss paid $11.3 million in improper kickbacks to clients. Lerach made his name for representing the lead plaintiffs in securities cases (thus earning the lion's share of the fees). (Reuters)

More stadium changes: The Dodgers plan another $70 million in renovations on the field level that include widening concourses and doubling the number of restrooms and concession stands. The concession and restroom areas will be upgraded on the other levels by 2010 or 2011. The parking fee, which jumped from $10 to $15 this season, would not increase next season. Owner Frank McCourt said he would soon announce a plan that most likely involves restaurants and shops outside the ballpark. (LAT)

Contract talks resume: The Writers Guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers go back to the bargaining table on Sept. 19. That gives them six weeks to make a deal before the current three-year pact runs out on Oct. 31 (don't hold your breath). Negotiations are likely to center on how writers should be compensated for the different media platforms. (Variety)