Wednesday morning headlines

Bernanke's bleaker forecast: Sort of bleak anyway. The Fed chairman is telling a congressional committee this morning that the economy is unlikely to grow "much, if at, all, over the first half of the 2008 and could even contract slightly," but he anticipates strengthening in the second half. That's a similar scenario to what Bernanke has been offering for some time. Of course he added that "the uncertainty attending this forecast is quite high and the risks remain to the downside." In other words, don't bet the farm on what he's saying. (NYT)

How goes the market?: After yesterday's euphoria over a bunch of bad banking reports, stocks aren't doing much of anything. One piece of decent news is the ADP employment report, which tracks private hiring. It showed a modest 8,000-job increase in March, which is a lot better than the 70,000-job contraction that some economists had expected. The U.S. employment report comes out Friday and that will likely be a big deal. (FT)

Another Newsday bidder?: Jared Kushner, owner of the NY Observer and son of real-estate developer Charles Kushner, is said to be in the hunt for the Tribune Co.-owned Long Island newspaper. Kushner would join a crowded field that includes Rupert Murdoch, Mort Zuckerman (NY Daily News) and James Dolan (Cablevision). Tribune is dreaming (er, I mean hoping) for at least $500 million, according to the WSJ, though it's not entirely clear whether this would be an outright sale or some sort of partnership. Tribune really needs the money as it tries to service its huge debt load.

The ultimate price for Newsday could determine whether Tribune has to pursue sales of other assets, which include the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Baltimore Sun and a string of television stations. Covenants on the loans that financed Tribune's buyout currently require the company to generate cash flow that is at least one-ninth of its outstanding guaranteed debts -- which Standard & Poor's credit analyst Emile Courtney estimates total about $10.6 billion. Tribune would ideally like to sell assets for close to that multiple of nine times their cash flow, according to a person familiar with the company's strategy.

Scary stat: Lauren Silva at BreakingViews figures that 90 percent of Tribune's operating cash flow went to pay interest in the fourth quarter. That doesn't leave much room to grow the place. Of course CEO Sam Zell can always take out his own checkbook and provide a little relief… Oh come on, stop laughing.

SAG to start talking: Bargaining between the Screen Actors Guild and the media companies will get going on April 15, though the process is expected to get very complicated because Hollywood's other actors union, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, wants to negotiate separately. The networks and studios might use the AFTRA talks as leverage for the more aggressive SAG negotiators. SAG's board has a laundry list of demands, but there's a lot more fractiousness within this union than was seen with the Writers Guild. (THR, LAT)

United expects delays: The carrier is inspecting its fleet of 52 Boeing 777s after failing to make required checks of the planes' fire-suppression system. So far, 28 of its 84 daily 777 departures have been cancelled, with international flights likely to be hit the most. And United flies a bunch of international flights out of LAX. The airline will use other planes or send fliers to other carriers until the maintenance checks are completed. (Bloomberg)

Amgen CEO takes pay cut: CEO Kevin Sharer's compensation last year was $13.2 million, a 29 percent drop from a year earlier. But that's what should happen when the company's stock price falls nearly 35 percent. Thousand Oaks.-based Amgen faced intense scrutiny from federal regulators concerning the company's class of anemia drugs (various studies found that they increased the risk of tumors and death in high doses). (AP)

Doctors building sold: LeFrak Organization, a NY real estate company, is buying the four-story property on S. Spaulding Dr., for nearly $55 million. That's $869 a square foot, the highest ever for office property in L.A. (demand remains high for medical space in Bev Hills). Sellers are Angelo Gordon & Co. LP and Cambra Real Estate, both real estate investment groups. The building is fully leased, with lots of plastic surgeons. (LAT, LABJ)