Wednesday morning headlines

Lehman's survival strategy: The struggling investment bank will spin off most of its remaining commercial real estate holdings into a new public company, sell a majority of its investment management division, and slash its dividend. Third-quarter losses are expected to be nearly $4 billion (after $5.6 billion in write-downs). From the NYT:

The announcements come after Lehman’s stock lost nearly half its value on Tuesday as investors feared it was running out of options to raise capital and shore up its ailing balance sheet. Shares in Lehman, a major underwriter of mortgage-related securities during the credit boom, are down over 90 percent since hitting their peak last year before the subprime mortgage crisis.

Wall Street is mum Stocks are mostly flat this morning as the Lehman news gets sorted out. The general view is that investors have been mollified for the time being. Meanwhile, oil prices are nearing $102 a barrel.

Is Buffett worrried?: A Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary is notifying 1,500 banks in more than 30 states that it will no longer offer a program that insures bank deposits above the amount guaranteed by the federal government. The decision, according to the WSJ, was made by Buffett himself.

That Mr. Buffett is withdrawing from this insurance market is an indicator of how many in the industry are worried about future bank failures. In some cases, companies that acquire failed banks will buy all the deposits, making the government insurance limits irrelevant. But customers with large deposits can lose money if the acquiring bank doesn't take on the extra deposits. When Columbian Bank & Trust Co., of Topeka, Kan., failed Aug. 22, there were about 610 accounts with $46 million total that potentially exceeded government insurance limits, the FDIC said. KBS insured some deposits at this bank and lost money in the failure, people familiar with the matter said.

AEG rules downtown: The owner of Staples Center and developer of LA Live wants to put up more than 50,000 square feet of billboards and flashing electronic signs from the city-owned Los Angeles Convention Center. The three dozen signs would include digital advertising beaming out to freeway drivers. Wonderful – just what we need. The City Council is scheduled to vote today on whether to give AEG (aka Anschutz Entertainment Group) the exclusive signage rights. From the LAT:

But members of a local neighborhood association are vowing to fight the proposal, saying the area already is starting the resemble the over-the-top glitz of Las Vegas and is disrupting the everyday lives of nearby residents. "A lot of the neighbors already are complaining about the fact that it's a wall of lights," said James King of the Pico-Union Neighborhood Council. "They are basically living in a carnival district."

Drilling vote: As expected, the Santa Barbara City Council said no to any expansion of oil drilling off the coast. The action was designed to counter an Aug. 26 vote by the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors that urges the governor to reconsider his stance against offshore drilling. Like the supervisors vote, the city's measure has no authority over offshore drilling. (LAT)

Trading places: California accounts for eight of the nation's 10 priciest places to buy a house, according to a Coldwell Banker survey, and the priciest location of them all is La Jolla. There, the average sale price for a 2,200-square-foot house so far this year is $1.8 million. That's 13 times more expensive than for the same-size home in Sioux City, Iowa. (Daily News)

AFTRA making inroads: As the Screen Actors Guild keeps bickering, the other actors union is making some moves into primetime, according to Variety. More network pilots and series are being placed under the jurisdiction of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, which until the current labor impasse had not been a big player in primetime.

And there’s little wonder why: With the threat of a SAG strike still hanging over the biz, going with AFTRA is like taking out a strikeproof insurance policy. SAG has exclusive jurisdiction over network primetime skeins shot on film; SAG and AFTRA have shared jurisdiction over pilots and series shot on video. With more and more series shot on digital vid, however, AFTRA has had more opportunities in the past few years to land network primetime series, particularly dramas. Among the recent shows that have gone with AFTRA are the CW’s "90210" and "Reaper"; CBS’ new sitcom "Gary Unmarried"; and two shows just picked up to series at ABC: comedy "Better Off Ted" and hourlong "The Unusuals." ABC’s recently wrapped drama pilot "Prince of Motor City" is also AFTRA.