Friday morning headlines

Oh, nellie!: No, the economy didn't shrink at an annual rate of 3.8 percent in the fourth quarter (which would have been bad enough), it fell at an annual rate of 6.2 percent. The revision makes it the worst quarter since the 1982 recession. From the NYT:

The economy took the biggest hits in exports, retail sales, equipment and software, and residential fixed investment. The downward revisions, though, came primarily because of a larger-than-anticipated contraction in inventories of unsold goods. A wider trade gap than previously reported — that is, fewer American goods being purchased abroad — also pushed G.D.P. downward. Lower consumer sales sliced off some of the previously reported economic output, as well.

Jobs report on deck: State and county employment numbers for January are due out this morning. L.A. County had a 9.9 percent jobless rate in December.

Citi deal is done: As expected, the government will convert its special preferred shares into as much as 36 percent of Citigroup common. CEO Vikram S. Pandit stays, but the board will have a majority of independent directors. (NYT)

Gas prices down a bit: The average price of regular in the L.A. area is $2.239, according to the Auto Club, which is three cents less than last week but still 16 cents higher than last month. Prices had been increasing for nine straight weeks.

Bad but not awful: L.A. County hotels outperformed other major cities in 2008 with a 73.3 percent occupancy rate, down 3.2 percent from the previous year, and an average daily room rate of $138, up 5 percent from 2007. The increase is due to lots of new and renovated hotels. (LAT)

Bristling over Ticketmaster: CEO Irving Azoff told a House subcommittee that concern about a planned merger with Live Nation creating virtual control of the ticket selling market is misplaced because concert promoter AEG, a major Ticketmaster customer, has threatened to cancel its contract if the deal goes through. But the head of AEG says the company has no such plans. From AP:

AEG Live Chief Executive Randy Phillips said the letter was merely to "reserve our rights" and that the company was unaware of the possible merger until it was leaked about a month ago. Phillips also strongly disputed testimony from Live Nation Chief Executive Michael Rapino that AEG could easily break free from Ticketmaster's services. AEG's contract with Ticketmaster runs through mid-2012. "This testimony is completely and totally disingenuous," Phillips told The Associated Press.

Wiesel on Madoff: The Nobel Peace Prize laureate doesn't think much of the alleged swindler: ""Sociopath,' "psychopath,' it means there is a sickness, a pathology. This man knew what he was doing. I would simply call him thief, scoundrel, criminal.” Wiesel and his wife lost their life savings, along with $15.2 million from Wiesel's foundation. From the NYT:

He said he began investing with Mr. Madoff at the suggestion of an old friend whom he declined to name, “just a wealthy man, not in the financial business.” Mr. Wiesel said, “He too lost $50 million.” The Wiesels met Mr. Madoff on only two occasions, he said, adding that during one encounter Mr. Madoff had tried to persuade Mr. Wiesel to abandon his post at Boston University, where he teaches the humanities, philosophy and religion, for a chair at Queens College, alma mater of Mr. Madoff’s wife, Ruth. “We must have spoken about ethics,” Mr. Wiesel said. “Some learn, and some don’t.”

No SAG deal in sight: The stumbling block is over the term of the contract with the studios and networks, and neither side is expected to budge for a while. The guild insists that the deal expire on June 30, 2011 because it needs to remain aligned with the WGA, AFTRA and DGA expirations. The majors want three years from ratification. From Variety:

One likely scenario is that SAG leaders will leave the issue in abeyance until they complete most or all of their joint negotiation with AFTRA on a new commercials contract with the advertising industry. Those talks launched Monday in New York under a news blackout with the schedule calling for a full week of talks this week, a break next week and three more weeks of talks up to the March 31 expiration.