Tuesday morning headlines

Lost years: L.A.-area home values have fallen 32 percent since the market's peak in the first quarter of 2006, according to a study by Zillow.com. That amounts to $329 billion, with one third of the loss coming in the fourth quarter. The numbers can be confusing because research firms use somewhat different measurements (Zillow measures the entire L.A.-Long Beach-Santa Ana MSA). Generally, the dropoff has been in the 20 percent to 30 percent range, depending on how you're figuring and where you're located. (LAT)

Such a deal: Even SF is feeling the pinch. Prices for the downtown Millennium Tower, the city's tallest residential building, have been cut by 15 percent (SF has the biggest condo glut since the 2001 tech crash). Even with the discount, prices run several million dollars a unit. (Bloomberg)

Gas prices stabilize: The average gallon of regular is up a penny or so from last week, to $2.09. There remains some concern over the possibility of a refinery strike that would affect more than half the nation's capacity to turn oil into gasoline. (LAT)

Hollywood talks postponed: The president of the Screen Actors Guild, Alan Rosenberg, goes to court this morning to challenge the firing of Doug Allen as executive director. That prompted the group representing the studios and networks to call off contract negotiations that had been expected to resume this morning. (Variety)

Industrial space opening up: Here's a real sign of the slowdown: vacancy rates are starting to climb at warehouses and distribution centers in the Inland Empire. Up until recently, these places were bursting. From the LAT:

So far the pain is largely confined to Inland Empire distribution centers that serve many of the world's largest companies, said economist Esmael Adibi, director of Chapman University's Anderson Center for Economic Research. Goods shipped in bulk into the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are often repacked in smaller units and shipped across the United States. In recent boom times, developers built warehouses as large as several football fields where goods were moved around inside by robots and fleets of full-sized trucks could dock for loading. Most buildings quickly found tenants.

Impact of Macy's cuts: In announcing the elimination of 7,000 jobs, the department store chain wants to be "more lean and efficient," which doesn't sound very promising for Macy's customers. Retail analyst Richard Giss tells the LAT that at Macy's and other retailers there are “less people in stores and less buying, so you need less people to process those transactions. Customer service is definitely going to suffer."

New flight restrictions?: Officials at Burbank's Bob Hope Airport are asking the feds for a mandatory nighttime curfew that would last from 10 p.m. to 6:59 a.m. The restrictions would mostly affect cargo operations, courier services and corporate jets. The airlines have already curtailed their nighttime operations. (Daily News)

First Fed takes hit: The struggling L.A.-based thrift reported a wider-than-expected fourth-quarter loss as a result of a more than 10-fold increase in provisions for bad loans. Last week, the feds issued a cease and desist order, requiring the S&L to submit a detailed plan within 15 days to address how it will remain "well capitalized." (Reuters)

Lacter on radio: This morning's business chat with KPCC's Steve Julian includes the latest SAG developments and the dilemma faced by newspapers. Also on podcast and on kpcc.org.