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Stocks bouncing around: Not much direction in early trading - the Dow is down about 10 points.
May retail sales tumble: Another signal that consumers are still nervous. Most every category was down, the largest drop in eight months. (AP)
Gas prices back up: An average gallon of regular in the L.A. area is $3.067, about 6 cents higher than last week, according to the Auto Club. Oil prices are also inching back up.
BP deferring dividend?: The plan, according to the Times of London, is to place dividend money in an escrow account until the full scale of the liabilities can be determined.
While final approval for the plan would need to be given by BP's board next month, a growing number of BP directors now recognise that the move may be essential to placate US public opinion.
Moving forward on GM IPO: Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase are expected to be the lead underwriters in what would be one of the biggest offerings in years - and a chance for the federal government to recoup its money. (DealBook)
Wendy Greuel not naming names: The L.A. City Controller says the DWP deceived city officials by threatening to withhold $73.5 million, creating "a fiasco (that) left both the city and the DWP with a black eye." But Greuel would not say who was responsible. "It will be up to them to question their staff on who provided them with information," she said. (Daily News)
IOUs for New York?: The state is two months behind in coming up with a new budget and they're running out of cash. Gov. David Paterson warned of "unimaginable chaos" if the government shut down. (NY Daily News)
FTC shuts down firm: Temporary restraining order was issued to SBN Peripherals, an Agoura Hills telemarketing company accused of making unsolicited recorded telemarketing calls -- also known as robocalls. From the LAT:
James Davis, staff attorney for FTC's Midwest region, said Duyzentkunst's company earned nearly $9 million from robocalls made on behalf of clients from January 2008 to January 2010. SBN made the calls from Los Angeles, and if consumers followed the prompts to connect to a live operator, they would be sent to one of its clients in another part of the country who was selling the services.
L.A. newspaper purchase: Los Angeles Sentinel publisher Danny Bakewell Sr. is finalizing a deal to buy the competing Watts Times. The papers will continue to operate as separate weeklies. (LABJ)
Mark Lacter created the LA Biz Observed blog in 2006. He posted
until the day before his death on Nov. 13, 2013.