Follow LA Observed on Twitter here
Market opens lower: The September doldrums continue - Dow is down about 10 points.
Poverty rate jumps: It hit 14.3 percent in 2009, up from 13.2 percent a year earlier, and the highest level since 1994. "The number of people in poverty in 2009 is the largest number in the 51 years for which poverty estimates have been published," the Census Bureau said.
CA foreclosures edge higher: August filings were up 3.3 percent from the previous month, but down 25 percent from August 2009. That's one filing per 194 households, compared with 381 nationwide (84 in Nevada). (RealtyTrac)
Fedex's mixed outlook: The bellwether company reported strong first-quarter profit, but a lot of it is coming from its international business. (AP)
SEC to rein in banks: Regulators are targeting "window dressing," the practice in which large banks artificially lower their debt levels right before the release of earnings. From the WSJ:
The practice suggests the banks are carrying more risk than is apparent to their investors or customers, who only see the levels recorded on the companies' quarterly balance sheets.
Breaking the CA budget record?: After 78 days, still no deal - and none in sight. Tomorrow will set the record for the number of days without a budget, topping the impasse in 2008. (Sacramento Bee)
Layoffs in Long Beach: The council signed off on massive cuts to city services, including dozens of police and firefighter positions. In addition, there are plans to implement furloughs. From the Press-Telegram:
City officials continue to hold out hope that employee labor groups will agree to pay freezes, pension reforms or some sort of cash-saving concession before the fiscal year begins Oct. 1. The Firefighters Association, in particular, has come up with an alternative to service cuts and is expected to vote on the proposal next week. In the meantime, the Civil Service Department is moving forward with the layoff process.
MySpace, Google nearing deal?: The search giant would remain the provider of search and online advertising for the Bev Hills-based social networking site, says Kara Swisher at All Thing Digital.
But, said sources, this deal is a lot different than the one signed four years back when the News Corp. (NWS) unit was flying high and Google (GOOG) forked over $900 million in guaranteed payments to stave off a competitive effort from Microsoft (MSFT). This time, because MySpace's traffic declined so precipitously over these years, the new deal has no giant guaranteed payments and not even any of the bells and whistles the recent renewed and expanded search deal AOL (AOL) struck with Google has.
Discrimination suit against Goldman: Three women claim that the Wall Street bank intentionally pays its male employees more than their female counterparts, and promotes them more frequently. (NYT)
Boeing to sell tickets to space: Aerospace company announces a partnership with a firm called Space Adventures in which a space taxi system will launch its passengers into low Earth orbit. From the Washington Post:
Boeing has been developing a capsule and has years of experience building rockets, while Space Adventures has organized seven trips to the space station aboard the Russian spacecraft Soyuz. The obstacles remain high, but the two companies say they think they can begin their service by the end of 2015.
Another extension on MGM debt: It's the seventh forbearance on interest payments and principal, but perhaps a resolution is finally near. (LAT)
99 Cents Only Stores fined: The Commerce-based discount retailer has to shell out more than $400,000 in penalties for selling pesticides that weren't registered with the EPA and that were misbranded. (AP)
Big boost for weekend Hoy: The free Spanish-language newspaper, part of the Los Angeles Times Media Group, will have a circulation of 700,000, up from 500,000. (LAT)
Mark Lacter created the LA Biz Observed blog in 2006. He posted
until the day before his death on Nov. 13, 2013.