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LA Biz Observed archive
Mark Lacter covered business, the economy and more here from 2006 until his death on Nov. 13, 2013.
The entire LA Biz Observed archive — more than 10,000 blog posts by Mark —
remains online and available.
November 2010
Here's a quick primer from Real Time Economics on what happens to the millions of out-of-work Americans who will stop receiving a check.
Only 7 percent of car shoppers surveyed by Kelley Blue Book say they're likely to consider an electric vehicle.
This morning's chat looks at the tug-of-war among Congressional Republicans about reducing the deficit versus maintaining defense spending at current levels.
In a 2009 interview with Computer World, Assange mentions that "we are sitting on five gigabytes from Bank of America,
That's less than 48 hours after the company shut down its operations because of a tax dispute.
L.A. home prices fall (but not as much as in other cities), consumer confidence is up, WikiLeaks pursues U.S. bank, and Tribune bankruptcy is a "four-ring circus."
It's part of a crackdown on Web operations that were used to distribute counterfeit merchandise and illegal copies of music and software.
Medicare has been doing such a good job that the differential in payment rates between Medicare and private insurance is becoming unsustainable.
The Bev Hills-based social networking site isn't officially on the block, but News Corp. COO Chase Carey says he's open to offers or partnerships.
The Dow finishes down 39 points for the day, but that's a considerable improvement from the first hour of so of trading when the index fell below 11,000. It closed at 11,052. From Bloomberg: "There's a lot of mixed currents," said John Kattar, chief investment officer at Eastern Investment Advisors in Boston, which manages $1.7 billion. "I'm encouraged that the market is showing some resilience after a disappointing day overall. Oil did not show any...
Well, what would you expect to happen when the federal benefits expire tomorrow and millions of Americans are without unemployment help?
New Yorker piece covers very familiar ground, but there are a few tasty morsels scattered throughout the piece.
The show doesn't debut until next fall, but having the major markets in hand should make it easier to cut deals elsewhere.
L.A. billionaire Stewart Resnick has pulled the plug on Fiji Water's only production plant after the tiny Pacific Ocean island nation raised the company's tax rate,
Get ready for Cyber Monday, small biz lending picks up in L.A., Salon on the block, and container heist near the Port of L.A.
He wrote a book on the basics of investing that runs counter to much of what he did on Wall Street.
The trouble with all those California-is-dying narratives is that, well, they're just not true.
Holiday weeks will often bounce around, especially when there's a lot of news going on.
There's the usual crush of early-morning shoppers, but it'll be a couple of days before there's any definitive word on how the first day turned out.
Of the 50,000 travelers who went through LAX as of mid-afternoon, only 133 opted out of the full-body scanners.
Yesterday's losses were pretty much erased, with retail stocks leading the way just two days before Black Friday.
the pace is definitely picking up. On this Thanksgiving Eve, it's not your imagination.
Bloomberg's Margaret Carlson on the current debate over airport security.
My chat with KPCC's Steve Julian examines why California voters are delusional about the state's massive budget deficit.
The feds have picked up an executive at a California firm in connection with a massive insider trading investigation.
Holiday travel off to a good start, hopeful economic numbers, board clashes lead to CEO's exit, and more investigations of L.A. BBB.
Nevada remains tops at 14.2 percent in October, followed by Michigan at 12.8 percent and then California at 12.4 percent.
If any of these machines were to be taken away, there would be an uproar so huge that it would make the current pat-down debate seem like a trifle
There's already speculation about other chains that might be approached. Among the names being mentioned: Abercrombie & Fitch and Ross.
Not only is the Desmond bridge deteriorating, it's way too low to accommodate today's generation of container ships.
Economy grew faster than expected in Q3, gas prices edge higher for holiday, L.A. buyout firm close to buying J. Crew, and Qantas bringing back some A380s.
The dispute started a couple of weeks ago when the production staff joined the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees.
Unfortunately, a few scattered stories of insensitive treatment by TSA personnel has further ignited the frenzy.
Yale economist Ray Fair thinks the president is in good shape, based on his belief that the economy will be in growing pretty nicely by 2012.
Healthcare jobs being lost, beware of life insurance policies, how to whittle down the deficit, and Google eyes deal with new owners of Miramax.
The idea is to make it much easier for businesses to receive all the necessary permits for setting up shop.
Just because runaway production isn't a big problem for the local entertainment industry doesn't mean it doesn't happen.
Here's an example of how hard it can be to sell monster properties.
All told, not a terrible report, but little to indicate any momentum shift in the employment situation.
That's based on September year-over-year price gains, though before you get too excited the increase was only 0.86 percent.
The state added 39,000 payroll positions in October, and the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 12.4 percent.
California gets stung in bond market, low marks for state PPOs, Google looking at Groupon, and huge advance sales for Potter movie.
For electric cars to make sense there must be electric chargers at home, and those chargers require both permits and home inspections.
Quite a bit, according to a Pew Research study. Almost 80 percent know that the federal budget is bigger than it was in the 1990s, and two-thirds realize that the U.S. brings in more foreign goods than it sells overseas. But after that things get iffy. Only 16 percent are aware that more than half of the loans made to banks under TARP have been paid back (an identical percentage says that none has been...
Time out - this one is from Tahiti 80 and it's called "Solitary Bizness." (via Andrew Sullivan)
The parent company of the OC Register wants to unload all its television and newspaper properties.
A whole bunch of announcements during the media portion of the show.
They claimed that JPMorgan "engaged in unauthorized and unsuitable purchases" of $18 million of preferred securities.
New worries for state bonds, Californians want cuts (but not on their favorite programs), two more Madoff arrests, and Hollywood Foreign Press sues Dick Clark Productions.
Shares are up 8 percent in the first few minutes as a public company, to $36....
Between 40 and 50 under-performing locations will be shuttered and 14 percent of the home office and field management positions will be eliminated. The City of Industry-based retailer has been facing sluggish sales, falling profits and lower margins - never a great combination (earnings plunged 93 percent in the just-reported third quarter). For a time, Hot Topic had been scoring well by featuring "Twilight"-related merchandise, but subsequent sequels haven't been nearly as lucrative. (Business Journal)...
So if film subsidies are such a bad idea, why did California of all states go after them a couple of years back?
Ralphs is bringing back the popular promotion after two years - but only through November 25.
That's at the high end of the revised price range, which means that the initial public offering will raise way more than initially expected.
Treasurer Bill Lockyer took the unusual step after a lawsuit was filed to block the sale of state office buildings to pay down debt.
One big impediment will be the cost of the charger, but there are also pluses.
My business chat looks at the improving prospects for the holiday season and Activision's big score from its latest "Call of Duty" videogame.
Inflation remains tame, GM public offering is getting bigger, state lawmakers living it up in Hawaii, and Brown may keep Schwarzenegger's people.
Not a huge surprise considering the state of book retailing and the fact that the store was looking pretty empty in recent months.
That means roughly 30,000 people will be canceling their trips on the Splendor from Long Beach to the Mexican Riviera.
This only applies to unincorporated portions of the county, but it's an interesting development in the ongoing effort to do away with the bags.
Still more than an hour of trading to go and the Dow is down about 200 points. So much for last week's rally. *Update: Dow closes down 178 points....
Lots of people in lots of offices sign documents that they haven't examined or can't begin to understand.
Ouch - October sales in L.A. County were down 26.2 percent from a year earlier and almost 10 percent from a month earlier, according to Dataquick. Sales were way down all over Southern California (Ventura had a nearly 30 percent drop from 2009). While there's usually a slowdown from September to October, it's seldom this severe. And never mind all the hullabaloo about foreclosure filings - there wasn't much change in the percentage of foreclosure-related...
Amazon Filler Item Finder that pulls up hundreds of low-budget items that take you over $25 threshold for free shipping.
Another good month for the ports, GM offering closed to most investors, MTA considers toll lanes for the 405, and Beatles are finally on iTunes.
That's what some of his employees would no doubt say - as would his neighbors.
He tells CNBC that once the company is out of bankruptcy, he will be, too.
They come from the new book that lays out the income disparities between the nation's very richest and everyone else.
AEG's Tim Leiweke has been looking at the new Dallas facilities in preparing a stadium plan in downtown L.A. with a retractable roof and 218 luxury boxes.
How many reporters at USA Today cover Congress and how many cover entertainment?
The guy wanted to draw attention to the privacy issues connected with what he calls the government's "senseless" efforts to detect terrorists.
A total of 410,695 Californians will be cut off from jobless benefits if legislators don't extend funding by Nov. 30 (a very strong possibility).
We all know that buying the insurance is usually unnecessary, but a good percentage of the customers take it nonetheless.
Strong retail sales in October, Wal-Mart to add hours on Black Friday, Thanksgiving costs edge higher, and auto show opens this week.
It'll be on the same site of a Chrysler dealership that was abandoned six years ago
Kind of a Michael Moore version of how the world works. Definitely not for economics majors, but the gist is uncomfortably right on.
Stocks, bonds, commodities, the dollar - they all slumped today to one degree or another.
Turns out that those letter-grade scores it hands out might be nothing more than a pay-to-play scam.
Or as NY magazine posts: "Tabloid covers beg the age-old question: tits or ass?"
Logic would suggest that the longer someone's out of work, the more urgent the job search would be. But that may not be the way it works.
There are lots of senior executives out there who should be counting their lucky stars.
Small rise in consumer confidence, Cooley gets blasted, California prepares big debt sale, and Barnes & Noble starts offering toys and games.
The governor will declare a fiscal emergency and bring in newly sworn state legislators early next month to start dealing with budget issues
Well, at least according to the NY Observer, which reports that the announcement will be made tomorrow morning.
For reasons still unexplained, the Mouse House results came out 30 minutes before the stock market closed - and that's a very big deal.
The political will to raise taxes, eliminate the mortgage deduction, and tinker with Social Security is simply not there.
Alhambra and Cerritos win the top honors in the Economic Development Corp.'s annual competition, otherwise known as the Eddy Awards.
Get ready for an onslaught of stories about what it was like being stuck at sea without power - and for a time, working toilets.
The median price of a home in the L.A.-OC market was $350,000 during the July-September quarter, up $10,000 or so from the previous three months.
State foreclosures drop, Wal-Mart offers free shipping for online purchases, Karatz judge rebukes prosecutors, and "Black Ops" has big opening.
And bedroom slippers, and toaster oven and thousands of other everyday items that will be auctioned off this weekend.
No jail time for the former CEO of KB Home who was convicted in April of lying about the backdating of stock options.
Along with the numbers came more warnings to avoid one-time gimmicks that just delay the day of reckoning.
Latest update from the Secretary of State's office has Cooley leading by only 9,555 votes, with nearly 8 million votes cast. Wowser....
Easy - just raise the retirement age for Social Security, and make deep cuts in defense spending.
Long lines for food, no air conditioning or lights, iffy toilets - that's the picture being described by David Zambrano, one of the passengers on board the fire-damaged ship. Zambrano managed to regain cell phone service and provide an eyewitness account to a Denver TV station where he works . From 9News: "It's nothing like anyone expected, no." Zambrano said. "You stand in line for two hours just to get your food because everybody goes...
Coming out of retirement, the perpetually stylish Segal is working with his daughter Annie on a new boutique and fashion line.
Formerly the home of Dean Martin and Tom Jones, the 11,817-square-foot house has a custom wine cellar, 35-seat home theater, and six bedrooms.
Consumer prices heading higher, cruise ship won't reach land until late Thursday, Karatz to be sentenced today, and big return for Calpers.
New report projects growth to be slower than in the surrounding counties in 2011, but things should start improving by 2012.
Even for a slow news week, the back-and-forth received way more attention than was justified.
My business chat on KPCC looks at whether bank failures have peaked out in Southern California, and why banks still aren't lending much.
All the big chains stayed open late, with GameStop locations offering free pizza and energy drinks (gives you an idea of who was standing in line).
The Lakers star is disputing a 2007 tax bill that doesn't allow him to take deductions for $12,000 in sports fines and $178,000 in fitness training.
Latest update on the AG count has him up by 41,000 votes....
The Carnival Splendor, which left Long Beach on Sunday, lost power during an engine room fire.
Small business owners are more optimistic, new rules for air cargo, plastic bag people lobbied hard, and relief for Qantas passengers.
Not many specifics so far, but it's been reported that the move was triggered by several unsolicited offers.
The Whitman campaign spent roughly $6 for every $1 the Brown campaign invested.
With the airline's A380 fleet grounded for several days because of engine problems, the L.A. experience appears to be getting a little old.
Still too early to call given all the uncounted ballots, but his lead over Harris in the AG race has been steadily building over the past couple of days. *Whoa - Cooley lead is now back down to 19,000, according to Secretary of State's updated count....
CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg picks about $8 million worth of incentive awards, according to an SEC filing.
There's no way the housing market can fully recover until the percentage starts going up.
October home prices dip, Nevada growth streak ends, more details emerge on A380 explosion, and Wal-Mart cuts toy prices.
And yes, it happened way sooner than the June 30, 2011 contract expiration.
Western Commercial Bank in Woodland Hills has struggled with heavy losses and dwindling capital,
A boutique gym operator, I might add.
At last check, Kamala Harris was up 12,000 votes over Steve Cooley, but that's only a 0.2 percent lead.
They're among the celebs appearing in a Judd-Apatow-directed public service announcement for the American Jewish World Service.
As you expect, economists were generally pleased with the additional 151,000 payroll jobs last month.
Allowing a generation to grow up without an NFL team! How dare they!
Brown cracks open budget, Krugman pooh-poohs jobs report, more bits about downtown stadium, and PG&E's $1-billion bill.
This is a good report, and certainly an improvement over the last few months, but it also reflects how long the recovery is likely to take.
And it's not because California has fewer needy residents.
When one of the engines on a Qantas A380 blew up soon after takeoff, one of the passengers said "my whole body went to jelly."
It's 98 degrees in Westwood. This is insane....
In case you forgot, that was the month Lehman Brothers went into bankruptcy and really launched the long, long period of economic suffering.
That's the hope among residents who are cheering plans by the retail chain to take up 100,000 square feet of the 7+Fig shopping mall.
Would it be any worse than drive-thru windows? Sometimes it's worth giving a little to get a lot more.
What typically takes 60 minutes can be reduced to 64 seconds, thanks to the government's Global Entry program.
Qantas grounds A380 fleet, food prices heading up, Steve Wynn believes the worst is over in Vegas, and how Brown must corral Democrats.
Here's another sign that consumer confidence might not be quite as bad as some of the surveys would have you believe.
The retail giant's 7+Fig location will have 100,000 square feet, which is smaller than a typical Target but roughly twice the size of the downtown Ralphs.
Cut Social Security and Medicare? I wouldn't bet on it, not with the first of the baby boomers just hitting retirement age.
...than the entire budget for the National Endowment for the Arts - $163 million vs. $161.4 million....
As of 10:34 a.m., Kamala Harris held a 22,299-vote lead over Steve Cooley - 46.0 percent to 45.7 percent....
Saying that the pace of recovery remains slow, the central bank will buy $600 billion worth of long-term Treasurys by the end of next June.
Of the 25 congressional districts hardest hit by the recession, 16 are represented by Democrats - and 14 of them won.
Private sector adding jobs, market waits for Fed announcement, clothing makers to raise prices, and "Tonight Show" stays in Burbank.
It'll be one of those prepackaged bankruptcies that has the support of creditors and should be cleared relatively soon.
This should go down as one of the dumbest responses ever given in a political debate.
The state inches away from its dysfunctional ways with the passage of Proposition 25.
It's pretty much everything they had been fearing for weeks.
The agreement with landlord JMB Realty will streamline the company's real estate holdings in advance of an expected bankruptcy filing.
My business chat looks at the prospects of tighter security for air cargo shipments and what that means for the Los Angeles Customs District.
The Wrap's editor says she has yet to read the new Hollywood Reporter magazine because she can't find it on any newsstand.
With his new talk show premiering until next week, O'Brien has posted a 4-minute teaser - actually a mini-episode that he dubs "Show Zero."
It's all right if you don't really know - even if much of the financial press assumes that you do.
It's a tricky political move because the lower the return, the more money the state will be on the hook for.
Smallish turnout expected, GM to cut U.S. ownership stake, Bell's shakedown of local businesses, and the McRib sandwich is back!
The online company that provides legal documents had been threatening to move out of L.A. because of a tax dispute.
Once peddled as "driving excitement," the GM brand lost its edge and high-powered image.
Meet Western Commercial Bank of Woodland Hills, with high default rates, low asset levels, and warnings from federal regulators.
Some opponents say that the Fed action, expected to be announced Wednesday, could do more harm than good.
Another small but hopeful sign of an improving economy: Online advertised vacancies in California increased by 32,100 in October, to 488,000.
Election forecaster lays out a devastating (and in my view quite realistic) scenario for Democrats tomorrow night.
Washington gridlock won't help economy, B of A's fallout from Countrywide purchase, Randy Michaels considers comeback, and big bucks for county big wigs.
Mark Lacter
Mark Lacter created the LA Biz Observed blog in 2006. He posted until the day before his death on Nov. 13, 2013.The multi-talented Mark Lacter
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