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Stocks edge lower: Looks like a second straight down day, though there's not much market direction. Dow is down 45.
Gas, oil update: No change in pump prices from Tuesday - an average gallon of regular in the L.A. area is $4.386, down about a penny from last week, according to the Auto Club. Oil fell sharply on Tuesday, but it's back up - close to $107 a barrel.
Drilling doesn't mean lower prices: The AP examined 36 years of gasoline data and found no correlation between how much oil comes out of U.S. wells and the price at the pump.
Oil is a global commodity and U.S. production has only a tiny influence on supply. Factors far beyond the control of a nation or a president dictate the price of gasoline. When you put the inflation-adjusted price of gas on the same chart as U.S. oil production since 1976, the numbers sometimes go in the same direction, sometimes in opposite directions. If drilling for more oil meant lower prices, the lines on the chart would consistently go in opposite directions. A basic statistical measure of correlation found no link between the two, and outside statistical experts confirmed those calculations.
Oxy compensation drops - a bit: L.A.-based Occidental's new CEO, Stephen Chazen, received $31.7 million in 2011, down from $38.1 million a year earlier. Former CEO Ray Irani, who has been under fire in the past for his high pay, received $49.8 million in cash, stock, and other benefits. That compares with $76.1 million in 2010. (Bloomberg)
iPad's unintended consequence: Latest version of the Apple tablet is so fast that it's easy to run through the monthly data allotment in just hours. From the WSJ:
The iPad's new high-resolution screen and fast connection are specifically designed to spur greater use of online video--a long-stated goal for phone companies as well as technology purveyors such as Apple and Google Inc. Telecom companies in particular are banking on mobile video to drum up demand for their new, fourth-generation networks and create new revenue streams as they adjust to the smartphone age. That means something has to give: Either consumers will have to get used to paying more or wireless carriers will come under pressure to change their pricing models.
About that iPad heat: The device can run 116 degrees during intensive use, according to Consumer Reports. One corner of the back panel (probably near the processor) is where it gets really hot. (LAT)
Pushing more exports from L.A.: The idea is to encourage local companies to look overseas for new business. It's part of a project that's led by the Brookings Institution and JPMorgan Chase. From the LAT:
Members of the Global Cities Initiative contend that there are too few companies like Torrance-based Luminit, a technology company that has dramatically increased the share of business it does overseas. Luminit's sales to foreign buyers have jumped to 50%, up from 15% to 20% of sales a few years ago, said Peter Zinsli, who handles sales and marketing planning for the company.
TV connected to Internet: New report forecasts that by 2016 100 million homes in North America and Western Europe will own sets that are somehow tied to the Web. (LAT)
Mark Lacter created the LA Biz Observed blog in 2006. He posted
until the day before his death on Nov. 13, 2013.