Entries
PSA Test for Prostate Cancer "Disaster," Says Scientist
In today's (March 10) New York Times, Prof. Richard J. Ablin of the University of Arizona College of Medicine declares that that so-called P.S.A. screening for prostate cancer "has led to a hugely expensive public health disaster." Ablin says he …
Questions Abound in City's Planned Refunding of Stadium Bonds
The city council is being asked Tuesday to approve the refunding of $185 million of lease revenue bonds, including the 1996 Qualcomm Stadium bonds. (The facility was then named Jack Murphy Stadium.) The outstanding principal on those bonds is $54.7 …
San Diego 9th Most Popular Retirement Location
TopRetirements.com is out with a list of the 100 most popular retirement towns for 2010. San Diego is listed ninth. It's based on the number of online visits. John Brady, editor of the second edition of "100 Best Retirement Towns" …
Work for a Government and Rake in Bucks
State and local employees receive 34% higher wages on average than workers in the private sector, and the government workers' fringe benefits are 70% higher than those in private industry. This is one of the stunning revelations in a new …
Qualcomm Stock Soars on Higher Forecasts
Stock of telecom superstar Qualcomm is up 6.86% to $38 this afternoon (March 2) as the company at its annual meeting announced that both quarterly sales and earnings would be higher than earlier expected, according to Reuters. The stock is …
Sequenom Stock Zooming Again
Shares of biotech Sequenom are up 23.12% to $8.52 this morning. The stock has almost doubled in the last month; it closed at $4.32 Feb. 2. Today (March 2) analyst Pamela Bassett of Cantor Fitzgerald raised her rating of the …
Local Lead Indicators Continue Rising
The lead indicators of the San Diego economy, compiled by Alan Gin of the University of San Diego, continued to rise in January, hitting 107.9 from 107.2 in December. Building permits, initial unemployment claims, stock prices, help-wanted advertising and the …
Union Charges U-T Owner with Unlawful Surveillance
Local 546-M of the Graphic Communications Conference of the Teamsters union yesterday (Feb. 24) filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board over activities of Platinum Equity, Beverly Hills-based owner of the Union-Tribune. According to the complaint, union members …
Local Housing Values Up, but Pace of Gain Slowing
San Diego County housing values rose 0.1% from November to December, according to the Standard & Poor/s Case-Shiller Home Price Index, released today (Feb. 23). Of the top 20 metro markets, San Diego was one of only four to register …
Senturia's News Network Raises $3.18 Million
U.S. Local News Network, parent of San Diego News Network, an online publication, has raised $3.18 million from investors, according to a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Proceeds will be used to finance its expansion into other …
"Healthy" Expansion? For Whom?
The National Association for Business Economics will release today a poll of economists who say a recovery is firmly on track, although there will be no drop in unemployment below 9 percent for another year. Lynn Reaser, chief economist at …
Journal Mentions San Diego in Chapter 9 Story
The Wall Street Journal of today (Feb. 18) has an excellent story on Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcies. It focuses on Vallejo, which filed Chapter 9, and Harrisburg, the capital of Pennsylvania, which seems likely to file. "People believe that municipal …
Sequenom Stock Soars on Fetal Sex Test
Stock of biotech Sequenom jumped 16.37% to $5.26 today (Feb. 16) as the company launched its fetal test for sex determination. The company says the test is noninvasive, requiring only a blood sample from the mother, and it makes the …
JP Morgan Will Buy Part of Sempra Trading Business Tuesday
The Wall Street Journal is reporting today (Feb. 15) that JP Morgan Chase is expected to announce as early as tomorrow (Feb. 16) that it has agreed to pay $1.7 billion for the less juicy parts of RBS Sempra Commodities, …
U-T Names Online Specialist as Editor
The Union-Tribune today (Feb. 11) named Jeff Light as editor, replacing Karin Winner, who retired at the end of last year. Light has been with Freedom Communications, publisher of the Orange County Register, since 1993. He was most recently vice …
Gin's Lead Indicators Strong in December
The lead indicators of the San Diego economy, published monthly by Alan Gin of the University of San Diego, are looking good. The December data, published today (Feb. 11) show that all the indicators -- building permits, initial unemployment claims, …
Isis Cholesterol Drug Disappoints; Stock Plunges
Stock of biotech Isis Pharmaceuticals plunged 18.66% to $8.98 today (Feb. 10) as news about its experimental new cholesterol drug, mipomersen, disappointed investors. Results of a late-stage clinical trial showed that mipomersen did a good job reducing cholesterol for patients …
Surprise: Union-Tribune Solicits Employee Suggestions
The Union-Tribune has instituted an employee suggestion program that includes cash bonuses. Under the old Copley regime, management was militaristic; ideas came from the top down and the bottom-up approach was a no-no. Further, under the current management, the program …
News Mixed in Unemployment Report
The U.S. lost 20,000 jobs in January, according government statistics released this morning (Feb. 5). Economists had expected a gain of 25,000 jobs. December's job loss was raised to 150,000 from 85,000 reported earlier, although November was revised upward. In …
Biotechs Take a Beating
On a grim day in which the stock market plunged about 3%, local biotechs got hammered even more. Neurocrine Biosciences plummeted 7.28% to $2.17; Vical dropped 5.5% to $2.92; Amylin -5.78% to $17.29; Arena -5.63% to $3.02, Ligand -4.6% to …