Entries
Bailout Bubble -- Watch Out
The Saturday/Sunday (June 13-14) Wall Street Journal has a "must read" article, and I am not saying that because the Journal is agreeing with the thesis that I have been propounding on this blog and in columns for some time. …
Why Haven't State Regulators Gone After AIG?
The government has pumped more than $150 billion into bailing out American International Group (AIG), the big insurance conglomerate that has gambled with derivatives, been charged with cooking its books, and admitted that it would not be a going concern …
Platinum's Juicy, Subsidized Deal for Delphi Runs into Snag
Platinum Equity, the Beverly Hills private equity firm that bought the Union-Tribune for a song, has been trying a similar caper with bankrupt Delphi, the auto parts maker that once belonged to General Motors. GM, the government's auto task force …
Appellate Court Says DROP Not Vested Benefit
The federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals posted today (June 10) its decision that the City's Deferred Retirement Option Plan (DROP) is not a vested benefit protected by the federal constitutional contracts clause. The appellate court was ruling on a …
Generation Y Likes San Diego for Job Prospects
This year's 2.3 million college grads were asked in a poll what locations would be the best for job-hunting. San Diego was in 9th place, according to BusinessWeek.com. Despite the financial industry depression, New York City was a runaway number …
Waring Named to Housing Commission by 6-2 Vote
Jim Waring, who championed Sunroad while he was Mayor Jerry Sanders's real estate czar, was approved for a seat on the Housing Commission today (June 9) by a 6-2 vote of city council. Councilmembers Donna Frye and Sherri Lightner voted …
Market Slices Callaway Golf Stock
Stock of Callaway Golf is down 13.19% this morning (June 9) to $6.32. Yesterday, the maker of golf clubs and balls reduced its second quarter dividend to 1 cent a share from 7 cents. It will also issue $110 million …
Boston Globe Union Rejects Cuts; Owner NY Times to Slash Unilaterally
A classic battle that may play a role in the future of daily newspapers took place today (June 8). The Boston Globe's Guild members voted 277-265 to turn down a package of concessions, including an 8.4% pay cut, unpaid furloughs …
Posh W Hotel to Default, Go Back to Lenders
The super-upscale, 258-room W Hotel at 421 B St. will go into default this month and go back to its lenders, Sunstone Hotel Investors, a San Clemente-based hotel real estate investment trust, said today (June 7). Sunstone said the hotel …
Copley Building Sold for $4.75 Million Advertised for $6.5 Million
You may flip your wig over this one. In today's (June 7) Union-Tribune is a quarter-page ad for a building at 7701 Herschel in La Jolla. Asking price: $6.5 million. On May 4, the County Assessor's office reported that this …
Once-Imprisoned Philip Lochmiller in Trouble Again
On Sept. 20 of 1985, Philip Lochmiller of North County's by-then-bankrupt Lochmiller Mortgage was sentenced to three years in state prison on securities charges. His brother, Stephen Lochmiller, and mother, Joe Alice Lochmiller, had already been sentenced on similar charges. …
U-T Gets New Sales VP from Paper It Once Owned
The Union-Tribune has hired Mark Ficarra to be vice president of sales and marketing, according to an article in the Daily Breeze of Torrance. Ficarra had been publisher of the Daily Breeze and allied papers in the Los Angeles area. …
Was Employment News Good or Bad? Er, Yes
The Labor Department announced this morning (June 5) that the nation lost only 345,000 jobs in May; economists had expected 500,000 or more. However, the unemployment rate jumped from 8.9% to 9.4%. Puzzled? The jobs data come from a survey …
Waring Up for Housing Commission; Protests Abound
On June 9, the city council will consider appointing Jim Waring, the former real estate czar for Mayor Sanders, to the Housing Commission. San Diegans are protesting. Waring was the one who fretted about Sunroad's possible loss of money when …
Countrywide's Ex-Chief Mozilo Charged with Fraud
The Securities and Exchange Commission today (June 5) charged Anthony Mozilo, former chief executive of the former Countrywide Financial (now part of Bank of America) with securities fraud. Mozilo and former president David Sambol and former chief financial officer Eric …
Newspapers Suffer Worst Quarter in Modern History
Last Thursday, the Newspaper Association of America quietly posted almost unbelievably grim news on its website. Advertising sales plunged by 28.3% in the first quarter of 2009. Print ads were down 29.7%. Classified ads, the big money makers in the …
Raider Icahn Says He Won Two Seats on Biotech Board
Corporate raider Carl Icahn this afternoon (June 3) said he has won two of 13 total seats on the board of Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotech Biogen Idec. The Idec part of the company has been one of San Diego's biotech success …
As Expected, GM Will Go into Bankruptcy Tomorrow
To no one's surprise, the White House is saying this evening (May 31) that General Motors will go into bankruptcy tomorrow morning. President Obama will speak to the nation. The company will be shrunk drastically. American taxpayers will own 60% …
Two Top U-T Officials Get the Axe
A management person has confirmed rumors going around the Union-Tribune today (May 29). Robert (Bobbie) Espinosa, head of human resources, has been separated from the company. Also out, according to good information, is Scott Whitley, chief revenue officer, or the …
Tourism in Tailspin
The occupancy rate of San Diego hotels plunged to 64.5% in April from 74.4% in April of 2008, according to Smith Travel Research. That was a 13.3% drop. Revenue per available room (called RevPAR) plunged 27.2% from a year earlier. …