Local Home Values Down 37.9% from Peak
San Diego home values are now down 37.9% from the peak of November, 2005, according to data from Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller that came out this morning (Dec. 29). The improvement in home values is slowing down in San Diego, as …
Breen Told Syndicate His U-T Job "Definitely Threatened" If He Went Ahead with Kelley Strip
In the summer of 2007, John Matthews, vice president of Universal Press Syndicate, received a call from Steve Breen, Union-Tribune editorial cartoonist. Breen said he felt his job at the Union-Tribune was "definitely threatened" if he went ahead with a …
Taxpayer-Financed Stadiums Bring "Municipal Woes," says NY Times
The New York Times has an excellent story this morning (Christmas Day, Dec. 25) on how more and more cities are getting into deep trouble because of ridiculous deals on subsidized stadiums given sports team owners. The piece focuses mainly …
Republicans File Suit to Knock Out Political Giving Restrictions
On December 21, the Republican Party, its Lincoln Club, a political action committee of the Associated Builders and Contractors, and others filed suit in federal court to eliminate certain long-time election donation restrictions in San Diego. Defendants include the City, …
Feds Close Imperial Capital Bank of La Jolla
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. today (Dec. 18) shut down Imperial Capital Bank of La Jolla. The bank was sold to Los Angeles-based City National Corp., which will assume all Imperial deposits. No depositors should lose money, the FDIC said. …
In '07, U-T Owner's Law Firm Helped Shield Tiger, Says Journal
Lavely & Singer, the law firm for Union-Tribune owner Platinum Equity, as well as for Hollywood celebrities, helped bargain a deal that kept embarrassing details about Tiger Woods out of the media back in 2007, according to a story in …
San Diego Unemployment Drops to 10.3% in November
The San Diego County unemployment rate dropped to 10.3% in November from a revised 10.7% in October, according to the California Employment Development Department. This compares with 6.9% a year ago, and 9.4% for the nation and 12.2% for the …
Borrego Clubs Extend Shutdown Dates until Jan. 8
The Borrego Ranch Resort & Spa (formerly Casa del Zorro) and adjoining Montesoro Golf & Social Club (formerly Rams Hill), which earlier warned they would close November 30 if they could not find an investor, have now extended the deadline …
Suppose Tiger DOES Play at Torrey Pines
The gossip mills are saying this afternoon (Dec. 16) that Tiger Woods's wife, Elin Nordegren, has been conspicuously flashing to paparazzi that she is not wearing a wedding ring. The New York Post's scandal mongers report, "She's making plans to …
This Is How Bad It Is in Tourism
Surprised by the woes at Hard Rock Hotel or the Natural History Museum? Consider this: Jerry Morrison, hotel guru in La Jolla, says "To quote a broker in California, hotels are selling by the pound. They are commodities and we …
Natural History Museum Bonds Lowered to Junk Status
According to Bloomberg.com, the Moody's credit rating on San Diego Natural History Museum bonds has been lowered four notches to Caa2, which is a high-risk, highly speculative rating. The bonds were cut from B1, which is a medium rating. Affected …
Editor & Publisher, Kirkus Reviews Closing
More bad news for the written word: Editor & Publisher, the magazine chronicling the news industry for more than a century, and Kirkus Reviews, a book review publication, are both being shut down by Nielsen Co. Editor & Publisher was …
Sempra, RBS Consider Selling Commodities Trading Unit
San Diego's Sempra Energy and the deeply troubled Royal Bank of Scotland are exploring sale of their Connecticut-based commodities trading venture for more than $3 billion, the Wall Street Journal reports. The flailing bank is 84 percent owned by the …
Has Tiger Woods Hired Platinum Equity's Law Firm?
Today's (Dec. 8) Wall Street Journal says that "according to people familiar with the situation," scandal-plagued golfer Tiger Woods has hired Los Angeles law firm Lavely & Singer for damage control. The firm, Woods, and one of his alleged paramours …
Suit Claims Fraud at Hard Rock Hotel
The trendy Hard Rock Hotel San Diego at the entrance of the Gaslamp District, and one block from Petco Park, was sued today (Tuesday Dec. 8) for fraud. The hotel is said to have been the first hotel condo in …
San Diego Discussing Ways to Pump Public Money into Chargers
The City and the County are discussing ways to pump taxpayer money into a downtown Chargers stadium, according to a report in Voice of San Diego. It's all preliminary. After all, the City faces a $200 million deficit and talk …
Kittles Got $3.15 Million in cash for Rhoades School
The Nobel Learning Communities of West Chester, Pennsylvania, has reported in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it paid $3.15 million for Encinitas-based Rhoades School. It announced the purchase Sept. 30. The company confirmed this morning that …
Brandes Gives Up on Newspapers
Brandes Investment Partners, the San Diego money manager that has come on hard times, appears to have thrown in the towel on newspaper stocks. Brandes, which looks for undervalued stocks, had stuck with metro dailies while other money managers had …
San Diego "Green" Company a Fraud, Says SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today (Dec. 4) charged San Diego's Nova Gen Company, its current chief executive Margaret Grey, and sales agent Paul Randall Fraley with making false statements and selling unregistered securities. The company claimed that it had …
Good Employment News Breaks Pattern: Dollar, Stocks Rise Together
For months, U.S. stocks, commodities, and bonds have all risen as the dollar has dropped against other currencies. The word on Wall Street has been: "Sell the dollar and buy anything else." But good employment news this morning (Dec. 4) …
Local Lead Indicators Continue Rise
The lead indicators of the San Diego economy, compiled by Alan Gin of the University of San Diego, continued rising in October to 103.7, up from 103.4 in September and 102.5 in August. They have been up every month beginning …