February 5, 2018 – 03:00 p.m.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, a basket of thirty stocks, dropped 1,175 points at Monday’s close. The index had been down 1,600 earlier.
Politics, Government & Business in California's Inland Empire
February 5, 2018 – 03:00 p.m.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, a basket of thirty stocks, dropped 1,175 points at Monday’s close. The index had been down 1,600 earlier.
By Rex Crum | rcrum@bayareanewsgroup.com
Published: October 25, 2016 at 2:03 pm | Updated: October 26, 2016 at 5:44 am
CUPERTINO — For any other company, reporting annual sales of more than $215 billion would be worth celebrating. For Apple, however, it’s a reason for disappointment.
By Richard K. De Atley, The Press-Enterprise
Posted: 10/06/16 – 9:21 PM PDT |
ONTARIO >> Fitch Ratings reported Thursday its assessment of $52.2 million in fixed-rate bonds for Ontario International Airport Authority, setting them at an A-minus rating with a “stable” outlook.
By Richard De Atley
Posted: 09/12/16 – 4:35 PM PDT |
ONTARIO >> Fitch Ratings said Monday it has revised its outlook for Ontario International Airport bonds from negative to stable, based on better passenger traffic and a healthy financial profile for the Inland facility.
The A-letter grade remained unchanged from the previous report.
By David Danelski / Staff Reporter
Published: Aug. 23, 2016
Updated: Aug. 24, 2016 – 6:17 a.m.
As the state criminal case against seven former Beaumont officials moves through Riverside County Superior Court, a more secretive federal probe of the city’s troubled finances also is advancing.
By Ed Mendel
Monday, August 1, 2016
Twice in recent decades CalPERS fell below 100 percent of the funding needed for promised pensions, and twice CalPERS climbed back. But since a $100 billion investment loss in 2008, the CalPERS funding level has not recovered.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
July 18, 2016 – 4:03 PM
You can smear lipstick on a pig, but that doesn’t change its innate porcinity.
Business & Real Estate
By Dale Kasler
dkasler@sacbee.com
July 18, 2016 – 9:11 AM
CalPERS reported a 0.61 percent gain in investments in its latest fiscal year, the second straight year of subpar results for the big California pension fund.
By Ed Mendel
July 18, 2016
The two big California public pension funds, CalPERS and CalSTRS, are going opposite ways on a controversial investment strategy, hedge funds, that is under fire from a powerful teachers union.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
July 12, 2016 – 3:04 PM
The California Public Employees’ Retirement System – the nation’s largest pension trust fund – took a beating during the Great Recession, dropping nearly $100 billion in value.
By Teri Sforza / Staff Writer
July 12, 2016 – Updated 7:37 a.m.
Public workers are pumping more money into retirement funds. Public agencies are pumping more money into retirement funds.
Yet the market seems distinctly unimpressed.
By Rachel Uranga, rachel.uranga@langnews.com, @racheluranga on Twitter
Posted: 06/24/16 – 7:31 PM PDT |
Britain’s exit from the European Union shocked markets, reshuffled alliances and created a new political reality that experts say will be felt in Southern California.
James Rufus Koren
May 26, 2016
Another major Tribune Publishing investor is crying foul over the company’s rejection of Gannett’s buyout offer — even as two more advisory firms weighed in to give the board cover against a possible shareholder lawsuit.
James Rufus Koren
May 23, 2016
In the battle for control of Los Angeles Times parent Tribune Publishing, two health tech investors look to be the likely winners, while a massive newspaper company may walk away empty-handed.
By Rob Nikolewski |
May 17, 2016 – 2:35 p.m.
It’s not a ratings downgrade, but Moody’s Investor Service on Tuesday called reopening the financial details of the San Onofre nuclear plant shutdown a “credit negative” for the plant’s operator, Southern California Edison.
Dan Walters
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
May 15, 2016 – 6:00 PM
The seemingly mundane matter of issuing bonds to build and fix schools has suddenly morphed into a bubbling stew of highly contentious politics.
Paresh Dave
April 28, 2016
Billionaire business magnate Carl Icahn, whose investment decisions can influence the stock market, said Thursday that he dumped what was left of his nearly 1% stake in Apple Inc. on fears that Chinese authorities would bully the iPhone maker.
By Paresh Dave
April 26, 2016
Apple Inc. forewarned investors of its first-ever drop in iPhone sales and its first decline in quarterly revenue in 13 years.
Times staff and wire reports
April 25, 2016
USA Today publisher Gannett Co. is making an aggressive push to buy the owner of the Los Angeles Times, a move that would bolster Gannett’s position as the nation’s largest newspaper company and continue the consolidation in the industry.
Published: April 13, 2016 – 8:09 a.m.
Puerto Rico, Atlantic City and Chicago school district bondholders have reason to fear a fight in court if the ailing governments collapse financially: recent cases show that when municipalities go broke, investors lose when pitted against municipal retirees.
To read article in The Press-Enterprise, click here.
By Ian Lovett
April 11, 2016
ADELANTO, Calif. — After decades of thriving in legally hazy backyards and basements, California’s most notorious crop, marijuana, is emerging from the underground into a decidedly capitalist era.
Business & Real Estate
By Dale Kasler
dkasler@sacbee.com
April 4, 2016 – 9:08 AM
It’s been a hallmark of CalPERS policy for 15 years: no tobacco stocks.
Chris Reed
March 28, 2016
Is the California Public Employees’ Retirement System about to make another big mistake with a mistimed investment strategy, this time in the industrial solar sector?
James Rufus Koren
March 9, 2016
Moody’s Corp. will pay $130 million to the California Public Employees’ Retirement System to settle allegations that the ratings agency acted negligently by giving top scores to ultimately toxic investments that cost the pension fund hundreds of millions of dollars, CalPERS said Wednesday.
By Wendy Lee
Updated: March 3, 2016 – 8:19pm
Yahoo Chief Financial Officer Ken Goldman on Thursday reassured investors that the struggling company is serious about exploring all of its options, including a sale.
By Christie Smythe and Keri Geiger | December 17, 2015
Martin Shkreli, the boyish drug company entrepreneur, who rocketed to infamy by jacking up the price of a life-saving pill from $13.50 to $750, was arrested by federal agents at his Manhattan home early Thursday morning on securities fraud related to a firm he founded.
Melody Petersen
December 14, 2015
The state’s biggest public pension fund has repeatedly missed a key performance goal for its controversial private equity investments.
.
Alison Vekshin
November 24, 2015 — 8:17 AM PST
Updated on November 24, 2015 — 9:15 AM PST
Private-equity firms reaped $3.4 billion in profit sharing for investing on behalf of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System since 1990, the sort of gains that have led to debate over why Wall Street pays lower taxes than most American workers.
Chad Terhune
November 19, 2015
Industry giant UnitedHealth has warned it may quit selling Obamacare coverage across the country, raising questions about an expansion in California.
Melody Petersen
Novembe 17, 2015
Experts have warned for years that the state’s largest public pension plan has overestimated how much its investments will earn, leaving taxpayers to pay billions of dollars more than expected.
Dean Starkman Dean Starkman
November 16, 2015
The nation’s largest public pension fund would have endured lower returns and higher volatility over the years had it not invested in private equity, even with its high fees and added risks, experts testified Monday.
Shan Li and Samantha Masunaga
November 6, 2015
When Fresh & Easy was taken over by investor Ronald W. Burkle’s Yucaipa Cos. in 2013, it seemed as if the money-losing grocery chain would finally get a chance to turn things around.
Thursday, November 5, 2015 – 09:00 a.m.
If San Bernardino County leaders want a reason to push back at union demands for salary and benefit increases they now have it.
Published: Nov. 2, 2015 – Updated: 10:52 p.m.
Fitch Ratings retained its A-minus listing for Ontario International Airport’s $59.6 million of fixed-rate revenue bonds, along with a “negative” outlook.
To read article by Richard K. De Atley in The Press-Enterprise, click here.
By Ed Mendel
Monday, October 26, 2015
Still underfunded after a $100 billion loss during the recession, CalPERS plans to slowly shift over decades to more conservative and lower-yielding investments, raising employer rates but reducing the risk of another financial bloodbath.
Business & Real Estate
By Dale Kasler
dkasler@sacbee.com
October 12, 2015
CalPERS is about to roll out an unusual new investment policy that could reduce risks but also lower its portfolio’s profitability.
Published: Oct. 5, 2015 – 2:21 p.m.
Pacific Premier Bank has signed an agreement to acquire the holding company of Riverside’s Security Bank of California, and its branches in Riverside, Orange and San Bernardino counties.
To read article by Debra Gruszecki in The Press-Enterprise, click here.
Shan Li
October 4, 2015
American Apparel, the trendy but troubled Los Angeles clothier, is preparing to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday — yet another blow to a company that has been struggling since ousting its chief executive last year.
By Jim Puzzanghera and Don Lee
September 17, 2015
Cautious Federal Reserve policymakers on Thursday held a key interest rate at near zero, opting to wait longer to remove the unprecedented easy-money stimulus to determine whether recent global financial market volatility has slowed the U.S. economy.
Published: Sept. 10, 2015 – 3:33 p.m.
Concerned about the expense of a $1.2 billion expansion, Fitch Ratings has downgraded the rating on $683 million revenue bonds issued on behalf of Loma Linda University Medical Center.
To read article by Fielding Buck in The Press-Enterprise, click here.
Saturday, September 5, 2015 – 11:30 a.m.
Settlements have been reached with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over the mismanagement and plundering of accounts held at a now-defunct Redlands-based investment advisory firm.
By Dean Starkman and Melody Petersen
September 2, 2015
The California State Teachers’ Retirement System, the nation’s second-largest public pension system, is considering a new strategy that would shift up to 12% of its $191-billion portfolio into safer investments, such as long-term Treasury bonds.
By Chris Megerian and Phil Willon
August 24, 2015
Gyrations in the stock market have taken California’s fragile finances for a ride before — when the dot-com bubble burst, when the Wall Street crash sank the national economy less than a decade ago.
Monday, August 24, 2015 – 05:00 p.m.
The Lou Desmond and Company Show is broadcasting from the Toyota of San Bernardino Recording Studios!
On the show today, Estimable Economist Jay Prag joins the show to discuss the rollercoaster ride that the stock market has been. At one point today it was down over 1,000 points. What does he predict in the coming months?
Saturday, August 22, 2015 – 09:45 a.m.
The various U.S. stock market indexes have essentially declined 10% from their record highs earlier this year.
Now all of a sudden the world is coming to an end.
Friday, August 21, 2015 – 01:00 P.M.
Global stock markets plunged on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunging 530 points. The S&P 500 fell 65 points, while the Nasdaq fell 171 points.
By Dean Starkman
August 13, 2015
California’s two major public pension funds, the biggest in the nation, lost a total of more than $5 billion on energy-related investments for their fiscal years, ended June 30, according to a new report.
Monday, July 27, 2015 – 04:30 p.m.
The Lou Desmond and Company Show is broadcasting from the Toyota of San Bernardino Recording Studios!
Tonight on the show, Jay Prag, estimable economist, joins the show. The Jay and Lou talk about the mayor of Murrieta’s sexual harassment accusations. Also, the mayor and city manager in San Bernardino can’t seem to get along.
Published: July 23, 2015 – 2:36 p.m.
CVB Financial Corp., and its subsidiary Citizens Business Bank, reported $26.8 million in net income for the April-through-June quarter of 2015.
To read article by Debra Gruszecki in The Press-Enterprise, click here.
Mary Childs and Alison Vekshin
July 14, 2015 -3:51 PM PDT
The chief investment officer of the biggest U.S. pension fund is most worried about low interest rates as the California Public Employees’ Retirement System struggles to earn enough money to pay beneficiaries.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
July 13, 2015
It’s likely that California voters will be treated – or subjected – next year to a vitriolic campaign over public employee pensions.
By Dean Starkman
Monday, July 13, 2015
The California Public Employees’ Retirement System said it missed its return target by a wide margin, hurt by a sluggish global economy and an under-performing private equity portfolio.
Monday, July 13, 2015 – 08:40 a.m.
Greece and it’s European counterparts struck a deal for a third bailout of the beleaguered nation early Monday morning in Brussels.
By Morgan Lee | 6:13 p.m. July 9, 2015
A federal lawsuit filed this week accuses two top Edison International executives of harming shareholders by failing to disclose secret meetings with California regulators regarding a $4.7 billion settlement of costs for the failure of the San Onofre nuclear plant.
Wednesday, July 8, 2015 – 05:00 p.m.
The Lou Desmond and Company Show is coming to you from the Toyota of San Bernardino Recording Studios!
By Ylan Q. Mui
July 5, 2015 at 2:55 PM
The financial crisis in Greece has upended the lives — and livelihoods — of residents of the Mediterranean nation. The shutdown of the banking system has resulted in long lines at ATMs to withdraw a daily maximum of just 60 euros, about $67. Citizens have stockpiled food and fuel, leading to empty shelves at grocery stores and crowded gas stations. Business leaders have warned that shortages of crucial medicines could be next.
Sunday, July 5, 02:45 p.m.
Greece’s European Austerity Referendum went down in flames Sunday night.
The measure was overwhelmingly rejected by Greek voters.
By Chris Megerian
July 2, 2015
The Wall Street ratings agency Standard & Poor’s gave a vote of confidence to California’s finances on Thursday, upgrading its credit rating to its highest level in 14 years.
Thursday July 2, 2015 – 10:30 a.m.
The headline in The Guardian, a British newspaper, is fitting.
Business & Real Estate
By Dale Kasler
dkasler@sacbee.com
June 30, 2015
CalPERS said Tuesday it plans to sell up to $3 billion worth of real estate as it continues to overhaul its investment portfolio.
By Dean Starkman
June 25, 2015
The nation’s biggest public pension fund is falling far short of its annual investment goals.
Monday, June 22, 2015 – 08:30 a.m.
Will the economically-tiny nation of Greece default?
Is it already too late?
If it does. Will the event ripple through the financial markets?
By Associated Press
June 15, 2016
Gap plans to close 175 of its namesake stores and 250 jobs at its headquarters as the company tries to strengthen the struggling brand.
June 8, 2015 – 01:31 PM EDT
By Bernard Condon
AP Business Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — Those record profits that companies are reporting may not be all they’re cracked up to be.
By Dean Starkman
June 8, 2015
The California Public Employees’ Retirement System plans to cut in half the number of Wall Street firms it pays to manage its $303 billion fund, an effort to cut down on high fees that drag down returns.
By Dale Kasler
dkasler@sacbee.com
June 8, 2015
Ending a lengthy effort that had frustrated school teachers, CalSTRS has sold its investment in the firearms manufacturer linked to the 2012 massacre at a Connecticut elementary school.
Sunday, May 24, 2015 – 05:30 p.m.
The Pew Research Center has issued a not-so-pleasant report on the state of print media in the country.
By Ryan Hagen, The Sun
Posted: 05/14/15, 4:49 PM PDT |
SAN BERNARDINO >> The proposed bankruptcy exit plan released to the public for the first time Thursday would pay 1 percent of the $50 million owed to pension obligation bondholders, slash retirees’ healthcare coverage, and contract out for services, including fire and waste disposal, among other changes.
By Bay Area News Group
Posted: 05/14/15 – 9:26 PM PDT |
Digital First Media, the company that operates the Los Angeles News Group and its digital and newspaper properties, has decided not to seek a sale of the entire company, saying it “is not in the best interest of shareholders at this time.’’
Saturday, April 4, 2015 – 10:30 a.m.
Remember last October, when the Federal Reserve ended the tapering down of its $85 billion a month bond-buying program?
By Daniel Borenstein
Posted: 04/02/2015 – 08:27:25 AM PDT
Updated: 04/02/2015 – 09:38:48 AM PDT
Unless it alters its current funding structure, CalPERS will be even more vulnerable to market losses in the next economic downturn than it was during its devastating plunge in the Great Recession.
Friday, March 27, 2015 – 09:00 a.m.
The price tag for Digital First Media (DFM) is shrinking.
LOS ANGELES | By Tim Reid
Thu Mar 26, 2015 – 6:28pm EDT
(Reuters) – The bankrupt California city of San Bernardino revealed on Thursday details of its deal with the state’s public pension system Calpers, in which the retirement fund will be paid in full under the city’s bankruptcy exit plan.
Monday, Mar 23, 2015 – 5:57pm EDT
(Reuters) – The holdout creditor in Stockton, California’s bankruptcy case filed its opening brief in an appeal of the city’s reorganization plan on Monday, claiming “no bondholder has ever received so little in the history of municipal bankruptcy.”
Friday, March 20, 2015
Tonight on the Lou Desmond & Company Show, Lou is joined by Ed Hoffman, president of Wholesale Capital Corporation, to discuss local news and financial news. First, missing San Bernardino Woman Sahray Barber is found safe near Los Angeles. She says she didn’t realize people were looking for her until she watched TV news last night.
By Tim Reid
Tue Mar 17, 2015 – 10:52pm EDT
Los Angeles —
(Reuters) – The southern California city of San Bernardino has defaulted on nearly $10 million in payments on its privately placed pension bond debt since it declared bankruptcy in 2012, according to documents seen by Reuters.
Monday, February 23, 2015 – 05:00 p.m.
Today on The Lou Desmond & Company Show, economist Jay Prag and Financial Advisor Kraig Strom join Lou to discuss an array of topics.
By Roger Vincent
February 15, 2015
Pampered guests at the five-star Montage Laguna Beach resort can swim in a lap pool overlooking the Pacific, dine on caviar and sleep on goose-down pillows to a lullaby of crashing waves.
By Ed Mendel
February 2, 2015
A bitter breakup of a well-known Ohio company, Timken, approved by shareholders in a battle led by CalSTRS and one of its investment funds, Relational, has become a case study as activist shareholders try to squeeze more profit from companies.
SAN FRANCISCO — Jan 27, 2015, 5:56 PM ET
By BRANDON BAILEY AP Technology Writer
Associated Press
Apple had another blowout quarter thanks to its new plus-sized iPhones, which helped the company smash sales records for the holiday season.
Bloomberg is reporting that two private equity firms are taking a close look at a possible buyout of the parent company of The Sun, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin and Redlands Daily Facts newspapers.
By Dale Kasler
dkasler@sacbee.com
01/20/2015 8:58 PM
A bankruptcy judge Tuesday dismissed an effort to keep Stockton mired in bankruptcy while a creditor challenges a decision that lets the city pay its CalPERS pension bills in full.
SHEA JOHNSON
STAFF WRITER
Posted Jan. 7, 2015 @ 8:34 pm
Updated at 8:37 PM
VICTORVILLE — Depositions are expected to get underway next week, nearly two years after the Securities and Exchange Commission accused the city of Victorville, its airport authority and others of dramatically inflating the combined valuation of four airport hangars in a 2008 municipal bond offering.
Monday, January 5, 2015 – 10:30 a.m.
Crude Oil prices plunged again on Monday morning due to an ever increasing oversupply.
By Dean Starkman
January 2, 2015
NEW YORK — Call it the Great Divide: The new year figures to be one of robust economic growth in the U.S., with slowdowns, stagnation and setbacks everywhere else in the world.