BUSINESS

A pain-in-the-neck change from organizers of the 'Oldchella' concert

Wells Fargo is offering low down payment mortgages without FHA backing

Oil prices flirt with key $50 mark

Ex-Wells Fargo mortgage banker is banned and fined for an alleged escrow fee scheme

Bryan Cranston-owned theater's case against Cinemark heads to court

Shari Redstone emerges as a pivotal figure in the battle for Viacom

Drama, Sex and Millions at Stake: Key players in the Sumner Redstone Saga

First 365 by Whole Foods opens in Silver Lake. See how the prices compare

Food prices at Shanghai Disneyland give early visitors heartburn

Did a billionaire Silicon Valley investor fund Hulk Hogan's lawsuit against Gawker?

Why Obama's overtime rule may barely dent the economy

President Obama’s new overtime rule has been trashed as a job killer by conservatives and heralded as a salve for the middle class by liberals. In reality, the measure probably won’t have much of an economic effect, partly because employers will find legal ways of getting around it. The new rule...

Los Angeles has one of the lowest rates of access to retirement plans

Fall on your face? Jukin Media will pay for the video

FDA super-sizes key information in nutrition labels for packaged foods

In latest stumble, Theranos retracts blood tests

'Narnia' producer Vincent Sieber lists his midcentury home in Nichols Canyon

Obamas reportedly plan to lease a D.C. mansion post-presidency

Home of the Day: A Cape Cod charmer in Manhattan Beach

Palm Springs estate of sportswear entrepreneur Marc Ware fetches a record price

Actor Joey Lawrence lists his Calabasas crib for sale at $2.249 million

Pacific Palisades estate of 'Simpsons' co-creator Sam Simon sells for $12.5 million

Home of the Day: Sittin' on the dock of the bay -- in luxury

Home of the Day: King of the hill in Ocean Park

Watchdog group shows 'cozy' emails between state regulators and utility executives

The Santa Monica consumer group that prompted an investigation into contacts by the top aide for Gov. Jerry Brown with regulated utilities earlier this year has built a searchable public database of thousands of internal emails to and from her former employer, Pacific Gas & Electric, as well as...

Faraday Future seeks approval to build electric cars in California

Faraday Future, the Gardena-based electric car company, is eager to begin building its battery-electric vehicles in California. Having broken ground only a month ago on a $1-billion car factory in Nevada, Faraday could add a Vallejo facility to its production plans. Pending the outcome of a city...

Pending U.S. home sales hit highest level since 2006

Americans signed more contracts to buy homes in April for the third straight month, driving pending home sales to the highest level in more than a decade. The National Assn. of Realtors said Thursday that its seasonally adjusted pending home sales index surged 5.1% last month to 116.3, the highest...

Why the golf market is in the rough

The golf business -- how often Americans play golf and how much they’re spending on clubs and other equipment -- is struggling to find ways to grow. That was evident again early this month when sporting goods giant Adidas Group said it planned to divest its TaylorMade unit, one of the largest makers...

Another investor criticizes Tribune's moves, but 2 more proxy advisors back its board

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. In a letter sent Tuesday to Tribune's board, St. Louis investment firm Towle...

Justice Department accuses Ontario-based hospital chain of cheating Medicare system

The U.S. Justice Department has joined a whistle-blower case against Prime Healthcare Services, adding significant weight to allegations of widespread Medicare overbilling at 14 of the company’s hospitals in California. A Los Angeles magistrate judge granted the agency’s request to intervene in...

Edison International CEO Craver to retire

Edison International said Tuesday that Chief Executive Ted Craver will retire in September in keeping with the Rosemead company's practice of asking its leaders to step down at age 65. Craver, who also is president and chairman of Edison International, the parent company of Southern California...

Power plant proposals for Southern California spark an energy debate

A new wave of natural gas power plants planned for Southern California has stoked a high-stakes debate about how best to keep the lights on throughout the region. Green groups believe renewable energy has received short shrift by utilities proposing these facilities from Carlsbad to Oxnard. But operators...

Stocks climb for the second day as energy companies jump

U.S. stocks climbed Wednesday as investors continued to recover some confidence in the health of the global economy. That sent oil prices higher and gave energy companies a boost, while materials companies also climbed higher.  In Europe, a round of new rescue loans for Greece was unfrozen, eliminating...

EU proposes a quota of European films on services like Netflix and Amazon

One-fifth of the films and television shows offered in the European Union by on-demand providers like Netflix, iTunes and Amazon would have to be Europe-made under new proposals issued Wednesday.  The quota would match one that already exists for TV networks in European countries and aims to protect...

SeaWorld attendance sinks while other theme parks rise in 2015

The 60th anniversary celebration at Disneyland helped push attendance at the park up by 9% last year, while SeaWorld San Diego continued to struggle amid animal rights controversies, with attendance falling 7%. New attractions and celebrations helped lure more visitors to every major theme park...

Nearly half of U.S. households would struggle with an unexpected $400 expense, Fed study finds

Shedding light on the precarious economic state of many American families, the Federal Reserve said Wednesday that nearly half of U.S. households reported they would have trouble meeting emergency expenses of just $400.  In addition, the Fed found that 22% of workers were juggling two or more jobs...

Ford recalls 271,000 F-150 pickups to fix brake fluid leak

Ford Motor Co. has issued a safety recall for faulty braking systems in F-150 pickups, the automaker's most popular product and the bestselling vehicle in America for most of the past 30 years. The recall includes about 271,000 pickups in the 2013 and 2014 model years. The Michigan car company...

Microsoft cuts more jobs in struggling mobile unit

Microsoft will cut up to 1,850 jobs and book an approximately $950-million writedown as it attempts to salvage its rocky entrance into the smartphone market.  The company acquired Nokia's phone business in 2014 for $7.3 billion, seeking to capitalize on the fast-growing industry. But by summer...

Obama races to cement the big Pacific Rim trade deal that all his potential successors oppose

President Obama is racing against the clock to cement a massive Pacific Rim trade deal that all of his potential successors oppose, with his administration eyeing a looming fight on Capitol Hill while starting to implement as much of the complicated pact as it can.  The effort begins in Vietnam,...

U.S. probes e-commerce giant Alibaba's accounting practices

Chinese e-commerce firm Alibaba says it is under investigation by U.S. regulators in connection with its accounting practices.  Alibaba said in a regulatory filing Tuesday that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has requested documents and information related to its policies and practices...

'Era of blindly following' Mickey Mouse is over, says Chinese billionaire battling Disney

If Walt Disney Co. executives thought they were going to open a theme park in mainland China without major opposition, they were wrong. Only weeks before the launch of the $5.5-billion Shanghai Disney Resort, a Chinese rival has vowed to outperform Disney with local theme parks that offer lower...

Amazon will open 2 new California warehouses, in Eastvale and Tracy

E-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc. will open two new warehouses in California, bringing to nine the number of shipping facilities the company operates in the state. The sprawling warehouses -- which Amazon calls "fulfillment centers" -- will open in Eastvale in the Inland Empire and Tracy in the...

As energy prices fall, Shell to cut 2,200 jobs

Anglo-Dutch oil company Royal Dutch Shell says it will trim at least 2,200 jobs globally amid challenging times in the oil industry.  The losses are in addition to cuts already being implemented because of the energy company's merger with BG. The losses will include some 475 positions in the North...

Obamacare is helping millions get needed healthcare, new survey finds

More than 60% of working-age Americans who signed up for Medicaid or a private health plan through the Affordable Care Act are getting healthcare they couldn’t previously get, a new nationwide survey indicates. And consumers are broadly satisfied with the new coverage, despite some cost challenges and...

Venture capital firm March Capital Partners debuts with $240-million fund

It took nearly three years, but the four men behind Los Angeles’ newest venture capital firm say they have amassed more money for an initial fund than anyone before in Southern California. March Capital Partners pulled together $240 million from about 50 wealthy families, institutions and other...

Green Dot apologizes for card outage as CEO survives a bid to oust him

Prepaid debit card issuer Green Dot Corp. acknowledged Tuesday that technical issues have kept many customers from using their cards, something the company denied last week. Customers, including many holders of Walmart-branded debit cards issued by Green Dot, took to social media last week to complain...

Toyota invests in Uber; Volkswagen backs Gett

Toyota Motor Corp. announced Tuesday a partnership with Uber Technologies in which the Japanese automaker will invest an undisclosed sum in the ride-hailing company and establish a car-leasing option for Uber drivers. Through the partnership, the two companies will “explore collaboration ... in...

It could be a 'long time' before U.S. launches spy satellites on a reusable rocket

The commercial satellite market might be ready for a reusable rocket, but the U.S. government is taking a more cautious approach. The director of launch enterprise for the U.S. Air Force Space Command's Space and Missile Systems Center said Tuesday that it could be a "long time" before the government...

As apps make it easier to seek refunds, Amazon limits its reimbursement policy

Many online retailers promise price protection to customers, but after making a purchase, few shoppers take the time to compare prices across the Web and file claims for partial refunds. So a handful of start-ups have built business models that involve doing that legwork and taking a cut of the...

Monsanto rejects $62-billion Bayer bid, but says it's still open to talks

Monsanto is rejecting Bayer's $62-billion takeover bid, calling it “incomplete and financially inadequate.  However, the seed company suggested Tuesday that a higher bid might be accepted, saying that it remains open to talks.  Monsanto Co. Chairman and Chief Executive Hugh Grant also said in a...

More young adults live with parents than partners, a first

Many of America's young adults appear to be in no hurry to move out of their old bedrooms. For the first time on record, living with parents is now the most common arrangement for people ages 18 to 34, an analysis of census data by the Pew Research Center has found. Nearly one-third of millennials...

Volkswagen emissions scandal settlement is on track, judge says

Volkswagen and attorneys for vehicle owners affected by the company's emissions cheating scandal are on target to meet a June deadline for a final settlement proposal, a federal judge said Tuesday.  Senior U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer said the parties have made substantial progress in reaching...

Photos and videos will no longer count against Twitter's 140-character limit

Get ready for slightly longer tweets and the ability to retweet yourself. Twitter Inc. said Tuesday that it was making a number of minor changes to its microblogging service over the next few months. Media -- including images, videos, polls and GIFs -- will no longer count against a tweet's 140-character...

Google's Paris office raided in tax fraud investigation

French police have raided Google's Paris offices as part of an investigation into “aggravated tax fraud” and money laundering allegations, authorities said Tuesday. The raid is the latest regulatory headache for the American tech giant, which like other Silicon Valley firms faces increasing questions...

Stocks open higher on Wall Street

U.S. stocks were jumping Tuesday morning as rising interest rates give bank stocks a lift. Investors were also buying big-name technology companies. European indexes also climbed.  The Dow Jones industrial average rose 187 points, or 1.1%, to 17,679 as of 10:05 a.m. EDT. The Standard & Poor's 500...

5 tips to improve meeting efficiency and productivity

Creating efficient work environments is a common goal among executives and office professionals alike. To keep everything running smoothly in the workplace, organization is essential. A new Post-it Brand Workplace study surveying 1,000 full-time office workers found that a consistent commonality...

3 ways to celebrate Small Business Week 2016

The bakery on the corner. The family-owned accounting firm down the street. The city's legendary cafe that's been around since the ‘50s. Small businesses nationwide prove the American dream is alive and well. In fact, more than half of Americans either own or work for a small business, according...

Small business SOS: Majority of small business owners want help tracking metrics (Infographic)

The majority of small business owners want help tracking metrics and admit they don't measure and track as often as they should, according to a Staples survey. Learn more about what business owners said about tracking metrics and how a new app can help grow your business in the below infographic....