Area jobs at stake as BofA losses mount
Thousands of Ventura County jobs are in jeopardy after Bank of America announced a massive $1.79 billion fourth-quarter loss, the largest in nearly two decades. The report came almost exactly one year after Bank of America announced it would buy Countrywide Financial Corp., a Calabasas-based mortgage giant that had faltered badly amid the housing crisis. Read More →
How to tell if President Obama is getting the job done
Now that the hoopla has died down and we’ve all gone back to work, it’s time to set some benchmarks for the new administration. Having been through a few of these cycles before, I’m not inclined to accept the “this time it’s different” line from anybody. It’s also been my observation that when really good Read More →
Tri-county real estate market might not rebound until late 2010
Economist Kirk Lesh had no good news for attendees of the UCSB Economic Forecast Project lecture on Jan. 15. In fact, most of the UCSB-EFP findings proved worse than attendees had anticipated. Lesh said during the presentation that the real estate market will be flat until at least the second or third quarter of 2010 Read More →
How Geithner can
Here’s a can’t-fail idea for getting the economy moving again — and preventing the big guys from getting all the government handouts and tax breaks. We’re proposing a new Treasury Department program for small businesses. Just for kicks, let’s call it The Geithner Exemption. Under The Geithner Exemption, any one of the nation’s 6 million Read More →
Property crime hurts bottom line
Property crime is economic crime. We haven’t seen the latest data, but from news reports and conversations with our colleagues in the business world, there seems to be a sudden increase in office break-ins, smash-and-grab car theft, identity-theft and bank robberies. It’s easy to blame the recession and shrug things off. But victims of these Read More →
Goleta banks robbed
Two Goleta banks were robbed at gunpoint within 30 minutes of each other Jan. 16, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement. Detectives are investigating whether the two robberies are related. An undisclosed amount of cash was taken in each heist. Los Padres Bank, 197 N. Fairview Ave., was held up at Read More →
101 project secures funding
The Pooled Money Investment Board met in Sacramento on Jan. 16 and decided to continue state funding for the Milpas to Hot Springs Highway 101 Widening Project. “When this matter was brought to my attention, I instructed my office to immediately begin work on resolving the problem,” said Pedro Nava, assemblyman of the 35th District. Read More →
