Kaiser buys South Los Angeles site for new medical facility

A long-awaited redevelopment project known as Marlton Square in South Los Angeles is set to move forward with the sale of a large portion of the site to Kaiser Permanente.

Federal Reserve uses YouTube to promote free foreclosure reviews

It sounded like the biggest no-brainer in the history of bank screw-ups -- a free, government-sponsored review of foreclosure proceedings, with compensation for homeowners who suffered financial harm.

Work starts on $170-million apartment complex near Staples Center

Construction began last week on the Avant, a $170-million luxury apartment complex near the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Study: China to surpass U.S. in business travel spending by 2015

Americans have long held the title of the world’s biggest spenders when it comes to business travel. But China is expected to overtake the U.S. by 2015.

New technology may reduce TSA pat-down searches

The federal government says it has plans to use advance technology to dramatically reduce the number of pat-down searches performed in the nation’s airports.

Scam watch: Facebook 'cancellation,' Ponzi scheme, website ads

Here is a roundup of alleged cons, frauds and schemes to watch out for.

Ventura's historic Pierpont Inn to be sold at auction

The Pierpont Inn & Spa, a century-old Ventura hotel that once served as a getaway for L.A.’s upper crust, will land on the auction block next month in a bankruptcy sale.

Alan Simpson is more wrong than ever on Social Security

Former Sen. Alan Simpson (R-Wyo.), who has long been the go-to guy for obnoxiously know-nothing takes on Social Security, this week uncorked yet another spectacularly misinformed "factoid" about the program's history.

Saturday Drive: 2012 Fiat 500 Abarth

The car: 2012 Fiat 500 Abarth

Retail roundup: Prada, Asos, CVS free gas promotion

--Facing an uncertain U.S. economy and a flailing Europe, Italian fashion house Prada is planning to open 260 stores in the next three years to capture consumers in emerging markets who are hungry for luxury goods, a report says.

NASA astronauts open SpaceX capsule hatch and begin unloading cargo

Less than 24 hours after a historic docking, astronauts aboard the International Space Station clambered into SpaceX's unmanned Dragon spacecraft and began unloading supplies that were packed inside.

SACRAMENTO -- A Bay Area technology firm specializing in electric vehicles is suing state energy regulators, accusing them of giving a monopoly over charging stations to an out-of-state power company.

A new report shows Las Vegas metro area prices rose year-over-year in April for the first time since June 2010.

WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration may be getting tougher with China on trade, but its approach in dealing with Beijing on the thorny currency issue remains patient diplomacy.

Investors are still asking what Facebook is really worth. But a more apt question might be: What's the average CEO worth?

It’s not looking good for the Spanish banking system. Standard & Poor’s just slashed the credit ratings of five banks and said the country is headed into a double-dip recession. One of them, Bankia, just asked the government for 19 billion euros in aid - a roughly $23.8 billion boost.

For the first time in a year, Californians consumed more gasoline in a month than they had during the same period a year earlier, according to the State's Board of Equalization.

Groupon subscribers this week are getting an email from the daily deals site informing them that they might be eligible to get a chunk of a proposed $8.5 million settlement.

A San Joaquin County woman has brought a class-action suit against Procter & Gamble Co., accusing its Olay Regenerist line of anti-aging products of false advertising and “ill-gotten gains.”

For all its flirting, private equity firm Sycamore Partners didn’t want to commit in the end to Talbots Inc., breaking off talks to buy the struggling women’s retailer for $215 million.

WASHINGTON -- Despite Europe's economic troubles, American consumers are feeling better about the economy than at any time since the start of the Great Recession.

Stocks were mixed in early trading on Wall Street amid continuing concerns over the European debt crisis but positive U.S. consumer confidence data.

Alibaba Group Holding, the Chinese e-commerce giant that looks a bit like a mash-up of EBay, PayPal and Amazon, plans to pay $2.5 billion to snatch back Yahoo Inc.’s 27% stake in Alibaba.com.

For the first time, a cargo-carrying spacecraft made by a private company arrived at the International Space Station.

Wireless pioneer Craig McCaw's company waited too long to raise objections about two state Court of Appeal justices involved in a $603-million fraud and breach-of-contract verdict against Boeing Co., the aircraft manufacturer said Thursday.

... and the results, as usual, are ugly.

The good news is that the long Memorial Day weekend is almost here. The bad news is that anyone stopping for gasoline in Southern California will, on average, encounter record high prices for the holiday that opens the so-called summer driving season. It will also be a record weekend for the state as a whole, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California.

In case you were wondering, big banks are doing really, really well, thank you very much.

We knew it was bad, but news out from across the pond indicates that uncertainty in Europe might be slamming the economy there even more than had been thought. Revised data show that Britain’s gross domestic product contracted more than previously believed in the first quarter, indicating that its economy not only entered a double-dip recession earlier this year, but that the drop was also deeper than expected.

Nearly 16 million homeowners – not quite a third of people with mortgages – owe more on their home loans than their properties are worth, according to real estate site Zillow.

After jobless claims reached a five-month high in April, last week’s tiny dip came as a relief. But a heavy slide in orders for long-lasting goods is less soothing.

Nissan sold just 370 Leaf electric vehicles in the U.S. last month and only 2,103 so far this year. To put this in perspective, the U.S. auto industry has sold almost 4.7-million vehicles this year.

Who wants to have breakfast, or a bauble, at Tiffany’s? Neither tourists nor traders, apparently.

McDonald’s Corp. is headed into new territory after Thursday’s annual shareholders meeting, with a new chief executive slated to take over and more attempts to modernize the chain and offer healthful options.

SpaceX's cone-shaped space capsule performed a series of delicate maneuvers around the International Space Station that proved to NASA officials that it's ready to move in for a historic docking attempt.

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. banking industry posted a $35.3-billion profit in the first quarter of the year, its best performance since 2007, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said Thursday.

Record low interest rates for 30-year mortgages edged down another tick, Freddie Mac said in its latest survey, which showed lenders across the nation offering the benchmark loan at 3.78% compared to 3.79% last week. The typical rate on a 15-year fixed loan held steady at 3.04%.

NEW YORK — Stocks were mixed in early trading on Wall Street but turned positive following government data showing strong bank profits.

BEIJING -- China's economy has yet to rebound from its startling slide last month, according to an informal survey of Chinese manufacturers released Thursday.

Teen retailer American Eagle Outfitters Inc., seeking to exit the children's apparel business, is looking for ways to unload its chain of 77kids stores despite a first-quarter profit that beat Wall Street expectations.

While orbiting Earth at about 17,000 mph, SpaceX’s Dragon capsule Thursday came within 1.5 miles of the International Space Station in preparation for its historic hookup scheduled for later this week.

It's called the fiscal cliff, and Americans are going to drive off it early next year, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has warned.

SACRAMENTO --Adding weight to a growing backlash over alleged corruption in Mexico, the California Public Employees' Retirement System is withholding its support for the election of nineWal-Mart directors.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. continues to get heat for its hiring practices, with the Securities and Exchange Commission and now federal prosecutors looking into the company.

WASHINGTON -- Two congressional committees are looking into the troubled initial public offering of Facebook Inc., aides said Wednesday.

Macy’s Inc. is pairing up with Omei.com, a new Chinese e-commerce site, to sell some of its private brand items to consumers in the growing Asian market.

Blue Shield of California’s longtime chairman and chief executive, Bruce Bodaken, is stepping down at the end of this year, punctuating a career marked by praise for his early support of universal health coverage and later scorn for his company’s big rate hikes and his generous compensation.

Tony Stark, alias Iron Man, is suave, brilliant, mega-rich and dripping with beautiful women. Sounds an awful lot like Elon Musk, the South African entrepreneurial wunderkind who spent his Tuesday shooting a rocket into space and making a major advance in electric vehicles.

From the rides of kings to a king of rock and roll, auction house Gooding & Co. has scored a couple of notable entries for its annual auction at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance this August.

Mariano Rajoy, Spain’s prime minister, has found a new ally in his quest for lower borrowing rates and liquidity in his recession-racked country: France’s new President Francoise Hollande.

WASHINGTON -- More green shoots are appearing in the nation's long-dormant housing market.

WASHINGTON -- A class-action lawsuit was filed Wednesday against Facebook Inc., Morgan Stanley & Co., and the other Wall Street banks that underwrote the Facebook's initial public offering, alleging they misled most shareholders about revenue projections for the social network.

Facebook is having a better day on Wall Street.

U.S. stocks slid in early trading following renewed concerns about Greece being forced out of the euro common currency.

At her wedding to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg on Saturday, Priscilla Chan wore a white gown overlaid with lace. On Monday, Los Angeles designer Claire Pettibone took to her blog to announce she had designed the dress.

SACRAMENTO -- Part of California's share of a national legal settlement with five big mortgage banks can be used to help fill a $15.7-billion hole in the governor's proposed budget, the state Legislature's non-partisan policy advisor recommended.

Former IndyMac Bancorp Chief Executive Michael W. Perry has won dismissal of much of the fraud lawsuit brought against him by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

NEW YORK -- Securities regulators are amping up their interest in Facebook's lackluster initial public offering.

Moody's Investors Service raised the credit rating for Ford Motor Co. to an investment grade Tuesday, giving its seal of approval to a corporate turnaround of the business that started with heavy borrowing at the end of 2006.

Benihana Inc., the Japanese-style and sushi restaurant company known for slicing, dicing and frying food in front of diners, will be sold to a private equity group for $296 million.

Amid all the ballyhoo over what a bold visionary Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is, let's pause for a moment to appreciate the work of Eugene Polley, inventor of the TV remote control, who has died at age 96.

Add slumping profit to Best Buy’s difficult first quarter: The struggling electronics retailer’s net income tumbled 26% over the same period in which its CEO resigned, its chairman was replaced and its big-box store model was deemed lacking.

The number of contracts signed for new home purchases in the Golden State dropped nearly 8% last month as the inventory of homes for sale remained tight, according to a real estate group.

A new ranking of auto brands and models placed Ford Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co. at the top.

WASHINGTON — Two key financial regulators told senators Tuesday that they learned of the huge trading loss at JPMorgan Chase & Co., through media reports and that the public wouldn't be protected from the fallout from future incidents until new rules are finalized to allow better monitoring of such trades.

Motel 6 and Studio 6, the no-frills budget hotel chains that once offered rooms for $6 a night, are being sold by French parent Accor for $1.9 billion.

Tesla Motors Inc. said it will begin delivering its first mass production electric car -– the high-end Model S to customers starting June 22, about a month ahead of the expected schedule.

General Mills Inc. will get rid of 850 jobs in an attempt to cut costs and boost productivity as items such as Cheerios cereal, Progresso soups and Hamburger Helper become costlier to make.

Billionaire Elon Musk, founder and chief executive of SpaceX, sent his Falcon 9 rocket into space early Tuesday morning with an unmanned Dragon capsule after an original mission was aborted over the weekend. How’s he feeling? Extremely relieved.

Facebook shares were taking another beating in early trading on Wall Street, falling more than 6% shortly after the opening bell.

In a pivotal moment for private spaceflight, a towering white rocket lifted a cone-shaped capsule into space early Tuesday on a mission to the International Space Station.

Fuel economy is the top feature buyers consider when shopping for a new car, according to a recent survey by Consumer Reports.

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket roared to life before dawn at Cape Canaveral, Fla., today and blasted into space on a column of fire that lit the night sky for miles around.

SACRAMENTO -- The state Senate has rejected a bill that would have required utility regulators to make public all investigation orders, accident reports and related documents.

It has long been clear that the most wonderful thing about Pom Wonderful pomegranate juice is the spectacular marketing skill that persuades consumers to fork over their hard-earned cash for a liquid that sells for five to six times the price of, oh, cranberry juice.

A bill that allows for the use of self-driving cars on California’s roads passed the California State Senate.

House Beautiful magazine is jumping deeper into Pinterest with its latest issue, which enables readers to grab images directly from its pages to post onto virtual pinboards on the social network.

Facebook Inc.shares skidded on their second day of trading on Wall Street, falling below the initial public offering price of $38.

Just days after aborting a rocket launch at the last second because of an engine problem, SpaceX is once again set to blast off from Cape Canaveral, Fla., in hopes of becoming the first private company to visit the International Space Station.

So now we've had a weekend to digest Facebook's less-than-spectacular IPO. The stock is trading below the offer price. Investors remain underwhelmed. What have we learned?

Campbell Soup Co. will raise prices on its condensed soups by 5% in June as the company tries to turn itself around amid sliding profits.

Southern Californians plan to travel in slightly bigger numbers during the coming Memorial Day weekend -- and most will do so by car, according to a survey by the Auto Club of Southern California.

Angelenos, you may be looking at your future: A record $90-million penthouse apartment and a $1-million parking spot are all the buzz at the moment in New York City.

Reflecting the growing consolidation wave sparked by healthcare reform, kidney dialysis giant DaVita Inc. has agreed to acquire Torrance-based HealthCare Partners, the largest operator of medical groups in the U.S., for $4.42 billion in cash and stock.

Here's a big oops for Ferrari, the maker of mega-bucks sports cars. It made a mistake building the crankshafts for the engines in its California and 458 Italia models and now will have to repair or replace them, depending on what the owner picks.

By the end of next year, the unemployment rate will be at 7.5%. Consumer spending will be up, as will housing starts. But first, the economic recovery needs to slog its way through the remainder of 2012, economists said.

Publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday but expects to emerge from restructuring by the end of June.

Crude oil prices have rebounded slightly after falling last week to their lowest levels in six months. Retail gasoline prices were falling in California after a painful 18.6-cent jump over the last two weeks. Nationally, the average retail price for gasoline was entering its seventh straight week of declines.

IHOP, which for years has tried to establish itself as a good option for lunch and dinner, is returning its focus to its original calling – breakfast.

Jamie Dimon, chairman and chief executive officer of JPMorgan Chase & Co., still won't say how much the bank could wind up losing from risky trades that cost it at least $2 billion.

Facebook shares dropped sharply in their second day of trading on Wall Street.

With work set to begin soon on a $1-billion luxury hotel in downtown Los Angeles, developer Korean Air revealed some details about the tower that is expected to dramatically alter the city’s skyline.

Construction is set to begin Monday on a $200-million apartment and retail complex at one of the busiest intersections in the Koreatown district of Los Angeles.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation warned travelers to be careful of computer hackers when logging onto the Internet through a hotel connection.

When it comes time to trade in your frequent-flier reward points for seats on an airplane, low-cost airlines do the best job of getting you in the air.

The West Los Angeles site of a proposed medical office and residential complex opposed by neighbors because of its size has been purchased by a local real estate company that vows to keep its development aspirations in check.

-- Luxury retailer Burberry won $180 million in two separate counterfeiting suits against networks of websites selling fake goods.

SpaceX's historic launch to the International Space Station was aborted in the pre-dawn hours at Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Saturday when computers detected a problem with one of the rocket's nine engines and automatically shut down.

If you’re thinking of visiting a Disney theme park in Anaheim this summer, be warned that the price is about to jump between $7 and $150 depending on the ticket deal.

Mark Zuckerberg walked away $100 million richer. Bono’s stake had speculators predicting he’d become the most moneyed musician on the planet. But in the end, how did the average investor feel after Facebook’s limp public debut?

Maybe the dumb money wasn’t so dumb this time.

Supporters of a proposed ballot measure seeking tighter regulation of health insurance rates turned in 800,000 signatures statewide, confident that they will qualify for the Nov. 6 election.

Winnebago Industries Inc., maker of the cult favorite recreational vehicles, reviewed and rejected an unsolicited $321.5 million takeover bid from a private equity firm Friday.

The countdown has begun for SpaceX's historic mission to send a spacecraft into orbit to dock with the International Space Station.

The Facebook initial public offering launches today, and it looks like one of the biggest in history -- certainly the largest technology IPO ever. As many readers know, I'm skeptical.

SACRAMENTO -- State agriculture officials have lifted a ban on sales of raw milk by Organic Pastures, a Fresno dairy.

California’s jobs engine sputtered in April as employers trimmed their payrolls, breaking a streak of eight consecutive months of employment growth.

Just before reporting bullish earnings after the close of trading Monday,Groupon Inc.stock soared 18.5% during its trading day. Does that a FINRA probe make? Hard to say.

California employers trimmed their April payrolls by 4,200 jobs last month, snapping a string of eight straight months of employment growth.

Newly minted college graduates lucky enough to find a job after leaving school are in for a shock: They’ll likely be earning less money than they would have a decade ago.

NEW YORK -- Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg rang the Nasdaq's opening bell from Menlo Park, Calif., heralding the start of Wall Street trading and the social networking juggernaut's public debut.

The nation's largest airlines generated $7.1 billion in profits last year, a drop compared with the $10.5 billion the airlines generated in 2010, according to the latest federal statistics.

Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s owner CKE Inc. filed Thursday to raise an estimated $100 million in an initial public  stock offering.

From the Southland to the Bay Area, California's housing market showed strength last month as median prices rose and sales outperformed the same month last year.

Facebook Inc. priced its shares in its initial public stock offering at $38 late Thursday, setting the stage for its historic market debut Friday.

WASHINGTON -- The chairman of the Senate Banking Committee said Thursday he plans to invite JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Jamie Dimon to testify at a hearing about the bank's $2-billion trading loss.

A week of price spikes brought retail gasoline in Southern California close to the high amounts drivers were paying in February, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California’s Weekend Gas Watch. The spike may also leave prices at their highest levels ever for Memorial Day, the Auto Club added.

Facebook Inc. is on the verge of becoming a $100-billion company.

WASHINGTON -- Denounced as a tax-dodger for renouncing his U.S. citizenship, Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin said Thursday he was grateful to the country and will end up paying hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes as required under current law.