TOP STORIES -- Feb. 6-11

HP’s Board Ousts CEO Carly Fiorina

Hewlett-Packard Co.’s board has ousted Carly Fiorina, the high-gloss chief executive who ultimately was unable to meet Wall Street’s expectations for the technology behemoth.

Grumbling about Fiorina began building soon after she masterminded the 2002 acquisition of Compaq Computer Corp. But her termination at a board meeting surprised many investors. Fiorina, 50, had been CEO since July 1999.

HP’s board said it was dissatisfied with Fiorina’s “execution,” particularly in an era when the lines between the high-tech, consumer electronics and entertainment industries are blurring.

In a statement, Fiorina said that although she regretted that she and the board “have differences about how to execute HP’s strategy, I respect their decision.”

Her severance package is worth an estimated $21 million, most of it in cash.

HP named Chief Financial Officer Robert P. Wayman interim CEO.

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Broadcasters’ Bid for Access Rejected by FCC

Federal regulators shot down TV broadcasters’ request to require cable systems to carry their programming on multiple channels.

Currently, cable operators provide a single channel for each broadcast station in its area. For instance, Adelphia Communications Corp.’s cable system in Southern California features the programming of more than 20 local stations.

The stations were pushing to expand their reach to at least six different channels apiece on a cable system, as television moves to digital technology and space is freed for new programming services.

But in a 4-1 vote, the Federal Communications Commission rejected the industry’s plea for broader access, concluding that Congress never mandated it. The FCC brushed aside the broadcasters’ argument that they needed the advertising revenue from multiple channels to ensure their economic survival in the digital age.

The cable industry hailed the FCC’s decision on the so-called must-carry rules.

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L.A. Home Prices Climb at Slower Pace

For the first time in 19 months, the year-over-year rate of housing appreciation in Los Angeles County has dropped below 20%, according to DataQuick Information Systems.

The median price in the county in January rose 17% to $414,000, said the La Jolla real estate research firm.

It was the slimmest increase since June 2003, putting the county’s median price where it stood seven months ago, after hitting an all-time high in December at $418,000. The median is the point at which half of new and resold homes and condos sold for more, half for less.

The number of homes sold last month fell 5% to 7,633 from a year earlier.

Because January historically is among the least active months for buying and selling homes, the statistics may not signal any lasting trend.

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Amgen to Stop Providing Trial Parkinson’s Drug

Amgen Inc., the world’s biggest biotechnology company, said it would not supply its experimental GDNF drug to 48 Parkinson’s disease patients after halting a study because of safety concerns.

Amgen stopped clinical trials in September, saying that there was no proven benefit for people who took the drug and that laboratory studies suggested patients were at risk of side effects including brain damage. Researchers will seek to publish the study results, Thousand Oaks, Calif.-based Amgen said.

Patients and advocacy groups including the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation had asked Amgen to provide the medicine to study participants who wanted to continue treatment. Amgen said it would make GDNF available for further study by qualified academic researchers to gain a better understanding of the side effects.

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California ISO Names New Chief Executive

The California Independent System Operator, the quasi-governmental corporation that keeps electricity humming through 25,000 miles of transmission lines, announced the hiring of veteran engineer Yakout Mansour as its president and chief executive.

The appointment ended a nine-month search to replace Terry Winter. Winter left the agency under a cloud in June after critics accused him of helping to foster the 2000-01 energy crisis by asking federal regulators to raise the price cap on electricity sold to utilities.

Mansour, 57, faces challenges in adapting the Folsom-based California ISO to market conditions far different from anticipated when the agency was created as part of the failed electricity deregulation of 1996.

Mansour served as senior vice president in charge of system operations for British Columbia Transmission Corp., a government-owned grid in Canada.

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State Regulators Sue Estate-Planning Firm

Regulators sued a Woodland Hills-based “living trust mill” that they claim tricked thousands of older Californians into buying unnecessary investment products.

In a civil lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer and Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi accused Family First Advanced Estate Planning Inc. and affiliated companies of violating state law in the sale of hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of living trusts and deferred annuities since 1997. The suit seeks more than $110 million in fines and restitution.

Family First used telemarketing, direct mail and seminars at senior centers to find clients, offering free in-home estate planning consultations as a guise to gain confidential financial information that was later used to pitch the customers annuities, the lawsuit claimed.

The annuities generated commissions as high as 12% for the sellers, the attorney general’s office said.

An attorney for Family First vowed to fight the allegations.

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Pixar Chief Takes Another Jab at Eisner

During a conference call with analysts, Steve Jobs took aim at Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Michael Eisner, referring to him as a “loose cannon.”

Jobs, CEO of Pixar Animation Studios and Apple Computer Inc., was asked about a dig Eisner took at Pixar the week before at an investor conference in Florida. Eisner described as “pretty pathetic” the computerized characters created by Pixar, compared with the ones Disney is working on for its forthcoming film “Rapunzel Unbraided.”

Jobs said sarcastically, “Our films don’t stack up to ‘Atlantis,’ ‘Emperor’s New Groove’ or ‘Treasure Planet.’ ”

All three were hand-drawn Disney disappointments.

Jobs then made the loose-canon reference, saying he figured that it explained why Eisner would say such a thing.

A Disney executive didn’t return a call seeking a comment.

Pixar also reported fourth-quarter results. Earnings fell 34% to $55.2 million, or 91 cents a share. Revenue also dropped 34%, to $108.9 million. Profit still beat analysts’ forecasts.

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Smaller L.A. Hotels Make Peace With Union

The Hotel Bel-Air, the Luxe Hotel Rodeo Drive, the Sportsmen’s Lodge and the Radisson Wilshire Plaza have accepted the Unite Here union’s demand for a 2006 contract expiration date.

Several hotel managers described the pacts as good deals, with minimal wage increases and an agreement by the union to subsidize rising healthcare costs for two years.

Those easy settlements contrast with the fight between Unite Here Local 11 and the Los Angeles Hotel Employer’s Council highlights.

The union is trying to match their power by lining up contracts across the country to expire in 2006. That would open the door to coordinated job actions.

A hotel council spokesman said the four hotels that settled were less likely to be targeted in a big labor confrontation.

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Microsoft Plans to Buy Security Software Firm

Microsoft Corp. said it intended to buy a company that makes antivirus and other security software -- much of it aimed at safeguarding against vulnerabilities in Microsoft products.

The acquisition of Sybari Software Inc. would be the software giant’s third such purchase in two years. That fueled concern that Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft was planning its own line of security programs.

Sybari, of East Northport, N.Y., makes software to protect company computer systems from viruses, spam and other threats. It was on the verge of going public.

Microsoft didn’t disclose the price for Sybari, which valued itself at $163 million to $182 million when it filed for its initial public stock offering.

For a preview of this week’s business news, please see Monday’s Business section.