Business

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Biz Bytes: Box Office record & Bernie Madoff’s victims speak out

Hollywood movies are raking in the dough Hollywood films are making a ton of money, serious green, like in the billions of dollars. The 2009 Box Office should reach $9.681 billion today, surpassing the best-year ever record of $9.680 billion set in 2007, according to Hollywood.com. This is a surprise for a couple of reasons: one there are still about three weeks […]
Saturday, December 5, 2009

President Obama talks about those upbeat job figures, the economy, and where we go from here

Photo: Pete Souza/The White House 12/03/09 President Barack Obama gets it. The economic recovery will not really hit home for many until the sluggish job market is revitalized. Yesterday, the Labor Department reported the national unemployment rate took a surprising dip to 10 percent in November— the best it’s been since December of 2007. Companies laid off 11,000 workers last month, compared to 111,000 […]
Tuesday, December 1, 2009

News Bytes: Cyber Monday, Black Friday & $123.5 million in free money

 Cyber Monday Sales Up The keyboards were clicking and online shoppers were buying on Cyber Monday. Early data indicates sales were up 14 percent over last year. On the average 4.3 million consumers per minute reportedly visited shopping web sites yesterday. More on the cyber shopping bonanza here.   Black Friday Sales Tumble Big crowds turned out on Black Friday and over the Thanksgiving weekend, […]
Friday, November 27, 2009

“Twilight” items hot sellers this holiday season

Black Friday is the official kick-off for the holiday shopping season. Thousands of sleep deprived, but eager bargain hunters stormed the stores, malls, and outlet centers before dawn today — traditionally the biggest shopping day of the year. Cash registers were ringing all day long and into the evening giving the appearance of strong Black Friday sales. Nevertheless, it’s going to take a few days before retailers know […]
Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Gas prices riding high this Thanksgiving week

Photo: FLLewis/A Writer’s Groove — Burbank Looking for bargains this Thanksgiving week? Head for the malls or shopping centers, but don’t expect to find great deals at the local gasoline pumps.  If you’re hitting the road for Thanksgiving take along some extra cash or plan on swiping your credit card a few times, because the trip is going to cost ya! […]
Sunday, November 22, 2009

“New Moon” huge at the Box Office

                                                   We knew it was going to be big, but I don’t think anyone predicted it would be like out-of-this world huge! The fantasy/romance, “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” made an astronomical figure — an estimated $140 million this weekend — to easily become the number one movie in the country!! This is the second in the “Twilight” saga of two young lovers, […]
Thursday, November 19, 2009

Hollywood’s most overpaid stars

Some surprises on the annual list of the most overpaid Hollywood stars by Forbes magazine. It wasn’t just about the fat paychecks with all those zeros. Some actors aren’t generating a good return at the Box Office, according to Forbes. In the number one spot on the magazine’s list, comic/actor Will Ferrell. Funny guys Eddie Murphy, Jim Carrey and actor Tom Cruise made the […]