Orange County Business Journal

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Fisker Acquires General Motors Plant

Irvine-based Fisker Automotive Inc. has finalized the purchase of a former General Motors Corp. factory in Delaware.

Medical Device Maker ICU Tops Estimates, Ups Outlook

San Clemente-based medical device maker ICU Medical Inc. on Monday beat Wall Street expectations with second-quarter results and upped its outlook for the rest of the year.

Corinthian Shares Rise on Regulation Speculation

Santa Ana-based Corinthian Colleges Inc. and other for-profit school operators saw shares rise on market reactions to a report that proposed federal regulations that might not affect profits as much as anticipated.

Halliburton Profit Beats Forecasts

Strong U.S. onshore drilling helped oilfield services company Halliburton Co. report a better-than-expected 83 percent jump in quarterly profit, and its shares jumped 3.6 percent.

Nokia Siemens Buys Motorola Network Ops for $1.2B

Nokia Siemens Networks will buy Motorola's telecom network equipment business for $1.2 billion, getting a stronghold in the North American market and taking No. 2 position in the cut-throat mobile gear market.

Homebuilder Confidence at 15-Month Low

Homebuilder sentiment fell more-than-expected in July to the lowest level in more than a year after a popular home-buyer tax credit expired in April, the National Association of Home Builders said on Monday.

Accounting for Losses

Accounting Firms Shed 5% of Local Workers in Past Year, Predicting Pickup in Business

ABOUT THE LIST. OC’s biggest accounting firms have shed workers in the past 12 months. Includes the 2010 ACCOUNTING FIRMS List for download (pdf)

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Management Consultants: Clients Starting to Spend on Tech

ECONOMY: Companies stop paring down; cautiously growing

The county’s management consultants are being tapped to help clients spend money, not save it

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School’s in Session

Accounting Programs Still Drawing in Students, Recruiters Despite Slowdown in Jobs

Local universities still are seeing enrollment gains for accounting programs

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Financial Reform Could Cost Accountants Business

FINANCE: Smaller firms could lose customers exempt from SOX

The latest reform bill isn’t expected to provide new business for OC accounting firms

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REAL ESTATE DEALS

Sales and leases of offices, industrial buildings, retail space and apartments

Sales and leases of offices, industrial buildings, retail space and apartments

REAL ESTATE WATCH: NORTH & CENTRAL ORANGE COUNTY

Inland Empire Industrial Faring Better than Office

The Inland Empire industrial market is faring better than its office market, in Real Estate Watch

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Greenlaw Partners Adds Camp as EVP, Plans To Buy

Tony Used Car Dealer Moves to Costa Mesa Space; New Home Co. Shifts HQ to Aliso Viejo

Greenlaw Partners in Newport Beach added James Camp as an executive vice president, in the Real Estate column

Healthcare Waste Fighter AMG-SIU Selling for $26M

Surgery Centers Fighting Proposed Cut in State Funding; Allergan’s Ingram Gets New Position

AMG-SIU is getting a new owner, in the Healthcare column

Fisker Tries Out Planned Karma Campaign on Website

Hyundai Continues ‘Uncensored’ Social Media Push; Toshiba Ups Advertising for Laptops

Fisker Automotive started a website to create buzz about its luxury hybrid car, in the Media & Marketing column

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Web Traffic Manager BandCon of Costa Mesa Bought

Blizzard Holding Creative Writing Contest; AT&T Upgrades Cell Phone Network in County

Costa Mesa’s BandCon was recently bought, but plans to keep its local office and network operations here, in the Technology column

Calendar - July 19-July 28, 2010

A listing of events happening all around Orange County

A listing of events happening all around Orange County

EVENTS

Scenes from business, social, charity and other events

Scenes from business, social, charity and other events

MARKET WATCH

The Week's Best, Worst Performers; Roth OC50, Billion Dollar Club, OC Tech; Index Watch, 52-week Performance

KUDOS

A look at people, companies and institutions receiving awards, accolades, grants and other honors

A look at people, companies and institutions receiving awards, accolades, grants and other honors

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AROUND THE COUNTY

Projects, developments and other activity in cities in and around OC

Projects, developments and other activity in cities in and around OC

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Johnny Rockets Offers Loans to Credit-Strapped Franchisees

RESTAURANTS: Move designed to drive growth amid credit crunch

Lake Forest’s Johnny Rockets is launching a finance arm to help spur growth amid a credit crunch

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City Ventures Gets $100M in Funding

REAL ESTATE: Investment gets Ares majority stake in homebuilder

City Ventures landed a $100 million investment that could help it become one of California’s top builders

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Skilled Seeks To Settle Potentially Crippling Suit

HEALTHCARE: Nursing home operator can’t afford appeal bond

Skilled Healthcare has entered into settlement talks after a potentially crippling jury verdict

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Mussallem: Key Manufacturing Works Here

HEALTHCARE: Despite costs, Irvine handles newest products

Edwards Lifesciences’ Mike Mussallem plans to keep key manufacturing here even though it’s expensive

Irvine Co. Watch: Ray Wirta Gets Ninth Floor Office

OC INSIDER Column by Rick Reiff

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Management Companies Continue to Shed Employees

ADVISORY: Top 20 cos. drop 6% of local workers, led by top 2

ABOUT THE LIST. Most of the area’s management consulting companies kept hiring flat or down. Includes the 2010 MANAGEMENT CONSULTING FIRMS List for download (pdf)

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Software Maker Quest Eyes Unified Front

TECHNOLOGY: Buys have built Quest; moving beyond just ‘Toad’

After dozens of acquisitions, Quest Software is looking to present a unified front

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Irvine Co. Weighs More Homebuilding in Irvine

Irvine Company is looking to do more homebuilding after seeing strong sales at two developments in northern Irvine

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Billabong Strikes Deal for Rvca, Avoids Bidding War for Retailer

MAKING WAVES

Billabong USA snatched up the county’s top upstart clothing brand and appears to have prevailed in a short-lived battle to buy a Canadian retailer

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Apparel Makers in Better Mood At Surf Industry’s Annual Gala

MAKING WAVES

The annual Waterman’s Ball brought together apparel executives and surfers to raise money for environment charities