EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: ECONOMIC INDICATORS
Mixed: OC home sales and prices in October, according to DataQuick Information Systems, which reported 3,909 sales, down 5.6% year-to-year, but a median price of $310,000 up $5,000 from September.
ENERGY
Edison International warned that its earnings for 2001 and 2002 will not meet analysts’ current estimates Edison and state officials said they expect to have enough power on hand to meet added holiday demand from Christmas lights.
TECHNOLOGY
L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. plans to buy an engineering and information services unit of Newport Beach-based Emergent Information Technologies Inc. for $38 million The Air Force exercised a $98 million option for radar kits made by Boeing Co.’s Seal Beach-based space and communications group Scientific-Atlanta Inc. converted debt into stock in Western Digital Corp.’s Keen Personal Media unit Broadcom Corp., Irvine, filed a patent-infringement suit against Intel Corp. Matthew Feshback, a 6.7% stakeholder in Irvine-based Autobytel Inc., urged the company to seek a buyer and said he may nominate a board slate and call for a share-repurchase program Starbase Corp., Santa Ana, raised $3 million in a private placement of shares Meade Instruments Corp., Irvine, warned its fiscal third-quarter earnings will not meet expectations Micro General Corp., Santa Ana, named Richard Stack president Procom Technology Inc., Irvine, named Bob Rankin chief financial officer.
HEALTHCARE
Registered nurses at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center voted to join the California Nurses Association.
GOVERNMENT
A petition drive forced officials to call a vote of Newport Coast residents on whether to annex that unincorporated area to Newport Beach Anti-El Toro airport cities filed suit to invalidate the county’s recently approved environmental report on the project.
REAL ESTATE
The Costa Mesa City Council approved an environmental report on C.J. Segerstrom & Sons’ proposed Home Ranch mixed-use project for 93 acres north of the San Diego (I-405) freeway between Harbor Boulevard and Fairview Road The Santa Ana City Council approved an Olson Co. plan to build and sell 86 lofts in the city’s Artists Village district The San Juan Capistrano City Council voted to study a proposal by Advanced Real Estate Services to build an equestrian center on 148 acres now entitled for 325 homes The Irvine Company scheduled an “open-space milestone” announcement for this week and speculation centered on a 173-acre parcel along Laguna Canyon Road, zoned for residential development, that the city and environmental groups want preserved.
FINANCE
Union Bank of California plans to acquire Fullerton-based Armstrong/Robitaille Business and Insurance Services H & R; Block Inc., plans to buy EquiCo Resources LLC, Costa Mesa, and merge the investment bank into its RSM McGladrey Inc. unit Bank of Orange County is set to acquire Cerritos Valley Bank for $12 million PIMCO’s Bill Gross predicted that stocks will return about 5% a year to investors through the decade.
WHAT ELSE IS NEWS
Quiksilver Inc., Huntington Beach, warned that its fourth-quarter results will not meet analysts’ expectations Oakley Inc., Foothill Ranch, sued Luxottica SPA, alleging it is selling knockoffs of Oakley sunglasses at its Sunglasses Hut chain; a Superior Court judge enjoined Luxottica from selling three models of sunglasses pending a hearing this week Parlor Enterprises Inc., Laguna Niguel, plans to revive the defunct Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlors chain, starting with a store in Santa Clarita next month Former Huntington Beach business owner Richard Kelly Smyth was arrested in Spain and extradited to the U.S. on charges he illegally exported nuclear weapons components to Israel Former OC Superior Court Judge Mark P. Robinson, father of prominent OC attorney Mark P. Robinson Jr., died at age 76 Santa Ana filed a civil complaint seeking the closure of the El Tapatio restaurant, calling it a gang hangout and citing violations of city codes The Cannery restaurant in Newport Beach will re-open in January under new ownership and management.
TOP STORIES
Newport Beach voters rejected a proposed 10-story addition to the Koll Center Newport office park in the first referendum since the passage of the Greenlight Initiative, which requires citywide votes on major projects (see Editorial, page 74) The board of eMachines Inc., Irvine, approved a $159 million buyout offer from director John Hui, who said he intends to keep the current management in place Consumer Portfolio Services Inc., Irvine, plans to acquire MFN Financial Corp., Lake Forest, Ill., for $99.9 million An appeals court overruled an Orange County Superior Court judge and cleared an initiative that would mandate a park at the former El Toro base to appear on the March primary ballot CKE Restaurants Inc., Anaheim, plans to acquire Santa Barbara Restaurant Group Inc., for $52 million; William P. Foley chairs both companies (see story, page 1 Liquidmetal Technologies, Lake Forest, plans to raise up to $120 million in an initial offering.
