That would be the Republican Party.

It should be clear by now to anyone who has followed the healthcare debate in Washington that effective reform must include several basic elements: universal coverage to create as broad and diverse a pool of enrollees as possible; prohibition of pre-existing coverage exclusions to prevent insurers from cherry-picking only healthy customers; and mandates for minimum coverage of such services as maternity, mental health treatment, preventive care, and hospitalization to ensure that policies are broad, effective and non-discriminatory.

As my Sunday column observes, the Republicans at Thursday's healthcare summit clung instead to the same tired nostrums: "tort reform," which will have a minimal effect on healthcare costs at best but will close the courthouse door to potentially millions of deserving, injured plaintiffs; and the sale of policies across state lines, which will make the health insurance business look like the credit card business -- free to mulct customers based on rules promulgated by the most anti-regulation states in the union. If you love how your credit card company treats you, then you'll really love health insurance, GOP-style.

The degree to which cant and ignorance has infected the healthcare reform debate is truly sickening. This week I received an e-mail from a reader who maintained that the reform legislation passed by the House and Senate entailed "a massive government take over" of the healthcare system. Only someone who gets his information solely from talk-radio or talk-TV lunatics could describe the bills that way. Here is the House bill text and extensive background as passed in November. Here is the Senate bill text and extensive background. I challenge anyone to find a "massive government take over" anywhere in either one.

The column starts below.

Angela Braly can’t kid me.

When the chief executive of gargantuan health insurer WellPoint (parent of Blue Cross of California) went before a congressional subcommittee the other day, she displayed all the smile-through-the-tears pluck of Annie looking to a sunny tomorrow or Scarlett swearing to God she’ll never be hungry again.

WellPoint didn’t really want to jack up health premiums on its customers by as much as 39%, she said — it had no choice. “We care deeply about our California customers,” she said.

But I understood that what she was really telling the committee members was this: “Please put us out of our misery.”

Read the whole column.

-- Michael Hiltzik

3D television is here.

On Thursday, Amazon.com began selling Samsung 46-inch and 55-inch TVs that are capable of showing 3-D programming, Nathan Olivarez-Giles reports.

Sears.com, Onecall.com and other retailers also have the Samsung 3-D sets available for pre-order.

A spokesman for Best Buy, the largest home electronics chain in the U.S., said the 3-D sets will be in its stores by mid-March.

 

Despite being months behind on their mortgage payments, many strapped residents are hanging on to their homes, essentially living rent-free, Alana Semuels reports. Pressure on banks to modify loans and a glut of inventory are driving the trend.

With a glut of inventory in places like Southern California's Inland Empire, Nevada and Arizona, lenders are loath to depress housing prices further by dumping more properties into a weak market. And, allowing borrowers to stay in their homes helps protect the bank's investment.

"If the person's in the property, there's less chance for vandalism, and they're probably maintaining the house,"  said Gary Kirshner, a spokesman for Chase bank.

In their third annual search for the best places to buy an old house, "This Old House" magazine editors selected one neighborhood from every state "populated by people who share an appreciation of finely crafted homes that have plenty of past and lots of future."

In California, the West Adams area of Los Angeles made the cut. One of L.A.’s oldest neighborhoods, West Adams borders Figueroa Street on the east, West Boulevard on the west, Pico Boulevard on the north and Jefferson Boulevard on the south.  It was developed mostly from the 1880s to the 1920s as a haven for entrepreneurial elites and oil barons and later attracted Hollywood stars and musical legends.

"It’s a hidden gem," said resident and interior designer John Patterson, a board member with the West Adams Heritage Assn.

"West Adams is like another world and full of turn-of-century homes that have been lovingly restored," said Patterson, who purchased a home in 2004 and renovated the property.

The West Adams District has seven historic preservation overlay zones (HPOZs): University Park, Adams-Normandie, Harvard Heights, Pico Union, Western Heights, West Adams Terrace and Lafayette Square. The area has one historic preservation specific plan (North University Park). Jefferson Park and Country Club Park reportedly also are pending HPOZ designations that are stalled because of the city budget crisis.

HPOZs are designated as uniquely historic communities and buying in one is a smart investment, according to Keith Pandolfi, associate editor of "This Old House."
 
"The fact that the neighborhood is in a historic overlay zone helps protect the facades of these houses. That means property values will probably keep rising," Pandolfi said.

Pandolfi says the area is the kind of place where you can find a solid old house that looks and feels like an authentic old-fashioned American neighborhood and features some of the most whimsical takes on Craftsman architecture he’s ever seen.

"I think that when outsiders think of L.A. houses, the first thing that pops into their heads is some meandering modern mansion somewhere in the Hollywood Hills. That’s why we wanted to call attention to West Adams," Pandolfi noted.

"Housing values here were climbing fast before the recession hit, but you can still find a relatively affordable house there. We like the fact that so many residents are moving there to restore older homes too," he added.

Before you buy a historic home, preservation experts say consider the emotional and financial costs of ongoing maintenance projects. Recognize that the property must have an historic designation in order to obtain the few financial preservation incentives available in L.A. Know that the historic designation alone will not suffice for the city of L.A.'s Mills Act historical property tax deduction program. And realize you are buying a neighborhood, not just a house.

Because many of the best historic homes never officially hit the market, David Raposa, broker-owner of L.A.-based City Living Realty, who has specialized in historic neighborhoods for 26 years, says do your homework. "Some houses may be quietly available for sale. So get to know the insiders, whether it’s a local real estate agent or the neighborhood preservationists and community advocates," he said.

Always wanted your own painted lady? Here’s a quick look at what’s on the market in the area.

1617 S. Norton Ave., L.A.
Listed at a reduced price of $429,000 on Redfin.com, this three-bedroom, 1 1/2-bathroom single-family West Adams bungalow in Arlington Heights originally listed for $455,000 and was built in 1915. It has about 1,896 square feet, features a hot tub in the master bedroom and includes approved plans from the city to build a duplex.

928 20th St., L.A.
Listed at $779,000 on Trulia.com, this four-bedroom, three-bathroom Craftsman home in the University Park area was built in 1910 and has 2,772 square feet and a large yard with fruit trees. Listing agent Anna Solomon of Prudential California Realty in Brentwood says the home reminds her of a Queen Anne Victorian. "The woods in the house are spectacular, and everything is built in. It is just beautiful," she said. "It’s a great house with huge rooms and an oversized garage."
 
2175 Cambridge St., L.A.
Set to go on the market in a few weeks at $775,000, this quintessential Arts and Crafts-style home is reported to be the only home remaining in L.A. city proper designed by brothers Charles and Henry Greene, the architects responsible for Pasadena’s famed Gamble House, according to listing agent David Raposa, broker-owner of L.A.-based City Living Realty. Located in the Harvard Heights HPOZ, the home was built in 1905 with three bedrooms and 2 1/2 bathrooms in about 2,600 square feet and features a sun room, a den and partial restoration.

2251 Cambridge St., L.A.
Listed at $485,000 on Trulia, this spacious four-bedroom, one-bathroom Craftsman home in the Harvard Heights HPOZ was built in 1912 and has 2,420 square feet.

2903 S. Victoria Ave., L.A.
Although not in a historic zone, this single-family West Adams Craftsman is listed at $570,000 on Redfin.com and has three-bedrooms and 1 1/2-bathrooms in 1,530 square feet. The 1927 home has a detached garage and a breakfast nook. 

-- Michelle Hofmann

Thoughts? Comments?

Photo: The Greene and Greene-designed Wheeler House. Credit: Jeff Valdez

 

Expedia, Orbitz and Travelocity are all fine ways of booking a trip to fun spots like Las Vegas, San Francisco and San Diego.

But if you plan to visit Hollywood, you can use a travel website designed exclusively for Tinseltown.

The new site, ExperienceHollywood.com, was created by Universal Studios Hollywood and went live this week. Although the theme park's logos and ticket deals are featured prominently on the site, visitors can also book trips to nearby attractions, such as Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm, and make reservations with tour bus companies and Hollywood hotels.

The website is part of an effort by a coalition of Los Angeles businesses to promote Hollywood as it celebrates several milestones and openings. 2010 marks the 50th anniversary of the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the 70th anniversary of the Palladium theater and the 25th anniversary of the RockWalk, a rock music tribute on Sunset Boulevard.

In the next few weeks, the website is expected to expand to include tips on local eateries, historic landmarks, walking tours and other things to see. 

-- Hugo Martin

Photo: Hollywood celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Walk of Fame. Credit: Los Angeles Times

Toyota’s recent recalls have had a bigger effect on its image among younger buyers than their older counterparts, according to Consumer Reports.

The magazine conducts a survey of U.S. consumer views of auto companies every year, and Toyota regularly collects some of the highest marks. Consumer Reports repeated a portion of the survey earlier this month, following a series of massive recalls by the Japanese automaker and the temporary suspension of sales of eight of its popular models.

Among consumers who drive a Toyota regularly, 60% said they probably would purchase a Toyota the next time they are in the market for a new car. That’s down 10 percentage points from the December 2009 survey. 

The magazine also asked people whether they planned to purchase a Toyota vehicle in both surveys. In the post-recall survey, 15.7% of the respondents ages 18 to 44 said they were considering a Toyota, down from 17.1% in December. Among those 45 and older, 11.1% said they planned to buy a Toyota, down from 12% in December.

Jeff Bartlett, one of the magazine’s automotive editors, said the bigger drop in purchase intent among younger drivers could be a result of having owned fewer cars. Older buyers might have had good experiences with multiple Toyota purchases and are less fearful of the company’s recent safety and quality problems.

Nonetheless, "this is a troubling trend" for Toyota, Bartlett said. "Carmakers always covet younger buyers in hopes they can nurture them into lifetime customers," he said.

And while a blended drop of four percentage points in purchased intent among all drivers might not be a big number, "This is significant because as Toyota is losing ground, you can see its competitors gain ground," he said.

Still, even with this decline, Toyota purchase intent among all respondents remained greater than all brands except Ford, 17%, and Chevrolet, 14%.

The results of Consumer Report’s survey mirror projected U.S. auto market trends for February.

Auto information company Edmunds.com estimates that Toyota will sell 99,000 vehicles this month, giving it a market share of 12.6%, compared with 15.9% in February 2009. Ford is expected to sell 136,000 vehicles this month, giving it a market share of 17.3%, up from 14.6% a year ago.

-- Jerry Hirsch

Twitter.com/LATimesJerry

The Associated Press, like many news organizations, is eying Apple's iPad as a new frontier for sustaining the news business. The American news agency is building a division to sell products directly to readers -- targeting Apple's yet-to-be-released but hugely-hyped tablet, according to a report by the AP.

Publications like Wired, Sports Illustrated and the AP envision the next-generation news software for tablets to have a heavy focus on multimedia content.

When the iPad debuts in March, every device will be Internet enabled using Wi-Fi, and in April, Apple will begin selling devices with (practically) anywhere Internet through AT&T's 3G. Subscribers of the latter can pay $14.99 for 250 megabytes per month of data or $29.99 for an unlimited plan. Users can switch to Wi-Fi (including any AT&T hotspot like Starbucks) to avoid hitting their monthly meter.

As news applications push a lot of high-quality photos and, to a greater extent, video content, those 250 megabytes can dwindle quickly. The Times Technology Blog has a story analyzing whether iPad owners will be able to get by on 250 megabytes a month.

-- Mark Milian

twitter.com/markmilian

Photo: The iPad is shown after it was unveiled at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. Credit: Associated Press

 

 

Here's your fleetingly Friday roundup of consumer news from around the Web:

-- Say what you will about Wal-Mart, the world's biggest retailer is trying to walk the walk when it comes to going green. The company says it will cut 20 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions from its supply chain by 2015. In other words, if businesses want to be in bed with Wal-Mart, they'll have to do their share to help safeguard the planet. That's not the total answer to our climate-change problems, but it's a step in the right direction. Props to our friends from Bentonville, Ark.

-- We all know that hackers are a constant threat to PC users. But did you know they're busy assaulting your smart phone as well? Computer scientists at Rutgers University say they're seeing more evidence of hackers trying to sneak viruses and other malware into people's BlackBerrys and iPhones in hopes of accessing data or even listening in on calls. Something to keep in mind the next time you download a nifty new app.

-- Heads up: Starbucks, in conjunction with the Consumer Product Safety Commission, is recalling glass water bottles that can shatter when you open them. There have been at least 10 reports of either the stopper or the bottle shattering, and eight reports of people's hands being cut. I'm thinking: glass bottles? Are you people nuts? That's like asking for trouble.

-- David Lazarus

Sales of previously occupied homes took a stumble for the second consecutive month in January.

The National Assn. of Realtors in Washington said Friday that sales fell 7.2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.05 million units in January. While a decline from the previous month, that was still 11.5% above the 4.53-million-unit level in January 2009.

It was the second report this week reflecting poor January sales figures. On Wednesday the Commerce Department reported that newly built homes took an unexpected 11.2% tumble, falling to a record low in January.

Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the Realtors group, said in a statement that the January drop reflected closings from deals struck during the slow holiday shopping season.

“Most of the completed deals in January were based on contracts in November and December. People who got into the market after the home buyer tax credit was extended in November have only recently started to offer contracts, so it will take a couple months to close those sales,” he said. “Still, the latest monthly sales decline is not encouraging, and raises concern about the strength of a recovery.”

Prices held steady in January despite the sales drop. The median price for a previously owned home in the U.S. was $164,700 in January, unchanged from a year earlier, the Realtors group said. Foreclosure properties or other homes sold when the owner is in default accounted for 38% of sales last month.

-- Alejandro Lazo

CKE Restaurants Inc., parent of fast-food restaurant chains Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s, said Friday that it will be bought by a private equity firm for $619 million.

Thomas H. Lee Partners will acquire the Carpinteria-based company for about $928 million while assuming about $309 million in net debt.

The Boston-based private equity firm will offer CKE shareholders a 24% premium off Thursday’s closing price, giving them each $11.05 in cash for each share.

The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of this year if it is approved by shareholders and regulators. But first, CKE will accept other acquisition proposals until April 6.

The company is using UBS Investment Bank as a financial advisor. Thomas H. Lee has turned to Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Barclays Capital, whose affiliates are also helping to fund the deal.

“We are committed to making this great company even better, and to working together with the entire organization to provide an even stronger foundation for value creation, expansion and profitable growth," Todd Abbrecht, managing director of Thomas H. Lee, said in a statement.

CKE shares jumped 25% in morning trading, up $2.25 to $11.16.

-- Tiffany Hsu

Actor James Franco, who plays Allen Ginsberg in the film "Howl," has sold his Sunset Strip-area compound for $3.3 million, the Multiple Listing Service shows.

The Spanish-style villa, built in 1923, has three bedrooms and 3 1/2 bathrooms in 4,000 square feet. The walled and gated property includes a swimming pool and a guesthouse.

The property was purchased in 2006 for $2,325,000, according to public records. It came on the market in late September at $3,695,000.

As for Franco's former 90069 ZIP Code, there were 115 single-family home sales in 2009 at a median price of $1,775,000, according to MDA DataQuick, a price drop of 16.3% from 2008. The 2009 sales price per square foot for his ZIP was $723. Considering he bought in 2006, Franco did well.

--Lauren Beale

Thoughts? Comments?  

Internet service providers promise maximum transfer rates, but actual speeds may be as much as 80% slower during peak periods. Consumer columnist David Lazarus talks with the Federal Communications Commission about the issue.

Read his column here

While former SK Foods Chief Executive Frederick Scott Salyer is scheduled to make his initial court appearance in Sacramento federal court on Friday, the battle over whether the indicted tomato executive should be granted bail is heating up.

One of the key issues is whether Salyer, 54, is a flight risk.

Salyer was arrested at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Feb. 4, after he had flown in from Switzerland. A grand jury later indicted him on racketeering and six other counts of corruption for allegedly directing a decade-long scheme to quash competition and sell tomato products at inflated prices -- a practice that is said to have led to consumers paying more at the grocery store. The investigation was dubbed by the FBI as “Operation Rotten Tomato.”

Federal prosecutors have alleged that the 54-year-old agribusiness executive had been living in Europe in recent months and had been trying to make arrangements to flee extradition. In court filings and at an earlier court hearing, they accused Salyer of funneling at least $10 million into banks overseas, and telling a witness in the case to sell his personal belongings; to wire about $40,000 to a London-based company that finds people homes and jobs in the European Union; and to put his $7-million home in Pebble Beach up for sale.

Malcolm Segal, Salyer’s attorney, filed a lengthy motion Wednesday that denied the federal government's allegations and outlined why his client has never been a flight risk -- not now, not ever.

Instead, the prosecutors’ allegations are based on information supplied by a former employee who “had taken advantage of the defendant’s absence from the country on business to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars in furnishings and art from a family home.”

The defense also submitted dozens of letters from family and friends in support of Salyer, including one from his eldest daughter, Stefanie Ann Gallegly.

“I love my father and I sincerely hope there is no way he would run away never intending to see me or my sister again,” she wrote. “I think it would be emotionally difficult for him to try to flee the country or stay in Europe when we would be here in the United States with his new grandchild.”

Click here to read the pretrial motion and find out more.

-- P.J. Huffstutter

Photo: California state Sen. Abel Maldonado, left, is congratulated by Frederick Scott Salyer, middle, and Peter Blackstock at a political event. Credit: David Royal / Monterey County Herald

Got a sweet tooth to feed? You may end up having to fork out a bit more cash to satisfy it, if some California lawmakers have their way.

State Senate Majority Leader Dean Florez (D-Shafter) introduced a bill this month that would tack a one-cent levy on -- ready for this? -- every teaspoon of added sugar and other calorie-laden sweeteners in beverages sold in stores. Lawmakers say research has shown a connection between obesity and folks who drink soft drinks.

The tax would be imposed on companies such as Coca-Cola Co., PepsiCo Inc. and other businesses that bottle soda or make syrup or beverages for fountain drinks, lawmakers said.

Taxing soda is a common refrain heard in legislative halls across the country these days. Similar pushes to tack a tax on soft drinks have bubbled up in a dozen states this last year: Colorado’s governor just signed into law a bill that revokes the tax exemption on candy and soft drinks.

How much revenue could be generated? A vat-load: The California Center for Public Health Advocacy estimated that the excise tax could pull in $1.5 billion a year, which could be used to help cash-strapped cities and schools bolster health programs.

The beverage makers are, understandably, a wee bit peeved at the thought of forking out that much money.

Interested in the debate? Find out more in this story by L.A. Times reporters Kim Geiger and Tom Hamburger.

-- P.J. Huffstutter

Photo: Consumer buying a can of Vanilla Coke. Credit: Rogan Macdonald / Bloomberg News

Economic activity should continue to increase slightly in Southern California, according to new data released Thursday. The Southern California Leading Economic Indicator, as calculated by economists at Cal State Fullerton, increased by 0.14% in the fourth quarter of 2009.

"It's good news -- at least it's staying positive," said Adrian Fleissig, a Cal State Fullerton professor who released the indicator. "But it's not suggesting much of an increase." 

Fleissig takes into account national figures such as the real money supply, interest-rate spreads and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index. He also considers regional factors such as non-farm employment, the unemployment rate, building permits and the Pacific region consumer confidence index. The S&P 500, interest-rate spread, consumer confidence index and building permits all had a positive effect on the indicator.

This is the third consecutive quarter in which the indicator has increased.

The upward tick doesn't likely indicate trends for the rest of the country, though. A report out this morning from the BNY ConvergEx Group suggests that economic indicators in states such as Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia and South Carolina track the most closely to the national situation.

-- Alana Semuels

Alternative-fuel vehicles have become the great white hope of the auto industry, widely hailed as a potential savior to reduce the country’s dependence on foreign oil, stem the tide of greenhouse-gas emissions and help fuel a green economy. But a new study sponsored by the National Science Foundation questions consumers’ willingness to buy in.

"If government and manufacturers go down the path they’re on now, we’re not going to get alternative-fuel vehicles into the marketplace for quite some time," said Rosanna Garcia, an associate professor of marketing at Northeastern University who surveyed more than 7,500 car enthusiasts to gauge their interest in hybrid, plug-in hybrid, electric and diesel cars.

Garcia cited a lack of cost effectiveness, uncertainty about fuel availability, uncertainty about the cost of the vehicle and replacement parts and a lack of understanding about how the technologies work as obstacles to greater adoption of alternative-fuel vehicles, which currently account for less than 4% of registered vehicles in the U.S.

"The focus with alternative-power vehicles has always been on manufacturing and governmental policy, but consumers have a big impact, and their needs and wants aren’t really taken into consideration," said Garcia. "Under current conditions, there is no possible design for an alternative-fuel vehicle that could become a profitable product for an automaker."

The main barriers to entry? For electric vehicles, it was price, coupled with insufficient range. Garcia’s study found that consumers were willing to pay as much as $70,000 for an EV, but they wanted a minimum of 110 miles per charge.

For consumers considering a gas-electric hybrid, fuel efficiency was most important. Cost was secondary. For such a hybrid, consumers were, on average, only willing to pay up to $30,000, as long as they got about 40 miles per gallon.

Knowledge is a key factor in consumers' acceptance of alternative-fuel vehicles, Garcia said. "The more knowledge they have, the more accepting they are of innovations. That’s an opportunity for auto manufacturers," she said. "Campaigns that relieve uncertainty now will help get these products into the marketplace when the technology does get there."

-- Susan Carpenter

Photo: Toyota

Jobless claims rose last week while shipments and new orders of durable goods showed weakness in January as the economy struggles to recover.

Excluding transportation equipment, new orders for manufactured durable goods slipped 0.6%  in January, to nearly $131 billion, after increasing 2% the month before, the Commerce Department said Thursday. Excluding lagging new defense orders, January orders increased 1.6%.

Transportation equipment was a bright spot, increasing 15.6% to $44.8 billion, led by orders for non-defense aircraft and parts.

Overall, new orders rose 3% to $175.7 billion. Shipments fell, however, after four consecutive increases (including a 2.4% rise in December);  they slid 0.2% to $180.7 billion in January.

In this category, transportation equipment performed poorly, plunging 3.5% to $44.6 billion after two previous increases.

Inventories remained relatively even in January at $302.6 billion after falling steadily over the past 13 months. But stockpiles of computers and electronics plunged 1.2% to $42.9 billion.

In a report from the Labor Department, the number of workers filing for unemployment benefits rose  22,000 claims last week, to 496,000 from 474,000.

But California saw the deepest decrease in the number of claims, with 5,540 fewer filings after layoffs eased in the service industry for the week ending Feb. 13.

Kentucky had the sharpest jump, with 2,510 more claims after auto industry and manufacturing job cuts.

-- Tiffany Hsu

Photo: A worker  cleans an airplane at the Van Nuys Airport. Credit: Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. plans to cut 20 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions from the life-cycle of its profits by the end of 2015, the retail behemoth said Thursday.

The number represents 1 1/2 times the massive company’s estimated carbon growth over the next five years, or the equivalent of the emissions produced by 3.8-million cars over one year, Chief Executive Mike Duke said in a webcast presentation from the company's Bentonville, Ark. corporate headquarters.

Wal-Mart previously announced an ultimate goal of relying solely on renewable energy to run all its operations while producing no waste. The mega-retailer completed three solar installations in Southern California last month.

“We have the capacity to do more,” he said. “We have the opportunity to lead. … It’s a very sizable goal, as we often do at Wal-Mart.”

The greening process will occur as raw materials are sourced and as goods are manufactured and transported, and even as customers handle and dispose of the products, Duke said. The company will focus first on product categories most associated with carbon.

The goal could even spark a “race, a treasure hunt” among suppliers to find competitive ways to cut emissions, said Fred Krupp, president of the Environmental Defense Fund, which is partnering with Wal-Mart to reach the sustainability goal.

“Wal-Mart is looking at the big picture,” Krupp said during the webcast.

Clear Carbon Inc. will check that Wal-Mart and its suppliers use proper methodology to produce complete and accurate calculations of reduced emissions, and Pricewaterhouse Coopers will confirm the procedures using consulting standards. 

-- Tiffany Hsu

Photo: A Wal-Mart trucker at the Rosemead store. Credit: Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times

Interest rates offered by lenders for 30-year fixed home loans have edged back above 5% for the first time in three weeks, Freddie Mac said in a survey released Thursday.

The big government-controlled mortgage buyer pegged this week's average for a 30-year loan at 5.05% with 0.7% of the loan balance paid in upfront origination fees and discount points. It had reported an average of 4.93% last week and 5.07% a year ago.

The Freddie Mac survey asks lenders about popular combinations of rates and points they are offering to a  borrower who has good credit and a 20% down payment or, in refinance transactions, 20% equity in the home. Mortgage professionals say well-qualified borrowers often can find slightly better deals by shopping around.

Freddie Mac said the rate for a 15-year fixed home loan averaged 4.40% this week with 0.7% in points and fees, up from 4.33% last week.

The five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage, which has a fixed rate for five years and then becomes variable, averaged 4.16% this week, up slightly. The one-year Treasury-indexed ARM, which adjusts annually, averaged 4.15%, down slightly.

-- E. Scott Reckard

L.A. money manager TCW Group Inc.’s ouster of its star bond fund manager in December cost the firm more than one-fifth of its assets, the company disclosed Wednesday.

Institutional and individual investors pulled a total of about $25 billion from TCW after the company terminated Jeffrey Gundlach as chief investment officer on Dec. 4, according to TCW data.

The company managed $115 billion as of Jan. 31, up from $110 billion on Dec. 4. But about $31 billion of the $115 billion was brought in by Metropolitan West Asset Management, which TCW agreed to buy to replace Gundlach and more than 40 TCW staffers who left with him.

So TCW’s assets alone declined to about $84 billion by Jan. 31. Any drop in assets means a money manager loses income because management fees are charged as a percentage of assets.

Of the $25 billion in cash that left TCW, more than $6 billion came out of the TCW Total Return Bond fund, the company’s flagship mutual fund.

TCW, which has said it expected to lose some assets after Gundlach’s dismissal, disclosed the Jan. 31 figures in a statement announcing that it had completed its merger with Metropolitan West. “The strategic acquisition of MetWest provides TCW with a strong investment platform to meet the needs of our clients and further enhance its long-term growth potential,” TCW Chief Executive Marc Stern said in the statement.

The bulk of TCW’s assets has long been in high-quality bonds, which Gundlach oversaw. Some investors who had had their fixed-income assets managed by Gundlach -- a 24-year veteran of TCW who built a strong track record with mortgage-backed bonds in particular -- quickly yanked their money after he left.

The list of investors who’ve departed TCW includes the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System, the Texas Municipal Retirement System and the Colorado Public Employees Retirement Assn.

TCW has suffered additional client defections since Jan. 31. Investors holding about $1.3 billion in specialized mortgage funds at the firm decided last week to pull their money, although TCW was able to retain about $1.7 billion in those funds.

But most of the cash that has left TCW hasn’t followed Gundlach to his new firm, DoubleLine Capital, which he formed within days of his ouster from TCW. Gundlach says DoubleLine is managing about $3 billion, most of which is from insurance companies and high-net-worth individuals, he said.

Gundlach is seeking Securities and Exchange Commission approval to launch mutual funds, hoping to pick up some of the investors who’ve left the TCW Total Return Bond fund.

TCW and Gundlach are embroiled in a bitter legal battle. TCW last month sued Gundlach and several other ex-TCW employees, alleging that they set up DoubleLine using “vast quantities” of proprietary information they stole from TCW. Gundlach has since countersued, accusing TCW of firing him to avoid honoring an agreement to share up to $1.25 billion in potential fee income.

-- Tom Petruno

Photo: Jeffrey Gundlach. Credit: Alex Gallardo / Los Angeles Times