California poised for tourism rebound

The state Travel and Tourism Commission predicts a nearly 3% increase in visitors this year, followed by a 4% increase in 2011. Visitors are...

WellPoint, Obama rift escalates

A war of words between President Obama and health insurers escalated Sunday as industry giant WellPoint Inc. found itself under renewed attack for...

Stock investors' nerves are 'frayed'

The stomach-churning turmoil that revisited the stock market last week may not be gone yet.

Small-Business Q&A: How to improve sales

Dear Karen: How can we improve sales?

Buyers scramble to close deals by June 30 deadline to get federal tax credit

Reporting from Washington — For home buyers who scrambled to meet the April 30 federal tax credit deadline for completed contracts, there's a...

Media moguls on elevated pay scale

When an executive runs a company whose success depends on stars — whether they are richly rewarded TV news anchors or generously compensated...

Growth of electronic trading a major cause of stock market free fall

So much for the biggest, safest, most liquid securities market in the world.

Personal Finance: Listen to Mom and get ahead

Everybody has a story about why his mom is the best — the times she baked cookies for all your friends, how she faithfully sat in near-empty...

Home of the Week: Sister Aimee's castle in Lake Elsinore

By the late 1920s, evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson needed some breathing room. The Church of the Foursquare Gospel, which had evolved into wildly...

Home appraisals still fraught with uncertainty despite new code of conduct

Little known outside the housing industry — and little understood inside the business — the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) was...

What's the best thing to do with an inherited IRA?

Dear Liz: I just inherited about $70,000 in IRAs and checking accounts. I would like to eventually invest it in my next home (upgrade to a...

Homeowner association director can't be excluded just for disagreeing

Question: The board of our homeowner association has barred an elected director from attending any of the board's closed executive sessions. Do...

Rent Watch: What is 'normal wear and tear'?

Question: I just moved out of a studio apartment that I had been renting for the last year. Now the landlord has informed me that she is...

L.A.'s Chinatown tries to draw more nighttime visitors

By the light from a Chinatown bakery, Steve and Isela Gibbs snacked on cake at an outdoor table as the last few of the day's tourists wandered through...

Stocks' plunge is a troubling mystery

As global stock markets skidded further Friday, federal regulators were still scrambling to unravel the cause of a nearly 1,000-point midday plunge in...

Wall Street calmer but still fearful

Goldman shareholders support Blankfein's chairman-CEO role

Shareholders of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. overwhelmingly supported their embattled chairman and chief executive Friday, rejecting calls to split his...

CKX chief's departure could set off bidding war for 'American Idol' parent

The chief executive of the parent company of "American Idol," the top-rated show on television, resigned on Friday and said he was weighing a bid...

April hiring surge largest in four years

U.S. employers added an unexpectedly large 290,000 jobs in April. That's the strongest hiring burst in four years and a welcome signal that...

Court dismisses Lions Gate's attempted 'poison pill' to block takeover

Lions Gate Entertainment's plan to poison Carl Icahn's attempted hostile takeover of the Santa Monica film and television studio has been given the...

General Growth Properties wins approval of bankruptcy plan, ending rival's takeover bid

General Growth Properties Inc., the struggling owner of the Glendale Galleria and other large Southland shopping centers, won court approval Friday...