Most local public companies were helped by the remarkable stock market surge of the last few months, rescuing a number of them from what appeared to be a losing year. Most notably, Snap’s stock zoomed up 85% for the year – all of that in the last few months.
Same with Public Storage, the Glendale-based real estate investment trust. Like Snap, it would have had a losing year, but thanks to the surge its stock last week was up more than 11% for the year.
Among L.A.’s other companies with big market caps, Live Nation enjoyed a nice stock runup – it was up 30% for the year – but much of that gain came earlier in the year.
Alas, even the surge could not rescue the sad-sack Walt Disney Co. stock, which was down 3.7% for the year despite the late-year bump. Disney last week was trading for about half of its post-pandemic high in early 2021.
For comparison’s sake, the S&P 500 was up 23% for the year.
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Ever wonder what Angelenos most search for on Google? Actually, there’s no need to wonder: the search engine puts out a list of the most-searched terms of the year, including a separate list for Angelenos.
The most-searched television show for Angelenos in 2023 was “The Last of Us” and the top concert, not surprisingly, was Taylor Swift’s Era’s Tour.
As for the always popular “near me” search term, “air quality near me” was the top search for Angelenos in 2023. The next four “near me” searches, in order: Earthquake, pawn shop, poke bowl and – perhaps surprisingly – optometrist.
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Bryan Castro and his partner, Lyndsay Peterson, run Bryan’s Bees. Business buzzes right along until the bees go into hibernation in October, at which time the operators face the unwanted prospect of laying off workers every year. “We were like, what can we do between October and the beginning of February when bee season begins?,” asked Castro. The answer: Create another seasonal business.
And that’s how Bee Merry Christmas Lights in Thousand Oaks got started. Peterson, Castro and about 10 workers travel around the region decorating homes and businesses for Halloween, Christmas, Hanukkah and the like.
They decorated about 200 places this Christmas season, Castro reported, including the Four Seasons in Westlake Village among other notable spots. “Celebrity estates, commercial buildings, businesses. Most of our clients are in the luxury market,” he said.
And at this point, he said, Bee Merry is doing even better than Bryan’s Bees.
The Insider is compiled by Editor-in-Chief Charles Crumpley. He can be reached at [email protected].
