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Sunday night, while the writers and producers in Los Angeles were doing their strike countdown, a good friend was catching a flight to Albuquerque to start production on a new feature film. It seems that New Mexico is offering tax credits that make it worthwhile for a feature film to be produced there, yet again "stealing" revenue from Los Angeles and California.

While no one on the production was interested in leaving town, the studio decided that the tax credits made it worthwhile. Sooooooo, he and his 80 crew members blew town to set up shop for months outside of Hollywood, and the state of California let them go. Vancouver and Toronto have established solid credentials as filming locations at a discount to Hollywood, and they have all the trappings for major productions. With about $350 million in film and television income last year, Louisiana has established itself as one of the nation's most popular film centers, and 40 other states are looking to follow suit.

California is losing hundreds of millions of dollars annually to these "runaway" productions. Runaway used to mean a film was over budget, or it was breaking box office records. Now it means they will film somewhere else.

Surprisingly, California, with its movie star Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, is doing little to keep the productions here. You would think The Governator would be interested in the subject, but alas -- nothing. No matching tax credits, no partial tax credits, no competitive move whatsoever.

Reuters reports that former Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) executives Todd Thomson -- who lost his job in January -- is talking back now that his nemesis, Chuck Prince, has been deposed.

Thomson, who headed up wealth management for Citigroup, got tossed in February. He thinks Prince smeared him -- citing his expensive office, which featured a fishbowl, and his reported flight of General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) CNBC's Maria Bartiromo on Citigroup's corporate jet from Asia to New York. Here are two highlights:

• Maria-gate. Media reported that in November 2006 when Thomson flew with a group of Citigroup employees to China on a business trip, he flew back with Bartiromo, leaving the Citi employees to find their way home on their own. When asked about his relationship with Bartiromo, Thomson was adamant: "It's an inappropriate question. I've never been accused of having anything other than an appropriate relationship with Maria Bartiromo. And I do have an appropriate relationship with Maria Bartiromo."

So PetroChina (NYSE:PTR) went public in Shanghai to great fanfare and now the company has a market-cap of over $1 trillion. This gives the company a valuation greater than that of both General Electric (NYSE: GE) and Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) combined. Not bad considering the company has revenues of just 1/4 that of Exxon. With all due respect to the growth of the Chinese economy, this is a bit ridiculous. Can we even believe the numbers they are reporting? We all talk about the lack of transparency in U.S. corporate earnings (see financial stocks of late); it's 100 times worse in China.

The Chinese stock market has had an amazing run, but what comes up must come down. With all the recent IPO's that have skyrocketed, it sure has the feel of NASDAQ 2000 all over again. Then people used to invest if the ticker symbol had 4 letters. Now people will throw money at anything that has to do with China. Irrational exuberance? You bet!

Will the communist government of China allow the stock market to fall before the 2008 Olympics in Beijing? Probably not, but a bubble has been created and investors should better be forewarned.

The New York Times has written a heartfelt love letter to Maria Bartiromo of General Electric (NYSE: GE)'s CNBC. The most interesting part to me is that Maria feels that Chuck Prince was using her "relationship" with former Citigroup (NYSE: C) executive Todd Thomson -- about which I posted earlier this year -- to divert attention from his mismanagement of the bank. With Prince out, Maria's riding high. But Todd must be kicking himself -- if he hadn't gotten into the Maria mess, he might be in a position to take over from Prince.

Since I have had the privilege of being interviewed by Maria Bartiromo -- here's a link from August -- and was called a couple of times last week to discuss the situation at Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER), her status at CNBC is of more than academic interest to me. I have never met her in person, but her interviews have always been sharp and professional.

But the Todd Thomson incident raised questions which the article did not completely squelch. As a reminder, in January unidentified executives at Citigroup, which is both a CNBC advertiser and a frequent subject of its coverage, told several publications that among the reasons Thomson was fired was his decision to invite Maria to speak to a group of Citigroup clients in Asia and to fly her to that event in the company jet.

Before the bell: Stocks to tumble at the open on credit concerns

U.S. film and television writers went on strike today, after last-minute talks failed to prevent the Writers Guild of America's first walkout in almost two decades. Several media companies holding film and television studios could be affected including Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS), Viacom (NYSE: VIA), News Corp (NYSE: NWS), CBS (NYSE: CBS), Time Warner (NYSE: TWX), General Electric (NYSE: GE) and others.

A key study found that Eli Lilly and Co's (NYSE: LLY) experimental anti-clotting drug boosts the risk of serious bleeding compared to the standard therapy. This caused Wall Street analysts to question the outlook for the product on Sunday with HSBC downgrading the stock from Neutral to Underweight. Still, Lilly's shares are up over 1.25% in premarket.

Wow, the Fox Business Network hasn't even been on the air for a month, and its critics are already writing its obituary because the channel has made some boneheaded moves.

First, as Fox-hater Keith Olbermann noted, the News Corp (NYSE: NWS) channel did some "creative" editing of negative newspaper reviews and turned them into positive ones? Yesterday, Olbermann, the host of MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann, "awarded" network honcho Roger Ailes the title of "Worst Person in the World" because presumably mortal enemy Bill O'Reilly's evilness just wasn't up to snuff. This bit is part of Olbermann's shtick on his program which regularly outrages conservatives.

Of course, Ailes is far from the worst person in the world. At best, he and his boss Rupert Murdoch are in the top 10% of evil-doers, well behind the likes of Osama bin Laden, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and people who dress up their pets in Halloween costumes. But unlike many arch-villains, Ailes is a very creative and resourceful guy.

For instance, he's lined up Minyanville.com characters "Hoofy the Bull" and "Boo the Bear" to host a segment on the network's critically derided Happy Hour program. Is this idea going to win a Peabody? Of course not, but it's not the end of the world, either. Still, this feature wasn't a smart PR move, because it plays into the hands of Fox's many critics, including Joe Nocera of The New York Times, who have blasted the network for being too upbeat.

The New York Times reports that 200,000 Hollywood workers are about to be affected by the imminent strike of the writers. And Teamsters -- while not on strike -- are not likely to cross the writers' picket lines. The fight is over how the DVD and Internet pies get split between producers and writers. Which stocks will be winners and losers?

One winner is Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX) as its shops will undoubtedly attract writers who normally would be reporting to a corporate office. They'll spend time using Starbucks wireless Internet access and drinking its over-priced Joe. In addition to all the people who will stop watching their favorite TV shows, the corporate losers from the strike will include the following:

• CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS) - David Letterman's writers will stop writing jokes and it will be interesting to see whether CBS will just start with the re-runs.
• The Walt Disney Companies (NYSE: DIS) - ABC will be able to run a few new episodes of Boston Legal, Lost, Grey's Anatomy, and Desperate Housewives before its audience gets bored with the re-runs.

As Doug wrote this past Monday, NBC and Fox launched Hulu, where you can watch television series, shows and even feature-length films from the two networks. With Apple, Inc.'s (NASDAQ: AAPL) iTunes, Amazon's (NASDAQ: AMZN) Unbox and Google, Inc.'s (NASDAQ: GOOG) YouTube, is this launch even necessary? If so, why now?

Well, the television studios do not want to become irrelevant in the age of online video. Too late. There are certain generations who will watch television shows in front of the standard boob tube (the same demographic that seeks out physical newspapers instead of Google News), while other generations will, in the future, watch most of their video online. The Hulu venture is basically television transferred to the internet -- it will be free and ad-supported, just like traditional over-the-air television (sans cable or satellite). But when two competitors join hands to make it happen, red flags start going up. Is there single management of the content? What agenda is there?

And, should YouTube be worried? YouTube is nowhere close to being a broadcast television replacement, with its small-size and substandard video and mono audio. That doesn't mean the technical capability could not be there soon to leapfrog those current limitations and deliver a complete and entertaining experience that would engage each viewer. Google may already be working on this. Say it with me: YouTube 2.

Peacock Equity, a venture capital arrangement among NBC Universal and General Electric (NYSE: GE), is flexing its muscle. This week, the firm announced an investment in 4Info. The amount was not disclosed but the rumor is that it's about $10 million.

Basically, 4Info has a platform to send text (or SMS) messages. Some of the features include voting, fan clubs and alerts. It's a nice fit for GE's vast array of entertainment assets, such as the "Deal or No Deal" show.

4Info might also be a smart vehicle to enhance branding and customer loyalty. Its revenue model is primarily based on advertising.

The Peacock fund is relatively new, getting its start in April with $250 million. So, we will probably see more deal-making with upstart tech companies.

Visit DealProfiles.com to check out other recent VC activity.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.

NBC Universal Chief Executive Jeff Zucker made it clear at a conference yesterday that GE (NYSE: GE) had no interest in selling the media business. Referring to GE CEO Jeff Immelt, Zucker said, "He has said numerous times that NBCU is not for sale. It is not for sale after the Olympics." Some press reports have indicated that GE would take the big money from the sports event and then dump the business on some sucker.

It is odd that the head of a GE division should have to make this kind of comment at all. The head of the locomotive division probably wouldn't make comments about the future of his business. Meanwhile, NBC Universal can go on operating as usual whether Wall Street thinks it is for sale or not.

The argument for selling NBC is that the unit does not fit with the conglomerate's industrial and financial operations. That is true, but owning a network does mean tickets to the Super Bowl and the Oscars.

NBC is a $15 billion business with operating income running about $2.5 billion, making it a modest part of GE's overall earnings. Still, the business is about the size of CBS (NYSE: CBS), which has a market cap of $21 billion and debt of $7 billion.

For the $28 billion enterprise value of CBS, GE would sell NBC tomorrow.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor of 247wallst.com.

Despite filling five hours of our weeks with what some (...innocently drums fingers ...) consider to be softball questions and hacky jokes, Jay Leno has managed to remain the king of the late-night time slot, consistently banking the best ratings for the hour following the evening news.

And it's looking like Tonight Show host may not want the party to end.

Three years ago, Leno, who took over the hosting chair from the beloved Johnny Carson in 1992, told General Electric Company (NYSE: GE)'s NBC Networks that he would be retiring in 2009. At that point, NBC gave the nod to auburn-haired late-late-night funnyman Conan O'Brian. But as the swan song grows closer, the Los Angeles Times reports, Leno may be having misgivings about this plan.

Leno is reportedly a workaholic and will only be 59 when 2009 rolls around. Johnny Carson was 74 when he stepped down from the gig. NBC clearly wouldn't mind keeping their number-one guy on the payroll, and if he wants to keep working, they definitely want him in their employ rather than with the competition. Leno has a non-compete clause to keep him off the air for six months after leaving NBC, but what's six months out of a 20-year career?

General Electric's (NYSE: GE) NBC Universal and News Corp's (NYSE: NWS) Fox have launched [subscription required] their video site Hulu. Fox will offer a number of its shows on the website and NBC will put up programming from its cable networks and some of its feature-length films.

All of this premium content will be wrapped into a video site, Hulu, and be offered through distribution partners including Microsoft's (NASDAQ: MSFT) MSN, Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) and MySpace. The issue of whether the content will be available on Google's (NASDAQ: GOOG) YouTube is still open for negotiation.

The new venture appears to be a perfect example of large companies managing a problem to death. It is not clear why Fox and NBC could not have cut their own content distribution deals without having to band together. It is equally unclear why anyone would go to the Hulu site if the content can be seen at larger web properties

Perhaps some of the online media executives at the two networks wanted to make sure that it appeared they were making progress on getting their programming onto the web. It might be a good way to keep a job, at least for now.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

The plan makes sense, at least on paper. GE (NYSE: GE) believes that it can offset any slowdown in its US business by the acceleration of revenue in China and India. It is, perhaps, one of the benefits of being a multinational.

The FT writes that, "GE's chairman and chief executive (Jeffrey Immelt) said the company's sales in emerging markets such as China and India were expanding at 20 percent a year, and there were few signs of this growth slowing."

But, GE's view is based on two assumptions that may not be true. The first is that a slowdown in the US will not spread to Asia and the Indian subcontinent. Much of the export income from China and India depends on demand in the US and Europe. if that demand slackens, there is no guarantee that their own economies will be able to continue growing rapidly.

GE is also assuming that growth in these countries, particularly China, will not come without a cost. Trade tensions between the US and the world's most populous country still exist. The China toy debacle demonstrates that. It would not take so terribly much for China to shut its markets to certain US goods and services, if it feels that it has been provoked.

GE's plan to keep growing outside the US looks good, for now.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wall st.com.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) has finally launched its new Leopard operating system late Friday, after a delay of four months. In addition, Apple said it would no longer accepts cash for its popular iPhone and limit sales to two per person, an effort to stop people from reselling them.

NBC, a unit of General Electric (NYSE: GE) and New Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) Fox are set to launch an advertising-supported online video site, Hulu.com. A test version should go online today. The site will have programming from varied entertainment companies as it tries capture some of the audience Google's (NASDAQ: GOOG) YouTube has.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) reported third-quarter earnings this morning that fell by 34% from a year ago due to tax charges. Verizon earned $1.27 billion, or 44 cents per share in the quarter. Excluding charges, earnings would have been 63 cents per share, beating analysts' estimate by a penny.

eBay Inc.'s (NASDAQ: EBAY) Skype and mobile phone group 3 have launched a mobile handset that allows Skype users to make free Internet calls to each other while on the move. The companies said they hoped to sell "several hundred thousand" 3 Skypephone units worldwide in the fourth quarter of this year.

Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) might be in the spotlight now that the UAW narrowly ratified a new contract with Chrysler LLC over the weekend. The Chrysler contract is similar to the deal reached with General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) and the union will likely want to reach a similar deal with Ford. Ford, however, is in deeper financial trouble than Chrysler or GM and may want additional concessions from the union.

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) announced it is buying Global Care Solutions. Financial terms were not disclosed.