Report: Kodak gets patent bid from Apple, Google

NEW YORK — Apple and Google, bitter rivals in smartphone technology, have joined up to make a combined bid for a bundle of patents offered by photography pioneer Kodak, according to a published report.

Bloomberg News reported Saturday that Apple Inc. and Google Inc. have abandoned competing bids for the portfolio to offer a combined $500 million. The sum is the minimum Kodak can sell the patents for and still get an $830 million loan that's crucial to getting the company out of bankruptcy.

Apple and Google declined to comment on the report. A Kodak representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Kodak filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January after struggling to adapt to the world of digital photography.

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Oil rises on strength in Germany, China

NEW YORK — Oil prices are rising slightly on a surprise expansion of German exports and signs of increased oil consumption in China.

Benchmark crude rose 22 cents to $86.15 just before 10 a.m. in New York.

The German government said Monday that exports from Europe's biggest economy rose slightly in October after losing ground the month before. They were 10.6 percent higher than October a year earlier.

And in China, the world's second-largest economy after the United States, crude imports last month were the highest in half a year. The oil demand data was released a day after another set of figures showed that China's industrial production and retail sales exceeded expectations in November.

In the U.S., pump prices are now averaging $3.34 a gallon, up 6 cents from a year ago.

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MLB, StubHub renew secondary ticket market deal

NEW YORK — Major League Baseball has agreed to a new five-year deal with StubHub as its secondary ticket market.

The original contract started in 2007 and expired after last season.

Financial terms of the agreement announced Monday were not disclosed.

MLB Advanced Media President and CEO Bob Bowman says "this renewal reflects its successes in an ever-evolving space."

StubHub is the world's largest ticket marketplace. It allows fans to buy and sell tickets to events at market-rate prices.

StubHub President Chris Tsakalakis says the company plans to use new technology to improve consumers' experiences, especially on mobile devices.

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Wayfair raises $36M for Joss & Main

Home goods online retailer Wayfair said today it has raised $36.3 million in new equity funding to speed growth of its private sale site for the home, Joss & Main.

Investors included Battery Ventures, Great Hill Partners, HarbourVest Partners and Spark Capital. A division of Boston-based Wayfair, Joss & Main is a membership-based website that offers inspirational decor at attainable prices via daily events, spotlight collections highlighting design trends and styles, and curated collections in collaboration with celebrities and notable influencers within the design community, the company said.

Members of the private sales site can explore curated collections of furniture, housewares, decor and accents through limited time sales, Wayfair added.

Joss & Main co-founder and general manager John Mulliken said the aim of Joss & Main is to "evoke a lifestyle magazine and encourage the delight of daily window shopping as well as the ease and temptation to buy every item from every story — if you act quickly enough."

Officials added Joss & Main released a mobile app earlier this year that has helped drive steady sales growth with the percentage of revenue from mobile up 50 percent this holiday season.

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Government investigating makers of cellphone apps

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration says it's investigating software companies that make cellphone apps to determine whether they are violating the privacy rights of children by quietly collecting personal information from their phones, then sharing it with advertisers and data brokers. Such spying apps downloaded to mobile devices can capture a child's physical location, phone numbers of their friends and more.

In its announcement Monday, the Federal Trade Commission did not specify which companies it is investigating. It described the marketplace for mobile applications as a digital danger zone.

The agency examined 400 applications designed for kids randomly selected from online stores operated by Apple and Google. Most failed to inform parents about data that it could gather and who could access it. Others apps contained advertising and links to social media.

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Deep divides in Dubai at UN talks on Internet

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Talks over possible new U.N. regulations for the Internet were deeply divided Monday, with Russia and others advocating for more government sway while a U.S.-led bloc warned against rules that could restrict freedoms in cyberspace.

The Dubai conference, which wraps up later this week, is not empowered to bring about any immediate changes on how the Internet operates. But the U.S. and its backers argue that sanctioning greater government roles in Internet oversight could allow governments that already heavily censor Web traffic, such as China or Iran, to justify more restrictions and monitoring.

A high-powered U.S. delegation — including representatives from tech giants such as Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. — has tried to block all discussions of possible Internet regulations. The effort, however, has met strong headwinds from countries such as Russia that want a greater control over Net commerce and security.

So far, the closed-door talks have failed to find much common ground at the 193-nation U.N. International Telecommunications Union, which last updated its rules in 1988 before the Internet became a global force.

"What's happened in the conference is a variety of proposals have come in from other nations that get into the Internet, that look at Internet governance," said the head of the 123-member U.S. delegation, Ambassador Terry Kramer, in a video uploaded by organizers late Sunday. "It creates an open door for review of content and potential censorship there. It will create a chilling environment for the Internet."

For several days, U.S.-led envoys fought against a proposal submitted by the host United Arab Emirates, which last month passed sweeping new Internet laws outlawing social media posts that insult rulers or call for protests.

The proposal — backed by countries such Russia, China and other Arab states — was removed from discussion Monday, conference organizers said, after an uproar from Web activists supporting the American position. Among its provisions was a call for governments to have "equal rights to manage the Internet," including its technical workings, according to a text leaked by a website, wcitleaks.org. The site claimed to have access to meeting documents not yet made public.

It's unclear, however, whether the American views have gained the upper hand as the talks move into their final days. U.S. officials say other proposals that support a greater government voice in Internet affairs are still active.

Many experts on Internet technology believe the proposals could further squeeze the Net in countries where it is closely regulated, even though it won't fundamentally alter cyberspace in places with traditions of openness.

"These proposals would break what's working —freedom of information and freedom of access," tech analyst Elise Ackerman wrote in a column for Forbes. "And they wouldn't help fix the parts of the Internet that need reinforcing, namely security and privacy."

She noted, however, the conference reflects a general push for more "international policymaking" as the U.S. dominance of the Internet weakens.

On Monday, the head of the U.N. telecoms agency, Hamadoun Toure, was scheduled to meet with civil society groups who have complained of being excluded from the talks.

Other issues at the conference also remain unresolved, including a European-led proposal to charge content providers for access to cross-border markets. The idea is strongly opposed by U.S. companies such as Google, Facebook Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and others. Supporters say the so-called "toll" could be used by developing countries to fund expansion of Internet services.

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Top Jindal aides use personal email to strategize

BATON ROUGE, La. — Top officials in Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration used personal email accounts to craft a media strategy for imposing hundreds of millions of dollars in Medicaid cuts — a method of communication that can make it more difficult to track under public records laws despite Jindal's pledge to bring more transparency to state government.

Emails reviewed by The Associated Press reveal that non-state government email addresses were used dozens of times by state officials to communicate last summer about a public relations offensive for making $523 million in health care cuts. Those documents weren't provided to AP in response to a public records request.

Jindal, now in his second term, has become a leading voice among Republican governors and is considered a potential presidential candidate. His administration's emails fold into a national debate over the use of personal email accounts by government officials to discuss official business.

The issue was a prominent one during the administration of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

Palin's use of private email accounts as governor prompted a lawsuit in which the Alaska Supreme Court ruled that officials using private email accounts for public business need to keep documents "appropriate for preservation" under the state's records management act. In response, her successor has instructed employees to use state email for conducting state business.

The head of a nonpartisan watchdog group that tracks public records issues said government officials often use private email accounts to try to sidestep disclosure laws designed to provide sunshine in government.

"Absolutely people use private accounts to hide things," said Kenneth Bunting, executive director of the National Freedom of Information Coalition, based at the University of Missouri. "If government business is conducted or information about it is sent or received on personal computers or through personal email accounts, that does not keep it from being the public's business."

The email exchanges in Louisiana took place this past summer, as the Jindal administration was planning steep reductions to programs for the poor and uninsured because of a drop in federal Medicaid funding.

Participants included Jindal's top budget adviser Kristy Nichols, health care secretary Bruce Greenstein, Greenstein's chief of staff and health policy adviser, and Jindal's communications staff. Jindal was not included in the emails, and it's unclear whether he knew his top staff used private accounts to conduct public business.

The dozens of conversations held outside the state's official email system covered subjects such as press releases, responses to news coverage of the budget cuts, preparation of an opinion column to be submitted by Greenstein to newspapers and complaints about reporters' coverage. The emails were sent mainly through accounts administered by Google and Yahoo.

In one exchange, Calder Lynch, a health policy adviser to Greenstein, directs a communications staffer to send certain types of items to Lynch's personal Gmail account, rather than to use his state government email address.

The emails were provided to AP by an administration official who participated in the discussions and who asked not to be identified because he wasn't authorized to release them.

Jindal campaigned for his first term on a platform of providing more transparency in government.

However, the emails in question weren't among more than 3,800 documents and emails provided to AP by the Department of Health and Hospitals in response to a request for information on discussions surrounding the health care cuts.

Louisiana's public records law states that all documents used in "the conduct, transaction or performance" of public business are considered public except in cases where there is a specific exemption.

Administration officials didn't respond directly to questions about whether they were using private email accounts to shield conversations about public business from disclosure.

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Obama heading to Michigan to push taxes on rich

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is pressing for public support today to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans, a day after he and House Speaker John Boehner met one-on-one for the first time to discuss ways to avert the "fiscal cliff."

Neither side provided details of the weekend meeting at the White House. But with just three weeks until a flurry of tax hikes and spending cuts start taking effect, the mere fact that the meeting happened was seen as progress.

Negotiations continue to center on whether to raise tax rates for the top two percent of income earners. Obama, in a campaign-style speech to auto workers in Michigan on Monday, is expected to stress that he won't sign a deal that doesn't include higher tax rates for the wealthiest Americans.

While Republicans have long opposed that approach, some GOP lawmakers are suggesting the party relent on taxes in order to win concessions from the president on entitlement reforms.

And business leaders, tired of Washington's partisan bickering creating uncertainty in the marketplace, are emphasizing the need to hammer out a deal before year's end.

"The millions of people that work for us, their lives are in flux. And this is incredibly critical we get this done now," said Jeffrey Immelt, GE's chief executive and head of the presidential advisory council on competitiveness.

Immelt, in remarks aired Monday on "CBS This Morning," added: "Everyone knows we need revenue," because spending cuts alone won't solve the problem.

GOP mavericks are putting increased pressure on their party's leaders to rethink how they approach negotiations with Obama in the wake of a bruising national election that left Democrats in charge of the White House and Senate.

"There is a growing group of folks looking at this and realizing that we don't have a lot of cards as it relates to the tax issue before year end," Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., told "Fox News Sunday."

If Republicans agree to Obama's plan to increase rates on the top 2 percent of Americans, Corker added, "the focus then shifts to entitlements, and maybe it puts us in a place where we actually can do something that really saves the nation."

Conservative stalwart Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma had already floated a similar idea. Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., has said Obama and Boehner could at least agree not to raise tax rates on the majority of Americans and negotiate the rates of top earners later.

"It's not waving a white flag to recognize political reality," Cole said on CNN's "State of the Union."

But such ideas face an uphill battle. Many House Republicans say they wouldn't vote for tax rate hikes under any circumstances. And GOP leadership could lose leverage in the negotiations if it raises the rate on upper-income earners without getting anything substantial in return like entitlement reform.

Democratic leaders have suggested they are unwilling to tackle entitlement spending in the three weeks left before the fiscal cliff is triggered.

"I just don't think we can do it in a matter of days here before the end of the year," Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said of Medicare reform specifically, in an interview Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press."

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Ariad rises on positive leukemia drug results

A new cancer drug from Cambridge-based Ariad Pharmaceuticals has helped nearly half of chronic myeloid leukemia patients in a 12-month trial achieve a "complete cytogenetic response" — meaning their bone marrow is cancer-free.

Company shares, which closed at $22.07 on Friday, rose more than 5 percent this morning to a high of $23.20.

Data from the trial of ponatinib was presented yesterday at the 54th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology in Atlanta.

Ariad said it filed for regulatory approval of ponatinib this year in the United States and Europe based on clinical data from the trial.

The trial of ponatinib involved 444 patients, including 267 with chronic myeloid leukemia, who had previously been treated with other drugs. A total of 46 percent of patients in the trial achieved a complete cytogenetic response, while 56 percent achieved a "major cytogenetic response," meaning their bone marrow is nearly cancer-free.

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European markets shaken by Italian political woes

PARIS — European shares were shaken Monday by Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti's announcement he will resign by year's end, raising worries that political turmoil could derail Europe's effort to end its financial crisis.

The major stock indexes, however, recovered to close slightly higher thanks to stronger trading in the U.S.

Widely credited with restoring confidence in Italy amid a debt crisis, Monti said over the weekend that he found it impossible to lead after former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's party, Parliament's largest, dropped its support.

Analysts fear Monti's unexpected resignation could spark a new round of Italian political turmoil and slow efforts to shape up the 17-country eurozone's third largest economy.

Berlusconi resigned as premier last year amid sex scandals and legal woes, unable to convince international markets that he could balance Italy's budget and pass necessary financial reforms to save Italy from a Greek-style debt crisis. Monti, a respected economist and former European Union competition commissioner, was tapped to head a government of technocrats to guide Italy.

"This (Monti's) decision has clearly been met with anxiety in the markets, with Monti's government seen as imperative to Italy's stability," Craig Erlam, market analyst for London-based Alpari, said in a note.

Italy's main stock index, the FTSE MIB, fell 2.3 percent to 15,340. The interest rate on the Italian government's 10-year bond — an indicator of how risky investors consider a country's ability to pay down its debt — rose 0.30 precentage points to 4.52 percent.

Other European stocks also fell in early trading but regained ground after the U.S. market opened. Britain's FTSE 100 was up 0.3 percent to 5,923 while Germany's DAX rose 0.2 percent to 7,532. France's CAC-40 rose 0.1 percent to 3,610.

Stocks inched higher on Wall Street after a November sales report by McDonald's boosted confidence in the consumer spending in the world's largest economy. At 1630 GMT the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.2 percent at 13,187.

Investors were also slightly more upbeat in Asia, where China reported that factory output increased 10.1 percent from a year earlier in November, a sign of recovery in the world's No. 2 economy. The inflation rate rose to 2 percent, slightly below the projected 2.1 percent, the government said Sunday.

"I think China's economy has turned the corner, so that's why the market is going up," said Francis Lun, managing director of Lyncean Holdings in Hong Kong.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index rose 0.1 percent to close at 9,533.75. Hong Kong's Hang Seng advanced 0.4 percent to 22,276.72. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.1 percent to 4,557.90. South Korea's Kospi was nearly unchanged at 1,957.42.

The China data followed the release Friday of U.S. government figures showing that employers added 146,000 jobs in November, beating economists' estimates. The unemployment rate fell to 7.7 percent from 7.9 percent, although that was mainly because more people gave up looking for work.

In commodity markets, the benchmark oil contract for January delivery was up 50 cents to $86.43 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 33 cents to finish at $85.93 per barrel on the Nymex on Friday.

In currencies, the euro fell to $1.2914 from $1.2926 in New York on Friday. The dollar fell to 82.22 yen from 82.40 yen.

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Business - BostonHerald.com

http://www.bostonherald.com/business/?srvc=rss The Boston Herald online: The closest distance between you and the news en-us Copyright 2012, Herald Interactive, Inc. Mon, 03 Dec 2012 12:16:14 -0500 systems@heraldinteractive.com (Web Developers) 120 http://cache.heraldinteractive.com/images/siteImages/rss_logo.jpg http://www.bostonherald.com/business/?srvc=rss 100 48 The Boston Herald online: The closest distance between you and the news http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179158&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179158&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179158&srvc=rss The Bay State has been awarded a $720,856 grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration to help enhance international... business Mon, 03 Dec 2012 11:53:39 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179157&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179157&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179157&srvc=rss Eastern Bank said today it has successfully completed its merger with The Community Bank over the weekend. Eastern... business Mon, 03 Dec 2012 11:50:56 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179153&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179153&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179153&srvc=rss Cambridge-based marketing startup TrueLens said today it has received $1.2 million in a funding round led by Google... business Mon, 03 Dec 2012 11:43:18 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/automotive/view.bg?articleid=1061179150&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/automotive/view.bg?articleid=1061179150&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/automotive/view.bg?articleid=1061179150&srvc=rss Bay State gas prices are down another two cents this week, according to AAA Southern New England. Self-serve,... business Mon, 03 Dec 2012 11:41:10 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179135&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179135&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179135&srvc=rss BOSTON - Gas prices in Massachusetts have eased down another two cents in the past week. AAA Southern New England... business Mon, 03 Dec 2012 11:40:38 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179148&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179148&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179148&srvc=rss The Stop & Shop Supermarket Co. LLC said it has removed ultimate meatless burgers from sale, following a recall... business Mon, 03 Dec 2012 11:38:35 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/healthcare/view.bg?articleid=1061179147&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/healthcare/view.bg?articleid=1061179147&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/healthcare/view.bg?articleid=1061179147&srvc=rss Cambridge-based Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. said today that Canadian regulators have approved Kalydeco, the company's... business Mon, 03 Dec 2012 11:34:14 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/automotive/view.bg?articleid=1061179109&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/automotive/view.bg?articleid=1061179109&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/automotive/view.bg?articleid=1061179109&srvc=rss DETROIT - A better economy and extra demand after Superstorm Sandy lifted U.S. auto sales last month. Carmakers... business Mon, 03 Dec 2012 11:31:15 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061178977&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061178977&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061178977&srvc=rss The unemployment rate among young adults in the state has more than doubled over the past decade, leaving nearly... business Mon, 03 Dec 2012 11:22:58 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/automotive/view.bg?articleid=1061179083&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/automotive/view.bg?articleid=1061179083&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/automotive/view.bg?articleid=1061179083&srvc=rss DETROIT - After years of dismal sales, Ford's Lincoln luxury brand is reintroducing itself with a new name... business Mon, 03 Dec 2012 11:01:49 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179137&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179137&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179137&srvc=rss LONDON - News that manufacturing activity in China grew for the first time in 13 months helped offset disappointment... business Mon, 03 Dec 2012 10:40:54 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179134&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179134&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179134&srvc=rss WASHINGTON - A survey shows U.S. manufacturing shrank in November to its weakest level since July 2009. The impact... business Mon, 03 Dec 2012 10:32:36 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179133&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179133&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179133&srvc=rss WASHINGTON - U.S. builders increased their spending on construction projects in October by the largest amount... business Mon, 03 Dec 2012 10:31:39 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179102&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179102&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179102&srvc=rss NEW YORK - Stocks turned mixed on Wall Street Monday morning following an unexpected contraction in U.S. manufacturing... business Mon, 03 Dec 2012 10:27:27 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/media/view.bg?articleid=1061179128&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/media/view.bg?articleid=1061179128&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/media/view.bg?articleid=1061179128&srvc=rss MIAMI - When LeBron James learned he was Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year, the Miami Heat star was surprised. Not... business Mon, 03 Dec 2012 10:20:31 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179127&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179127&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179127&srvc=rss HAVANA - Cuba says it will finish the year with 3.1 percent economic growth, lower than expected but higher than... business Mon, 03 Dec 2012 10:04:37 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179126&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179126&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179126&srvc=rss Beauty and cosmetics retailer Ulta Beauty plans to open a store at Patriot Place in the summer of next year, mall... business Mon, 03 Dec 2012 09:59:57 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179124&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179124&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179124&srvc=rss Boston-based information storage and management company Iron Mountain Inc. said today it has appointed William... business Mon, 03 Dec 2012 09:58:12 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/media/view.bg?articleid=1061179121&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/media/view.bg?articleid=1061179121&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/media/view.bg?articleid=1061179121&srvc=rss NASHVILLE, Tenn. - John Kruk is following Bobby Valentine and Terry Francona into ESPN's Sunday night baseball... business Mon, 03 Dec 2012 09:56:51 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179122&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179122&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179122&srvc=rss PORTLAND, Maine - Commercial fishing regulators are meeting in Maine to determine the dates of the upcoming northern... business Mon, 03 Dec 2012 09:41:49 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/media/view.bg?articleid=1061179112&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/media/view.bg?articleid=1061179112&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/media/view.bg?articleid=1061179112&srvc=rss NEW YORK - News Corp. says that its new publishing company will keep the News Corp. name, while its separate media... business Mon, 03 Dec 2012 09:22:01 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/view.bg?articleid=1061179101&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/view.bg?articleid=1061179101&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/view.bg?articleid=1061179101&srvc=rss Massachusetts foreclosure petitions rose 22 percent in October, while completed foreclosures dropped to the lowest... business Mon, 03 Dec 2012 08:24:56 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179020&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179020&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179020&srvc=rss A new report is showing just how tough it is for young people to find jobs these days. In Massachusetts, nearly... business Mon, 03 Dec 2012 08:03:42 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/healthcare/view.bg?articleid=1061179081&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/healthcare/view.bg?articleid=1061179081&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/healthcare/view.bg?articleid=1061179081&srvc=rss TRENTON, N.J. - For Alzheimer's patients and their families, desperate for an effective treatment for the epidemic... business Mon, 03 Dec 2012 06:53:37 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/media/view.bg?articleid=1061179080&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/media/view.bg?articleid=1061179080&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/media/view.bg?articleid=1061179080&srvc=rss LONDON - Tom Mockridge, the chief executive of Rupert Murdoch's British newspapers who was parachuted in to steady... business Mon, 03 Dec 2012 06:52:34 -0500

http://www.bostonherald.com/business/?srvc=rss The Boston Herald online: The closest distance between you and the news en-us Copyright 2012, Herald Interactive, Inc. Mon, 03 Dec 2012 12:16:14 -0500 systems@heraldinteractive.com (Web Developers) 120 http://cache.heraldinteractive.com/images/siteImages/rss_logo.jpg http://www.bostonherald.com/business/?srvc=rss 100 48 The Boston Herald online: The closest distance between you and the news http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179158&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179158&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179158&srvc=rss The Bay State has been awarded a $720,856 grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration to help enhance international... business Mon, 03 Dec 2012 11:53:39 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179157&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179157&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179157&srvc=rss Eastern Bank said today it has successfully completed its merger with The Community Bank over the weekend. Eastern... business Mon, 03 Dec 2012 11:50:56 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179153&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179153&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179153&srvc=rss Cambridge-based marketing startup TrueLens said today it has received $1.2 million in a funding round led by Google... business Mon, 03 Dec 2012 11:43:18 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/automotive/view.bg?articleid=1061179150&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/automotive/view.bg?articleid=1061179150&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/automotive/view.bg?articleid=1061179150&srvc=rss Bay State gas prices are down another two cents this week, according to AAA Southern New England. Self-serve,... business Mon, 03 Dec 2012 11:41:10 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179135&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179135&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179135&srvc=rss BOSTON - Gas prices in Massachusetts have eased down another two cents in the past week. AAA Southern New England... business Mon, 03 Dec 2012 11:40:38 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179148&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179148&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179148&srvc=rss The Stop & Shop Supermarket Co. LLC said it has removed ultimate meatless burgers from sale, following a recall... business Mon, 03 Dec 2012 11:38:35 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/healthcare/view.bg?articleid=1061179147&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/healthcare/view.bg?articleid=1061179147&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/healthcare/view.bg?articleid=1061179147&srvc=rss Cambridge-based Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. said today that Canadian regulators have approved Kalydeco, the company's... business Mon, 03 Dec 2012 11:34:14 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/automotive/view.bg?articleid=1061179109&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/automotive/view.bg?articleid=1061179109&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/automotive/view.bg?articleid=1061179109&srvc=rss DETROIT - A better economy and extra demand after Superstorm Sandy lifted U.S. auto sales last month. Carmakers... business Mon, 03 Dec 2012 11:31:15 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061178977&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061178977&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061178977&srvc=rss The unemployment rate among young adults in the state has more than doubled over the past decade, leaving nearly... business Mon, 03 Dec 2012 11:22:58 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/automotive/view.bg?articleid=1061179083&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/automotive/view.bg?articleid=1061179083&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/automotive/view.bg?articleid=1061179083&srvc=rss DETROIT - After years of dismal sales, Ford's Lincoln luxury brand is reintroducing itself with a new name... business Mon, 03 Dec 2012 11:01:49 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179137&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179137&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179137&srvc=rss LONDON - News that manufacturing activity in China grew for the first time in 13 months helped offset disappointment... business Mon, 03 Dec 2012 10:40:54 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179134&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179134&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179134&srvc=rss WASHINGTON - A survey shows U.S. manufacturing shrank in November to its weakest level since July 2009. The impact... business Mon, 03 Dec 2012 10:32:36 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179133&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179133&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179133&srvc=rss WASHINGTON - U.S. builders increased their spending on construction projects in October by the largest amount... business Mon, 03 Dec 2012 10:31:39 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179102&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179102&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179102&srvc=rss NEW YORK - Stocks turned mixed on Wall Street Monday morning following an unexpected contraction in U.S. manufacturing... business Mon, 03 Dec 2012 10:27:27 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/media/view.bg?articleid=1061179128&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/media/view.bg?articleid=1061179128&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/media/view.bg?articleid=1061179128&srvc=rss MIAMI - When LeBron James learned he was Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year, the Miami Heat star was surprised. Not... business Mon, 03 Dec 2012 10:20:31 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179127&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179127&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179127&srvc=rss HAVANA - Cuba says it will finish the year with 3.1 percent economic growth, lower than expected but higher than... business Mon, 03 Dec 2012 10:04:37 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179126&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179126&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179126&srvc=rss Beauty and cosmetics retailer Ulta Beauty plans to open a store at Patriot Place in the summer of next year, mall... business Mon, 03 Dec 2012 09:59:57 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179124&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179124&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179124&srvc=rss Boston-based information storage and management company Iron Mountain Inc. said today it has appointed William... business Mon, 03 Dec 2012 09:58:12 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/media/view.bg?articleid=1061179121&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/media/view.bg?articleid=1061179121&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/media/view.bg?articleid=1061179121&srvc=rss NASHVILLE, Tenn. - John Kruk is following Bobby Valentine and Terry Francona into ESPN's Sunday night baseball... business Mon, 03 Dec 2012 09:56:51 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179122&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179122&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179122&srvc=rss PORTLAND, Maine - Commercial fishing regulators are meeting in Maine to determine the dates of the upcoming northern... business Mon, 03 Dec 2012 09:41:49 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/media/view.bg?articleid=1061179112&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/media/view.bg?articleid=1061179112&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/media/view.bg?articleid=1061179112&srvc=rss NEW YORK - News Corp. says that its new publishing company will keep the News Corp. name, while its separate media... business Mon, 03 Dec 2012 09:22:01 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/view.bg?articleid=1061179101&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/view.bg?articleid=1061179101&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/view.bg?articleid=1061179101&srvc=rss Massachusetts foreclosure petitions rose 22 percent in October, while completed foreclosures dropped to the lowest... business Mon, 03 Dec 2012 08:24:56 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179020&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179020&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061179020&srvc=rss A new report is showing just how tough it is for young people to find jobs these days. In Massachusetts, nearly... business Mon, 03 Dec 2012 08:03:42 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/healthcare/view.bg?articleid=1061179081&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/healthcare/view.bg?articleid=1061179081&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/healthcare/view.bg?articleid=1061179081&srvc=rss TRENTON, N.J. - For Alzheimer's patients and their families, desperate for an effective treatment for the epidemic... business Mon, 03 Dec 2012 06:53:37 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/media/view.bg?articleid=1061179080&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/media/view.bg?articleid=1061179080&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/media/view.bg?articleid=1061179080&srvc=rss LONDON - Tom Mockridge, the chief executive of Rupert Murdoch's British newspapers who was parachuted in to steady... business Mon, 03 Dec 2012 06:52:34 -0500

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Warren Buffett urges Congress to raise taxes on wealthy

OMAHA, Neb. — Billionaire Warren Buffett is again calling for higher taxes on the "ultra-rich" and he's urging Congress to compromise on spending cuts and tax increases.

Buffett expressed his views on fiscal policy in an opinion article Monday in The New York Times [NYT].

In the article, Buffett mocked the idea that investors would pull back if capital gains taxes increase. Buffett says he's never seen that happen.

The head of the conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway Inc. reiterated his call for a minimum tax of 30 percent on income between $1 million and $10 million, and a 35 percent rate for income above that.

Buffett says both Republicans and Democrats will have to make major concessions to put the nation on a fiscally sound path, but he says Americans won't accept anything less.

© Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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NYSE warns iParty over low stock price

Party goods retailer iParty Corp. said today it has received a compliance notice from the New York Stock Exchange due to the Dedham-based company's low selling stock price for a substantial period of time.

The NYSE said iParty's continued listing is predicated on it executing a reverse stock split of its common stock within a reasonable period of time, which the exchange has determined to be no later than May 20, 2013. If iParty does not complete a reverse stock split prior to that time, it could become subject to delisting procedures.

Company shares have been trading between 11 cents and 25 cents for the past year.

Earlier this month, the company disclosed it formed a special committee of the independent members of the board of directors and retained James & Associates Inc. to assist the retailer in exploring a broad range of financial and strategic alternatives to enhance shareholder value.

Additionally, at iParty's 2012 annual meeting, company stockholders approved an amendment to iParty's restated certificate of incorporation to effect a reverse stock split, pursuant to which the existing shares of iParty's common stock would be combined into new shares of iParty common stock at an exchange ratio ranging between one-for-five and one-for-20, to be determined by the board of directors.

At this time, no decision has been made to engage in a financing or strategic transaction and the special committee has not set a definitive timetable for this review process, the company said, adding that given the ongoing review process, the board has made no determination to effect the reverse stock split.

The company has 54 stores in New England and Florida and an e-commerce site. Due at least in part to Hurricane Sandy hitting two days before Halloween, iParty's October sales fell 6.5 percent to $16.4 million. The company last month reported a $3.31 million loss for the nine months ended Sept. 29.

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Google buys Wi-Fi provider ICOA for $400 million

NEW YORK — Google has bought an operator of Wi-Fi hotspots in high-traffic locations such as airports, hotels and fast-food restaurants.

Google Inc. is paying $400 million for ICOA Inc., a Warwick, R.I., company, as part of the search company's efforts to diversify its portfolio.

ICOA owns or operates Wi-Fi wireless access services in 40 states. It also sells technology for others to run similar Wi-Fi networks under their own brands.

It's not Google's first venture into Internet access. The Mountain View, Calif., company is building an ultra-fast wired Internet service in Kansas City, primarily to showcase for what's technically possible and to test new ways to use the Internet.

Shares of Google fell $6.07, or 0.9 percent, to $661.90 in morning trading Monday.

© Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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UK picks Canadian to lead Bank of England

LONDON — The British government has chosen the head of Canada's central bank to become governor of the Bank of England effective July 1.

Treasury chief George Osborne announced the surprise choice of Mark Carney to the House of Commons on Monday.

The new governor will be responsible for supervising the U.K.'s banking industry as well as setting the country's main interest rate. It is the first time someone who isn't British has been selected to lead the U.K.'s monetary authority.

Carney will succeed the current governor, Mervyn King, when his term ends next year. The Canadian had been speculated as a possible choice but was not considered a front-runner.

© Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Ranbaxy recalls generic Lipitor doses

TRENTON, N.J. — Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals Inc. has recalled dozens of lots of its generic version of cholesterol drug Lipitor because some may contain tiny glass particles, the latest in a string of manufacturing deficiencies that once led U.S. regulators to bar imports of the Indian company's medicines.

Ranbaxy, a subsidiary of Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd., India's biggest drugmaker, is operating under increased scrutiny from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration because of quality lapses at multiple Ranbaxy factories over the past several years. The FDA also has alleged the company lied about test results for more than two dozen of its generic drugs several years ago.

On Friday, Ranbaxy posted a notice on its U.S. website, saying it's recalling 10-, 20- and 40-milligram doses of tablets of atorvastatin calcium. That's generic Lipitor, the cholesterol fighter that reigned for years as the world's top-selling drug.

The recall includes 41 lots of the drug, nearly all with 90 pills per bottle, but three lots contain 500 pills per bottle. It's unclear how many bottles are in each lot, but medicine batches typically contain many thousands of pills. The 80-milligram strength tablets are not affected.

Ranbaxy spokesman Chuck Caprariello did not answer questions or provide any additional information beyond the statement on the company's website.

"Ranbaxy is proactively recalling the drug product lots out of an abundance of caution," the website statement read. "This recall is being conducted with the full knowledge of the U.S. FDA."

The company also filed a two-sentence statement with the Bombay Stock Exchange stating Ranbaxy's investigation would be completed within two weeks, but that after that temporary disruption to the U.S. supply, the company expected to resume shipments here.

Patients who've filled a prescription can contact their pharmacy to determine whether it was made by Ranbaxy or another generic drugmaker and, if it's from Ranbaxy, whether it came from a recalled lot.

Ranbaxy's manufacturing deficiencies, dating to 2006, led to a lengthy investigation and sanctions by the FDA. During the probe, federal investigators found Ranbaxy didn't properly test the shelf life and other safety factors of its drugs and then lied about the results.

In mid-2008, the FDA barred Ranbaxy from shipping into the U.S more than 30 different drugs made at factories in India. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Justice demanded Ranbaxy turn over internal documents, alleging the company lied about ingredients and formulations of some medications.

In early 2009, the FDA said it would not consider any new applications from Ranbaxy to sell in the U.S. any products made at the troubled factories.

As FDA discussions with Ranbaxy continued, it appeared Ranbaxy would lose its shot at a revenue windfall when Lipitor's generic U.S. patent expired last Nov. 30. At the time, Lipitor brought in almost $8 billion a year in U.S. sales.

As often happens when patents first expire, for the first six months only one generic rival could compete with brand-name Lipitor. Ranbaxy had that right, although an authorized generic from Lipitor maker Pfizer Inc. and partner Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc. went on sale on Dec. 1. With competition so limited, the generic prices only declined a bit from brand-name drug's price of about $115 a month — until several other generics entered the market six months later.

The FDA finally ended the suspense, deciding just before midnight on Nov. 30 to let Ranbaxy sell generic Lipitor made at the company's Ohm Laboratories factory in central New Jersey. It was unclear Friday whether the recalled Ranbaxy pills were made there or elsewhere.

Meanwhile, Ranbaxy is operating under a settlement with the FDA, called a consent decree, signed on Dec. 20, 2011. It requires Ranbaxy to improve manufacturing procedures, ensure data on its products is accurate and undergo extra oversight and review by an independent third party for five years. Ranbaxy at the time set aside $500 million to cover potential criminal and civil liability stemming from the Justice Department investigation.

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Facebook stock climbs after upgrade

NEW YORK — Facebook's stock is climbing after an upgrade from an analyst who believes Wall Street is underestimating the company's potential to grow revenue.

Bernstein Research analyst Carlos Kirjner said Monday that Facebook Inc. is likely to beat Wall Street's revenue expectations over the next 12 to 24 months. He expects Facebook to hit $6.98 billion in revenue in 2013, some 9 percent higher than the average analyst's expectation. In 2011, the social network reported revenue of $3.71 billion.

Kirjner upgraded Facebook's stock to "Outperform" from "Market Perform," saying that mobile advertising will drive revenue growth.

Facebook's stock is up $1.85, or 7.7 percent, at $25.84. It's still down 32 percent from its initial public offering price of $38.

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Markets nervous as euro ministers meet on Greece

LONDON — Concerns that European finance ministers will again fail to reach an agreement on handing over more bailout cash to Greece weighed on markets Monday.

Following last week's bout of optimism, which sent a number of stock indexes up to near 2012 highs and the euro back towards $1.30, some investors were expected to cash in on the gains.

Doubts that European ministers will fail again to agree on a deal for Greece encouraged investors to sell, as did election results in the Spanish region of Catalonia that saw separatists gain ground.

In Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 stock index fell 0.6 percent to close at 5,786.72 while Germany's DAX fell 0.2 percent to 7,292.03. The CAC-40 in France dropped 0.8 percent to 3,500.94.

The euro meanwhile could not add to recent gains and was trading 0.1 percent lower at $1.2962.

In Brussels, the 17 eurozone finance ministers were meeting for the third time in as many weeks to try to agree a strategy that will allow them to release some €44 billion ($56.8 billion) for the cash-strapped country.

The expectation is that Greece will get the money and an extra two years to make the reforms that are a condition of the bailout. But an extension would cost the eurozone several billion more and finding that money has proved difficult.

Several proposals to plug the financial gap have been proposed, including reducing the interest rate Greece pays on loans it is getting from euro partners and the International Monetary Fund. Time is short, as Greece is running out of the money it needs to pay its day-to-day running costs.

"Clearly any decision by the eurogroup to kick the Greek issue further down the road will stand to unsettle markets globally," said Fawad Razaqzada, market strategist at GFT Markets.

In the U.S., the Dow Jones industrial average was down 0.7 percent at 12,920.70 while the broader S&P 500 index fell 0.6 percent to 1,400.64.

The falls on Wall Street come despite signs that the crucial holiday shopping season has enjoyed a solid start. Surveys showed that Americans visited stores and websites in record numbers last Friday, the day after the Thanksgiving holiday.

Earlier, Asian markets failed to make much headway. While Japan's Nikkei 225 index rose 0.2 percent to 9,388.94, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was sapped of momentum by lethargic mainland Chinese markets, closing 0.3 percent lower at 21,857.77.

In China, the Shanghai Composite Index was down 0.5 percent to 2,017.46 while the smaller Shenzhen Composite Index lost 1.4 percent to 789.49.

Oil prices tracked equities lower, with the benchmark New York rate down 79 cents at $87.49 per barrel in electronic trading

© Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Mary Schapiro stepping down from SEC; successor tapped

WASHINGTON — Mary Schapiro will step down as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission next month after a tumultuous tenure in which she helped lead the U.S. government's regulatory response to the 2008 financial crisis.

President Barack Obama designated Elisse Walter, an SEC commissioner, to replace Schapiro.

Schapiro will leave Dec. 14, the SEC said Monday. She was appointed by Obama in the midst of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. She took over after the agency failed to detect the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme.

Schapiro is credited with helping reshape the SEC after it was accused of failing to detect reckless investments by many of Wall Street's largest financial institutions before the crisis. And she led an agency that brought civil charges against the nation's largest banks.

But critics argued that she failed to act aggressively to charge leading individuals at those banks who may have contributed to the crisis. Consumer advocates questioned Schapiro's appointment because she had led the securities industry's self-policing organization, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

Under Schapiro, the SEC reached its largest settlement ever with a financial institution. Goldman Sachs & Co. agreed in July 2010 to pay $550 million to settle civil fraud charges that it misled investors about mortgage securities before the housing market collapsed in 2007. Similar settlements followed with Citigroup Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and others.

The Goldman case came to symbolize a lingering critique of Schapiro's tenure: No senior executives were singled out. The penalty amounted to roughly two weeks of earnings at Goldman. And Goldman was allowed to settle the charges without admitting or denying any wrongdoing, as were other large banks that faced similar charges.

Among the leading critics was U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff, who questioned how the SEC could allow an institution to settle serious securities fraud without any admission or denial of guilt. Rakoff later threw out a $285 million deal with Citigroup because of that aspect of the deal.

Lawmakers and experts say Schapiro made the SEC more efficient, and they note that she fought for increased funding needed to enforce new rules enacted after the crisis. She often clashed with Republican lawmakers who had opposed the 2010 financial overhaul law and wanted to cut the SEC's budget.

"When Mary agreed to serve nearly four years ago, she was fully aware of the difficulties facing the SEC and our economy as a whole," Obama said in a statement Monday. "But she accepted the challenge, and today, the SEC is stronger and our financial system is safer and better able to serve the American people — thanks in large part to Mary's hard work."

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Top lobster scientists gather in Maine

PORTLAND, Maine — On the heels of a summer that featured a potentially record-breaking lobster haul in Maine and Canada and a crash in wholesale prices, top lobster scientists are meeting in Maine to look at fundamental changes that have affected lobsters in recent years.

The Maine Sea Grant program is hosting a conference in Portland focusing on things such as warming ocean temperatures, the changing food web and seafood economics. About 135 people have registered, including scientists from the U.S., Canada and Europe.

Conference co-chairman Rick Wahle (WALL'-ee), a University of Maine research professor, said the lobster industry is at a critical juncture, with the Maine harvest going gangbusters but the fishery virtually collapsed in southern New England.

The symposium begins with a Tuesday evening reception and wraps up Friday.

© Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Fiscal cliff warning sends stock market lower

Traders came back to work on Monday after the Thanksgiving weekend to the same old worries about the fiscal cliff and the European debt crisis.

The stock market fell in midday trading as Washington lawmakers and business groups bickered over the proper rates for taxing and spending. In Europe, leaders tried to cobble together another bailout loan for Greece.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 91 points at 12,919 as of noon. The Standard & Poor's 500 was down eight at 1,401 and the Nasdaq composite index slipped seven points to 2,960.

Overall it was a quiet morning, with no major economic reports due in the U.S. and no major companies scheduled to make big announcements.

"The themes seem about as recycled as Thanksgiving turkey," David Kelly, chief global strategist at JPMorgan Funds, wrote in a note to clients. He expected a better read on the economy later this week, with reports on consumer confidence on Tuesday and unemployment claims and third-quarter economic growth on Thursday.

Scott Carmack, co-portfolio manager at Leader Capital in Portland, Ore., said the decline was all but inevitable given how the market soared last week. It was one of the best weeks for the Dow all year and followed four weeks of decline. Positive economic news from Germany and China, as well as initial reports Friday that holiday shopping had gotten off to a strong start helped push the market higher.

That made Monday a good day to cash out on last week's gains, Carmack said, especially because traders aren't sure how the fiscal cliff will affect the market for the rest of the year.

"Monday is a good day to take profits," Carmack said. "No one was in on Friday, so they're doing it Monday."

It's still difficult to gauge how this holiday shopping season will wind up for retailers, who rely heavily on the Christmas season. The National Retail Federation reported that 247 million shoppers visited stores and shopping websites during the long Thanksgiving weekend, up 9 percent from a year ago. They spent an average of $423, up 6 percent.

Some worry that the momentum won't last. Retailers like Macy's, Target and Saks were down in early trading. Macy's fell $1.55 to $40.17. Saks was down 41 cents to $10.11. Abercrombie & Fitch was an exception, rising 37 cents to $44.77.

Blame the disconcerting overhang of the fiscal cliff. That's when both higher taxes and cuts to government programs, like unemployment benefits and Social Security, will kick in at the end of the year unless Congress and the White House work out a compromise before then.

A government report released Monday warned that a sudden increase in taxes would crimp the spending of middle class families next year, and some analysts wondered if the uncertainty might hurt spending earlier, throughout the rest of the holiday season.

The report, by President Barack Obama's National Economic Council and his Council of Economic Advisers, estimated that a married couple earning between $50,000 and $85,000 with two children would see a $2,200 increase in their taxes.

To be sure, the fiscal cliff fighting could be mostly grandstanding. Lawmakers often fight over budget issues until the 11th hour, then work out a compromise at the last moment.

In Europe, leaders of European Union countries engaged in their own battle, trying to hammer out a deal to lend more money to debt-crippled Greece. But ailments in Greece no longer sicken the U.S. markets as readily as they used to, as many analysts have already baked European problems into their market estimates.

© Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Business - BostonHerald.com

http://www.bostonherald.com/business/?srvc=rss The Boston Herald online: The closest distance between you and the news en-us Copyright 2012, Herald Interactive, Inc. Mon, 19 Nov 2012 12:19:16 -0500 systems@heraldinteractive.com (Web Developers) 120 http://cache.heraldinteractive.com/images/siteImages/rss_logo.jpg http://www.bostonherald.com/business/?srvc=rss 100 48 The Boston Herald online: The closest distance between you and the news http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175894&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175894&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175894&srvc=rss LOS ANGELES - Five of the biggest U.S. banks cut struggling homeowners' mortgage balances by $6.3 billion and provided... business Mon, 19 Nov 2012 12:07:59 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175892&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175892&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175892&srvc=rss A Cape Cod man has been charged with fraud for his involvement in a two-decade-long real estate Ponzi scheme that... business Mon, 19 Nov 2012 12:01:09 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175715&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175715&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175715&srvc=rss Walmart shoppers may get more than they bargained for on Black Friday. Activists plan demonstrations at Massachusetts... business Mon, 19 Nov 2012 11:59:31 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175889&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175889&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175889&srvc=rss TEHRAN, Iran - Iran has started construction on a $10 billion natural gas pipeline to key ally Syria, a news agency... business Mon, 19 Nov 2012 11:38:47 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175888&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175888&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175888&srvc=rss Kongsberg Maritime subsidiary Hydroid Inc., a maker of autonomous underwater vehicles, said today it has broken... business Mon, 19 Nov 2012 11:36:45 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/technology/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175886&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/technology/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175886&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/technology/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175886&srvc=rss Boston-based Pri-Med, which provides professional medical education to over 260,000 clinicians, said today it has... business Mon, 19 Nov 2012 11:33:07 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175885&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175885&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175885&srvc=rss Local law firm Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP said today it has continued its growth in New England by... business Mon, 19 Nov 2012 11:31:18 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/technology/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175880&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/technology/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175880&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/technology/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175880&srvc=rss Westboro-based eClinicalWorks said today the National Football League will utilize the company's comprehensive... business Mon, 19 Nov 2012 11:29:22 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175868&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175868&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175868&srvc=rss BOSTON -- The cost of a gallon of gasoline in Massachusetts has dropped another three cents, but remains more expensive... business Mon, 19 Nov 2012 11:28:02 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/automotive/view.bg?articleid=1061175877&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/automotive/view.bg?articleid=1061175877&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/automotive/view.bg?articleid=1061175877&srvc=rss With Thanksgiving travel looming, Bay State gas prices are down another 3 cents this week, according to AAA Southern... business Mon, 19 Nov 2012 11:26:16 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175872&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175872&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175872&srvc=rss Staples CEO Ron L. Sargent has resigned from The Home Depot Inc.'s board of directors, effective immediately, the... business Mon, 19 Nov 2012 11:24:47 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/view.bg?articleid=1061175871&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/view.bg?articleid=1061175871&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/view.bg?articleid=1061175871&srvc=rss WASHINGTON - U.S. sales of previously occupied homes rose solidly in October, helped by improvement in the job... business Mon, 19 Nov 2012 11:20:08 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175862&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175862&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175862&srvc=rss LONDON - Optimism over the progress of crucial U.S. budget talks combined with hopes that Greece will get its... business Mon, 19 Nov 2012 10:52:45 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/technology/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175858&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/technology/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175858&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/technology/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175858&srvc=rss NEW YORK - Cisco Systems Inc., the world's largest maker of computer networking gear, said Sunday it is buying... business Mon, 19 Nov 2012 10:26:55 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175853&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175853&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175853&srvc=rss TORONTO - Canada's largest telecommunications company, BCE Inc., resubmitted a bid to the country's broadcast... business Mon, 19 Nov 2012 09:51:29 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175850&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175850&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175850&srvc=rss COPENHAGEN, Denmark - Danish and Norwegian media are reporting that all eight unions have now approved a savings... business Mon, 19 Nov 2012 09:42:35 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175831&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175831&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175831&srvc=rss NEW YORK - The stock market is starting the holiday week with a big gain. Just after the opening bell on Wall... business Mon, 19 Nov 2012 09:36:49 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/technology/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175846&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/technology/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175846&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/technology/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175846&srvc=rss SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Intel says its CEO, Paul Otellini, plans to retire in May after nearly 40 years with the... business Mon, 19 Nov 2012 09:18:20 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175842&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175842&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175842&srvc=rss LAGOS, Nigeria - French oil firm Total SA says it has sold a stake in an offshore oil field in Nigeria for $2.5... business Mon, 19 Nov 2012 08:55:23 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175836&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175836&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175836&srvc=rss NEW YORK - Lowe's Cos.' said Monday that its third-quarter net income surged 76 percent, helped by lower costs... business Mon, 19 Nov 2012 08:46:27 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175833&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175833&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175833&srvc=rss The price of oil rose to $88 a barrel Monday as the conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas showed no signs of... business Mon, 19 Nov 2012 08:26:49 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175830&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175830&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175830&srvc=rss DOHA, Qatar - An investment fund run by Qatar's government says it will team with an Italian holding company to... business Mon, 19 Nov 2012 08:23:40 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/media/view.bg?articleid=1061175653&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/media/view.bg?articleid=1061175653&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/media/view.bg?articleid=1061175653&srvc=rss LOS ANGELES - The sun has set on the "Twilight" franchise with one last blockbuster opening for the supernatural... business Mon, 19 Nov 2012 00:38:45 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175731&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175731&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175731&srvc=rss The markets are switching into full holiday mode with trading weeks interrupted by days off, hyped-up concern about... business Sun, 18 Nov 2012 21:16:10 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175714&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175714&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175714&srvc=rss A Hub urban agriculture startup has landed a location for a rooftop farm in South Boston's Seaport District. Higher... business Sun, 18 Nov 2012 21:15:55 -0500

http://www.bostonherald.com/business/?srvc=rss The Boston Herald online: The closest distance between you and the news en-us Copyright 2012, Herald Interactive, Inc. Mon, 19 Nov 2012 12:19:16 -0500 systems@heraldinteractive.com (Web Developers) 120 http://cache.heraldinteractive.com/images/siteImages/rss_logo.jpg http://www.bostonherald.com/business/?srvc=rss 100 48 The Boston Herald online: The closest distance between you and the news http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175894&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175894&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175894&srvc=rss LOS ANGELES - Five of the biggest U.S. banks cut struggling homeowners' mortgage balances by $6.3 billion and provided... business Mon, 19 Nov 2012 12:07:59 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175892&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175892&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175892&srvc=rss A Cape Cod man has been charged with fraud for his involvement in a two-decade-long real estate Ponzi scheme that... business Mon, 19 Nov 2012 12:01:09 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175715&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175715&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175715&srvc=rss Walmart shoppers may get more than they bargained for on Black Friday. Activists plan demonstrations at Massachusetts... business Mon, 19 Nov 2012 11:59:31 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175889&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175889&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175889&srvc=rss TEHRAN, Iran - Iran has started construction on a $10 billion natural gas pipeline to key ally Syria, a news agency... business Mon, 19 Nov 2012 11:38:47 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175888&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175888&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175888&srvc=rss Kongsberg Maritime subsidiary Hydroid Inc., a maker of autonomous underwater vehicles, said today it has broken... business Mon, 19 Nov 2012 11:36:45 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/technology/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175886&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/technology/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175886&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/technology/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175886&srvc=rss Boston-based Pri-Med, which provides professional medical education to over 260,000 clinicians, said today it has... business Mon, 19 Nov 2012 11:33:07 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175885&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175885&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175885&srvc=rss Local law firm Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP said today it has continued its growth in New England by... business Mon, 19 Nov 2012 11:31:18 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/technology/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175880&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/technology/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175880&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/technology/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175880&srvc=rss Westboro-based eClinicalWorks said today the National Football League will utilize the company's comprehensive... business Mon, 19 Nov 2012 11:29:22 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175868&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175868&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175868&srvc=rss BOSTON -- The cost of a gallon of gasoline in Massachusetts has dropped another three cents, but remains more expensive... business Mon, 19 Nov 2012 11:28:02 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/automotive/view.bg?articleid=1061175877&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/automotive/view.bg?articleid=1061175877&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/automotive/view.bg?articleid=1061175877&srvc=rss With Thanksgiving travel looming, Bay State gas prices are down another 3 cents this week, according to AAA Southern... business Mon, 19 Nov 2012 11:26:16 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175872&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175872&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175872&srvc=rss Staples CEO Ron L. Sargent has resigned from The Home Depot Inc.'s board of directors, effective immediately, the... business Mon, 19 Nov 2012 11:24:47 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/view.bg?articleid=1061175871&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/view.bg?articleid=1061175871&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/view.bg?articleid=1061175871&srvc=rss WASHINGTON - U.S. sales of previously occupied homes rose solidly in October, helped by improvement in the job... business Mon, 19 Nov 2012 11:20:08 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175862&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175862&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175862&srvc=rss LONDON - Optimism over the progress of crucial U.S. budget talks combined with hopes that Greece will get its... business Mon, 19 Nov 2012 10:52:45 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/technology/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175858&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/technology/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175858&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/technology/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175858&srvc=rss NEW YORK - Cisco Systems Inc., the world's largest maker of computer networking gear, said Sunday it is buying... business Mon, 19 Nov 2012 10:26:55 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175853&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175853&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175853&srvc=rss TORONTO - Canada's largest telecommunications company, BCE Inc., resubmitted a bid to the country's broadcast... business Mon, 19 Nov 2012 09:51:29 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175850&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175850&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175850&srvc=rss COPENHAGEN, Denmark - Danish and Norwegian media are reporting that all eight unions have now approved a savings... business Mon, 19 Nov 2012 09:42:35 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175831&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175831&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175831&srvc=rss NEW YORK - The stock market is starting the holiday week with a big gain. Just after the opening bell on Wall... business Mon, 19 Nov 2012 09:36:49 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/technology/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175846&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/technology/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175846&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/technology/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175846&srvc=rss SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Intel says its CEO, Paul Otellini, plans to retire in May after nearly 40 years with the... business Mon, 19 Nov 2012 09:18:20 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175842&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175842&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175842&srvc=rss LAGOS, Nigeria - French oil firm Total SA says it has sold a stake in an offshore oil field in Nigeria for $2.5... business Mon, 19 Nov 2012 08:55:23 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175836&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175836&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175836&srvc=rss NEW YORK - Lowe's Cos.' said Monday that its third-quarter net income surged 76 percent, helped by lower costs... business Mon, 19 Nov 2012 08:46:27 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175833&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175833&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175833&srvc=rss The price of oil rose to $88 a barrel Monday as the conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas showed no signs of... business Mon, 19 Nov 2012 08:26:49 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175830&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175830&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175830&srvc=rss DOHA, Qatar - An investment fund run by Qatar's government says it will team with an Italian holding company to... business Mon, 19 Nov 2012 08:23:40 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/media/view.bg?articleid=1061175653&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/media/view.bg?articleid=1061175653&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/media/view.bg?articleid=1061175653&srvc=rss LOS ANGELES - The sun has set on the "Twilight" franchise with one last blockbuster opening for the supernatural... business Mon, 19 Nov 2012 00:38:45 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175731&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175731&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175731&srvc=rss The markets are switching into full holiday mode with trading weeks interrupted by days off, hyped-up concern about... business Sun, 18 Nov 2012 21:16:10 -0500 http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175714&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175714&format=comments#CommentsArea&srvc=rss http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1061175714&srvc=rss A Hub urban agriculture startup has landed a location for a rooftop farm in South Boston's Seaport District. Higher... business Sun, 18 Nov 2012 21:15:55 -0500

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Fiat Industrial announces new management structure

MILAN — Capital goods maker Fiat Industrial on Monday announced a new management structure aimed at making it easier to merge with its U.S. subsidiary CNH Global N.V., the agriculture equipment maker.

Fiat Industrial, which makes trucks, agriculture and construction equipment, said it has created a 20-seat Group Executive Council, which will be headed by Chairman Sergio Marchionne and CNH CEO Richard Tobin in the new position of group chief operating officer.

"The new organization announced today represents a key step in the integration of Fiat Industrial and CNH," Marchionne said in a statement.

The structure, which puts emphasis on brands, geography and industrial processes, is similar to a four-region management organization adopted at carmaker Fiat last year to drive integration between Italy's Fiat and the U.S. carmaker Chrysler, which it controls.

CNH advisers have rejected the original terms of the full merger proposed last spring, but Marchionne is working to save the deal. He told analysts recently that it would be more expensive, without elaborating.

Fiat Industrial owns 88 percent of CNH, which is based in the Chicago suburb of Burr Ridge, Illinois, and sells farm and construction equipment under the Case and New Holland brands in 170 countries

© Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Best Buy hires ex-Williams-Sonoma exec as CFO

NEW YORK — Struggling consumer electronics chain Best Buy said Monday that a former Williams-Sonoma executive will become its new chief financial officer beginning Dec. 10.

It's the latest executive move for the Minneapolis company since turnaround expert Hubert Joly joined as CEO in August.

Best Buy is trying to reverse a decline in its business due to a weak global economy and tough competition from online stores and discounters.

Sharon McCollam, 50, had been chief operating officer and chief financial officer at the home goods retailer before retiring. She also takes the title of chief administrative officer at Best Buy.

She replaces James Muehlbauer, who said he was leaving in October. Muehlbauer will continue to advise the company until the end of the fiscal year in February.

ISI Group analyst Greg Melich said McCollam is a solid choice to replace Muehlbauer. While she lacks direct consumer electronics experience, there are other similarities between the two retailers.

One similarity: Williams-Sonoma sells big-ticket items that are cheaper online. But through service offerings and online "prowess," Williams-Sonoma manages to sell 40 percent of its products directly. She is also talented in real-estate management, Melich said.

Muehlbauer's replacement by McCollam is one of several management changes made since Joly joined in August, after Best Buy's former CEO Brian Dunn left in April after an investigation into his relationship with a female employee.

Joly has eliminated two top executive positions in the U.S. and hired Expedia executive Scott Durchslag to head global e-commerce.

Meanwhile, Best Buy co-founder and former Chairman Richard Schulze is considering a plan to take the company private.

More information about Best Buy's plan will likely be given during a meeting with analysts on Tuesday. Best Buy reports fiscal third-quarter results Nov. 20. The company has forecast net income will be "significantly below" last year and a key revenue figure will fall.

Best Buy Co. shares rose 82 cents, or 5.4 percent, to $16.12 in morning trading Monday. Its shares traded as high as $28.53 in early December, but fell to a 52-week low or $14.38 last Tuesday.

© Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Hollywood expects to have a happy holiday season at the box office

LOS ANGELES — Movie theaters posted their worst attendance since 1994 last year, but Hollywood is poised for a big comeback — with the help of a secret agent, a sullen vampire and a hairy-footed hobbit.

Domestic ticket sales are already up by 3 percent compared with the same period last year, and a bumper crop of strong films this holiday season — including movies that will appeal to both popular and discerning tastes — could push annual box office receipts above $11 billion for the first time.

A strong finish to the year could ease the uncertainty gripping an industry under pressure to cut costs and boost profits, especially as revenue dwindles from once-reliable DVD sales and as more fans turn to video-on-demand and streaming to catch the latest movies.

"We're still facing the same structural issues — the DVD business is declining and there are distractions for the audience — so studios have to rationalize their costs," said Stacey Snider, chief executive of DreamWorks, which began releasing "Lincoln" Friday. But she points out: "All that doom and gloom people were talking about after the summer ticket sales didn't come to bear."

Snider was referring to the anxiety rampant in Hollywood earlier this year, amid the box office flop of big-budget films including "John Carter" and "Battleship." But those disappointments have been tempered by a handful of certified hits, including "The Avengers," "The Dark Knight Rises," "The Amazing Spider-Man" and "The Hunger Games."

And some movies have performed better than expected. One of those is the Iranian hostage drama "Argo," which has taken in nearly $80 million since opening Oct. 12.

"I'm becoming increasingly concerned about the movie business ... there's the feeling that it could all sort of fall apart or at least be greatly diminished," said Ben Affleck, who directed and stars in "Argo." "But there is a huge crop of really interesting movies coming out in the next couple of months, and I think that's great for the movie business."

The latest James Bond film, the well-reviewed "Skyfall," kicked off the holiday movie season last weekend and hauled in an estimated $87.8 million.

This week, multiplexes across the country will be swarming with young women eager to see Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson in "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2," the fifth and final installment of the vampire franchise.

In December comes "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," a prequel to Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, which grossed more than $2.9 billion worldwide.

"There's a good feeling about the business right now," said Amy Pascal, co-chair of Sony Pictures. "It really looks like we have a lot of fantastic movies coming at the end of the year."

In addition to the slew of big-budget films hitting theaters, an above-average array of less costly movies aimed at sophisticated filmgoers could provide a crucial assist for a box-office record: Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln" (which opened in limited release last weekend), the dramedy "Silver Linings Playbook" with Bradley Cooper, a star-studded version of Broadway's hit musical "Les Miserables" and "Zero Dark Thirty," about the mission to kill Osama bin Laden.

"Unlike last year, which had a very slow December, the final six weeks of this year are going to make up for that ... because of the mix of summer-style blockbusters and Oscar-bait films," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Hollywood.com.

Still, there could be some costly misses. Director Ang Lee's 3-D spectacle "Life of Pi" has earned favorable reviews in early screenings, but with a production cost of $120 million and an unknown 19-year-old lead, the holiday release is considered a big gamble for 20th Century Fox and its financial partners.

"We all have a lot riding on these films, and you want people to be buying tickets," said Elizabeth Gabler, whose Fox 2000 Pictures produced "Life of Pi." "But I think ... the more exciting movies you can offer people will get them to the theater. When there's a lot of energy there, that fosters excitement about the moviegoing experience."

©2012 Los Angeles Times Visit the Los Angeles Times at www.latimes.com Distributed by MCT Information Services

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