Adding to the New Balance

New Balance has expanded its real estate empire in Brighton, snapping up two commercial properties several strides from the sneaker maker's corporate headquarters.

In separate deals within the past month, company affiliates paid $3.8 million for a North Beacon Street building that's home to the Vocational Advancement Center and $5 million for the Grossman's Bargain Outlet site next door.

That adds to the 14-acre swath of Guest Street land that New Balance grabbed in 2011 for $26.5 million to lay the groundwork for its $500 million office, hotel and sports complex.

New Balance spokeswoman Amy Dow said the latest acquisitions were opportunistic in nature. There are no specific redevelopment plans at this point, and the sites may be used to relocate tenants from its Guest Street properties during construction.

"They were two properties that became available that we felt would contribute to the overall vision of the area," Dow said.

The Vocational Advancement Center, which provides job training to people with disabilities, sold its building to New Balance after dropping the asking price by $500,000. VAC executive director Amy Bell could not be reached for comment about its plans.

Grossman's is open but it's unclear for how long. A call to the discount hardware chain's owner E.C. Barton & Co. was not returned.

Anabela Gomes, president of the Brighton Allston Improvement Association, said she'd like to see New Balance build housing there someday. "They don't have that in the project right now. I think it would be a good addition," she said.

Real estate activity has been heating up in that section of Brighton, south of the Mass. Pike where Market Street runs past WGBH.

On Friday, Hub restaurateur Michael Conlon finalized a $4.1 million purchase of the Stockyard steakhouse property that overlooks the highway. The eatery abruptly closed in July but Conlon, taking over from the Manning family, is expected to revive the restaurant with a new menu and other upgrades.

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Clean Harbors buying Safety-Kleen for $1.25B

NORWELL — Clean Harbors is buying Safety-Kleen for $1.25 billion in cash as it looks to enter smaller markets and expand its waste treatment capabilities.

Safety-Kleen Inc. is a re-refiner and recycler of used oil and provides parts cleaning and environmental services. It collects approximately 200 million gallons of used oil annually, the majority of which it returns to the marketplace as reusable motor oil.

Clean Harbors Inc., based in Norwell, Mass., provides environmental, energy and industrial services. It said Monday it will be better able to penetrate small quantity waste generator markets after the acquisition.

The company expects the acquisition to immediately add to its results, excluding one-time fees and acquisition-related expenses.

The deal, expected to close by year's end, still needs approval from U.S. and Canadian regulators.

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Former UBS trader says he was no rogue

LONDON — A former UBS trader accused of fraud says he wasn't acting as a rogue trader when he lost $2.3 billion.

Kweku Adoboli took the stand for a second day in his trial at London's Southwark Crown Court, telling the jury the losses came after senior traders persuaded him to change from a bearish to a bullish point of view in July 2011.

He testified Monday that he studied the market to "reduce the number of things that are going to be surprises." But he says that "if that is just a calculated gamble, then all investment banking is a calculated gamble."

Prosecutors say Adoboli lied, invented clients and breached safeguards against high-risk trading to make money for the Swiss bank and boost his bonus. He denies the charges.

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Deloitte acquires Recombinant Data Corp. of Newton

Recombinant Data Corp., a Newton-based provider of health-care information technology solutions for clinical and research data management and analytics, said today it has been acquired by Deloitte LLP.

Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

"Joining forces with Recombinant represents a bold move around innovation that will open new horizons for Deloitte in the life sciences and health-care sectors," said Andrew Vaz, principal and chief innovation officer at Deloitte. "It will extend the Deloitte brand into hybrid business models in which world-class services are combined with advanced intellectual property assets."

Recombinant said it helps academic medical centers, federal agencies and life sciences companies conduct translational research and analyze phenomic, genomic and bio banking data in evidence-based medicine.

A spokesman for Recombinant said the company, which has 89 employees who have all been offered positions with Deloitte, was founded seven years ago and has seen revenue growth double each of the last five years.

Deloitte reported $13 billion in revenue during its last fiscal year.

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Some firms delay earnings reports due to Sandy

Several U.S. companies said today they will postpone releasing their quarterly financial reports as Hurricane Sandy prepares to wreak havoc on the East Coast.

Cambridge-based Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. will now announce its third quarter 2012 results on Thursday, Nov. 1, after the financial markets close, with a conference call scheduled for 5 p.m. While Natick-based machine vision technology company Cognex Corp. still intends to issue its third quarter 2012 earnings release tonight, an earnings conference call has also been rescheduled to 5 p.m. Thursday.

Other companies delaying their earnings releases until later this week include Thomson Reuters Corp., Pfizer Inc. and NRG Energy Inc.

Liberty Mutual Holding Company Inc., parent of Liberty Mutual Insurance, cancelled its third quarter earnings conference call, which was scheduled for tomorrow, but will make the release available on its website as soon as possible.

Burger King Worldwide, which released its earnings as scheduled today, saw its third quarter year-over-year net income drop 83 percent to $6.6 million. The company's third quarter year-over-year revenues fell nearly 26 percent to $451 million.

Meanwhile U.S. stock and options markets are closed today and possibly tomorrow in the wake of Sandy's potential trajectory.

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Massachusetts gas prices drop by a dime

Bay State gas prices are down 10 cents this week, according to AAA Southern New England.

Self-serve, regular unleaded gas is currently averaging $3.66 a gallon, 12 cents above the national average of $3.54. Prices locally are down 18 cents over the past month.

A year ago at this time, the Massachusetts average price was $3.40.

Midgrade unleaded gas is down 11 cents to $3.85 a gallon, while premium unleaded gas dropped nine cents to $3.98 a gallon. Diesel remains the same at $4.09 a gallon.

The range in prices in the latest AAA survey for unleaded regular is 44 cents, from a low of $3.45 to a high of 3.89.

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Some area malls closing early due to Sandy

Simon Property Group is closing some area malls early today due to the anticipated impact of Hurricane Sandy.

The Burlington Mall will close at noon as a precautionary measure to help ensure the safety of shoppers, retailers and employees, while the Arsenal Mall in Watertown and the Cape Cod Mall in Hyannis will close at 12:30 p.m.

Copley Place in Boston, the Mall at Chestnut Hill, South Shore Plaza in Braintree and Peabody's Northshore Mall will close at 1 p.m.

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UPS sees delivery of 527 million holiday packages

NEW YORK — UPS expects to deliver 527 million packages between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, surpassing last year's record high by 10 percent.

The world's largest package delivery company estimates 28 million of those will be delivered on Thursday, Dec. 20 — projected to be the busiest day of the year. That's nearly double what the Atlanta company moves on an average day.

The busiest day of the year has moved close to Christmas because more Americans are ordering gifts online and using expedited shipping. Most packages will arrive within three days. Last-minute shoppers who ship packages by Friday, Dec. 21, can get their goods by Christmas Eve via next day air.

To handle the big jump in package volume, UPS plans to hire 55,000 seasonal workers to sort, load and deliver packages, the same number it hired last year, but 10 percent higher than in 2010.

UPS' smaller rival FedEx expects to handle 280 million shipments between Thanksgiving and Christmas, up 13 percent from the same stretch last year.

On FedEx's busiest day this year, projected to be Dec. 10, it forecasts 19 million packages will move through its network, up 10 percent from 2011.

FedEx's busiest day is much earlier because its peak time shipments are comprised of fewer priority packages. The company is based in Memphis, Tenn.

Overall holiday sales are projected to rise 4.1 percent, according to The National Retail Federation. That would be the smallest increase since 2009, but still higher than the 10-year average of 3.5 percent.

But online holiday sales will grow 16.8 percent, excluding travel purchases, according to research firm eMarketer. Online shopping accounts for about $1 in every $10 spent over the holidays.

FedEx Corp. and UPS Inc. can benefit twice when consumers shop online: They ship the gift to the receiver, and they also ship the unwanted presents that are later returned.

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Finally, good karma for Windows

The slew of new Windows 8 devices that just hit shelves includes Lenovo's IdeaPad Yoga 13, a backflipping tablet/laptop combo that measures up well against the Microsoft Surface.

Of all the new devices running Windows 8, the Yoga has been most anticipated since it won best in show at the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this year. And it's easy to see why.

A glass touch-screen monitor and a textured leather palm rest provide a great feel for your hands. For anyone who needs to work with a computer in their lap — at a coffee shop, on the train — the Microsoft Surface isn't going to fit the bill. The Yoga, however, is perfect for the task. Though it's a few inches larger than the ultra-portable Surface, the Yoga's form is more versatile. It configures four ways: like a laptop, a tablet, a tent or a stand.

The MacBook Pro is just about my favorite laptop. Yet the Yoga is 25 percent lighter than the current MacBook Pro and it's even a tiny bit lighter than the upcoming version with Retina display. The memory and storage of the Yoga will rival or exceed the MacBook Pro, depending on the configuration. The Yoga has a giant leg up in terms of design and its touchscreen monitor. Though the Pro has higher screen resolution, the Yoga's price is better, starting at $999.

Problems with the Yoga are simply problems with Windows 8. Because "programs" are now "apps," things are just, well, different. I got particularly hung up on my inability to run apps in split-screen mode, a feature Windows 7 allowed. In Windows 8, two programs running alongside one another appear with one as a small sidebar and the other filling the rest of the view. Legacy programs such as Microsoft Office can run, but only if you're in "desktop mode." Microsoft gave Windows 8 users the ability to switch back to the old interface for two reasons: to placate consumers who'd otherwise be scared away, and because the new version of Office optimized for the new interface isn't ready yet. This feature definitely muddies the waters for the new face of Windows, and Surface has this problem as well.

I'd like to see sharper screen resolution on the Yoga, but it's otherwise hard to find fault with this device. No, this isn't a gamer's laptop or a graphic designer's work machine. But, it easily renders the MacBook Pro a distant second. Though it's not as sexy as the Microsoft Surface, the Yoga might just be worth plunking down the extra cash if it's a choice between the two — especially for someone with real laptop needs.

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High court hears closely watched copyright case

WASHINGTON — Supreme Court justices are weighing copyright protections for publishers, creative artists and manufacturers in a global marketplace in a case that has attracted the interest of Costco, eBay and Google. The outcome has important implications for consumers and multibillion dollar annual sales online and in discount stores.

In arguments Monday, a book publisher faced off against a Thai graduate student in the U.S. who resold the publisher's copyrighted books on eBay after relatives first bought nearly identical, cheaper versions abroad.

The court seemed to struggle with whether it matters where the books were produced and first sold.

The justices' answer to those questions is of enormous interest to discount sellers like Costco and online business like eBay and Google that offer good prices on many products that were made abroad.

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