Top brokers draw wealthy clients

Selling super high-end properties in Boston, those over $10 million, is a rarefied world dominated by a handful of Hub brokers.

Sometimes these brokers represent the sellers, sometimes they bring buyers to the deal.

Jonathan Radford of Coldwell Banker represented the seller of the Mason House, a 14,580-square-foot 11-bedroom mansion at 211 Commonwealth Ave., which sold last month for $12,736,000.

Radford said buyers are initially wowed by palatial homes like Mason House with features such as an ornate music room, an elevator and a five-car garage. But these signature spaces can also be intimidating.

"What can hold a buyer back is whether the home works with their current lifestyle," he said. "It's up to the agent to bring ideas to the table. If the top floor has three extra bedrooms you don't need, you bring in designers with ideas on converting the floor to an entertainment room."

Buyers are often personalities from the sports or entertainment worlds, business leaders and royalty, so not only is discretion critical, but so is having an in-depth knowledge of the high-end market here and internationally, Radford said.

"A buyer for one of these properties could come from around the corner or around the world," Radford said.

Negotiations are intense affairs, often involving not just the buyer and seller and their agents, but also each side's lawyers and financial advisers, said Radford.

"It's a juggling act keeping everyone in the loop and focused on getting the deal done," Radford said. "But the incentive is that these properties change hands rarely and for a buyer it could be a once-in-a-lifetime chance."

But even in super high-end homes that seemingly have it all, there can be something besides price that keeps the property from selling.

That's the case with 74 Beacon St., the so-called Benjamin Mansion, a six-floor townhouse with a media room, library, gym, elevator, a Brimmer Street garage space — and even a rooftop lap pool. It's on the market for $13.95 million and had been rented for the past year at an eye-popping $40,000 a month after failing to sell.

"As we started showing it again after the rental lease ran out, we saw that while the house has everything a person could want, what didn't click for many buyers was that the kitchen was on the garden level," said John Neale of Sprogis & Neale, which is the co-exclusive listing broker for the property along with Tracy Campion of Campion & Co.

The 8,450-square-foot six-
bedroom townhouse that overlooks the Public Garden had already undergone a three-year gut renovation several years earlier. But Neale convinced local owner/developers Peter and Elizabeth Georgantas of Peg Properties & Design to relocate the kitchen to the first floor, and to convert the former basement kitchen into a family room. Neale will relaunch the mansion when the renovations are completed next month.

Next door, Beth Dickerson of Gibson Sotheby's sold 
78 Beacon St., a six-bedroom, 7,878-square-foot renovated townhouse for $9.3 million last November, down from its original asking price of $10.75 million.

"High-end buyers at this level are all cash and can close quickly," said Dickerson. "At this price level they want garage parking and for everything to be newly done."

Will Montero of Gibson Sotheby's works as both a seller's and a buyer's agent, having brought the buyers for recent high-end property sales at the Four Seasons and The Clarendon. He's now working with three local CEOs who are looking to buy.

Montero is also the listing broker for a 9,817-square-foot Parisian-style mansion at 130 Commonwealth Ave., with its six parking spaces and 2,200-bottle wine cellar that's on the market for $13.9 million. The property is owned by a Singapore investor, who bought it for $9.5 million in 2012.

"A home like this in Singapore would cost $40 million, which appeals to international investors," Montero said. "And a lot of properties in this range are also bought by wealthy business or royal families whose children are, or will be, going to school in Boston. They want the extra space for when they come to visit."

Montero said his clients value agents who know about properties for sale before they hit the market.

"Buyers at this level are often very busy people and don't have a lot of time," Montero said. "You have to be able to get them what they want and hopefully be the first ones in. And to be able to close the deal."

He said the high-end brokers in Boston know one another and often bring buyers to one another's properties. And some properties are sold through private sales, never even hitting the market.

But Radford said he always urges sellers to list super high-end properties to get as wide exposure as possible and the most money.

"For those who do end up buying these homes, it's not just getting the right price, but they have to be the right person for the house," Radford said.

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Spotify snags Echo Nest

Music streaming company Spotify has bought The Echo Nest, a Somerville company that powers many online streaming radio services.

Founded at the MIT Media Lab, The Echo Nest has more than a billion data points about more than 35 million songs, information that is currently used by Spotify and many of its competitors, including Rdio, MOG and 
SiriusXM.

"We've been fans of The Echo Nest for a really long time and honored to have their talented team join Spotify," said Daniel Ek, founder and CEO of Spotify, in a release.

"Together, we're going to change how the world listens," wrote The Echo Nest co-founders Tristan Jehan, Brian Whitman and CEO Jim Lucchese in a blog post.

The Echo Nest will continue to operate independently in its Somerville and San Francisco offices.

David Blutenthal, whose app Moodsnap taps into both The Echo Nest and Spotify, said the acquisition makes sense.

"It's going to make Spotify better," he said.

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Staples to clip 225 more stores

Staples Inc. will close up to 225 more stores — 
12 percent of its U.S. and Canadian locations — and cut $500 million in costs in the next two years as the office supplies chain continues to falter with retail consumers faced with a growing list of alternatives.

The Framingham company, which is continuing a restructuring as its sees more sales move online, yesterday reported a fourth straight quarter of declining sales. Sales dropped 11 percent to $5.87 billion from last year, missing analysts' expectations for 
$5.97 billion.

Staples' stock closed at $11.35 per share, down 
15.3 percent. It has fallen nearly 30 percent this year.

"Our customers are using less office supplies, shopping less often in our stores and more online, and the focus on value has made the marketplace even more competitive," CEO Ron Sargent said. "It's clear we underestimated the headwinds that we're facing."

Staples reduced its store footprint by more than
1 million square feet in 2013 through closings and downsizing. It now has 30 of its smaller, 12,000-square-foot stores open.

But the aggressive store closures are not going to be enough, according to analyst David Strasser of Janney Capital Markets.

"The company had years to close and shrink the store base, and stuck to its guns, and that decision is likely to impact them for the foreseeable future," he said in a research note yesterday. "Sales are declining at a faster pace than anticipated, and while Staples had attempted to rejuvenate the store through technology offerings, its limited ... assortment … as well as lacking the full line of top brands, like Apple, have made it tough to succeed in this category."

Staples.com sales improved 10 percent, however. More than 80 percent of Staples' online customers are business, as opposed to retail customers. As it continues to see fewer paper, ink and toner sales, the company has increased online offerings fivefold by adding technology products, furniture, facility and safety supplies, and items for restaurants and retail stores.

"But it will take time for those to gain enough traction to really benefit Staples' reported results," said R. Scott Tilghman, a B. Riley & Co. analyst.

Meantime, Staples likely will continue to take a hit due to its weaker-than-expected results and 2014 guidance, he said.

"Management credibility gets called into question because of that, and stock value will suffer," he said.

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US employers add 175K jobs despite harsh weather

WASHINGTON — U.S. employers stepped up hiring in February despite a blast of harsh winter weather, likely renewing hopes that the economy will accelerate this year.

The Labor Department said Friday that employers added 175,000 jobs, up from 129,000 in January. The unemployment rate rose to 6.7 percent from a five-year low of 6.6 percent as more Americans began seeking jobs but many didn't find them. That's still an encouraging sign because more job hunters suggest that people were more optimistic about their prospects.

Friday's figures were a welcome surprise after recent reports showed that harsh weather had closed factories, lowered auto sales and slowed home sales. Along with an increase in wages last month, the report suggests that employers are confident that consumer spending will pick up in coming months.

"If the economy managed to generate 175,000 new jobs in a month when the weather was so severe, once the weather returns to seasonal norms ... employment growth is likely to accelerate further," Paul Dales, an economist at Capital Economics, said in a note to clients.

Stock futures rose modestly after the report's release at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time.

The severe winter weather appeared to have had little effect on payrolls. Construction companies, which usually stop work in bad weather, added 15,000 jobs.

Manufacturing gained 6,000 for the second month in a row. Government added 13,000 jobs, the most in six months. Shipping and warehousing companies and retailers cut jobs.

The report presents "a picture of a grinding but positive recovery in the economy," said Stephen Wood, chief market strategist at Russell Investments.

The government revised up its estimate of job gains for December and January by a combined 25,000. December's gain was revised up from 75,000 to 84,000, January's from 113,000 to 129,000.

Average hourly pay rose 9 cents in February to $24.31, the most since June. Hourly wages have risen 2.2 percent over the past 12 months, ahead of 1.6 percent inflation over that time.

Friday's report makes it likely that the Federal Reserve will continue reducing its monthly bond purchases at its next meeting March 18-19. The Fed is buying Treasury and mortgage bonds to try to keep long-term loan rates low to spur growth. Fed policymakers have reduced their monthly bond purchases by $10 billion at each of their past two meetings to $65 billion.

The low temperatures and snow storms that hit the eastern half of the country in February might still have held back hiring. The number of Americans who said weather forced them to work part time rather than full time reached the highest level for February in the 36 years that the government has tracked the figure. The average work week fell.

Some recent reports hint that the economy will accelerate as the weather warms. The number of people who applied for unemployment benefits fell last week and is at about the same level as before the Great Recession.

Applications essentially reflect layoffs. The decline suggests that companies are confident about future growth, because layoffs would rise if employers expected business to weaken. Instead, businesses advertised more jobs online last month, according to the Conference Board. Online job ads rose 268,100 in February to 5.19 million.

Still, other factors are weighing on the economy. Auto makers and other manufacturers built up big stockpiles of goods in the second half of last year. That means they are likely producing fewer goods this year and is probably one reason factory orders are down.

Most economists forecast the economy will grow at a 2 percent annual pace or less in the first three months of the year, down from a 2.4 percent pace in the final three months of 2013. But they expect growth to accelerate in the spring and summer to roughly a 3 percent pace.

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Contact Chris Rugaber on Twitter at http://Twitter.com/ChrisRugaber .

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CEO of bitcoin exchange found dead in Singapore

SINGAPORE — The American CEO of a virtual currency exchange was found dead near her home in Singapore.

A police spokesman said Thursday that initial investigations indicated there was no suspicion of "foul play" in the Feb. 26 death of 28-year-old Autumn Radtke, meaning officers do not suspect murder.

The spokesman said police found Radtke lying motionless near the apartment tower where she lived.

Police have so far classified the death as "unnatural," which can mean an accident, misadventure, or suicide.

Radtke's company, First Meta, said it was "shocked and saddened by the tragic loss."

First Meta allows users of virtual currencies such as bitcoin to trade and cash out the currencies. It is one of several such exchanges.

The future of bitcoin has been under scrutiny since the collapse of the Mt. Gox exchange in Tokyo last month.

Radtke had worked at other tech companies. A funeral for her was held Wednesday in Hales Corners, Wisconsin, according to Hartson Funeral Home.

Postings on her Facebook page showed her to be a believer in the potential of virtual currencies.

Last month, she linked to an article on entrepreneurs suffering depression, commenting above the link: everything has its price.

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Former IRS official refuses to testify at hearing

WASHINGTON — Former Internal Revenue Service official Lois Lerner is once again refusing to answer questions at a congressional hearing on the targeting of tea party groups.

Lerner headed the IRS division that improperly targeted tea party and other conservative groups for extra scrutiny when they applied for tax-exempt status from 2010 to 2012.

She appeared at a Wednesday hearing by the House Oversight Committee. But when Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (EYE'-suh) asked her questions about her role in the matter, Lerner invoked her constitutional right not to incriminate herself.

Lerner was the first IRS official to publicly disclose the targeting last spring. But this is the second time Lerner has declined to answer questions at a congressional hearing.

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US stock futures little changed after jobs survey

NEW YORK — Stocks opened little changed Wednesday after a survey showed that U.S. companies added slightly more jobs in February than in the previous month. The Standard & Poor's 500 surged to an all-time high a day earlier with its biggest gain since October.

KEEPING SCORE: The S&P 500 index fell one point, or 0.1 percent, to 1,872 as of 10:15 a.m. Eastern Time. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 22 points, or 0.1 percent, to 16,376. The Nasdaq composite dropped two points, or 0.1 percent, to 4,350.

JOBS NUMBER: Payroll processor ADP said Wednesday that businesses added 139,000 jobs last month, up from 127,000 in January, however January's figure was revised sharply lower from an original estimate of 175,000. The ADP numbers cover only private businesses and often differ from the government's more comprehensive survey of the U.S. employment market. The Department of Labor releases its monthly report Friday. Economists believe the U.S. will report that employers generated 145,000 jobs in February.

WHISKEY IN THE JAR: Brown-Forman, the maker of Jack Daniel's Whiskey and other alcoholic drinks, rose $2.60, or 3.1 percent, to $86.68 after the company reported earnings that beat analyst's expectations and raised its full-year earnings forecast.

UKRAINE: The stock market fluctuated wildly in the first two days of this week as investors followed the developments in Ukraine. Stocks slumped on Monday as tensions rose after Russia sent troops into the Crimea region of Ukraine. The market rebounded on Tuesday, climbing to a record high after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered troops participating in military exercises near Ukraine to return to their bases.

TREASURYS AND COMMODITES: The yield on the 10-year Treasury note was unchanged at 2.70 percent from Tuesday. The price of oil fell 58 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $102.76 a barrel. Gold fell 70 cents, or 0.1 percent, to $1,337.20 an ounce.

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Target tech chief resigns as it overhauls security

NEW YORK — Target Corp. says Chief Information Officer Beth Jacob is resigning effective Wednesday as the retailer overhauls its information security and compliance division in the wake of a massive data breach.

In a statement released to the Associated Press, Target's President and CEO Gregg Steinhafel says the company will search for an interim chief information officer who can help guide the company through the transformation.

Jacob had held the job since 2008.

Target also will look outside the company for a chief information security officer as well as a chief compliance officer. The company says it's working with an outside adviser, Promontory Financial Group, to evaluate its technology, structure, processes and talent as part of the overhaul.

Target is based in Minneapolis.

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US stocks are little changed after payroll survey

NEW YORK — Stocks are little changed in early trading, a day after setting a record high, as traders were unimpressed by a slight increase in hiring at private companies last month.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index was flat at 1,874 shortly after trading opened Wednesday.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down two points at 16,393 and the Nasdaq composite inched up two points to 4,354.

Brown-Forman rose 3 percent after the company reported better sales of its flagship Jack Daniel's brand and other liquors.

Payroll processor ADP said businesses added 139,000 jobs last month, up from 127,000 in January, however January's figure was revised sharply lower.

Bond prices fell slightly. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note edged up to 2.72 percent from 2.70 percent late Tuesday.

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EU ready to provide Ukraine aid worth $15 billion

BRUSSELS — The European Union is ready to give Ukraine 11 billion euros ($15 billion) in loans and grants over the coming years to help stabilize its economy, the head of the bloc's executive arm said Wednesday.

The aid comes on top of $1 billion in energy subsidies the United States pledged Tuesday. It will help support Kiev while it negotiates a broad bailout program with the International Monetary Fund.

The EU package is "designed to assist a committed, inclusive and reforms-oriented government in rebuilding a stable and prosperous future for Ukraine," Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said.

The aid will include 1.6 billion euros in loans and 1.4 billion euros in grants from the EU budget and at least 8 billion euros fresh credit from financial institutions run by or controlled by the EU and its member states, the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

The package foresees helping to modernize Ukraine's gas transit system and providing technical assistance ranging from judicial reform to assistance in preparing elections, the Commission said. The package also calls for steps to accelerate achieving visa-free travel for Ukrainians to the 28-nation bloc.

That measure, if approved, would go down particularly badly in Moscow, since Russia has sought visa-free travel to Europe for its citizen for years. Suspending discussions on that project are among the measures EU leaders will consider at an emergency meeting Thursday to punish Russia over its occupation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula.

Coincidentally, the headline figure of $15 billion for the EU's aid package is the same amount that Russia was prepared to grant Ukraine in loans until the government of President Viktor Yanukovich was ousted last month.

Yanukovich took the Russian loans instead of a wide-ranging trade and economic agreement with the EU, a move that fuelled the protests that led to his ouster.

Barroso said that agreement was still on the table, and the EU is prepared to provisionally grant Ukraine the benefits deriving from it before a full ratification. Ukraine's industrial and agricultural exporters could save some 900 million euros annually through reduced tariffs, the Commission said.

"The situation in Ukraine is a test of our capability and resolve to stabilize our neighborhood and to provide new opportunities for many, not just a few," Barroso told reporters in Brussels. "We need to be up to this challenge."

The timeline over which the EU funds and loans would be disbursed varied from a few hundred million euros this year to multi-billions between now and 2020. The details were left vague because the situation in Ukraine is still uncertain and negotiations between Kiev and the IMF are ongoing, EU officials said.

Most disbursements will likely hinge on the formation of a new Ukrainian government after elections in May and an agreement on wide-ranging reforms with the IMF. The fund will likely insist, among other things, on a currency devaluation and a sharp hike to natural gas prices, which Ukraine subsidizes heavily.

Ukraine estimates it needs $35 billion in international rescue loans over the next two years.

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Follow Juergen Baetz on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/jbaetz

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Wayfair expands HQ amid rapid growth

Wayfair is growing so fast, the home decor e-commerce company has already outgrown its new Back Bay headquarters before moving in.

The company said today it has more than doubled the space it is leasing in The Offices at Copley Place, upping the square footage to 275,000 square feet. Last spring, Wayfair announced the move, planned for June, and said it would occupy 105,000 square feet.

"With more than 1,600 employees, Wayfair is quickly becoming one of the largest employers in Boston," said Niraj Shah, CEO and co-founder of Wayfair. "We are proud of our Boston roots and believe our location in the Back Bay is optimal for attracting and retaining top talent. We are excited to expand our footprint in the city of Boston and look forward to our move later this year."

Currently headquartered at 177 Huntington Ave, Wayfair saw nearly $1 billion in sales last year, and is expected to file for an IPO this year. The company is reported to be speaking to banks about the deal. Wayfair has raised $201 million in venture financing.

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Many taxpayers pay more than required

UNDATED — Are you giving the government more money than you owe it?

H&R Block senior tax adviser Richard Gartland says his company conducted a survey that found about half of the people who prepare their own taxes had some kind of inaccuracy in their return, and "half of those folks were leaving money on the table."

Gartland says it's because they missed out on tax breaks -- deductions they were eligible for and didn't take, or credits that they were eligible for and didn't apply for.

He says many just take a standard deduction because it's easier, but life changes -- like marriage, birth of a child, buying a house -- usually mean you should claim deductions. As Gartland puts it, "For every big milestone in life there's a related milestone in your taxes."

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Piers Morgan emailed support to Brooks on hacking

LONDON — Former News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks says she felt "revulsion" when she learned the newspaper had hacked the voicemails of a murdered 13-year-old girl.

Brooks said Tuesday that as the storm raged over the revelation she received death threats — but also messages of support from CNN talk-show host Piers Morgan and former Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Brooks testified at her trial on charges related to phone hacking. She denies guilt.

Brooks headed Rupert Murdoch's British newspapers when the story broke in July 2011. Murdoch shut the News of the World soon after.

The court was read an email from Morgan, a former tabloid editor, telling Brooks to "grit your teeth and stay strong."

Brooks had replied: "Can't believe any reporter would do that," referring to phone hacking.

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Chinese plead for Canada to let them immigrate

BEIJING — Chinese millionaires on Tuesday pleaded for the Canadian government not to throw away the immigration applications of thousands of Chinese nationals as part of its plans to end a backlogged investor program.

At a news conference, 10 investor applicants delivered their crestfallen message — that their faith in Canada as a "trustworthy country," with its attractive rule of law, environment and welfare system, was wavering.

Last month, Canada announced its intention to terminate its immigrant investor program and eliminate the longstanding backlog of applications — amounting to more than 65,000 people, most of whom are Chinese. It said immigrant investors pay less in taxes than other immigrants and are less likely to stay in Canada over the medium to long term.

Investor applicants, some of whom had applied five years ago, said they were discussing their options with lawyers in Canada and whether to claim compensation for the years they had been waiting.

As China's top leaders meet during this week's ceremonial legislature, the National People's Congress, it is a reminder that all is not well at home, and suggests for some citizens, the "Chinese dream" that President Xi Jinping talks about is to be found on other shores.

Shanghai-based Duan Wuhong said for her, Canada's education system, environment, social welfare and rule of law were pull factors. But she added: "The most important thing is the government is trusted. This is the most important thing for us to choose Canada."

She said at the time of her application she had considered other countries including the U.S. "Applying to Canada is the worst decision I have made in my life. Before I thought it was the best."

Immigration consultant Larry Wang said that Canadian government's policy was "unjustified" and the investor applicants want Canada to "correct its mistake."

"They are not refugees. They can have a very good life in China. They just want to have a better life in Canada," said Wang, a Beijing-born Canadian.

Wang said it was Canada's right to stop its investor program, but it should not disqualify candidates who had already applied.

Program applicants had to have a net worth of 1.6 million Canadian dollars ($1.4 million) and invest 400,000 Canadian dollars, or $800,000 if they applied after 2010, which would be returned after about five years without interest.

Father-of-two Yu Qingxin, who manages commercial buildings, schools and hospitals in China, said he had already bought a house in west Vancouver for nearly $2 million Canadian dollars ($1.8 million) in preparation to emigrate. The most impressive thing about Canada, said Yu, is its "sense of morality."

Another applicant, Du Jun, said he had moved his child out of the Chinese school system to a Canadian school near Beijing. Now, after two years studying at this school, it is almost impossible for his child to return to the Chinese education system, he said.

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Berlusconi's publishing house launches pope weekly

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis has scored plenty of magazine covers but now he's got a magazine all to himself.

The Mondadori publishing house, which lists the popular celebrity gossip rag Chi among its titles, said Tuesday it is launching a new magazine entirely devoted to the weekly doings, sayings, gestures and activities of the 265th Successor of Peter.

"My Pope," at 50 cents ($0.70) a pop, hits newsstands Wednesday, and each week will include a free pull-out poster with one of Francis' more memorable quotes from the previous seven days.

Editor Aldo Vitali said Francis' election a year ago has generated new interest in the papacy and moral and ethical themes that will be highlighted.

Mondadori is part of ex-Premier Silvio Berlusconi's media empire and is headed by his daughter, Marina Berlusconi.

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Men's Wearhouse, Jos. Bank signal they're talking

NEW YORK — Men's Wearhouse and Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc. are moving a bit closer to a possible combination, announcing they are exchanging certain confidential information with each other.

Men's Wearhouse Inc. said Monday that it's also received a draft merger agreement from Jos. A. Bank.

The news comes four days after Jos. A. Bank, based in Hampstead, Md., rejected the latest acquisition bid of $1.78 billion from Men's Wearhouse. The offer of $63.50 per share was increased from Men's Wearhouse's prior bid of $57.50 per share. The Houston company has said it may raise the bid to $65 per share, if some conditions are met.

While Jos. A. Bank nixed the $63.50 per share offer, it did say on Thursday that it was willing to meet with Men's Wearhouse to discuss the higher bid.

Men's Wearhouse's $63.50 per share offer is set to expire on March 12, unless extended.

The back-and-forth between Men's Wearhouse and Jos. A. Bank started in October, when Jos. A. Bank offered to buy its larger rival for $2.3 billion. Men's Wearhouse scoffed at that offer, and turned the tables, offering to buy its rival for $1.54 billion. But after Jos. A Bank turned down that overture, Men's Wearhouse increased its bid to $1.6 billion, and then again to $1.78 billion.

Shares of Jos. A. Bank rose 17 cents to $62.25 in morning trading. Men's Wearhouse's stock fell 55 cents to $53.24.

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Bad weather bites Olive Garden, Red Lobster

ORLANDO, Fla. — The parent company of Olive Garden and Red Lobster said bad winter weather, along with expenses related to its plan to split off its Red Lobster chain, hurt its third-quarter net income.

Darden Restaurants Inc., which is based in Orlando, Fla., said Monday that it expects to earn about 82 cents per share for the quarter ended Feb. 23. Analysts, on average, expect a profit of $1.02 per share, according to FactSet.

Darden said the exceptionally rough winter weather reduced earnings in the quarter by about 7 cents per share. Legal, financial advisory and other costs related to the plan to either spin off or sell Red Lobster lowered its profit by 6 cents per share.

The company said it expects to post an 8.8 percent drop in revenue at Red Lobster restaurants open at least a year, while the metric is expected to drop 5.4 percent for Olive Garden restaurants and rise 0.3 percent at LongHorn Steakhouse locations.

Combined U.S. same-restaurant sales for the company's specialty restaurant group are expected to be down 0.7 percent.

The metric is a key measure of a retailer's health, because it excludes revenue at locations that recently opened or closed.

Darden attributed the revenue drops to the more severe winter weather and an unfavorable shift in the timing of Thanksgiving. Excluding those factors, Darden said Red Lobster stores would have posted a decline of about 6.2 percent, while Olive Garden revenue at stores open at least a year would have fallen 2.8 percent and risen 2.9 percent at LongHorn Steakhouse locations. The specialty restaurant group would have posted a 1.9 percent increase.

The company backed its previous outlook for fiscal 2014, saying that it still expects earnings per share to decline 15 percent to 20 percent, excluding restructuring costs.

In premarket trading Monday, its shares fell $1.33, or 3 percent, to $49.73.

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Ford's US sales down 6 pct in February

DETROIT — Ford's U.S. sales dropped 6 percent in February as winter weather kept many buyers at home.

Ford's car sales dropped 14 percent and utility sales were down 4 percent.

Pickup truck sales remained a bright spot. Ford's F-Series sales were up nearly 3 percent to 55,882. It was the best February for the F-Series in eight years.

Ford's luxury Lincoln brand also saw improvement. Sales of the MKZ sedan, which went on sale last spring, more than tripled to 3,044.

Ford said its sales to rental, business and other fleets dropped 10 percent because the weather delayed some deliveries. The company expects to make up those sales in March.

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GM blames weather as Feb. sales drop 1 percent

DETROIT — General Motors' U.S. sales fell 1 percent last month as winter storms pounded much of the nation.

The country's largest automaker conceded that the weather had an impact but said sales started to thaw toward the end of the month.

GM says it sold just over 222,000 cars and trucks, led by the Chevrolet Cruze compact car, with sales up almost 22 percent.

But sales of the Chevy Silverado pickup, GM's top-selling vehicle, fell 12 percent for the month.

Industry analysts expect auto sales overall to rise slightly for the month as most companies report declines or modest increases. Nissan and Chrysler bucked the trend and reported double-digit increases.

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GM, Ford Feb. sales fall as weather pounds nation

DETROIT — General Motors and Ford reported U.S. sales declines last month as frigid temperatures and snowstorms pounded much of the nation.

The country's top two automakers both said the month started slowly but sales began to recover in the second half, a sign that fears of a broader auto sales slowdown may be unfounded. Also, Chrysler and Nissan reported double-digit gains, although they had to discount some key models to get there. Volkswagen, which has been struggling in the U.S., reported a 14 percent drop.

Industry analysts expect overall sales to rise about 1 percent for the month, a slow pace compared with 8 percent increase for all of last year. Most blame the weather, but some are wondering if the momentum of the past four years is waning.

Dealer inventories, especially for the Detroit automakers, have hit their highest level in five years, putting pressure on companies to clear their lots. At the end of January, dealers had an 89-day supply of cars and trucks, according to Ward's AutoInfoBank. Detroit automakers had the most, with General Motors at 114 days, followed by Ford at 107 and Chrysler at 105. A 60-day supply of vehicles is considered ideal.

To unload the inventory, automakers are offering more discounts. That means deals for consumers. Incentives are the highest they've been in three years, averaging $2,633 per vehicle in February, up more than 5 percent from a year ago, according to the TrueCar.

Larry Dominique, executive vice president of TrueCar, said automaker spending on discounts is growing faster than average sales prices, but he predicted that the bargains will wane as the weather gets warmer and customers return to dealers.

"We expect a return to balance once the winter subsides and inventories ease," he said.

GM says it sold just over 222,000 cars and trucks, led by the Chevrolet Cruze compact car, with sales up almost 22 percent. But sales of the Chevy Silverado pickup, GM's top-selling vehicle, fell 12 percent for the month.

Ford sold nearly 184,000 vehicles, but sales of cars fell almost 14 percent. Sales of the F-Series pickup, its top-selling vehicle, rose just under 3 percent.

Chrysler and Nissan were able to lure customers onto icy-cold dealer lots by lowering prices on some key models.

Nissan said Monday that its sales were up almost 16 percent to just over 115,000. Chrysler sales rose 11 percent to nearly 155,000.

Chrysler was led by the Ram pickup with a 26 percent sales gain, while Nissan was led by the Rogue crossover SUV with sales up almost 73 percent.

Nissan's average sales price fell almost 4 percent — more than $1,000 — compared with a year ago, according to the TrueCar.com auto pricing site. While Chrysler's average sale price was up 6 percent, it boosted discounts on the Ram pickup, its most popular model, by $593 compared with a year ago, according to data collected by J.D. Power and Associates.

The Associated Press got the J.D. Power data from a person who asked not to be identified because the numbers aren't typically released to the public.

The Ram discounts averaged just under $5,000. Ford and General Motors, its main competitors, offered around $4,000 per pickup. Despite the Ram increase, discounts in the pickup segment were down $548 compared with a year ago, according to the data.

All automakers are due to report February sales on Monday.

22.27 | 0 komentar | Read More

MIT’s Sloan conference gets competitive

The word for Day 2 of MIT's Sloan Sports Analytics Conference was competition.

For eight years, the conference has united professional sports teams, sports industry organizations and cutting-edge academics, all in the pursuit of appreciating and understanding sports and athletic performance with greater, more sophisticated clarity. Each attendee has expertise or interest in innovation, due to personal passions, professional obligation, or a combination of both.

Maybe sports are only a game, but at Sloan, as there is in any game, there are winners and losers. The lifeblood of the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference is the prestigious research paper competition, where academics make their cases for the next big thing in sports analysis.

Kirk Goldberry, a nationally noted visual analytics expert, visiting scholar at Harvard and three-time Sloan research paper finalist, described his research's victory as "the biggest moment of my professional career, to be honest."

"The recognition is secondary to the kind of exposure (the work) got. There are very few outlets to get this kind of exposure to the media, and this is obviously the premiere one in the sports domain."

The researchers were competing, but the games still happen on the courts, in the fields, and even in the hills. Discussions surrounding those competitions centered around fairness and competitive balance.

At the Doping & What it Means for Sport panel, disgraced former cyclist Tyler Hamilton discussed how much the unfair advantage he gained through cheating had burdened him. "I led a double life," he said. "I lied to my parents."

The Marblehead product added, "I was more worried about getting caught than winning. It took a huge toll on me."

U.S. Anti-Doping agent Travis Tygart delved into the mechanics of unfair advantages.

"Whether it's putting a small engine in a bike or taking the subway six stops in a marathon, it's unfair."

Tygart compared drugs to allowing baseball players to use aluminum bats.

"It is not going to be an even playing field," he said. "People's bodies respond differently. So it's not giving everyone an aluminum bat, it's giving someone one and the other a wood one."

New NBA commissioner Adam Silver was relieved that PEDs were not a chief concern of his league.

"I have no reason to believe that use of PEDS is widespread in he NBA, both because we test, and, No. 2, it's not part of the culture of the NBA," Silver said at the Malcolm Gladwell-moderated Commissioner's Perspective panel.

"I've been in the NBA for 22 years, I talk to players all the time, I talk to retired players all the time, and I don't hear about it."

Pressed on what made him so sure there was no NBA PED scandal lurking, Silver said, "It's hard for me to believe that, with roughly 450 players a year, a lot of players moving through the league, if there was (rampant drug use), people would be talking about it. There would be somebody. There are great journalists out there. Somebody would have found somebody that was willing to talk about it."

Cheating isn't the only realm of competitive imbalance, though. As Celtics fans are aware, NBA teams draft players via a weighted lottery system, one that, many argue, encourages teams to intentionally lose in the pursuit of talented college prospects.

Recently, and around the conference, there has been increased discussions about altering how the draft order is determined. One proposal, submitted by Celtics assistant GM Michael Zarren, made its way to the commissioner' desk.

"Mike came up with this proposal where over the course of 30 years, you move throughout (the first round) in terms of your draft pick," Silver said. "This goes to show why you really need to study these issues, because when Mike first brought it to me, I thought 'Wow, that solves our problems. Teams can plan for the future, they have absolutely no incentive to do anything but win the maximum number of games per season. They know where the draft pick is coming from.' "

Rival GMs raised concerns about the ramifications of such a system, but, importantly, as the commissioner noted, "I'm open to taking a fresh look at it."

Sharing ideas like a new model for the NBA draft lottery is what the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference is all about. Rishabh Desai, a first-year basketball operations analyst for the Sacramento Kings, discussed the kinds of information being shared by competing sides.

"(Sometimes) it's really broad, because no one wants to share their 'secret sauce,' or whatever they're doing," he said, "but it's just 'Hey, are you guys using this program?' compe"

For all the competitive edges that can be quantified, there are still many that elude even the most active imaginations. At the 10,000 Hours vs. The Sports Gene panel, "The Tipping Point" and "Outliers" author Malcolm Gladwell discussed the greatness of Wayne Gretzky, sharing an anecdote about The Great One being transfixed by a televised hockey game as a toddler who would burst into tears when the games would finish.

"Even at (a young age) there was something about the game of hockey that satisfied him and thrilled him on some deep emotional level, before he could execute any of the physical moves associated with it. The game fit his imagination. I don't know what that means; it must be something innate. But it's something quite different from what we normally associate with hockey skill. In other words, Wayne Gretzky has a series of physical attributes that make him as great hockey player, but he also has this weird thing about how the game fits his imagination. So it's almost as if we're talking about Wayne Gretzky the same way we would talk about a musical composer."

The winner of the 2014 Sloan Sports Analytics Conference research paper competition was "The Three Dimensions of Rebounding," which broke down crashing the boards into three dimensions — positioning, hustle and conversion. Presented by Rajiv Maheswaran and compiled alongside a team of researchers, the paper explored the reasons players like Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, Andre Drummond and Kevin Love are so efficient, despite vastly different skill sets and playing styles.

Unlike sports games, however, there were no real losers. Even the papers that did not take home the $20,000 prize had their ideas heard, and made their contributions to the budding athletic analytics field. These are the minds that will lead to the next generation of player evaluation, strategic efficiency, and organizational success.

These ideas will lead to real wins, in every sports field.

And as Hamilton put it, when asked about the motivations looking to cutting edge for a leg-up in competition, "The culture here in the United States is all about winning, whether it's in sports or business."

22.26 | 0 komentar | Read More

A strong February wipes out S&P 500's January loss

NEW YORK — After two months of trading, the stock market is back where it started.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 4.3 percent in February, the biggest gain since October 2013, helped by strong corporate earnings and a Federal Reserve that seems to have Wall Street's back at every turn. But the rise in February must be taken in the context that investors spent the month making up the ground they lost in January.

"February looked a lot like January, just moving in the opposite direction," said Scott Clemons, chief investment strategist with Brown Brothers Harriman Wealth Management.

Investors are also now staring at a stock market, while numbers-wise is basically where it was on Jan. 1, that is a lot more defensive than it was two months ago.

Utilities and health care stocks — two traditional "safe" places for investors because of their low volatility and higher-than-average dividends — are the biggest gainers so far this year. Utilities are up 5.7 percent in 2014 and health care is up 6.6 percent.

Investor caution was also evident in the bond market, which has done reasonably well in the last two months. The yield on the benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury note has fallen from 2.97 percent to 2.65 percent in the last two months as investors returned to the relative safety of government debt. The Barclays U.S. Aggregate bond index, which tracks a broad mix of corporate and government bonds, is up 1.6 percent this year.

"The sentiment now is, 'bonds may not be as bad as I originally thought,'" said Michael Fredericks, a portfolio manager of the Multi-Asset Income Fund at Blackrock.

February's rise came in spite of several economic reports that showed the U.S. economy slowed in the previous month.

It started with the January jobs report, which showed employers only created 113,000 jobs that month. It was far fewer than economists had expected. Other economic reports told a similar story. Consumer confidence, manufacturing and the housing market all fell sharply in January.

Investors blamed the weather, and rightly so. Many companies, particularly retailers, said winter storms of the past two months dramatically impacted their business. Macy's said that at one time in January, 30 percent of its stores were closed because of inclement weather.

Home Depot had a similar story.

"We don't like to use weather as an excuse but we think we probably lost $100 million in the month of January," Home Depot's chief financial officer, Carol Tome, said in a conference call with investors this week. "Atlanta was frozen, for example. It was tough here."

Even with the economic concerns, investors were able to set aside the volatility of January for three reasons, market watchers said.

First, corporate earnings for the fourth quarter overall turned out to be pretty good. Earnings at companies in the S&P 500 index grew 8.5 percent over the same period last year, according to FactSet. Revenue growth also picked up, albeit slightly.

The Federal Reserve, once again, also came to the market's side. Janet Yellen, who in February took over the role as chair of the Federal Reserve, reaffirmed that the central bank plans to keep its market-friendly, low interest rate policies in place for the foreseeable future.

Lastly, weather, by its very nature, is temporary.

Spring will come, at some point, and the winter storms that have kept businesses closed and consumers away from stores will fade, investors say. All that pent-up demand will help the economy recover some of the ground lost in January and February.

"I think 70 percent, 80 percent, of the weakness we saw in January and February was weather related and we will pick up strength in the spring thaw," said Bob Doll, chief equity strategist at Nuveen Asset Management.

Investors will have less information to work with in March than they did in February.

Earnings season is basically over. Of the companies in the S&P 500 index, 484 have reported their results, as have all 30 members of the Dow, so investors won't have any corporate earnings news to respond to.

In the absence of company news, investors would typically look to the steady stream of economic data to find direction. However the severe winter weather of last two months is likely to make the upcoming economic reports even more difficult to interpret.

"You're going to be able to put on spin on any report: 'well that better than it should have been' or 'well, it was the weather,'" Clemons said. "We'll get more trustworthy numbers in April."

On Friday, the S&P 500 rose 5.16 points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,859.45. It was the second all-time closing high for the S&P 500 in a row. The S&P 500 is now up 0.6 percent for the year.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 49.06 points, or 0.3 percent, to 16,321.76. The Nasdaq composite lost 10.81 points, or 0.3 percent, to 4,308.12.

22.26 | 0 komentar | Read More

App will put you in your spot

Parking in the Hub is getting easier, thanks to a new crop of apps and services designed to put your car in a spot without the hassle or stress of searching for one.

The newest of these apps is SpotHero, which is now live in Boston. Touting itself as the Orbitz of parking, SpotHero matches drivers looking for a spot with discounted spaces in garages and lots that otherwise would go unfilled.

"We help drivers know exactly where they are going to go and how much they are going to pay for a parking space," said Jeremy Smith, co-founder of SpotHero. "Our vision and our dream is to make life easier for the daily driver."

Using an app, drivers can punch in an address or neighborhood, see nearby garages that have open spaces and pay for and reserve the spot from their phones. "You get peace of mind just by knowing exactly where you are going to go," Smith said. "You also know exactly how much you are going to pay. It's peace of mind."

The average space, Smith said, is discounted 20 to 25 percent, but some drivers in Boston have gotten as much as 40 percent off the advertised price. The average cost of parking in Boston for 12 hours is $25, Smith said.

SpotHero also brings in more money for lot owners and operators, Smith said, because more spots are filled.

Smith began searching for a better way to find parking after he racked up thousands of dollars in parking tickets.

"It just turns out that there are a lot of people in the same boat," Smith said.

SpotHero is also available in six other cities, including Chicago and New York City, but the idea of making parking easier and smarter is nothing new in Boston.

In December, the city rolled out Smart Parking Sensors in the Innovation District, which show available metered parking spaces on an app.

"You see a lot of smart technologies in the transportation space," said Kris Carter of the Office of New Urban Mechanics, which helped develop the system. "People are able to make better decisions about where they're going to go."

Part of the reason for the sensors was to examine demand and use in the area. Carter said snowy weather has prevented New Urban Mechanics and the Department of Transportation from collecting significant information, but he expects the data will begin to flow in the spring.

TicketZen, an app that lets drivers who stayed at the meter too long pay off those neon orange tickets, also launched in December. Users pay off an average of $65 in parking tickets, creator Cort Johnson said.

22.26 | 0 komentar | Read More

Area hospitals get healthier

The sustainability trend is finally coming to the hospital industry in a big way.

Dozens of Massachusetts hospitals — including six in just the past month — have signed on to a national initiative to get "healthier" by improving their food options, cutting waste and reducing energy use.

"We felt we needed to be part of the solution by providing a healthier environment," said Vanessa Kortze, spokeswoman for Lawrence General Hospital, which joined the Healthier Hospitals Initiative last week.

Lawrence General is starting with changes to its food and beverage options. Already, the hospital has cut sugary sodas from its catering menu and almost entirely from patient menus, and rearranged drinks in its cafeterias so water, not soda, is eye-level. Next, food and nutrition director Rick McIsaac plans to revamp the hot meals.

Some foods — fried chicken, Alfredo sauce, onion rings — have no place in a hospital, McIsaac said.

"That's not really appropriate to have inside a health care institution," he said. "It should be 'come get your grilled chicken on a bed of lettuce with a seltzer water.'"

At Partners Healthcare, John Messervy, director of capital and facility planning, acknowledged such changes can come with higher costs.

"That's one of the struggles: how do you balance the increased cost of the locally grown produce against the health benefits of that," Messervy said. "Some of our hospitals have said it's not a significant difference and others are still wrestling with it."

But the region's dominant health care system, which was one of the founders of the Healthier Hospitals Initiative in 2012, has made other changes that already are paying back, he said. Partners spent $60 million to reduce energy use, but that investment was returned in less than four years.

"Often, people think going green is more expensive. What we've been able to show is sustainability is a smart business decision," said Seema Wadhwa, director of the Healthier Hospitals Initiative. "Wasting less means saving more."

The initiative has enrolled about 900 hospitals nationwide, which agree to tackle any of six categories: engaged leadership, healthier food, leaner energy, less waste, safer chemicals and smarter purchasing.

These seemingly different goals are grouped together, Messervy said, because, "In the end it really is about looking to reduce the chemical exposure of our patients and our employees. The chemical exposure comes from lots of different areas: from carbon-based fuels, from additives in food, from various toxic chemicals ... even some of the clinical instruments."

The Massachusetts Hospital Association, which officially became a supporter of the program in February, is working to enroll more hospitals and share best practices with them.

"Our hospitals and staff are extremely busy right now," said Anuj Goel, the MHA's vice president of legal and regulatory affairs. "They don't have time to do a lot of searching nationally and see what is out there. We're getting all that and saying 'here you go.'"

22.26 | 0 komentar | Read More

Volvo needs 20 minutes of highway driving to warm up

I have an issue with my car warming up slowly when the temperature gets down around 0 degrees F. The car is a 2011 S40 Volvo with the T5 engine. The dealer confirmed that the issue I describe is happening but say they checked another 2011 S40 they had on the lot and it did the same thing. I find it strange that it takes 20-minutes-plus on the highway to reach operating temperature and that if you stop and run the heater at full output the engine temperature drops.

You didn't mention how long you've owned the vehicle and whether this is the first winter in which you've experienced this problem. Regardless, I'm surprised the dealer didn't at least check the thermostat for proper function. Like most liquid-cooled engines, your vehicle utilizes a thermostat to restrict coolant flow until coolant temperature reaches 194 degrees F, then maintains coolant temperature in the 194-221 range.

If the thermostat fails to close properly when the engine is cold or sticks in a partially or fully open position, symptoms will be precisely what you've described — long warm-up times and the inability to maintain operating temperature, particularly in cold weather.

Why not apply the KISS principle and try the simple stuff first — replace the thermostat and make sure the coolant level is full. Keep in mind that if the coolant temperature gauge reads significantly below normal, but you're still getting hot air from the heater system, the issue may be a faulty coolant temperature sensor mounted on the thermostat housing.

I like to back my 2009 Silverado Hybrid 6.0-liter V8 into my driveway. That way I don't have to back out, which is considerably safer. I currently have a large snowbank at the end of my driveway. On two occasions I have backed my truck into the snowbank. The tailpipe ended up obstructed with snow and ice. When I started the truck the next day, the engine idled very roughly — almost violently — and the "Low Engine Power" alarm appeared on the dashboard. The snow and ice melted from the tailpipe fairly quickly and the engine eventually regained power and operated normally. Ultimately the "Service Engine Soon" alarm cleared on its own. It has been over a week since the second occurrence and I have noticed no ill effects after the engine started operating normally again. Is there any possibility of undetected damage?

I don't think so. The warning lights, alarm and driveability issues were directly related to the restricted exhaust. A failed catalytic converter or physically damaged exhaust pipe could cause the same thing. Potential damage, although very unlikely in this case, could include engine overheating, catalytic converter failure, pre-ignition/detonation or burned exhaust valves.

In the "Low Power" mode of operation the engine management system operates in a self-protective mode to prevent any damage — which "saved the day" in this case.

What is the current thinking on the value of daytime running lights (DRL) as a safety feature? Some states have legislated their use. Our 2006 Buick Lucerne has them, but our new Chrysler minivan does not.

The idea behind DRLs is to increase visibility of your vehicle to other vehicles around you. There is no federal mandate but some carmakers install DRLs as standard equipment. Because they need to be visible in daylight, there have been complaints that some DRLs are too bright but with the increased use of HID and LED systems I believe this issue will fade.

Paul Brand, author of "How to Repair Your Car," is an automotive troubleshooter, driving instructor and former race-car driver. Readers may write to him at: Star Tribune, 425 Portland Ave. S., Minneapolis, Minn. 55488 or via email at paulbrand@startribune.com. Please explain the problem in detail and include a daytime phone number. Because of the volume of mail, we cannot provide personal replies.

22.26 | 0 komentar | Read More