Job seekers encouraged by increased hiring

Massachusetts employers have continued to add jobs at a steady pace, giving people who have given up on finding work the confidence to start looking again.

The participation rate — the percentage of working age Bay State residents with a job or actively looking for work — rose 0.3 percent last month to 66.2 percent, the highest that rate has been since June 2010, the state Labor Department said yesterday.

"What this shows is that people who left the labor force during the recession because they couldn't find work are now returning," said Alan Clayton-Matthews, an economist and professor at Northeastern University. "They're coming back into the labor force because they're being successful (at finding a job), they hear that from their friends."

Economists warn against putting too much stock in one month's data, but said the participation rate, which is a full percentage point above where it was a year ago, is clearly trending in the right direction, even in the face of demographic headwinds.

"We're in a period of time now where baby boomers are starting to retire in massive numbers, and that puts a downward pressure on participation rate," Clayton-Matthews said. "The fact that this participation rate is as high as it was in 2010, that's significant."

The state also said employers added 10,700 jobs last month, and the unemployment rate dropped 0.1 percent to 4.8 percent.

"I think it's a very encouraging report, and suggests we've weathered the storms," said Michael Goodman, executive director of the Public Policy Center at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. "This latest report is quite strong."

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Top 3 bond rating agencies give Massachusetts high marks

BOSTON — The nation's top three bond rating agencies are giving Massachusetts a clean bill of fiscal health.

State Treasurer Deb Goldberg said Thursday that Moody's, Standard & Poor's and Fitch have maintained their ratings for the state and affirmed stable economic outlooks ahead of Massachusetts' next competitive bond offering.

The state has held its current rating — one notch below the top possible rating and the highest in state history — since September 2011.

The ratings are largely based on four factors: the state's economy; financial position; debt and financial management; and long-term liabilities.

While Massachusetts has relatively a high level of debt, that's due in part by the heavier role the state takes in the financing of local projects, often handled at the county level in other states.

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Breaking even tough to do in Boston market

On the fence about renting or buying a home? A new analysis compares the costs and how long you would have to live in a home to rationalize the upfront expense of buying it.

In the Boston metro area, buying makes more financial sense if you plan to stay put for at least 3.4 years. That's how long it would take to break even — for the cumulative costs of renting the same home to exceed the purchase costs, according to Zillow, a Seattle online real estate database company.

Boston has the fourth longest break-even rate among the top 35 U.S. metro areas, behind Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and San Diego.

"The break-even horizons are historically very low," said Svenja Gudell, Zillow's senior director of economic research. "The rule of thumb is if you're going to buy a house, stay in it at least five years. A lot of (break-even rates) we're seeing across the country are lower than that."

Of Boston and Cambridge neighborhoods, Roxbury has the shortest break-even rate at one year, compared to 7.2 years in Beacon Hill. In the middle are West Roxbury at 3.7 years and North Cambridge at 4 years.

The current lower break-even rates are driven by home value appreciation rates that, while slowing, are still quite good, and very low mortgage rates and rising rents. Boston area home values appreciated 4 percent in the 12 months ending in February, while rents rose 5.2 percent.

Based on median household incomes and a 30-year fixed mortgage, Boston-area buyers can expect to spend 22 percent of their monthly income on a mortgage. Renters can expect to pay about 34 percent of their income on rent.

"Affordability is quite good on the for-sale side," Gudell said. "It's not looking so good right now for renters."

Home ownership brings a lot of benefits.

"One of the biggest things is being able to collect equity in your house," Gudell said. "It's like a ginormous savings account for you. But it also brings along a lot of responsibility."

Buyers need to determine the monthly payment they can afford for principal, interest, taxes and insurance, said Norwell financial planner Dan Galli, president of the Financial Planning Association of Massachusetts. Keeping those payments to 26 to 28 percent of gross income and keeping total debt to 33 to 34 percent is a good start, he said.

"The challenge is the down-payment and … whether you can get the 20 percent to avoid (private mortgage insurance), or whether you can catch some sort of first-time home buyers program to perhaps let you put a smaller amount down," Galli said.

Dan Walsh, sales manager for William Raveis Real Estate in Boston, advises consulting a qualified mortgage advisor. "A lot of people think if you're buying a $500,000 condo, that they need to put down 20 percent or $100,000," Walsh said. "They might be able to put down 5 percent or less with great credit and still get good rates. And they're also locking in historically low rates, so if they're going to be there for a long time, it's to their advantage."

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Google embraces 'mobile-friendly' sites in search shake-up

SAN FRANCISCO — Google is about to change the way its influential search engine recommends websites on smartphones and tablets in a shift that's expected to sway where millions of people shop, eat and find information.

The revised formula, scheduled to be released Tuesday, will favor websites that Google defines as "mobile-friendly." Websites that don't fit the description will be demoted in Google's search results on smartphones and tablets while those meeting the criteria will be more likely to appear at the top of the rankings — a prized position that can translate into more visitors and money.

Although Google's new formula won't affect searches on desktop and laptop computers, it will have a huge influence on how and where people spend their money, given that more people are relying on their smartphones to compare products in stores and look for restaurants. That's why Google's new rating system is being billed by some search experts as "Mobile-geddon."

"Some sites are going to be in for a big surprise when they find a drastic change in the amount of people visiting them from mobile devices," said Itai Sadan, CEO of website-building service Duda.

It's probably the most significant change that Google Inc. has ever made to its mobile search rankings, according to Matt McGee, editor-in-chief for Search Engine Land, a trade publication that follows every tweak that the company makes to its closely guarded algorithms.

Here are a few things to know about what's happening and why Google is doing it.

___

MAKING MOBILE FRIENDS

To stay in Google's good graces, websites must be designed so they load quickly on mobile devices. Content must also be easily accessible by scrolling up and down — without having to also swipe to the left or right. It also helps if all buttons for making purchases or taking other actions on the website can be easily seen and touched on smaller screens.

If a website has been designed only with PC users in mind, the graphics take longer to load on mobile devices and the columns of text don't all fit on the smaller screens, to the aggravation of someone trying to read it.

Google has been urging websites to cater to mobile device for years, mainly because that is where people are increasingly searching for information.

The number of mobile searches in the U.S. is rising by about 5 percent while inquiries on PCs are dipping slightly, according to research firm comScore Inc. In the final three months of last year, 29 percent of all U.S. search requests — about 18.5 billion — were made on mobile devices, comScore estimated. Google processes the bulk of searches — two-thirds in the U.S. and even more in many other countries.

___

BRACING FOR CHANGE

To minimize complaints, the company disclosed its plans nearly two months ago. It also created a step-by-step guide (http://bit.ly/1GyC0Id ) and a tool to test compliance with the new standards (http://bit.ly/1EVi9R3 ).

Google has faced uproar over past changes to its search formula. Two of the bigger revisions, done in 2011 and 2012, focused on an attempt to weed out misleading websites and other digital rubbish. Although that goal sounds reasonable, many websites still complained that Google's changes unfairly demoted them in the rankings, making their content more difficult to find.

___

STILL CAUGHT OFF GUARD

While most major merchants and big companies already have websites likely to meet Google's mobile standard, the new formula threatens to hurt millions of small businesses that haven't had the money or incentive to adapt their sites for smartphones.

"A lot of small sites haven't really had a reason to be mobile friendly until now, and it's not going to be easy for them to make the changes," McGee said.

___

BURYING HELPFUL CONTENT

Google's search formula weighs a variety of factors to determine the rankings of its results. One of the most important considerations has always been whether a site contains the most pertinent information sought by a search request.

But new pecking order in Google's mobile search may relegate some sites to the back pages of the search results, even if their content is more relevant to a search request than other sites that happen to be easier to access on smartphones.

That will be an unfortunate consequence, but also justifiable because a person might not even bother to look at sites that take a long time to open or difficult to read on mobile devices, Gartner analyst Whit Andrews said.

"Availability is part of relevancy," Andrews said. "A lot of people aren't going to think something is relevant if they can't get it to appear on their iPhone."

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Verizon slices up the bundle, lets customers choose

NEW YORK — The Pay-TV bundle is finally getting more flexible.

Verizon said Friday it is giving its customers more control over the channels they pay for, one of the biggest signs yet that consumer taste for cord-cutting and watching shows a la carte is reshaping the cable industry.

Large cable bundles laden with dozens of channels and big price tags have pushed more people into cheaper streaming services like Netflix and Amazon and Hulu. Other late entries include HBO Now and Sling TV, not to mention sports oriented streaming services like MLB.com.

That's forcing changes in the pay-TV landscape, said Nomura analyst Adam Ilkowitz.

"This is more of an evolution than a revolution," he said. "This is not Verizon saying the bundle is dead — there's still a lot of bundling attached to it. This is an acknowledgement that consumer preference is maybe shifting."

FiOS Custom TV, available Sunday, gives customers the option to buy a base package for about $55. That package has more than 35 channels — such as AMC, CNN and Food Network — plus two additional themed channel packs.

The offer does not include internet service.

There's currently seven channel packs to choose from, including genres such as sports, children and lifestyle. Customers can add more channel packs — which include about 10-17 channels on average — for $10 each. They may also swap out channel packs after 30 days.

Other packages include Double Play, which has TV and Internet, and Triple Play, which includes TV, Internet and phone service. Double Play packages range from about $65 to $85 a month. Triple Play is priced between about $75 and $95 a month.

No contract is required, according to Verizon Communications Inc.

Last month Sony announced the PlayStation Vue service, an online package of more than 50 channels starting at $50 a month. While it's the most expensive of internet-only offerings, doesn't include some popular channels and is currently only available in certain cities, it's still less expensive than most traditional cable and satellite packages. Those packages typically run $70 to $100 a month, excluding promotions.

Other streaming services include Dish's Sling TV.

Verizon shares fell 32 cents to $48.95 in morning trading Friday. Its shares are up almost 3 percent over the past year.

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Loss of Cape Wind sinks bid for marine terminal

A major port operator is no longer competing to run the state's New Bedford marine terminal — a $113 million taxpayer-­funded boondoggle — after the Cape Wind project folded.

"They had a good plan with the wind energy and that's really what we were banking on," said Frank Vannelli, senior vice president for commercial and business development at Logistec Corp. "But when the deal fell through, we just stepped back and we said, 'Let's take a look here at how we're spending our resources' and we decided to put it in a holding pattern."

Without Cape Wind as the main terminal tenant, a bid no longer made sense for Logistec, Vannelli said.

Executives with Cape Wind, who are planning to plant 130 turbines in Nantucket Sound, backed out of a two-year, $4.5 million deal to rent the 28-acre terminal after National Grid and Eversource terminated contracts to buy power from the wind project.

State officials have said a new lease is expected to fetch a lower price for the terminal, which is overbudget and months behind schedule.

Vannelli said the South Coast Marine Commerce Terminal could be conducive to smaller vessels with refrigerated goods, such as frozen fish and fresh fruit, because the area isn't optimal for larger container ships.

"Our organization is still very interested in what's going on in the port of New Bedford and I do think it has a role to play," he said. "I don't think that it's realistic to think that any of these smaller-sized ports would attract large container cargoes. The containers will go to the larger ports. They will go to New York. They will go to Boston."

The quasi-public Massachusetts Clean Energy Center plans to name a port operator by summer, but has yet to make public the three finalists.

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Seattle CEO to cut his pay so every worker earns $70,000

SEATTLE — A Seattle CEO who announced that he's giving himself a drastic pay cut to help cover the cost of big raises for his employees didn't just make those workers happy.

He's already gained new customers, too.

"We've definitely gained a handful of customers in the last day or two," said Stefan Bennett, a customer relations manager at Gravity Payments, a credit card payment processing firm. "We're showing people you can run a good company, and you can pay people fairly, and it can be profitable."

Dan Price, chief executive of the company, stunned his 100-plus workers on Monday when he told them he was cutting his roughly $1 million salary to $70,000 and using company profits to ensure that everyone there would earn at least that much within three years.

For some workers, the increase will more than double their pay. One 21-year-old mother said she'll buy a house.

At a time of increasing anger nationally over the enormous gap between the pay of top executives and their employees, the announcement received immense attention. But corporate governance professor David Larcker of the Stanford University Graduate School of Business said it's unclear if Price's unusual gesture will start a trend.

"It's an alternative way to think about a tough problem, and I give these guys a lot of credit for laying it out there," Larcker said. "Whether this would scale to a bigger organization, it's hard to know. But it's clever, it's interesting and it's fun to think about."

Washington state already has the nation's highest minimum wage at $9.47 an hour, and earlier this month Seattle's minimum wage law went into effect. It will eventually raise base hourly pay to $15.

Labor unions and workers in the Seattle area on Wednesday joined national protests for better pay. Drivers for Uber and Lyft — the app-based car-hailing services — gathered in Seattle, while airport workers rallied at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. In Seattle, police arrested 21 demonstrators who opted for civil disobedience to dramatize their point, refusing to move out of an intersection at the conclusion of their march.

Gravity's CEO launched the company from his dorm room at Seattle Pacific University when he was just 19. He's long taken a progressive approach that included adopting a policy allowing his workers to take unlimited paid vacation after their first year.

"I think this is just what everyone deserves," Price told workers in a video of Monday's announcement released by the company.

But he also acknowledged it won't be easy: The increased pay will eat into at least half the company's profits, he said, and he has no plans to simply raise rates on clients.

"It's up to us to find a way to make it work," he said.

Bennett, 28, went to college with Price and has worked for Gravity since graduation. He said he was already happy to work for a company that treats its employees and customers well in what he otherwise considers a predatory industry. For him, the raise will amount to about $10,000.

"I don't care as much about the money," he said. "But if I look at my colleagues, and what they talk about on a day-to-day basis and what their concerns are — just looking at their faces when Dan announced the pay increase, it was pretty phenomenal."

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Users sold on Pinterest: Social network rolls out strong advertising platform

The image-sharing network Pinterest is slowly rolling out its long-­awaited advertising platform, giving busi­nesses new power to promote pins in what is sure to be a huge test of Facebook's marketing dominance.

The only question is why one of the largest social networks in the world waited so long.

From retailers to brands to politicians, Pinterest has been a requirement for a few years now. Anyone looking to generate buzz is already on Pinterest — pulling out all the visual stops in a bid to get noticed by the platform's 72.5 million users.

With e-commerce increasingly a mobile-centric proposition, Pinterest is already where it needs to be: 75 percent of its usage takes place on a tablet or a smartphone, according to the company.

Yet Facebook has a giant head start, with at least 10 times the mobile users. Mobile ads now account for 98 percent of Facebook's revenue growth, and the social network is adding new features for advertisers on almost a daily basis.

If you're wondering why you keep seeing ads for products on Facebook that interest you, it's because Facebook tracks your habits with great precision. Causes you donate to, products you buy, pages you like, whether you've recently entered into a new relationship — Facebook lets advertisers target you based on all that information and much, much more.

But Facebook has also royally damaged its relationship with some small businesses by suppressing content that is not paid for. So if you're a small retailer looking to gain traction, you're going to find it nearly impossible to show up in users' news feeds unless you pay the piper.

It's easy to see some of those businesses shifting ad spending to Pinterest as it seeks to be the top visual search engine on the web. So far, Pinterest's advertising platform is impressive. Advertisers can target users based on keywords, location and device. And they only pay when a user clicks on the promoted pin.

Though 71 percent of Pinterest users are women, according to comScore, Pinterest claims more men use the platform in the U.S. every month than read Sports Illustrated and GQ combined. In emerging markets such as India and South Korea, the demographic is more evenly split. And one-third of new sign-ups are men.

It's only a matter of time before all those pretty pictures on the platform feature something new: a "buy now" button.

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'Paul Blart' leads lowest TV ad spend week yet this year

In this week's edition of the Variety Movie Commercial Tracker, powered by iSpot.tv, the lull of the pre-summer release schedule was felt in full force as the industry collectively spent the least amount on advertising new movies yet this year. But consider this the calm before the storm, as next month the summer blockbuster season begins and ad budgets are almost certainly due to ramp up in support.

Leading the charge was "Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2," with an estimated $6 million spent on 1,351 national airings across 50 networks led by Cartoon Network and Disney XD. That was still more than twice what every other film on the list spent this week.

In second, "The Longest Ride" put forth $2.7 million on 1,053 national airings across 26 networks led by VH1 and MTV. Disney's "Monkey Kingdom" followed with $2.4 million spent on 624 national airings across 26 networks led by Disney XD and Nick. In fourth was "The Adge of Adaline" with $2.2 million spent on 411 national ads across 25 networks, led by TV Guide Network and E!.

Although "The Avengers: Age of Ultron" debuted with $2 million spent on 258 national airings across 27 networks led by Disney XD and Nick, expect to see a surge in the coming weeks as it gears up for the May 1 opening weekend to kick off the summer season.

That adds up to a paltry $15.3 million for the top five alone, and a mere $32.7 million for the industry overall. Typically, the top five advertisers alone will spend between $30 million to $40 million on any given week. In the 14 weeks of the year so far, the industry has spent just over $1 billion on TV advertising. That averages to about $73 million a week. So by comparison this was a frugal week by any measure.

Columbia Pictures led the way with an estimated $6.1 million on five spots receiving 1,449 national airings, followed by Universal Pictures with $3.7 million, and Lionsgate with $3.5 million, both with five spots each and less than 1,000 national airings.

$6M - Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2

Online Activity: 0.77% within the movie category*

National Airings: 1,351

Networks: 50

Most Aired On: Cartoon Network, Disney XD

Creative Versions: 31

Est. Lifetime TV Spend: $17.1M

Studio: Columbia Pictures

Started Airing: 03/16/15

$2.7M - The Longest Ride

Online Activity: 4.74% within the movie category*

National Airings: 1,053

Networks: 26

Most Aired On: VH1, MTV

Creative Versions: 25

Est. Lifetime TV Spend: $17.7M

Studio: Twentieth Century Fox

Started Airing: 03/01/15

$2.4M - Monkey Kingdom

Online Activity: 0.63% within the movie category*

National Airings: 624

Networks: 26

Most Aired On: Disney XD, Nick

Creative Versions: 16

Est. Lifetime TV Spend: $5M

Studio: Walt Disney Pictures

Started Airing: 03/07/15

$2.2M - The Age of Adaline

Online Activity: 1.52% within the movie category*

National Airings: 411

Networks: 25

Most Aired On: TV Guide Network, E!

Creative Versions: 8

Est. Lifetime TV Spend: $7.9M

Studio: Lionsgate

Started Airing: 03/15/15

$2M - The Avengers: Age of Ultron

Online Activity: 15.54% within the movie category*

National Airings: 258

Networks: 27

Most Aired On: Disney XD, Nick

Creative Versions: 22

Est. Lifetime TV Spend: $11.5M

Studio: Marvel

Started Airing: 01/01/15

¹ Movie titles with a minimum spend of $100,000 for airings detected between 04/07/2015 and 04/13/2015.
* Percent of digital activity captured across online video, social media, and search activity that was stimulated by these movie trailers and measured in comparison to all online activity in the movie category.

Variety has partnered with iSpot.tv, a company that catalogs, tags and measures activity around TV commercials in real time, to bring you this weekly look at what studios are spending to market their movies on TV. Learn more about the iSpot.tv platform and methodology.

© 2015 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

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Netflix shares soar to all-time high after huge subscriber gains

Netflix stock shot up more than 13% Thursday, hitting an all-time high of $541.43 per share in early trading, after the No. 1 subscription-video player packed on about 860,000 more streaming customers than expected in the first quarter of 2015.

The company added 4.9 million streaming subs worldwide in the period, including 2.28 million in the U.S.

Netflix's big stock move gives it a market cap of more than $32 billion, making it more valuable -- at the moment -- than media companies including CBS, Viacom and Discovery Communications.

"Overall we view Q1 domestic streaming results as emphatically positive -- exceeding revenue estimates and (perhaps more importantly) materially beating net sub adds expectations," RBC Capital Markets analyst Mark Mahaney wrote in a research note.

With roughly 39 million U.S. subs and 18 million international customers, Netflix is "one of the largest global entertainment subscription businesses," Mahaney added. "We believe that Netflix has achieved a level of sustainable
scale, growth, and profitability that isn't currently reflected in its stock price." The analyst maintained an "outperform" rating on the stock, with a price target of $600.

Netflix, for its part, attributed the strong subscriber gains stemmed from its growing programming lineup, including the Q1 launch of "House of Cards" season 3 and new shows "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" (pictured above) and "Bloodline." Another eagerly awaited original series, "Marvel's Daredevil," hit the service April 10, after the end of the first quarter on March 31.

The company's original-content strategy is now fueling a virtuous cycle, driving up both gross adds and cutting churn, according to UBS analyst Doug Mitchelson.

"Netflix reminds us of ESPN's virtuous cycle 15 years ago, when ESPN's leadership allowed it to acquire more and better sports rights, helping drive strong growth off its leading revenue base and so on," he wrote in a research note. That resulted in ESPN building an "insurmountable" edge over rivals: "ESPN spends more on sports rights than any other network, and also makes more money on sports rights than any other network.

On the strong Q1 results, Cowen & Co. analyst John Blackledge raised estimates for Netflix subscriber gains for 2015 and beyond. This year, he estimates, the company will add 6 million U.S. and 11 million international subs (up from the previous 4.8 million and 8.5 million, respectively). The analyst also raised his price target on the stock from $465 to $625 per share.

The most recent quarter stands in contrast to Netflix's third quarter of 2014, when the company badly missed expectations on sub growth (gaining 3.2 million, 670,000 fewer than it had forecast). That pushed the stock down as much as 26%.

© 2015 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

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Braintree eyes cease-and-desist order vs. Uber

The city of Braintree is considering sending controversial ride-for-hire company Uber a cease-and-desist order for operating in the city without hackney or livery licenses, officials said.

The move would be a first by a municipality in Massachusetts in the ongoing battle over the tech giant, which has attracted fierce opposition by the traditional taxi industry.

"It's a very good day," said Stephen Regan, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Regional Taxi Advisory Group. "Hopefully it will be the catalyst for other cities and towns to enforce their ordinances as well."

Yesterday, the Board of License Commissioners voted to have the Town Solicitor draft a cease-and-desist letter to Uber and Lyft, commission chair and Town Clerk Jim Casey said.

"The License Commissioners voted to direct the Town Solicitor to draft language for a cease and desist order for ride-hailing services which do not register their vehicles with the Town via the Town's Livery Regulations," he said.

He said the commission is not trying to drive out Uber and Lyft, but require drivers for the companies to register as livery or taxi services.

"The proposed policy would not prevent ride-hailing services from operating within the town boundaries," he said.

The commission will likely to vote on whether to send the letter on April 28.

"Like every municipality, we are trying to decipher the rules of the game, and we're not against Uber, we're not against marketplace options," said Braintree Mayor Joseph Sullivan, who is not on the committee. "We're like every community, trying to handle, determine, what level of oversight is needed."

Uber contends that they are not subject to existing taxi and livery regulation because they are not a traditional transport company. Rather, they claim, they simply connect riders and drivers through their wildly popular app -- a service they say is not currently covered by any existing regulations.

This morning, Uber said it will have a statement in response to the Braintree vote shortly.

Uber and similar service Lyft have faced regulatory scrutiny throughout the state, including by the governor's office, the city of Boston and other cities.

Gov. Charlie Baker is moving forward with state regulations that would provide consistent regulations throughout the state. His administration has been meeting with mayors and municipal leaders to come up with a consensus.

Currently, state law gives cities and towns the power to regulate and oversee transportation in their municipalities.

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Protester interrupts European Central Bank press conference

FRANKFURT, Germany — A female protester has interrupted the European Central Bank's press conference screaming "End ECB dictatorship."

The protester rushed to the stage where ECB President Mario Draghi was delivering opening remarks after the bank's latest policy meeting.

Draghi reappeared on stage a few minutes later and carried on with his remarks.

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Marchers in Boston seek higher wages

BOSTON — Backers of a drive to hike wages for the nation's lowest paid workers to at least $15 per hour are holding a series of events in Boston.

Several hundred people, including college students, fast-food restaurant employees and other workers gathered for a rally on Tuesday afternoon at Forsyth Park near Northeastern University. Many held signs bearing messages such as "Fight for $15," ''Stop Corporate Greed," and "Jobs for Justice."

The group later planned a march to a McDonald's restaurant in downtown Boston, with several stops scheduled along the route.

Protesters say Boston is serving as a launching ground for nationwide protests on behalf of low-paid workers.

The Massachusetts Legislature approved a law last year raising the state's minimum wage in three steps to a U.S.-leading $11 per hour by 2017.

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European shares advance as Draghi stays the stimulus course

LONDON — European shares rose Wednesday as European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi gave few hints that the bank will bring its stimulus earlier than planned. Shares in Asia fell, however, after figures showed China growing at its slowest pace in six years.

KEEPING SCORE: In Europe, Germany's DAX rose 0.7 percent to 12,273 while the CAC-40 in France was up 0.7 percent at 5,253. Britain's FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was 0.4 percent higher at 7,107. Wall Street was poised for a solid opening with both Dow futures and the broader S&P 500 futures up 0.4 percent.

FOCUS ON DRAGHI: Minutes after being forced from the stage at his briefing by a protester, Mario Draghi, the president of the European Central Bank, indicated that he bank will stick with its monthly bond purchases despite recent signs of an economic rebound in the 19-country eurozone. A raft of solid economic data have ratcheted up expectations that the ECB will ease up the pace on its purchases, so-called tapering. His briefing came after the bank kept its main interest rate unchanged at a record low of 0.05 percent. As his briefing came to an end, the euro was down 0.1 percent at $1.0633.

CHINA DATA: China was also in focus Wednesday after figures showed the world's number 2 economy cooled further as manufacturing and retail sales slowed in January-March. Growth fell to 7 percent from the previous quarter's 7.3 percent, the weakest performance since it tumbled to 6.1 percent in the first quarter of 2009. The slower pace of growth has raised expectations that Beijing will look to enact further stimulus.

ASIA'S DAY: Japan's Nikkei 225 stock index fell 0.2 percent to 19,869.76. Hong Kong's Hang Seng recovered from early losses, gaining 0.2 percent to 27,618.82 and South Korea's Kospi gained 0.4 percent to 2,119.96. But the Shanghai composite index yoyo'd to end the day 1.2 percent lower at 4,084.16. In Australia, whose resource sector is vulnerable to fluctuations in Chinese demand, the S&P ASX/200 fell 0.6 percent to 5,908.40.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude rose $1.07 to $54.36 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils used by many U.S. refineries, rose 75 cents to $59.17 a barrel in London.

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Correction: Airline Seat Health Risk story

WASHINGTON — In a story April 14 about airline seats, The Associated Press reported erroneously on how the government tracks the percent of airline seats sold. The figure does include seats obtained through frequent flier miles.

A corrected version of the story is below:

Panel asks: Could cramped airline seats be dangerous?

Consumer panel investigates whether cramped airline seats could be dangerous to passengers

By SCOTT MAYEROWITZ

AP Airlines Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — The shrinking space on airplanes is surely uncomfortable, but it might also be dangerous for passengers' health and safety.

Planes are filled with more passengers than ever before. Fliers are older and heavier. Flight attendants warn about an increase in air rage, and experts question if having rows of seats packed closer together might make it harder for passengers to evacuate after a crash.

A consumer advisory group set up by the Department of Transportation dove into all those issues Tuesday at a public hearing as part of its role to make non-binding suggestions to government regulators.

Charlie Leocha, the consumer representative on the committee, said the government sets standards for the conditions for dogs flying as cargo but doesn't dictate minimum space standards for passengers.

"In a world where animals have more rights to space and food than humans," Leocha said, "it is time that the DOT and FAA take a stand for humane treatment of passengers."

Fliers last summer squeezed into the least amount of personal space in the history of flying. In July, U.S. airlines sold a record 87.8 percent of seats on domestic flights, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statics. That figure includes seats obtained through frequent flier miles but does not include seats occupied by airline employees flying for free.

"Unfortunately, the days of the empty middle seat are a thing of the past," said Julie Frederick, a representative for the American Airlines flight attendants union.

Following the implementation of checked-bag fees in 2008, Frederick said, more and more passengers are carrying on bags, fighting for overhead bin space. That anger carries over through the flight as passengers bump elbows on armrests and bang their knees against tray tables. She said there are more cases of air rage, many of which go unreported.

Questions were also raised if the increased density of seats means passengers won't be able to evacuate fast enough after a crash.

The Federal Aviation Administration runs various tests including how fast passengers can evacuate a plane and how fast they can put on a life preserver.

But Cynthia Corbertt, a human factors researcher with the FAA, testified that it conducts those tests using planes with 31 inches between each row of seats. Many passenger jets today have less legroom. For instance, United Airlines has 30 inches of room, known as pitch, on some jets; Spirit Airlines offers 28 inches.

"We just haven't considered other pitches," Corbertt told the Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protection.

Before any new jet is allowed to fly, the manufacturer must prove that everybody can evacuate in 90 seconds with half of the exits blocked.

Carry-on baggage is strewn throughout the cabin, and the test is conducted in night-like conditions. However, the cabin is not filled with smoke, and all of the passengers are physically fit, dressed in athletic clothing and know that an evacuation is coming.

"We'd like to see more realistic simulations," Frederick testified. She added that most passengers don't pay attention to pre-flight safety briefings, especially now that they can use electronic devices from gate to gate.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane, who chairs the DOT committee, noted concern that the FAA does not factor in human panic, especially parents who might take extra time to ensure their children are safe before evacuating.

"So they aren't the average traveler, quite honestly," Kane said.

On long flights, there is another risk for fliers: deep vein thrombosis, where a blood clot forms, typically in a leg vein. If that clot gets lose and travels into the lungs, it can cause a blockage.

Nimia L. Reyes, a medical officer with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said that seat size isn't necessarily a factor in people developing the clots or not. The real issue, she said, was how able passengers are to get up, walk around and stretch. Those in window seats have twice the risk of getting deep vein thrombosis than those on the aisle seats.

Producing more legroom isn't that simple.

After years of major losses and a wave of bankruptcies, airlines are finally profitable again after adding baggage fees and increasing the number of seats on jets. Last year, U.S. carriers earned more than a combined $11 billion.

Airlines do offer coach passengers more legroom, if they are willing to pay for it — often $50 extra each way. Many travelers aren't.

Keith Hansen, director of government affairs for budget carrier Allegiant Air, said the No. 1 thing vacationers care about is price.

"The only way we can offer a low airfare ... is to increase the seating density so we can divide the cost of operating a flight among the greatest number of people possible," Hansen said.

The DOT has seen an increase in passenger complaints but few regarding seat recline or personal space, said Blane Workie, a committee member and the department's assistant general counsel for aviation enforcement and proceedings.

David A. Berg, a member of the DOT committee and general counsel for the airline industry's trade and lobbying group, Airlines for America, asked how airlines would respond if the government created a new rule requiring a minimum amount of legroom.

"If airlines are forced to reduce the number of seats," Hansen replied, "inevitably there would be an increase and it would price out part of the traveling public."

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Scott Mayerowitz can be reached at http://twitter.com/GlobeTrotScott .

22.26 | 0 komentar | Read More

US stocks fall in early trading after mixed earnings reports

NEW YORK — U.S. stocks were moving between small gains and losses in morning trading Tuesday as investors reacted to mixed corporate earnings. JPMorgan Chase rose after reporting first-quarter results that beat expectations. Eight of the 10 industry sectors in the Standard & Poor's 500 index fell, led by industrial companies. Bond prices rose.

KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average was up 32 points, or 0.2 percent, to 18,010 as of 11:14 a.m. Eastern time. The S&P 500 was up a point at 2,093. The Nasdaq composite fell 15 points, or 0.3 percent, to 4,973.

JPMORGAN JUMPS: The nation's largest bank by assets rose 99 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $63.06 after reporting earnings rose 11 percent in the first quarter. The bank was helped by strong results in its currency, commodities and fixed-income trading businesses.

TRAIN TROUBLE: Norfolk Southern slumped six percent after forecasting disappointing first-quarter results as demand for coal shipments for export fell. Shares fell $6.43, or 6 percent to $98.46. The railroad company reports results on April 29.

J&J FLAT: Johnson & Johnson was little changed after reporting first-quarter profit fell 8.6 percent, hurt by unfavorable exchange rates, a divestiture and a slightly higher tax rate. The results beat Wall Street expectations, but the company also cut its full-year profit forecast. Shares fell 21 cents to $100.76.

WELLS DROPS: Wells Fargo fell 84 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $53.76 after reporting first-quarter earnings fell slightly from the same period a year earlier. Gains from trading and mortgages were offset by lower income from other sources, such as card fees and deposit service charges.

HEADING TO THE MALL: Retail sales jumped 0.9 percent last month, after declining 0.5 percent in February, the Commerce Department said. The rebound suggests that shoppers are returning after an unseasonably cold winter froze sales.

EARNINGS OVERALL: Companies in the S&P 500 are expected to report a 3 percent slump in earnings per share in the first quarter, the first quarterly drop since the U.S. was climbing out of recession in 2009. Much of the blame goes to a steep drop in oil prices. That has slashed the profits of oil drillers and other energy-related companies. A stronger U.S. currency has also hurt. It has made profits earned overseas by U.S. multinationals worth less when translated back to dollars.

EUROPE: France's CAC 40 and Germany's DAX each fell 1.2 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 was little changed.

MORE DEAL-MAKING: Nokia said it is in talks to buy French networks company Alcatel-Lucent. Shares in Alcatel-Lucent, which has reported losses for almost a decade, jumped 15 percent, while Nokia's stock dropped 4 percent.

ASIA'S DAY: Japan's Nikkei 225 closed little changed. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.2 percent. South Korea's Kospi gained 0.6 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 1.5 percent.

CHINA FOCUS: Investors have their eyes on economic growth data on China, set to be released later in the week. Monday's trade data, showing a contraction by a bigger margin than expected, added to speculation of more stimulus measures.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude oil rose $1 to $52.91 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, a benchmark for many oils imported by U.S. refineries, gained 69 cents to $59.75 a barrel.

CURRENCIES: The dollar slipped to 119.01 yen from 120.32 yen. The euro rose to $1.0697 from $1.0597.

BONDS: Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 1.86 percent from 1.93 percent late Monday.

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AP Business Writer Yuri Kageyama contributed to this report from Tokyo.

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SpaceX tries again to launch space station groceries

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX faces stormy skies for the second day in a row as it tries to launch a shipment of space station groceries.

The unmanned rocket is set to blast off at 4:10 p.m. Tuesday from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Forecasters put the weather odds at 60 percent.

The SpaceX capsule holds more than 4,000 pounds of supplies ordered up by NASA for the International Space Station, much of it food.

Italy is sending up a special espresso machine for Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, who's been stuck with American instant coffee since fall. The Italians in charge of the project hope to revolutionize coffee-drinking in space.

SpaceX, meanwhile, hopes to transform the rocket business by landing a leftover booster on an ocean platform. This will be the third try.

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Parents sue Botox maker after woman with cerebral palsy dies

BURLINGTON, Vt. — The parents of a Vermont woman who died last year have sued Botox maker Allergan, saying treatment of her cerebral palsy with Botox contributed to her death.

The Burlington Free Press reportsMike and Susan Fortuna, of Shelburne, sued last week, accusing Allergan of failing to warn of dangers, negligence and breach of the Vermont Consumer Fraud Act in treating their 21-year-old daughter, Mandy Fortuna.

Allergan hasn't commented on the lawsuit.

In November, a Vermont jury awarded a New York family $6.75 million in their lawsuit against Allergan. Their lawyer said 7-year-old Joshua Drake developed epilepsy after getting Botox injections for his cerebral palsy. Joshua and Fortuna were treated by the same doctor.

Allergan is contesting the verdict. It's said Botox is a safe way to treat leg spasms.

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Information from: The Burlington Free Press, http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com

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US businesses boosted stockpiles 0.3 percent in February

WASHINGTON — U.S. businesses increased their stockpiles by a moderate amount in February although total business sales were weak for a seventh straight month.

Businesses boosted stockpiles 0.3 percent in February after no growth in January, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. Sales were flat in February following a 2.3 percent plunge in January. Sales by businesses have either fallen or been flat for the past seven months with the last increase coming in July.

Economic growth has been slow over the past six months but economists are looking for a rebound in the current April-June quarter, led by stronger consumer spending. Analysts expect solid job growth will boost incomes and that will translate into stronger spending.

A separate report Tuesday showed that retail sales increased 0.9 percent in March, reflecting stronger sales of autos, furniture, clothing and building materials. It was the first increase after three months of declines.

Economists expect growth will rebound in the April-June quarter to around 3 percent after a weak fourth quarter, when the overall economy expanded by just 2.2 percent and what is expected to be an even weaker January-March period. Many analysts believe growth slowed in the first quarter to around 1 percent or less, reflecting in part a harsh winter which kept shoppers away from stores.

Many analysts expect growth will average a healthy 3 percent for the rest of the year although there are risks to that forecast. One threat is that exports will falter because of a sharp rise in the value of the dollar. A stronger dollar makes U.S. goods more expensive on overseas markets and this could cost U.S. companies sales against their foreign competitors.

The inventory report showed that stockpiles held by retailers were up 0.4 percent while wholesale inventories rose 0.3 percent and manufacturing stockpiles edged up 0.1 percent.

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Christie to propose overhaul of Social Security benefits

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Framing himself as a politician who's unafraid to share "hard truths" with the American people, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is proposing an income cap on Social Security benefits as part of major restructuring plan announced ahead of a likely presidential bid.

The Republican is set to deliver a speech Tuesday in New Hampshire outlining his ideas on reforming Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid — so-called entitlement programs.

As part of the plan, he'll propose phasing out Social Security payments for those making more than $80,000 in other income and eliminating them for those making $200,000 or more a year.

"I'm suggesting that Americans pay into this system throughout the course of their life knowing that it will be there if they need it to support them. So that seniors will not grow old in back-breaking poverty. But if you are fortunate enough not to need it, you will have paid into a system that will continue to help Americans who need it most," he says, according to an excerpt released by his political action committee, Leadership Matters for America. "That is what we have always done for each other through private charity and good government."

Christie will also propose raising the retirement ages for Social Security and Medicare eligibility and eliminating the payroll tax for seniors who stay in the workforce past age 62.

A spokeswoman for the PAC said the proposals were aimed at reducing the growth of entitlements by over $ 1 trillion over the next 10 years.

The speech tackles cherished benefit programs typically considered untouchable in politics. It comes as Christie is facing an uphill battle pushing for a new pension overhaul in New Jersey, where he has been sued by more than a dozen public workers' unions for scaling back promised payments as part of a deal that was hailed as a landmark during his first term.

Now Christie says those changes didn't go far enough.

22.26 | 0 komentar | Read More

Inspector Gadget: MacBook a bit pricy, but lightweight and a beauty

MacBook ($1,299 and up, 
AppleStore.com)

The latest iteration of Apple's full-size notebook computer weighs in at two pounds, is 13.1 mm thin, and has a 12-inch so-called Retina display with edge-to-edge glass.

The good: If you like Apple design, you'll love this MacBook. Available in gold, silver or space gray, it's also got a great new trackpad and a wider keyboard.

The bad: Apple's new MacBook has just one USB port. So if you plan to connect a lot of devices to your laptop, this might not be for you.

The bottom line: If you're OK with just one USB port, this gorgeous Mac's for you.

22.26 | 0 komentar | Read More

Massachusetts gas prices inch up a penny

BOSTON — A gallon of gas in Massachusetts has inched up a penny in the past week, but remains a nickel below the national average.

AAA Northeast reports Monday that the average price of a gallon of self-serve, regular is up to $2.34.

The current price is still 7 cents lower per gallon than a month ago and $1.19 lower than at this time last year.

AAA found self-serve, regular selling for as low as $2.13 per gallon and as high as $2.59.

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Stocks mostly rise as weak China data boosts stimulus hopes

BEIJING — World stocks mostly rose on Monday, with China's index closing at a seven-year high, as a run of weak indicators boosted hopes for stimulus in the world's second-largest economy.

KEEPING SCORE: Germany's DAX was flat at 12,372.99 and France's CAC 40 was up 0.1 percent to 5,243.32. Britain's FTSE 100 was down 0.5 percent. A broader measure of European shares, the Stoxx 600, was at record highs, edging up 0.1 percent from the record close set on Friday. On Wall Street, futures for the Standard & Poor's 500 and Down were both down 0.1 percent.

CHINA'S STIMULUS HOPES: Markets were boosted by expectations that a sharper-than-forecast contraction in March trade increased chances that Beijing will launch additional stimulus to spur slowing growth. Imports fell 12.7 percent from a year earlier and exports declined 15 percent. That added to signs that growth in the first three months of the year, due to be reported Wednesday, might decline further from the previous quarter's 7.3 percent.

THE QUOTE: "The elephant in the room is whether China's deterioration has endured," following softer industrial output and other data in January and February, Mizuho Bank said in a report. "The silver lining is that a softer outcome under disinflationary conditions will allow more stimulus to propel a revival in growth."

ASIA'S DAY: The Shanghai Composite Index rose 2.2 percent to 4,121.71 points, closing above 4,100 for the first time since March 11, 2008. Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 2.7 percent to 28,016.34 and Seoul's Kospi rose 0.5 percent to 2,098.92. India's Sensex added 0.3 percent to 28,876.49 and Sydney's S&P ASX 200 edged up 0.1 percent to 5,960.30. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 was unchanged at 19,905.46 after briefly passing 20,000 last week.

CURRENCY: The dollar rose across the board as it continued to benefit from expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will not raise interest rates as quickly as early expected. It rose to 120.69 yen from Friday's 120.18 yen. The euro fell to $1.0530 from the previous session's $1.0586.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude rose 61 cents to $52.25 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract gained 85 cents on Friday to close at $51.64.

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Activists call for stricter checks of ride-hailing drivers

BOSTON — The Massachusetts Chapter of the National Organization for Women is urging ride-hailing services like Uber, Lyft and Sidecar to come up with tougher background checks for their drivers.

Mass NOW spokeswoman Katie Prisco-Buxbaum said the companies have a responsibility to address safety concerns of women and other riders following reports of sexual and physical violence in the Boston area.

Prisco-Buxbaum said that while no screening is perfect, the companies should begin using the more rigorous methods like fingerprinting or other identification measures for drivers.

In February, Boston police charged an Uber driver with sexually assaulting a 30-year-woman. In December, an Uber driver from Boston was accused of driving a woman to a secluded location where he beat and sexually assaulted her.

The state is weighing new regulations for ride-hailing services.

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USTelecom files suit against government's new Internet rules

NEW YORK — A legal fight against the Federal Communications Commission's new Internet traffic rules has begun.

The rules were voted on in February and uphold the principle of net neutrality — that online content be allowed to load at the same speed. They forbid paid fast lanes favoring some content and say broadband providers can't slow Web traffic or block content.

They were published Monday in the government's Federal Register and would go into effect on June 12 if a court doesn't block them.

The United States Telecom Association, an industry group that represents companies including AT&T and Verizon, says it has filed suit against the rules in the U.S. Court of Appeals for District of Columbia.

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Follow Tali Arbel on http://twitter.com/tarbel

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IFF Panama: Central America on the right track for growth

PANAMA - As the leaders of the Americas, including U.S. President Barack Obama, meet in Panama City for the seventh Summit of the Americas, they will be all too aware that it is the economies of Central America that are leading growth in the region. And, according to a report published on Tuesday (April 7) by the United Nation's Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, Central America will continue to lead the way in 2015 with Panama, with an expected 6 % increase in GDP over the coming year, at the forefront.

Central America, which consists of seven countries (Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama), is also on the right track for growth in its theatrical movie market, according to Luis Vargas, Managing director of Rentrak for Mexico, Caribbean, Central America, Colombia and Venezuela.

"Central America is a region that you can consider as one country, one big country," Vargas explains. "It is a region that is growing very, very fast because of the amount of cinemas being developed. In the past three-or-four years the percentage increase in new cinemas has been at least 5% per year. A very good number, especially if you consider this compared to other regions of the world. It tells you that as an economy, it is a region that has potential for the future due to investment and the possibilities in this market."

The region, which is estimated to have a combined population of around 43 million, 3.6 million of which are in Panama, is also undergoing consolidation and modernization with old theatres making way for new, and many existing screens being digitalized and fitted with better, more modern and comfortable seats. All these elements have helped the growth of admissions and grosses.

In 2014, according to Rentrak, Central American cinemas grossed $107,184,606, up from $ 104,553,755 in 2013 and $ 94,814,293 in 2012: Growth of about 13% in two years.

There were 93 performing theatres in all of Central America in 2012, and 96 in 2013 and 2014, but, as Vargas explains: "In 2014 a lot of the existing cinemas were modernized. In 2015 we are expecting several new cinemas to be opened and less cinemas to be closed. For example, this number of 96 would suggest that no cinemas opened in the entire region, however, this number is the final total after taking into consideration the older cinemas that were closed."

In screen terms, the region has seen an increase from 489 in 2012 to 503 in 2013, and 507 in 2014. Again these are final numbers after taking in to account the closing of older screens and the opening of more modern, digitalized screens.

"Now that the digitalization is much more advanced, also by the independent exhibitors, we will see a decrease in the number of cinemas that are being closed due to economic factors, and more cinemas will be opened", Vargas adds. "We are expecting at least two new cinemas in Panama, and both are to be high end multiplex cinemas."

Across Central America in 2014 the highest grossing movies were all studio blockbusters. In order they were "Transformers: Age of Extinction," "Rio 2," "Maleficent," "The Amazing Spider-Man 2," "Captain America: The Winter Solider," "The Hunger Games: Mocking Jay - Part 1," "X Men: Days of Future Past," "The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies," "How to Train Your Dragon 2," and "Guardians of the Galaxy."

In Panama, the top ten for 2014 were "Transformers: Age of Extinction," "Rio 2," "Maleficent," "X Men: Days of Future Past," "Captain America: The Winter Solider," "The Amazing Spider-Man 2," "The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes," "The Hunger Games: Mocking Jay - Part 1," and "Annabelle."

Locally made films, however, have started to make an impact on the commercial cinema circuit in Central America, most notably Miguel Gómez's "Maikol Yordan" ("Maikol Yordan de Viaje Perdido"), an adventure, drama from Costa Rica that will open in Panama on May 14 following its international premiere at IFF Panama on April 13.

In Costa Rica. the film grossed $1,080,511 in 2014, and now has an accumulated gross of $3,528,104 since its Dec. 18 bow.

In Panama four local productions made their mark commercially in 2014. They included "Invasion" ("Invasión"), the country's first Oscar submission for the foreign-language category, "Historias del Canal", "Breaking the Wave" ("Rompiendo la ola") and "Reinas." All of which have played the IFF Panama.

The films, according to the Panama Film Commission, are just four of 13 features to be produced in Panama since 2012, and that compares with just three local productions completed between 2007 and 2012 and two between 2001 and 2007.

Vargas believes one solution for the growth of the local Central American film industry will be for governments to invest in art house cinemas.

"Gvernments should create alternative spaces of exhibition that are focused to exhibit product where the main goal is not to make money, but to promote art, or to promote a message," argues Vargas. "Otherwise, lower-budget films will be lost in the huge space of exhibition, and create unnecessary frustration for their producers.

"Why does a movie have to be exhibited on a commercial circuit?" he asks. "I believe that the only countries that have supported this type of circuit are Mexico, Brazil and Argentina. Mexico has one of the highest capacities when it comes to these alternative exhibition spaces that are controlled by the government and that give low-budget films a space in which to be exhibited. We have to understand that the filmmakers can't do this on their own. It has to be a synergy, like team work, and the key people in the local film industry must ask their governments for the money for new cinemas, for the spaces in which to see their own local product."

The heads of those governments have all been meeting in Panama this weekend where the theme of their Summit of the Americas has been "Prosperity with Equity: The Challenge of Cooperation in the Americas," a theme and a challenge that is equally on the minds of filmmakers across Central and South America as they look at ways to share screen time with the Hollywood blockbusters that remain popular with the growing theatrical audiences across the region.

© 2015 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

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CBS political director John Dickerson new Sunday show host

WASHINGTON — CBS News political director John Dickerson will replace the retiring Bob Schieffer as moderator of "Face the Nation."

Schieffer made the announcement on Sunday's show. Dickerson's first broadcast as host will come this summer.

Schieffer noted that Dickerson "sure has the right bloodlines" for the assignment. Dickerson's mother, Nancy, was the first female correspondent in the CBS News Washington bureau.

Schieffer — the 78-year-old chief Washington correspondent of CBS News — announced Wednesday that he would be leaving the job early this summer. Schieffer has been with CBS News since 1969.

John Dickerson says he's "honored and excited" by the new job.

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Mip TV: Drama dynamizes 2015 market

CANNES - Two big "Ds" - Dramas, Digital - look set to galvanize much Croisette business, as well as multiple conference panels, at next week's Cannes Mip TV, which catches part of the international TV business in the full flush of evolution, convulsed by ramping consolidation - Mip TV will be the first market for new joint venture Endemol Shine Group, for instance - and the ever-clearer emergence of international drama as a serious alternative to US fare.

As the number of high-end drama escalates, competition for top-notch show-runners - mostly based out of the U.S. will become all the more bitter.

Last Wednesday, Amazon Studios aconfirmed Diego Luna to play the lead in its untitled Casanova period drama, exec produced by Electus Ent.'s Ben Silverman and Stu Zicherman. Expect further high-end drama announcements - of epics and event dramas - or first-look talent deals at 2015's Mip TV.

Traditionally, May' L.A. Screenings, and October's Mipcom TV mart, have proved the biggest launchpads for new high-profile dramas. No more. Now Mip-TV looks to have joined the club, as the market launches a Drama at Mip TV forum and a veritable mini tsunami of high-end fiction is set to sweep the Croisette. Just some examples:

*One of the most active of Hollywood studios at Cannes, Twentieth Century Fox TV Distribution's will continue to roll out sales on "Empire," boosted by phenom first season ratings, the best for any regular broadcast drama since 2008, as well as the rave-reviewed "The Last Man on Earth."

*Warner Bros. Worldwide TV Distribution, will be pushing super-hero drama" The Flash," and DC Comics super-villains and vigilantes origin story "Gotham," picked up for SVOD by Netflix.

* With free-to-air broadcasters still seeking semi autonomous episode drama, CBS Studios Intl. will be shopping Patricia Arquette starrer "CSI: Cyber" and sci-fi thriller "Zoo," based on James Patterson's bestseller.

*In Europe, film-TV powerhouse Studiocanal bows its first-ever TV sales operation at Mip TV, led by two Canal Plus Original Series, the Tandem-produced "Spotless," now a Canal Plus hit, and futuristic "Section Zero," from Luc Besson's EuropaCorp, plus Tandem's "Crossing Lines 3," and Harlan Coben's "The Five" from Red Production Company.

*Flagship dramas at Endemol Shine Group include ITV series "The Frankenstein Chronicles," with Sean Bean, and AMC/Channel 4's "Humans" (pictured), an around mid-year bow which is "a relationship story with strong thriller elements" set in a world where robots, called synthetics, have developed human emotions, said Endemol Shine Intl. CEO Cathy Payne.

* At Mip TV, ITV Studios Global Ent. will hold a World Premiere Screening of "Texas Rising," co-produced with A + E, and talk up a rebooted "Poldark," and David Duchovny U.S. crime drama "Aquarius," set for NBC.

*From Germany, ZDF will be pushing pan-European crime thriller "The Team," starring Lars Mikkelsen ("The Killing"), Beta "Line of Separation," set in a Cold War-wracked Germany, and Tele München Group Dominic Graf's "Blender," based on a narcotics cop scandal.

The highest profile Mip TV 2015 keynote speakers look like "Modern Family" co-creator Steven Levitan and Sky group chief exec Jeremy Darroch, who will set out his vision for the push by a pan-European Sky, with now integrated pay TV operations in the U.S., Italy and Germany, into high-end drama.

And one of this year's large highlights will be Mip TV's Intl. Drama Screenings, which range from Starz Worldwide Distribution's ballet drama "Flesh & Bone" to "Follow the Money," from Danish pubcaster DR Fiction, "Deadline: Gallipoli," airing in Australia's Foxtel, and "Versailles," a flagship English-language series at France's Canal Plus.

"Great stories have no homeland," says a The Wit Mip TV study, "5 Drama Trends For 2015," citing the fact that the most-adapted scripted formats in 2014 came from Spain.

Of top fiction formats, CW's hour-long comedy "Jane the Virgin," its first Golden Globe nomination, is now in negotiations with a big German broadcaster. Exec producer Ben Silverman originally sourced it from Venezuela.

Reflecting the spread of series in partners, languages, shoots, setting, beyond its first five English-language skeins Federation Ent. is producing the "Boss"-style "Marseilles" for Netflix and espionage thriller "The Bureau" for Canal Plus, both in French, and co-producing hospital-set "The Replacements" in Finnish and season 2 of "Hostages," a Hebrew-language series, with Israel, Federation Ent.'s Breton said.

For Garaude: "We're continuing to notice a growing notion of market opportunities coming from all around the world. Drama production is thoroughly international and becoming more and more so every year."

For the world's biggest content suppliers, Mip TV remains a multi-purpose mart. "The L.A. Screenings very much focus on new TV series, "At Mip TV, we typically talk to everyone about everything, and what we discuss just depends on the relationship we happen to have with each client that we're meeting with. Conversations may turn on film, series or library content, depending on clients," said Gina Brogi, EVP, Worldwide Pay Television & SVOD, Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution.

But such, indeed, is the current dynamism of the drama sector, that one large question is where it leaves much else of the TV business.

In the non-fiction format sector, everybody's waiting for The Next Big Thing. "One big hit changes the way the whole market works. When I began my career, I was told that music was dead in primetime, yet you'd be hard pressed to say that now, with 'Idol,' 'The Voice,' and 'Popstars' in major roles in many territories," said Rob Clark, director of global entertainment, FremantleMedia. At Mip TV, FremantleMedia presents new BBC quiz show "Beat the Brain," "10 Questions You Wouldn't Ask On a First Date," and RTL 1 hit "The Most Beautiful Woman," a beauty contest for women of different ages and backgrounds which is "very engaging, about inspirational stories, female empowerment, with potential to be a long-running franchise for a broadcaster," Clark commented.

Endemol Shine Group will be selling talent show format "The Brain," from Endemol Shine Germany, a breakout hit in China, Spain, Italy, Brazil and France, plus human darts challenge "Bullseye," from Endemol Shine North America, which went straight to series at Fox. It will also be talking up "Junior Masterchef," which is now in over 20 territories as well, said Lisa Perrin, MD, Creative Networks, Endemol Shine Group.

Several "important new formats" will be announced during Mip TV, anticipated Garaude. New formats' challenge, said The Wit's Bertrand Villegas, is that the super-formats are not fading fast enough to allow new formats through.

Quite the contrary at times, as Endemol Shine's Perrin points out: Series 11 of "Masterchef" in the U.K. has launched to best-ever ratings; "Masterchef" has hit a 43% peak share in Argentina. In the last five years, there have only been four days in the world where "Big Brother," which is nearly 17 years old, has not been playing, by one estimate at least.

Some producers criticize TV channels' risk aversion. But, said Villegas, "broadcasters are not in the business of innovation but rather airing successful shows."

The problem is many producers wanting to sell their product but broadcasters not having so many slots. There are also semi-Big Things, such as kids' talent shows like Televisa's "Little Giants," re-versioned in Spain, he added.

For Endemol Shine Group's Perrin, "Regarding the Next Big Thing, I feel it's just around the corner, and I'm hoping it's going to come, but it's not there yet."

Digital is there, in contrast, and now shaping the TV landscape, as Mip TV reflects. The MIP Digital Fronts co presence is powering up, with a blockbuster line-up of 15 Digital Fronts partners and showcases, a large rise on 2014, said Garaude. One example: as Chinese appetite for entertainment formats ramps up, one top Mip Formats keynote speaker on Saturday was Yang Weidong, SVP Youku Todou, China's leading online TV co, which has bought "Big Brother" and "The Voice."

Fresh off a $50 million investment from venture capital company Andreessen Horowitz and the creation last August of BuzzFeed Motion Pictures, which he heads up as president, BuzzFeed's Ze Frank will deliver the Digital Fronts keynote along with producer Michael Shamberg ("Django Unchained," "Erin Brokovich").

Other Digital Fronts speakers include Chad Gudstein, CEO of Machinima, the vidgame/fandom-themed digital co, teen YouTube destination channel Awesomeness TV's founder/CEO Brian Robbins, and Andrew Creighton, prexy of print/online publisher Vice Media.

A pumped-up Mip Digital Fronts kick off Tuesday afternoon. For most of Mip TV, however, it is drama that will be making the running. The high-end drama boom is, moreover, no passing fad.

Explaining the ramp-up of serialized drama, "The main key element is the media-technology landscape: Companies -Netflix, Amazon - leveraging premium content to differentiate their offer," said Electus Ent. founder-CEO Ben Silverman, who receives a Mip TV Medaille d'Honneur next Wednesday.

More European telecom giants will enter the TV fiction space, as serialized drama works especially well in an age of view anytime, anywhere, predicted Martin Moszkowicz at Germany's Constantin Film, which rolls this May on English-language "Shadowhunters," based on Cassandra Clares' YA book series, with writer/exec producer Ed Decter ("Unforgettable," "In Plain Sight").

The ramp-up has two large consequences. "The benchmark for drama has gone up. Competition is fierce and you need an attractive package. There's a cost to that. So broadcasters are looking to co-produce, so as to get a bigger budget," said Endemol Shine's Payne.

"Co-production is progressing enormously, becoming more and more important and successful," Garaude added. One 2015 Mip TV centerpiece is Tuesday's Intl. Drama Co-Production Summit; this weekend's Mip Doc featured, for the first time, a European Broadcasters Union Co-production breakfast.

And, currently, high-end drama is one place to be. For Twentieth Century Fox's Brogi: "One of the great things about competition for dramas in the market place right now is that there's something that works for everyone: It's just a matter of finding the right outlet for each piece of content that we make. There is increased demand and it's a great business to be in."

Elsa Keslassy and Leo Barraclough contributed to this report

© 2015 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

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Activists pushing bill they say would close tax loophole

BOSTON — With Tax Day approaching fast, activists are calling on Massachusetts lawmakers to crack down on what they describe as offshore tax haven abuse by large companies.

On Tuesday, the group MASSPIRG is planning to release a report detailing how they say companies use the tax code to shift profits made in America to areas like the Cayman Islands, where they pay little to no taxes.

A handful of lawmakers are planning to attend the Statehouse event, including Democratic state Sen. Mark Montigny of New Bedford.

The group says the report will estimate how much small businesses in Massachusetts would have to pay on average to make up for the money lost in 2014 to tax havens.

The activists are pushing a bill they say would tighten the tax code in Massachusetts.

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Volkswagen's Piech draws criticism over CEO remark

BERLIN — Volkswagen patriarch and board chairman Ferdinand Piech is drawing criticism over a reported remark that raised questions over the future of the CEO of Europe's biggest automaker, Martin Winterkorn.

Piech, a key company powerbroker, was quoted by Der Spiegel magazine Friday as saying he was "at a distance from Winterkorn," who has been widely considered a likely successor as supervisory board chief. That prompted speculation about his position.

The head of Volkswagen's influential employee council backed Winterkorn. The governor of Lower Saxony state, a minority shareholder, criticized the public discussion about the company's leadership.

The Piech and Porsche families together control a majority in Volkswagen. Board member Wolfgang Porsche told news agency dpa in a statement Sunday that Piech's comment represents "his private opinion" and wasn't cleared with his family.

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