Napster co-founder to invest in allergy research

SAN FRANCISCO — Napster co-founder Sean Parker missed most of his final year in high school and has ended up in the emergency room countless of times because of his deadly allergy to nuts, shellfish and other foods.

Now that the former Facebook president is the father of two small children who have a genetic basis to develop allergies, he says he wants to help find a lasting cure to allergies.

Parker announced Wednesday that he is donating $24 million over the next two years to establish an allergy research center at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

"We have been applying Band-Aids for decades by using antihistamines to treat symptoms instead of going after the root cause of allergies," Parker said.

The Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy Research will focus on understanding the dysfunctions of the immune system that result in allergic reactions and on finding the safest and best treatments for allergies through laboratory and data research, clinical trials and community outreach.

The Silicon Valley entrepreneur said he missed most of his senior year of high school because he was hospitalized with a bronchial infection due to severe allergies and asthma. Parker said his severe allergic reactions have sent him to the hospital 14 times in the last six years.

Parker, 35, said neither his 2-year-old girl nor his 2-week-old boy have allergies but he knows they could develop them.

"Now that I'm a father, I'm sympathetic to what my parents went through," he said. "It's terrifying for parents to see their child go through anaphylactic shock because of an allergic reaction."

The center will be led by Dr. Kary Nadeau, an immunology researcher who focuses on allergies on children and adults. Nadeau has developed an allergy treatment that involves giving patients micro-doses of the allergen and increasing the amount ingested — over months or years — to build tolerance overtime.

"The goal is to be able to achieve desensitization in a couple of weeks," Parker said.

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Russians flock to stores to pre-empt price rises

MOSCOW — Russian consumers flocked to the stores Wednesday, frantically buying a range of big-ticket items to pre-empt the price rises kicked off by the staggering fall in the value of the ruble in recent days.

As the government considered ways to ease the selling pressure on the ruble, which has slid 15 percent in just two days and raised fears of a bank run, many Russians were buying cars and home appliances — in some cases in record numbers — before prices for these imported goods shoot higher.

The Swedish furniture giant IKEA already warned Russian consumers that its prices will rise Thursday, which resulted in weekend-like crowds at a Moscow store on a Wednesday afternoon.

Shops selling a broad range of items were reporting record sales — some have even suspended operations, unsure of how far down the ruble will sink. Apple, for one, has halted all online sales in Russia.

"This is a very dangerous situation, we are just a few days away from a full-blown run on the banks," Russia's leading business daily Vedomosti wrote in an editorial Wednesday. "If one does not calm down the currency market right now, the banking system will need robust emergency care."

Alyona Korsuntseva, a consumer in her 30s, says the current jitters surrounding the Russian economy reminded her of the 1998 Russian crisis when the ruble tumbled following the government's default on sovereign bonds.

"What's pressuring us is the fact that many people (back then) rushed to withdraw money from bank cards, accounts," she says. "We want to safeguard ourselves so that things wouldn't be as bad they were back then."

Consumers are buying durable goods because Russian stocks are too volatile as an investment and an overwhelming majority of Russians cannot afford to buy land or real estate.

The ruble has suffered catastrophic losses this week as traders fretted over the impact of low oil prices on the Russian economy, as well as the impact of Western sanctions imposed over Russia's involvement in Ukraine's crisis.

After posting fresh losses early Wednesday, the ruble was up and down all day before settling at 3 percent higher at 65 rubles at 4 p.m. Moscow time (1300 GMT).

The ruble even lost ground on Tuesday after a surprise move by Russia's Central Bank to raise its benchmark interest rate to 17 percent from 10.5 percent — a move aimed to make it more attractive for currency traders to hold onto their rubles.

One reason why the ruble advanced Wednesday is that Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseyev was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying the government is going to sell foreign currency "as much as necessary and as long as necessary." That, the hope is, would relieve the pressure on the ruble, particularly against the dollar.

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev hosted a meeting with the heads of Russia's largest exporters and pledged to implement a "package of measures" to stop the decline of the ruble.

Another option available to Russian authorities could be imposing capital controls, but Russia's Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev has denied that the government is considering doing so. However, he said the Central Bank rate hike came too late.

Russian officials, meanwhile, have sought to project a message of confidence on state television, dwelling on the advantages of ruble devaluation, such as a boost to domestic manufacturing.

Whatever happens with the ruble, the Russian economy is set to shrink next year by 0.8 percent even if oil prices stay above $80 per barrel. With oil prices now below $60, there are fears the Russian economy could contract by up to 5 percent.

The ruble could come under further pressure this week as President Barack Obama is expected to sign legislation authorizing new economic sanctions against Russia.

The German government's coordinator for relations with Russia, Gernot Erler, said the economic crisis in Russia was largely the result of the drop in oil prices, not the sanctions imposed by the West.

"It's an illusion to think that if the sanctions were to fall away tomorrow, the Russian economy would suddenly be all right again," Erler told rbb-Inforadio on Wednesday.

___

Vladimir Kondrashov in Moscow and Frank Jordans in Berlin contributed to this report from Berlin.

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Fed pondering change in rate hike signals

WASHINGTON — The U.S. economy is finally doing better, and the Federal Reserve may be ready to acknowledge that fact.

In a statement it will issue Wednesday after two days of discussion, the Fed may no longer say it plans to keep a key interest rate near zero for a "considerable time." Dropping that language would be viewed as a signal that the Fed is moving closer to a hike.

Yet even if it drops the "considerable time" phrase, few envision an imminent rate hike. Most economists think the Fed will wait at least until June to raise short-term rates. It would be the first rate increase since June 2006. The Fed last cut rates on December 2008 when the central bank reduced its key short-term rate to a record low near zero in an effort to battle the worst economic downturn since the 1930s.

In addition to issuing its usual policy statement to close out its final meeting of the year, the Fed will update its economic forecast and Fed Chair Janet Yellen will hold a news conference. The meeting with reporters will give Yellen the chance to explain the Fed's policies in greater detail.

While many believe there will be a slight change in the Fed's guidance about the future course of interest rates, analysts say as long as inflation remain muted, the Fed may be content to leave rates at rock-bottom levels for as long as another year.

Low rates can encourage borrowing and spending, as well as fuel growth. But if left too low for too long, they can accelerate inflation.

"I think the odds are that the Fed will drop the 'considerable time' wording, but I think some people are making more out of that change than they should," said Diane Swonk, chief economist at Mesirow Financial.

Even if that wording is removed, economists expect the Fed will stress that the timing of a rate hike will be driven by the economy's performance, not by any preset timetable.

If the job market and the economy keep improving, a rate increase could come sooner. Yet if the economy slows unexpectedly — or if sinking oil prices keep inflation persistently below the Fed's 2 percent target, the first rate hike might be delayed.

The debate inside the Fed is pivoting on which of those forces — an improved economy or excessively low inflation — should outweigh the other. Complicating the Fed's decision is that other major central banks — in Europe, Japan and China, for example — are moving in the reverse direction to keep rates down to support slowing economies. When central banks move in opposite directions, they risk causing disruptions in the global flow of capital.

The minutes of the Fed's last two meetings showed that officials discussed changing the "considerable time" language. But some worried that doing so might be misread to mean the first rate increase would come soon. In the end, the phrasing was retained.

To soften the market impact, some analysts say "considerable time" may be replaced by language that says the Fed will be "patient" in deciding when to raise rates. In recent weeks, several Fed officials have used that word to describe how the central bank will proceed.

The word "patient" has history behind it. The last time the Fed moved from a prolonged period of low rates in 2004, it shifted from saying it would keep rates low for a "considerable period" to pledging to be "patient" in raising them. Five months after dropping "considerable period" in January 2004, the Fed approved a rate hike.

Vincent Reinhart, who was the Fed's top staff economist then, said it would be a wrong to assume that the lag time between a change in the statement's language and a rate increase would necessarily be the same this time.

The consensus view that the Fed will begin raising rates in June 2015 has held steady for months despite slight ups and downs in the economy's performance.

Recently, the data has been almost all positive with 321,000 jobs created in November, the most in nearly three years.

Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, foresees economic growth of 3.3 percent next year — which would be the best showing since 2005 — up from 2.2 percent expected this year.

Brian Bethune, an economics professor at Tufts University, noted that while job gains have been solid, wage growth remains weak and inflation is slowing, reflecting the plunge in gas prices and a stronger dollar.

"With inflation falling, it just doesn't make any sense to argue that the Fed should accelerate the timing of its first rate hike," Bethune said.

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Russians rush to stores to pre-empt price rises

MOSCOW — Russian consumers flocked to stores Wednesday, frantically buying a range of big-ticket items as they looked to pre-empt price rises following the staggering fall in the value of the ruble over recent days.

As the government looked at ways of easing the selling pressure on the ruble, which has slid 15 percent in just two days and raised fears of a bank run, many Russians were buying cars and home appliances — in some cases in record numbers — before prices for these imported goods shoot higher.

Swedish furniture giant IKEA, for one, has already put consumers on notice that its prices will rise Thursday, which resulted in weekend-like crowds on a Wednesday afternoon.

Shops selling a broad range of items are reporting record sales while some have had to suspend operations, unsure how far down the ruble will go. Apple, for one, has halted all online sales in Russia.

Alyona Korsuntseva, a woman in her 30s, says the current jitters surrounding the Russian economy reminded her of the 1998 Russian crisis when the ruble tumbled following the government's default on sovereign bonds.

"What's pressuring us is the fact that many people rushed to withdraw money from bank cards, accounts," she says. "We want to safeguard ourselves so that things wouldn't be as bad they were back then."

The ruble has suffered catastrophic losses this week as traders fretted over the impact of low oil prices on the Russian economy, as well as the impact of Western sanctions imposed over Russia's involvement in Ukraine's crisis.

It even lost ground on Tuesday after the surprise move by Russia's Central Bank to raise its benchmark interest rate to 17 percent from 10.5 percent. The hike was intended to make it more attractive for currency traders to hold onto their rubles.

After posting fresh losses early Wednesday, the ruble has been up and down all day before settling at 3 percent higher at 65 rubles at 4 p.m. Moscow time (1300 GMT).

One reason why the ruble has advanced is that Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseyev was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying that the government is going to sell foreign currency "as much as necessary and as long as necessary." That, the hope is, would relieve the pressure on the ruble, particularly against the dollar.

In light of the currency's slide, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev hosted a meeting with the heads of Russia's largest exporters and pledged to implement a "package of measures" to stop the decline of the ruble. He said the details of the measures to be pursued will be hammered out at the meeting and these will be only "market steps."

"This is a very dangerous situation, we are just a few days away from a full-blown run on the banks," Russia's leading business daily Vedomosti said in an editorial on Wednesday. "If one does not calm down the currency market right now, the banking system will need robust emergency care."

Another option available to the Russian authorities to stem the selling tide could be imposing capital controls, but Russia's Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev on Tuesday denied that the government was considering doing so. However, he said the rate hike came too late.

Whatever happens with the ruble over the coming days, the Russian economy is set to shrink next year by 0.8 percent if oil prices stay above $80 per barrel. With oil prices where they are, below $60, there are fears the Russian economy could contract by up to 5 percent.

The ruble could come under further pressure this week as President Barack Obama is expected to sign legislation authorizing new economic sanctions on Russia.

Russian officials sought to project a message of confidence on state television, dwelling on the advantages of ruble devaluation, such as a boost to domestic manufacturing.

The German government's coordinator for relations with Russia, Gernot Erler, said the economic crisis in Russia was largely the result of the drop in oil prices, not the sanctions imposed by the West.

"It's an illusion to think that if the sanctions were to fall away tomorrow, the Russian economy would suddenly be all right again," Erler told rbb-Inforadio on Wednesday.

___

Vladimir Kondrashov in Moscow and Frank Jordans in Berlin contributed to this report from Berlin.

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US current account deficit rises to $100.3 billion

WASHINGTON — The U.S. current account trade deficit widened slightly in the July-September quarter, largely due to foreign institutions paying less in fines and penalties to the U.S. government.

The Commerce Department says the deficit in the current account rose to $100.3 billion in the third quarter, up 1.9 percent from the revised $98.4 billion deficit in the April-June period.

The increase occurred despite a drop in the trade deficit for goods and services, reflecting cheaper oil prices and a stronger dollar. The deficit widened because fines collected by the U.S. government fell to $27.8 billion from $40.1 billion in the previous quarter.

The current account is the broadest measure of trade, covering not only the flow of goods and services but also investment flows.

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US current account deficit rises to $100.3 billion

WASHINGTON — The U.S. current account trade deficit widened slightly in the July-September quarter, largely due to foreign institutions paying less in fines and penalties to the U.S. government.

The Commerce Department said Wednesday that the deficit in the current account rose to $100.3 billion in the third quarter, up 1.9 percent from a revised $98.4 billion deficit in the April-June period.

The increase occurred despite a drop in the trade deficit for goods and services, reflecting cheaper oil prices and a stronger dollar.

The deficit widened because fines collected by the U.S. government from foreign institutions fell to $27.8 billion from $40.1 billion in the previous quarter, a 31 percent decrease. In the April-June period, the government had fined the French bank BNP Paribas $9 billion for violating sanctions against Iran, Sudan and Cuba.

The current account is the broadest measure of trade, covering not only the flow of goods and services but also investment flows. It faces downward pressure because the dollar has increased in value relative to other currencies and oil prices have fallen by almost 50 percent since June.

The average price of a barrel of oil has dropped below $56 from a summer high of $107. That reflects weakening global demand as Japan has tumbled into a recession, Europe staves off a slowdown, China's economy loses momentum and Russia copes with its collapsing currency. But U.S. consumers have largely been insulated from these pressures and benefited from less expensive oil.

At the same time, the global slowdown has caused more investors to crowd into the dollar as a relative safe haven. The dollar appreciated 7.1 percent against other major currencies during the July-September quarter.

The current account is still relatively low by historical standards. The quarterly deficits regularly topped $150 billion in the four years before the Great Recession of 2007-2009.

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US consumer prices fell 0.3 percent in November

WASHINGTON — Plunging gasoline costs pulled U.S. consumer prices lower in November, muting inflation across the entire economy.

The Labor Department said Wednesday the inflation reading fell a seasonally-adjusted 0.3 percent last month, after prices were flat in October. Gas costs plummeted 10.5 percent in November, the steepest decline in nearly six years.

"If you're looking for signs of inflation, you will have to look elsewhere," said Jennifer Lee, an economist at BMO Capital Markets.

Core inflation, which excludes volatile energy and food prices, rose 0.1 percent in November. For the past 12 months, overall inflation has risen 1.3 percent while core inflation has increased 1.7 percent.

Both annual gains are well below the Federal Reserve's 2 percent inflation target. This gives Fed officials who end their policy meeting Wednesday afternoon significant leeway to keep a key interest rate at near zero, which helps infuse the economy with capital to boost economic growth and hiring.

Falling oil prices and a strong dollar, which lowers the price of foreign-made goods, have combined to curb inflation. Prices have barely budged, even though hiring has picked up and the unemployment rate has fallen to 5.8 percent.

The average price of a barrel of oil has dropped below $56 from a summer high of $107. That reflects less global demand as Japan has tumbled into a recession, Europe staves off a slowdown, China manages an economy with less momentum and Russia copes with its collapsing currency. But U.S. consumers have largely been insulated from these pressures and benefited from less expensive oil.

Average gas prices nationally have dropped to $2.53 a gallon from $2.89 a month ago and $3.23 a year ago. This suggests that inflation remained subdued in December and may remain modest in the coming months.

Cheaper gas frees up income to be spent elsewhere, often helping to support other sectors of the economy.

Consumer prices did rise last month for medical care, airline fares, alcohol, beef, ham and chicken. But they also slipped for clothing, household furnishings and autos.

The benefits of lower gas prices appear to have spilled over to consumer spending at the start of the holiday shopping season.

Retail sales rose a seasonally-adjusted 0.7 percent in November.

Spending on motor vehicles accelerated 1.7 percent, while purchases at clothiers, online retailers, electronics stores and department stores all expanded.

A prolonged rise in consumer spending should eventually push up core inflation.

"We still expect the stronger economy to push core inflation above 2 percent late next year," said Paul Dales, senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics.

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Pampered pets that don duds move to the mainstream

LOS ANGELES — These clothing designers have to think about pattern, fabric and fit — as well as where to put the poo bags.

Creating on-trend outfits is a whole different animal for pet fashion designers, whose work is becoming mainstream as animal lovers look to further pamper their pets. For some owners, it's a statement; for others, it's a way to match man's best friend; and sometimes it's simply about keeping animals warm this winter. But it's clear the number of dressed-up dogs and cats jumps significantly once holiday photos need to be taken.

"We have gone from the kind of cute reindeer gear or ugly sweater to more functional clothing," said Lauren Darr, founder of the International Association of Pet Fashion Professionals in New York City. "Before it was for a cute picture, now it's more practical. It takes it to a different level, going from being a novelty to understanding how things can be used in everyday life."

Pet fashion got a leg up after American Eagle Outfitters received an outpouring from its April Fool's Day joke this year. To raise money and awareness for an animal welfare group, the popular retailer introduced a fake fashion line called American Beagle Outfitters. But the joke was on the Pittsburgh company.

"Our customers were very clear about their desire for this product to become a reality," company spokesman Michael Leedy said last month when welcoming the pet line for real. Its tiny puffy jackets, sweaters and hats sell for $12.95 to $39.95.

The move made strides for the pet clothing industry, insiders say.

"When a company like American Eagle starts getting into pet fashion, it really puts a spotlight on it and brings visibility to it," Darr said.

For some pet owners, clothing plays into a luxury lifestyle. Dog Fashion Spa in New York sells doggy and mommy bathrobes, a matching fad that comes as many spas and salons are building hers and "furs" facilities — one side to pamper the woman and the other to treat their dogs, CEO Elena Volnova said.

Pampering and style is one thing, but function is also important. Karine Ng, the owner and designer at Central Park Pups in New York City, has developed several step-in coats with hidden harnesses that help pets get dressed without the hassle. Dogs walk right into the coat, so they don't have to put their head through it.

Her pieces are among the many that feature a pouch or pocket to hold unused bags for scooping up pet poop.

Ng's "city chic" styles, which sell online and at boutiques for $60 to $65, aim to reduce aggravation for pets, but she warns: "Never make a dog wear clothing if it doesn't want to."

On the other hand, you might want to start dressing your cat now, Darr said. She predicted huge growth in feline fashions as retailers from 99-cent stores to high-scale boutiques carry more cat clothing.

"I am seeing more pieces that are tailored for cats. It's still a small proportion, but it is growing," Darr said.

The movement comes as more owners teach their cats to go for walks. Plus, "a lot of cats in colder climates have learned to rely on sweaters, coats and vests," Darr said.

Other trends she saw this year that she expects to grow in 2015 include clothing decorated with LED lights to make pets more visible at night, T-shirts for pets of sports fans and still more ugly sweaters.

___

Online:

— www.petfashionprofessionals.com

— www.dogfashionspa.com

— www.centralparkpups.com

— www.ae.com

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US stocks open higher before Fed statement

NEW YORK — U.S. stocks opened higher Wednesday after a string of losses. Energy stocks led the gains despite the ongoing slump in oil prices.

KEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 12 points, or 0.7 percent, to 1,987 as of 10:01 a.m. Eastern. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 114 points, or 0.7 percent, to 17,183. The Nasdaq composite climbed 25 points, or 0.6 percent, to 4,572.

FED MEETING: Investors will be assessing the statement from the Federal Reserve's final policy meeting of the year on Wednesday and will be looking to see if U.S. policymakers drop a pledge to keep interest rates low for a "considerable time," as the U.S. economy improves. The Fed will release a statement at 2 p.m. Eastern time and will hold a press conference at 2:30 p.m.

RUSSIA FOCUS: Russia remained in focus on concerns about the impact of the recent slide in the ruble. The currency has lost more than 50 percent of its value this year. After posting fresh losses early Wednesday, the ruble recovered and was 11 percent higher at 61 rubles to the dollar.

The currency recovered some of its losses Wednesday after Russian authorities indicated that they would sell foreign currency to relieve the pressure on the ruble. The Russian currency has suffered in the wake of sliding oil prices and sanctions imposed over Russia's involvement in Ukraine's crisis.

EUROPE'S DAY: In Europe, Germany's DAX was 0.4 percent lower while the CAC-40 in France fell 0.3 percent. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares fell 0.6 percent.

OIL SLUMP: U.S. crude declined 61 cents to $55.31 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, which is used to price international oils, lost 76 cents to $59.23 a barrel in London.

BONDS AND CURRENCIES: U.S. government bond prices fell slightly. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note edged up to 2.08 percent from 2.06 percent late Tuesday. The euro was 0.4 percent lower at $1.2450 and the dollar fell 0.1 percent to 117.16 yen.

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Pylas reported from London.

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UK proposes rules for embryos made from 3 people

LONDON — New rules proposed in Britain would make it the first country to allow embryos to be made from the DNA of three people in order to prevent mothers from passing on potentially fatal genetic diseases to their babies.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the department of health said it had taken "extensive advice" on the safety and efficacy of the proposed techniques from the scientific community.

"(This) will give women who carry severe mitochondrial disease the opportunity to have children without passing on devastating genetic disorders," Dr. Sally Davies, the U.K.'s chief medical officer, said in a statement.

Experts say that if approved by parliament, these new methods would likely be used in about a dozen British women every year who are known to have faulty mitochondria — the energy-producing structures outside a cell's nucleus. Defects in the mitochondria's genetic code can result in diseases such as muscular dystrophy, heart problems and mental retardation.

The techniques involve removing the nucleus DNA from the egg of a prospective mother and inserting it into a donor egg, where the nucleus DNA has been removed. That can be done either before or after fertilization.

The resulting embryo would end up with the nucleus DNA from its parents but the mitochondrial DNA from the donor. Scientists say the DNA from the donor egg amounts to less than 1 percent of the resulting embryo's genes. But the change will be passed onto future generations, a major genetic modification that many ethicists have been reluctant to endorse.

Critics say the new techniques are unnecessary and that women who have mitochondrial disorders could use other alternatives, such as egg donation, to have children.

"Medical researchers are crossing the crucial ethical line that will open the door to designer babies," said David King of Human Genetics Alert, a secular group that opposes many genetics and fertilization research.

British law currently forbids any genetic modification of embryos before being transferred into a woman.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Food and Administration held a meeting to discuss the techniques, and scientists warned it could take decades to determine if they're safe.

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Nearly two-thirds of pay-TV subs now also have Netflix: study

Are Netflix and other streaming-video services contributing to the demise of cable and satellite TV? Some consumers may be deserting TV for streaming services, but for most pay-TV customers, Netflix and its ilk continue to be complementary to traditional television.

About 65% of pay-TV subscribers say they now have Netflix -- up from 41% in 2013, according to a new study by consulting firm PwC. The increases were most pronounced among older demos: Netflix subscribership among pay-TV customers 50-59 rose from 19% last year to 58% in 2014. That's compared with 37% to 66% among those 35-49; 51% to 71% among those 25-34; and 56% to 65% for 18-24.

Those rates of growth indicate a strong affinity for Netflix among pay-TV customers. Overall in the U.S., the net number of Netflix subscribers increased 19.7% over the last 12 months, from 31.1 million in the third quarter of 2013 to 37.2 million in Q3 2014.

In addition, the PwC survey found that overall, Amazon Prime subscriptions jumped from 18% of pay-TV households in 2013 to 32% this year, while Hulu Plus subscriptions rose from almost 8% to more than 11%.

But with more video options than ever, a growing number of consumers may be cutting -- or shaving -- the cord. Overall pay-TV subscriptions have declined among consumers under 35, the study found, while it was flat for those 35-49 and up slightly among the 50-59 cohort. Among those 18-24, cable and satellite subscriptions dropped from 77% in 2013 to 71% this year. Furthermore, only 42% of pay-TV subs answered yes when asked if they saw themselves subscribing to cable 10 years from now, vs. 91% in a year from now and 61% five years from now.

For consumers the consternation with subscription-TV service continues to center around paying for channels they don't watch -- with 41% of survey respondents saying they'd prefer a la carte pricing options, according to the PwC study. But TV remains popular, with 73% of viewers saying that watching TV increasingly is often as good as going to the movies.

The study also found binge-watching of TV series to be a major phenomenon, with about 50% of viewers saying they have watched an entire season of a show in one week.

The data is based on an online survey of 1,024 consumers conducted in September 2014. PwC said the survey sample is representative of the U.S. population across gender, age and income. The 2014 results were compared with a similar 1,008-person study conducted in the fall of 2013.

© 2014 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

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Finance errors to cost Alibaba Pictures more than $47 million

Alibaba Pictures Group, the film making unit of China's e-commerce giant, will have to restate its net asset value and take losses of at least US$47 million (HK$364 million) after an assessment of the company's financial mismanagement.

The company announced the findings of an auditor that it called in after finding irregularities that related to a period before its acquisition by Alibaba. The Hong Kong-listed company was at the time known as Chinavision.

The auditor found that Chinavision had failed to use correct invoices and had therefore mis-calculated its Enterprise Tax in mainland China. It had often applied incorrect value added tax rates in China, and it has applied the wrong valuation of certain corporate bonds. That in turn meant that the stated value of certain warrants were incorrect.

The group's net asset value would have to be reduced by HK$70 million (US$9.03 million) in the year to end of 2012, by HK$58 million (US$7.48 million) in the year to end of 2013 and between HK$257 million and HK$323 million (US$33.2 million to US$41.7 million) in the as yet unreported six month period to June 2014.

Net profits will have to be restated; by a reduction of HK$61 million (US$7.87 million) in the year to end of 2012; by an increase of HK$21 million (US$2.71 million) in 2013; and by a reduction of between HK$324 million and HK$390 million (US$41.8 million to US$50.3 million) in the six months to June 2014.

Alibaba Pictures said that it will report the results as soon as possible and apply for trading in its shares to start after that. It made no mention of criminal or civil action against the previous management of the company or its financial advisers.

© 2014 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

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Dunkin’ Donuts brews up green building program

Dunkin' Donuts is encouraging U.S. franchisees to go "green" when constructing new restaurants.

The Canton chain has launched DD Green, a new green building certification program aimed at more sustainable and energy-efficient restaurants that starts with site development. It incorporates features including energy-efficient LED lights, low-flow performance plumbing, high-efficiency HVAC systems, paint without volatile organic compounds and regional landscaping.

"What we wanted to do was really encourage franchisees to do more sustainable elements within their stores that not only are great for the planet, but also help to reduce their utility, their electrical and their water usage," said John Herth, Dunkin's senior director of global design and construction.

The program is optional, and Dunkin' has a goal of 100 certified restaurants by the end of 2016. Franchisees who comply with the program, expected to cost 1 percent to 3 percent more than the traditional

buildout, will get a plaque from Dunkin', but no financial incentives. "Most of the elements that cost them additional money have a direct effect on their utility usage and reducing that so, inevitably, there would be some payback ... over time," Herth said.

Dunkin' opted for its own program over the U.S. Green Building Council's widely recognized and more stringent Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) certification, because it's specifically designed for Dunkin' restaurants and uses its own staff instead of third-party consultants, making it more cost-effective, according to Herth.

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Deval Patrick: Charlie Baker should go on trade missions

Gov. Deval Patrick yesterday urged his successor, Gov.-elect Charlie Baker, to embark on the same aggressive agenda of international trade missions that Patrick did in his second term, but warned the Republican to expect "body blows" from the press if he does.

Patrick, speaking yesterday at an MIT forum on innovation in Massachusetts, defended his frequent travel overseas to Europe, Asia and the Middle East, which he said has helped foster investments back home and a range of deals to bring direct international flights to Logan International Airport.

"In today's marketplace, and I think it is hard for some in the media to quite understand it, you don't get off the plane with a fistful of purchase orders," Patrick told the crowd. "You start by making friends. ... And after eight years, there is a lot of tangible stuff" that came out of those trips.

"I encourage the governor-elect to travel as well," Patrick said, "notwithstanding the fact that you're going get body blows from reporters when you do. And I would encourage all of you to encourage the governor-elect."

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Asian shares mostly lower on weak China data

TOKYO — Asian stock markets were mostly lower Wednesday as data from both China and Japan pointed to continued weakness in the world's second and third-largest economies.

KEEPING SCORE: Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 slipped 1.6 percent to 17,530.39 after a government survey showed a deterioration in business sentiment in the current quarter, especially among smaller companies. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index slipped 0.1 percent to 23,455.87 while the Shanghai Composite rose 0.3 percent to 2,863.57 after a dramatic tumble Tuesday. South Korea's Kospi lost 1.3 percent to 1,944.80 and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.4 percent to 5,262.60. Shares in Southeast Asia were mixed.

CHINA INFLATION: China reported Wednesday that its consumer price index rose 1.4 percent in November, the slowest pace in five years, and a sign of weak domestic demand. That was way below the government's target of 3.5 percent, though lower oil prices are seen as an important factor.

THE QUOTE: "China has entered into a rapid dis-inflation process, and faces the risk of deflation as commodity prices continue to trend lower and growth is expected to slow further in the coming year," ANZ economists Li-Gang Liu and Hao Zhou said in a commentary.

HANGOVER: China's benchmark fell 5.4 percent on Tuesday, snapping a buying frenzy that has pushed it up by 41 percent since June. Investors remained cautious following sharp declines in Asia and Europe, where jitters over political developments in Greece added to uncertainty.

WALL STREET: U.S. markets fell Tuesday but losses were capped by a rally in energy company shares. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 0.3 percent to 17,801.20 while the Standard & Poor's 500 was almost unchanged at 2,059.82.

CURRENCIES: The dollar gained slightly against the Japanese currency, trading at 119.56 yen versus 119.40 late Tuesday. The euro edged lower to $1.2373 from to $1.2385.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude fell 96 cents to $62.86 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It gained 77 cents to close at $63.82 a barrel on Tuesday. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils, was down 88 cents to $65.96 on the ICE futures exchange in London.

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California prosecutors sue Uber; Lyft settles

SAN FRANCISCO — California prosecutors sued Uber on Tuesday over the ride-booking company's background checks of drivers and other allegations, adding to the popular startup's worldwide legal woes.

San Francisco County District Attorney George Gascon also announced that Uber competitor Lyft agreed to pay $500,000 and change some of its business practices to settle its own lawsuit. Lyft will have to pay only half the fine if it complies with the agreement's terms over the next year.

The lawsuits filed in San Francisco Superior Court are the latest legal hurdles to confront the nascent ride-hailing industry. The industry in general — and Uber in particular — have been battling lawsuits and regulatory issues over whether the businesses are regulated taxi services or app-making technology companies.

"Uber continues to misrepresent and exaggerate background checks on drivers," Los Angeles District Attorney Jackie Lacey said. "It's not our goal to shut them down. What we're saying is their advertising is false."

Lyft, on the other hand, agreed to drop similar claims that its background checks are the "best available" and the "gold standard."

Among other concessions, Lyft also agreed to submit its fare-setting app to the state regulators to ensure it's fairly charging riders, and it agreed not to do business at any airport unless it receives a permit.

Lacey partnered with Gascon in a probe of the ride-app industry. A third company — Sidecar — is still under investigation and could face a lawsuit of its own if it can't reach an agreement with prosecutors, Gascon said.

Uber's lawsuit accuses the company of misleading consumers by claiming it conducts "industry-leading" background checks on its drivers. Gascon said that claim is false since the company doesn't fingerprint its drivers.

Uber uses information supplied electronically by its applicant drivers for background checks. But applicants can get around those checks by using stolen or false identifications, Gascon said.

"Only a fingerprint-based process can ensure this is not happening," he said.

Uber spokeswoman Eva Behrend defended the company's role in California in a statement that did not address specific allegations.

"Uber is an integral, safe and established part of the transportation ecosystem in the Golden State," Behrend said. "We will continue to engage in discussions with the district attorneys."

Uber also is being sued for charging passengers an additional $4 for trips to and from San Francisco International Airport even through the company lacks a permit to do business at the airport and neither Uber nor its drivers pay the airport fee.

Taxis must pay for a permit to do business at San Francisco's airport and other major airports in the state.

Further, Uber is being sued for charging passengers an additional $1 per trip for a "safe ride fee," which the company claims helps pay for its "industry-leading" background checks.

Finally, the lawsuit accuses the company of failing to obtain approval from state regulators on how drivers calculate fares. Taxi cab meters are tested and verified by an agency in California's Department of Agriculture.

Uber has endured negative attention about the actions of some of its drivers.

An Uber driver was arrested in San Francisco in September and charged with felony assault after allegedly using a hammer to attack and seriously injure a passenger who complained about a route. Another Uber driver was arrested in June in Los Angeles and accused of abducting a drunken female passenger and taking her to a hotel with the intention of sexually assaulting her.

In October, a Los Angeles woman reported that an Uber driver drove 20 miles out of her way and ignored her complaints and questions before stopping the car in a dark and deserted parking lot. She said the driver then locked the doors when she tried to leave. The woman reported that she escaped only after screaming. Uber refunded her fare.

Government entities around the globe are grappling with how to regulate and monitor ride-hailing companies. Taxi and limousine drivers and companies complain that the app makers should be subjected to the same regulations and fees they face around the world.

The ride-booking companies counter that their drivers are private contractors who use the startups' technology to find customers in need of rides.

Uber, in particular, is fighting numerous legal and regulatory battles as it aggressively expands worldwide.

The city of Portland, Oregon, on Monday filed a lawsuit seeking to halt Uber's expansion in that city, arguing the company failed to obtain the proper permits.

A Nevada judge has temporarily barred Uber from operating in the state.

Overseas, police in India recently questioned an Uber executive about the company's claim it conducts comprehensive background checks. And a top official called for the service to be banned nationwide after one of its New Delhi drivers was arrested Sunday and accused of rape.

Separately, Spain has barred the company's operation, and Thailand said it was illegal for private cars to be used as taxis and threatened fines of $60 for each violation.

Nonetheless, San Francisco-based Uber raised $1.2 billion in its latest round of funding from venture capitalists, a sign investors aren't fazed by the legal woes.

The latest investment put a value on Uber of $40 billion.

___

Associated Press special correspondent Linda Deutsch in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

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Nuts! Korean flight delayed by first-class spat

SEOUL, South Korea — Forget dust-ups over reclining seats in economy class. There's a new and exclusive twist on inflight anger: Nut rage in first class.

A recent Korean Air flight was delayed when its chairman's daughter, who was also vice president responsible for cabin service at the airline, ordered a senior crew member off the plane. His crime? Allowing her and other passengers in the pointy end of the aircraft to be served bagged macadamia nuts instead of nuts on a plate.

The executive, Cho Hyun-ah, resigned Tuesday amid a storm of public criticism in South Korea. The airline had earlier excused her behavior even as it apologized for inconveniencing passengers. It said she will no longer serve as head of cabin service but will retain other executive roles at the airline and its affiliate businesses.

South Korean media reported this week that the flight from New York to Incheon, South Korea, returned to the gate after Cho told the head of the cabin crew to leave the plane. The reports said Cho quarreled with crew in the first-class cabin and the flight departed 20 minutes late.

Cho, 40, is the oldest child of Korean Air's chairman, tycoon Cho Yang-ho. Her two siblings are also executives at South Korea's largest airline.

The incident caused an uproar in South Korea where it was seen as an example of over-mighty behavior by the offspring of the moneyed elite.

The South Korean economy is dominated by family-controlled conglomerates known as chaebol. Family members often wield greater influence over major companies than shareholders and executives with no blood ties to the founding family. The Cho family owns about 10 percent of Korean Air Lines Co., part of a business empire than spans the travel, logistics, hotel and leisure industries.

Korean Air confirmed that Flight 86 was delayed at John F. Kennedy airport on Dec. 5 due to the nut incident. But the company said the decision to disembark the crew member was made by the flight's captain.

South Korea's government said it is investigating whether Cho violated aviation safety law. Cho could face legal action if the probe shows that she interrupted the flight or endangered safety by using threats, her status or violence.

Korean Air said Tuesday before Cho's resignation that it was "natural" for her to fault the crew's ignorance of procedures.

The airline's cabin crew is required to ask first-class passengers whether they want nuts, partly to avoid serving them to people with allergies. The nuts also should have been served on a plate.

The airline said it will step up training to improve customer service and safety. It denied a Yonhap news report that the crew member forced to leave the flight had been suspended. A spokeswoman said the man was taking a vacation.

Cho was not available for comment.

People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, a civic group, said it would file a complaint against Cho with prosecutors.

"The anger and the concern from the public were so big because safety and procedures related to important services were simply ignored" due to Cho's status, the group said.

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Reception to GOP tax amnesty plan mixed

Taxpayer activists are divided about a corporate tax amnesty program House leaders and Gov.-elect Charlie Baker are considering to generate cash for state spending needs.

House Minority Leader Brad Jones (R-North Reading) has filed legislation to create a two-month corporate tax amnesty program, which he estimates would yield $15 million to $20 million. Baker said it's not an ideal situation, but one he might support. House Ways and Means Chairman Brian Dempsey (D-Haverhill) said Democratic leadership is actively considering the possibility.

A two-month tax amnesty program for individual filers that ran through the end of October pulled in roughly $57 million.

Michael J. Widmer, outgoing president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, said in many cases, businesses, like some individuals, don't pay their taxes because they dispute their assessment.

"The amnesty is a chance to reach an agreement and collect revenues which might otherwise never be received or only after a long period," Widmer said in an e-mail yesterday. "We haven't looked at this, but my one caution would be not to use one-time revenues to support ongoing operating expenses."

But Barbara Anderson, executive director of Citizens for Limited Taxation, was flummoxed by the idea of an amnesty for corporate scofflaws.

"You and I have to pay our taxes, so why don't they? Wouldn't I go to jail if I didn't?" Anderson said. "The bigger ones — I don't see how they could have any excuse; they have accountants ... It seems to me there's a moral hazard here. Once everyone understands that if they don't pay their taxes sooner or later there's going to be an amnesty, there's an incentive to hold out and have that money in the bank, earning interest."

Herald wire services contributed to this report.

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City to give boost to veteran-owned businesses

Veteran-owned businesses will soon get the same preferential treatment that women- and minority-owned businesses get from the city of Boston.

During his speech at the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce this morning, Mayor Martin J. Walsh is expected to announce a new executive order that will give veteran-owned businesses an advantage when bidding for city contracts.

"This really changes the dynamic, to go beyond what is being done at the state level and gives all veterans the opportunities to bid with the city of Boston," said Francisco Urena, Boston's commissioner of veterans services. "This is a chance for veterans to utilize the skills they've learned in the field and in their service to our country, to launch a successful business, and for the city to support their post-service careers in a sustainable way. Boston continues to lead as a veteran-friendly city, and this is another reason why."

The city currently gives extra weight to bids from woman- and minority-owned businesses, and will add veteran-owned businesses to that group when the executive order is issued.

Joyce Linehan, Walsh's chief of policy, said the programs have been effective in giving businesses more opportunities.

"It certainly is much more than symbolic," she said. "(Veterans are) a population that could certainly use a hand up."

Veteran-owned businesses will also be able to get a weekly dispatch from City Hall, which details what contracts are up for bid.

"It's the least we can do," Linehan said.

In a meeting last month with a veteran business owner, Linehan said she was surprised that no policy existed.

"You don't understand why it wasn't already done," she said. "It's a really good way for us to say thank you."

The executive order will also establish a minimum percentage of contracts, which should be awarded to veteran-owned businesses.

Businesses will need to be federally certified as veteran-owned to qualify. There are roughly 800 businesses in Massachusetts that are federally certified as veteran-owned.

The city's legal team is in the process of putting the executive order together, but there is no concrete timeline for its implementation.

The city awards millions of dollars in contracts every year, for jobs including fixing traffic lights to installing cables inside City Hall.

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US stocks open lower as oil renews slide

NEW YORK — U.S. stocks opened lower Wednesday, led by declines in energy stocks as the price of oil resumed its slide.

Oil dropped on reports that OPEC had slashed its estimate of how much crude it will need to produce next year due to rising supplies from other producers such as the U.S.

KEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor's fell 12 points, or 0.6 percent, to 2,046 as of 9:51 a.m. Eastern. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 122 points, or 0.7 percent, to 17,681. The Nasdaq composite fell 19 points, or 0.4 percent, to 4,746.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude was down $1.63, or 2.6 percent, to $62.18 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The price of oil has plunged more than 40 percent from a peak of $107 a barrel in June as traders speculate that the supply of oil being pumped by the world's biggest producers exceeds demand.

FLYING HIGH: Airline stocks were among the gainers as the price of oil plunged. Southwest Airlines was the leading gainer in early trading. The stock rose $1.13, or 2.5 percent, to $41.76, taking its gain this year to 121 percent. Delta Air Lines also advanced, rising 55 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $46.81.

EUROPE'S DAY: European stocks rebounded on Wednesday after a sell-off a day earlier on concerns that Greece might have to hold early general elections and that a left-wing opposition party would win. The Syriza party wants to cut what Greece owes in bailout money, which could potentially derail the country's recovery.

France's CAC-40 gained 0.2 percent to 4,271 and Germany's DAX was up 0.6 percent at 9,857. Britain's FTSE 100 added almost 0.1 percent to 6,532.

BONDS AND CURRENCIES: Government bond prices were little changed. The yield on the benchmark U.S. Treasury note, which rises when prices fall, edged up to 2.22 percent from 2.21 percent on Tuesday.

The dollar fell to 119.01 yen from 119.40 late Tuesday. The euro rose to $1.2394 from $1.2385.

___

Kurtenbach reported from Tokyo.

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Somerville pols laud $1B for Green Line expansion fed

The economic future of Somerville and Medford is on a fast track after the Green Line extension passed one of the last key financing milestones for a plan that calls for adding six stops to the popular MBTA route.

"The economic impact is unlimited for Somerville," said city Mayor Joseph Curtatone.

Curtatone said the extension will be more transformative to the city than even Assembly Square, a project that was made possible by a new Orange Line station.

The project will add six stations in Somerville and Medford, including a new branch to Union Square and a stop at College Avenue in Medford.

In its evaluation of the extension, federal transportation officials said the area's future development is largely dependent on transportation improvements.

"The corridor's capacity to accommodate additional development depends on the improvement in the transportation access that would be provided by the Green Line Extension," the report says.

The project will get nearly $1 billion in federal money, the Federal Transit Administration said in a letter to a U.S. Senate committee.

The rest of the project will be paid for by 
$996 million in state bonds and $305 million in state operating funds.

U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano, who represents Somerville and served as mayor of Somerville, said the project will have more than just economic benefits, adding that the line "is really intended — in my mind — to serve people who have been underserved for forever."

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Medical mistake numbers alarm experts

One of four Bay Staters say they or their loved ones have fallen victim to alarming medical mistakes like misdiagnoses and faulty treatments, according to a bombshell report that has local experts calling for more action to prevent such errors among state hospitals and agencies.

"This is a problem of just incredible magnitude," said Barbara Fain, director of the Betsy Lehman Center for Patient Safety and Medical Error, which funded the survey. "From our perspective there needs to be a greater urgency around making greater progress."

Misdiagnoses were the largest problem among those surveyed, comprising 51 percent of people who had encountered errors. Thirty-eight percent say they were given the wrong surgery or test, and 34 percent say they were given bad instructions.

The survey, conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health, asked 1,224 Massachusetts residents if they or someone close to them had experienced a medical misstep within the last five years.

The survey is one of several new reports funded by the Lehman Center, named after a Boston Globe health reporter who died in 1994 after an overdose of chemotherapy treatments.

Robert Blendon, a Harvard professor of health policy and political analysis who led the survey, said the results speak volumes about how little progress has been made since Lehman's death.

"Twenty years ago there was an event that spurred national and statewide movement with an awful death of a reporter," Blendon said. "What do you have 20 years later? You have an issue that's still a problem in people's lives. This is not a problem that went away decades later."

Patricia Folcarelli, senior director of patient safety for Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, said better systems need to be put into place to prevent human error. "The major take-away is that we still have a lot of work to do," said Folcarelli.

She said the sheer number of health care workers involved in the treatment of each patient — and breakdowns in communication among them — is the major problem behind these errors. "There's multiple people delivering care, and there are a lot of opportunities for information to get lost in the hand-off," she said. "The devil happens in the transitions."

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Obama to discuss economic ideas with CEOs

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is meeting with leading CEOs to discuss ways to promote the economy and create jobs during his last two years in office.

Obama on Wednesday will attend the quarterly meeting of the Business Roundtable, an association of CEOs. Obama plans to give a speech and take questions.

The White House says Obama will use the meeting to promote bipartisan opportunities to grow the economy and the middle class, such as tax reform, infrastructure spending and trade agreements.

In the weeks since the midterm elections, Obama has cited those three issues as examples of where Democrats and Republicans might be able to compromise. Heavy Democratic losses in the elections diminished Obama's prospects for passing most of his other legislative priorities before leaving office.

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Roslindale group battles Petco store in Village

A Roslindale Village group is trying to stop a pet store chain from opening amid its small, locally owned stores, and is seeking city regulations to cap the number of big-box stores and national restaurants in its neighborhood business district.

"We believe that national chains like Unleashed by Petco degrade the community character and make it difficult for local mom-and- pop businesses to thrive," said Christina DiLisio, executive director of Roslindale Village Main Street.

Unleashed, Petco's neighborhood version, is eyeing a new location at 745 South St., the former JB Edwards uniform store near Adams Park, but has faced stiff opposition from residents.

"People understand Roslindale Village to be something special," DiLisio said. "Chains are soulless."

The Roslindale Village Main Street is the oldest neighborhood business district in the city, established in 1985 thanks in part to then-city councilor Thomas M. Menino. There are now 20 Main Streets districts in Boston, whose aim is to revitalize and promote the city's neighborhood commercial centers.

While DiLisio and Roslindale Village Main Street battle Petco, they are also calling on the city to pass an ordinance to cap the number of so-called formula businesses — chain stores and restaurants — that could open in the future.

"Chains are never going to be able to have the face of a person and a real, live business owner putting their heart, sweat and tears to keep that business alive," DiLisio said.

City Councilor Tim McCarthy, who represents Roslindale, doesn't dismiss outright the idea of limits on chain stores in Roslindale Village, but said it would be complicated.

"We've kicked this around," McCarthy said. "If we're going to venture into this, we've got to do it right."

He said any ordinance would have to be specifically tailored.

"We may want to tweak it to make it Main Street specific," he said. "It can't be a general, sweeping regulation or ordinance."

Each Main Street program is an independent nonprofit overseen by the city's Department of Neighborhood Development.

"While we encourage innovative thinking about these issues, a formula business ordinance would have citywide implications, and will require thoughtful analysis," Neighborhood Development spokeswoman Lisa Pollack said.

Petco representatives did not respond to requests for comment.

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FBI seizes Los Angeles schools' iPad documents

LOS ANGELES — The U.S. attorney's office subpoenaed the Los Angeles Unified School District for records pertaining to its $1 billion iPad project as part of a federal grand jury probe.

A copy of the subpoena released Tuesday requests all documents related to proposals for the district's cornerstone technology initiative, which has been plagued with problems since its rollout last year. The requested records include proposal scoring documents, review committee files and employee information, among other materials.

LAUSD general counsel David Holmquist told The Associated Press the district was expecting federal agents to visit and retrieve documents toward the end of the week. Instead FBI agents arrived at district offices on Monday, carting away about 20 boxes worth of records.

"We turned over all documents that we think are responsive to the subpoena," Holmquist said.

He said the district has not been provided any information on what federal authorities are investigating.

The district's Common Core Technology Project aimed to provide 21st century learning devices to all of the district's 650,000 students, chipping away at the technology divide that often leaves lower-income students at a disadvantage from their more affluent peers.

The program was championed by then-Superintendent John Deasy and approved unanimously by the school board in 2013.

"The idea of providing first-class learning technology to all the kids in the district, not just the kids who could afford it, is certainly a worthy educational goal," said Charles Taylor Kerchner, a professor at Claremont Graduate University. "That worthy goal runs up against problems of organizational feasibility, and it did from the beginning."

Hundreds of students initially given iPads last school year found ways to bypass security installations, downloading games and freely surfing the Web. Teachers complained they were not properly trained to instruct students with the new technology. And questions were raised after emails were disclosed showing Deasy had been in communication with vendors Apple and Pearson before the contracts were put to bid. He resigned under pressure, in part from the iPad troubles, in October.

While it remained unclear exactly what aspect of the iPad project — one of the biggest technological undertakings by an urban district in the U.S. — the FBI was investigating, legal experts and education observers immediately focused on Deasy's relationship with Apple and Pearson and the use of construction bond proceeds to spend money on a short-term device purchase.

Ariel Neuman, a former federal prosecutor, said the government is likely investigating possible fraud involving the contracts.

"If someone doesn't disclose a relationship they have with Apple," he said, "those could be material omissions that could lead to a wire or mail fraud case."

Interim Superintendent Ramon Cortines had planned to move forward with equipping an additional 27 schools with learning devices, but said Tuesday he was canceling the contract and starting another. Cortines said he made the decision based on "identified flaws" in the L.A. Unified inspector general's report on device procurement.

He added that the district would continue with a different contract with Apple to provide iPads and another vendor, Arey Jones, to provide Chromebooks for a new set of exams in the spring aligned to the Common Core, the new academic benchmarks being implemented in California and other states around the nation.

"My intent is that the students attending these schools will receive devices under a new contract at the beginning of the 2015-16 school year," Cortines said.

To date, the district has spent $70 million on the project, purchasing 90,713 devices.

News of the probe immediately drew rebuke from United Teachers Los Angeles, a frequent Deasy critic. Union president Alex Caputo-Pearl said Deasy "cannot escape the tough questions about the ill-fated iPad project. He cannot simply resign and leave a mess for others to clean up."

Deasy did not return a request for comment.

___

Associated Press writer Brian Melley contributed to this report.

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Reebok to outfit all UFC fighters

Reebok is expanding its fitness focus by stepping into the Octagon under a six-year deal as the new exclusive outfitter of the Ultimate Fighting Championship mixed martial arts organization.

The Canton athletic brand also will be the official clothing provider for fans of the 21-year-old UFC and will develop a new line of training gear for the 35 million people worldwide who use MMA, boxing and kickboxing in their exercise regimes.

"It's a very significant commitment, and we think it will generate significant commercial opportunity," said Reebok president Matt O'Toole, who declined to put a dollar figure on the deal. "It's one of the few sports that's popular in every continent, and its viewership numbers keep climbing — similar to ... the NBA or other sports leagues."

The alliance is the biggest non-broadcast deal signed by the Las Vegas-based UFC and will further professionalize the sport, chairman and CEO Lorenzo Fertitta said. "Working with another global brand with such a strong history in training and fitness will deliver long-term value for UFC athletes and their brands by elevating and further professionalizing the events and the sport," he said in a statement.

UFC athletes will be required to wear Reebok gear at all official UFC events starting in July and will no longer be permitted to exhibit other sponsors' logos during them. In turn, the UFC will compensate them based on their rankings during event weigh-ins.

Reebok currently sponsors UFC welterweight champion Johny Hendricks and lightweight champion Anthony Pettis and expects to add more UFC fighters to its roster.

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The Ticker

Three cos. buy retail at hotel in Kenmore Sq.

Three real estate investment firms have purchased the 37,000-square-foot retail portion of Hotel Commonwealth in Boston's Kenmore Square in a $38.5 million deal.

Boston's UrbanMeritage and Novaya Real Estate Ventures and Atlanta-based Invesco Real Estate plan to re-tenant and reposition the more than 10,000 square feet of space that's currently vacant at the Shoppes at the Hotel Commonwealth in the next 12 to 18 months.

"The retail space has never been focused on by any of the hotel owner/operators," UrbanMeritage principal Michael Jammen said. "As a specialist in retail and mixed-use properties, we believe we can find the retail users that will work well with the hotel use and continue the revitalization of Kenmore Square and the Fenway area."

Current tenants in the hotel include the Eastern Standard and Island Creek Oyster Bar restaurants, as well as The Hawthorne, Starbucks and Hunt's Photo & Video.

The sellers were Denver-based Sage Hospitality, which purchased the hotel two years ago, and co-owner Fundamental Advisors of New York. The 149-room hotel is undergoing a 134,000-square-foot expansion that will add 96 more rooms, event space and parking.

Jobs emails in Apple iPod trial

The late Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Inc., led the company to violate antitrust laws by restricting music purchases for iPod users to Apple's iTunes digital store, an attorney for consumers suing Apple said in court.

Opening statements began yesterday in an Oakland, Calif., federal court in the long-running class action, which harks back to Apple's pre-iPhone era. The plaintiffs, a group of individuals and businesses who purchased iPods from 2006 to 2009, are seeking about $350 million in damages from Apple for unfairly blocking competing device makers. That amount would be automatically tripled under antitrust laws.

Today

 Labor Department releases revised third-quarter productivity data.

 Institute for Supply Management releases its service sector index for November.

 Federal Reserve releases Beige Book.

THE SHUFFLE

JLL Construction has hired Cosmas Papanikolaous and Bill Guzowski to join the firm's New England Construction group as an estimating manager and senior construction manager, respectively. Papanikolaous comes to JLL from Bond Brothers. He brings more than 14 years of industry experience having previously worked for Suffolk Construction and Tocci Building Corp. Guzowski joins JLL from AZ Corp. He has more than 21 years of experience in the institutional, life sciences, and health care industries.

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Steve Grossman blasts $65G raise for state pension chief

The salary of the state pension fund's executive director could catapult past $500,000 after its board yesterday gave him a $65,000 raise, prompting a warning from outgoing board chairman Treasurer Steve Grossman about the pay hike's optics amid financial unrest on Beacon Hill.

"We are ultimately spending taxpayer dollars and (it comes) at a time when cuts are taking place and budgetary belt-tightening is going on," said Grossman, who voted against boosting director Michael Trotsky's salary to $360,000, which, when combined with a bonus of up to 40 percent, could send his pay past a half-million dollars.

The state, Grossman noted, is trying to fill a $329 million budget gap, and the treasurer said he wanted to see a phased-in raise for Trotsky, who he still lauded for "outstanding" work.

Trotsky, who also serves as the $60.2 billion fund's chief investment officer, told the board that the fund's balance was up 9.4 percent in the year ending Oct. 31, but also warned of waves of market volatility amid the recent gains.

"We think this signals the late stage of the boom that we've been in for the past five years and we have prepared for," Trotsky said, according to the State House News Service.

A representative of Glen Shor, Gov. Deval Patrick's administration and finance secretary, was the only other board member to vote against Trotsky's raise.

Treasurer-elect Deb Goldberg said in a statement while a "significant raise" is well-deserved, the spike was "uncomfortable and not necessarily appropriate at this time."

Trotsky said in a statement he's "extremely proud" of the gains the fund has made.

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Takata: Evidence doesn't support national recall

DETROIT — A defiant Takata Corp. told a U.S. safety agency that its demand for a nationwide air bag recall isn't supported by evidence, and the government doesn't have authority to tell a parts maker to do a recall.

The company laid out its position in a Tuesday letter to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration obtained by The Associated Press that rejected the agency's demand for a recall.

It sets the stage for a confrontation at a House subcommittee hearing on the matter Wednesday morning.

In a statement, NHTSA called Takata's response "disappointing" and said it will review the response to determine the agency's next steps. A week ago, the agency threatened civil fines and legal action if Takata didn't declare the driver's air bag inflators defective and agree to the recall. It can impose fines of up to $35 million.

The inflators can explode with too much force, spewing shrapnel into the passenger compartment. At least five deaths and dozens of injuries have been linked to the problem worldwide.

But in its letter, Takata told Frank Borris, director of NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation, that the agency is basing its demand for a national recall on slim evidence.

A national recall would add 8 million vehicles to previous recalls, Takata said. Those have been limited to high-humidity areas in Florida, Hawaii, along the Gulf Coast and in some U.S. territories. Takata has maintained that prolonged exposure to airborne moisture can cause the inflator propellant to burn faster than designed, causing it to explode with too much force.

But NHTSA, in its letter demanding a national recall, pointed to inflator ruptures that injured drivers in California and North Carolina — both outside the recall zone.

Takata, however, told the agency that the California case involving a 2005 Honda Accord already is covered by a Honda service campaign, making a recall unnecessary. A 2007 Ford Mustang in the North Carolina case has not been examined by either Takata or NHTSA, the letter said. "Therefore, there is no way to ascertain what actually occurred during the incident, whether any inflator ruptured," it said.

Takata also contends that NHTSA only has authority to seek recalls from auto manufacturers and makers of replacement parts, not original parts suppliers. NHTSA disagrees.

The company said Tuesday night in Japan that its answer to NHTSA was "neither a yes nor a no." But the letter clearly shows the company rejected the recall demand. "It is Takata's current view that the currently available, reliable information does not support a nationwide determination of a safety defect in all vehicles equipped with the subject driver-side inflators,'" the company's head of product safety wrote in the letter.

A Takata quality executive and David Friedman, deputy NHTSA administrator, are scheduled to appear at Wednesday's hearing before a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee.

Takata also said that it has tested 1,057 driver and passenger inflators taken from locations outside the high-humidity zone, and none of them has ruptured. The company said it will expand production of replacement inflators for the current recalls and will expand the recalls if warranted.

"If those testing efforts or data from other sources indicate the existence of a safety defect beyond the scope of the current campaigns, Takata will promptly take appropriate action," the company said.

NHTSA said in a statement Tuesday night Takata shares responsibility for keeping driver's safe. "We believe anything short of a national recall does not live up to that responsibility," the statement said.

The dispute between the government and Takata left automakers caught in the middle, not knowing whether they should start the recall process or not. NHTSA has told the affected automakers — Ford, Honda, Chrysler, Mazda and BMW — that they need to recall the driver's side inflators soon. Takata passenger air bag recalls remain limited to high-humidity areas.

BMW has said its recalls are national already, while Ford and Chrysler wouldn't comment. Honda said Tuesday it is "seriously considering" a nationwide recall.

So far automakers have recalled about 14 million vehicles worldwide for Takata air bag problems, including 8 million in the U.S.

____

Kageyama reported from Tokyo.

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Tinkerbell to shine in Walmart ads for NBC's 'Peter Pan'

Don't be surprised if elements of "Peter Pan" show up in the commercial breaks during NBC's live Thursday telecast of the famous 1904 play.

Walmart, which ran ads during NBC's live broadcast of "The Sound of Music" last year that used songs from the play to make a marketing point, will again serve as lead sponsor of the live event, and will use commercials that echo the action that just took place in the play just before the production cuts to advertising. All five of the spots will also feature Tinkerbell (or, at least, the version of the character being used in the NBC production).

Walmart will have the heaviest presence in what is a sold-out program, said Dan Lovinger, executive vice president of entertainment ad sales at NBCUniversal. "I think that the industry, and certainly America, is really falling in love with concepts like this," he said. "It's a great family event. It gives people the opportunity during the holidays to sit down together to watch a show that everyone can be comfortable with."

Set to air live at 8 p.m. on Thursday, December 4, NBC's "Peter Pan" production shows the network doubling down on a gambit that worked well last year - and is gaining traction across the TV-scape. Just as Discovery Channel's recent broadcasts of daredevil Nik Wallenda walking a tightrope over Chicago and in the vicinity of the Grand Canyon have lured viewers, so too has the prospect of seeing up-and-coming celebrities hold forth in the title role of NBC's theatrical events. Allison Williams will play Peter Pan while Christopher Walken will play Captain Hook.

The network's live broadcast of "The Sound of Music" attracted more than 18 million viewers. NBC has already unveiled plans to mount a live production of "The Music Man" in 2015.

Demand for the show has been high, as more advertisers demonstrate a craving to link to the growing number of live events TV networks are testing to lure bigger crowds. NBC sought more than $350,000 for a 30-second spot in the show, Lovinger said, confirming a previous report in Variety. He declined to name other advertisers in the event, but said the show had support from the restaurant, electronics, movie-studio and wireless categories.

In five Walmart ads slated to run at specific moments during the program, viewers will see actress Melissa Joan Hart and her actual family in scenes that play off "Peter Pan" moments while also showcasing products available at Walmart. Hart is currently involved in Walmart's holiday campaign.

In the first of the spots produced by NBCUniversal, Hart will read a bedtime story to her family as they talk about pajamas (available, as it might happen, for purchase at the large retailer. In a second, the family will play with a Tinkerbell toy and Hart will show her family a "Lost Boys" tree hour lit up in the backyard. In a third, Hart's sons play in the tree house while shouting "Wendy." In a fourth, Hart's family sits around the dinner table preparing to make homemade cookies. In the fifth, and last, Hart reads "Peter Pan" to her kids and talks to them about growing up.

NBC was not able to say whether all the Walmart ads will run immediately after the broadcast cuts to an ad break - where they would have the most relevance - or deeper in the mix of promotions that run in each commercial interruption.

The concept sounds easier to put into practice than the idea Walmart used during its 2013 sponsorship of "The Sound of Music." As part of that effort, NBC produced a series of spots featuring the Brooks family of Gardner, Kansas, which has 12 children. The clan was spotted at various points in the broadcast doing activities to the strains of the popular tunes from the play. Each spot appeared after the song being featured had been sung in the show.

NBCUniversal actually did a four-day talent search for the family that eventually appeared in the ads, which were also produced by the company without the use of an ad agency.

Mediavest, an ad-buying firm that is part of France's Publicis Groupe, helped Walmart negotiate the price and placement of its "Peter Pan" campaign.

Marketers have shown new interest in crafting commercials for very specific occasions, a reflection, perhaps, of a desire to emulate the content that drew viewers in the first place, instead of interrupting the experience. "Clients in general are getting more and more creative and more demanding to create content that's relevant and resonates with not only our viewers but their consumers," said Lovinger.

NBC and Walmart have a history of teaming up for family fare. In 2010, the retailer and Procter & Gamble joined with NBC to create a TV movie, "Secrets of the Mountain," that aimed to offer an alternative to what the advertisers viewed as an increase in risqué fare on the boob tube. After "Mountain" ran in April, a similar effort, "The Jensen Project," aired in July of that year. Broadcasts of the films featured both ads from each company as well as placements of their products and logos in the content itself.

Walmart has been spotted sponsoring other pieces of family fare this week. Last night, the retailer had two different commercials run during ABC's "Toy Story That Time Forgot."

© 2014 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

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Boston Globe near sale of HQ to Concord co.

The Boston Globe is close to reaching an agreement to sell its Morrissey Boulevard headquarters to a Concord commercial real estate firm, the newspaper said.

CEO Mike Sheehan said the Globe is in the process of completing a purchase-and-sale agreement with Winstanley Enterprises, which has plans for mixed uses on the 16.5-acre site in Dorchester.

"We had a number of bids. We pared it down to three," Sheehan said. "We should have a (purchase and sale agreement) in a couple of weeks."

Winstanley currently owns and operates 43 buildings totaling about 5.5 million square feet throughout New England, according to its website.

The Globe had hired commercial real estate firm Colliers International to identify potential buyers. Sheehan declined to say how much the property will be sold for, but real estate experts have estimated it could be worth as much as 
$75 million.

Sheehan said the three offers were chosen as finalists in part because of price, but also because of what the bidders planned to do with the property.

"If I lived in this neighborhood, that's exactly what I'd want here," Sheehan said.

In a memo to employees, Sheehan said the Globe is likely to move out of its 815,000-square-foot headquarters at the end of 2016 or the beginning of 2017.

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CVS earnings soar on sales of specialty drugs

CVS Health Corp.'s third-quarter earnings exceeded Wall Street expectations, as growing sales of specialty drugs helped offset the loss of tobacco products, which the company stopped selling in September.

The nation's second-
largest drugstore chain's net income fell to $948 million, or 81 cents per share, from
$1.25 billion, or $1.02 per share a year earlier.

Adjusted to extinguish debt and for amortization costs, earnings were $1.15 per share, topping the $1.14 per share that was the average estimate of analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research. Revenue also surpassed expectations, rising to $35.02 billion, compared to the $34.65 billion analysts had forecast, according to Zacks.

Revenue from the Woonsocket, R.I.-based company's pharmacy benefits management, or PBM, side increased 16 percent, and operating profit from that segment grew 7.3 percent, helped by new business and the growth of expensive specialty drugs for complex chronic health conditions.

"PBM revenue growth and profitability were above our estimates, boosted by net new business and growth in specialty pharmacy, including ... contributions from Specialty Connect," a new program that allows CVS customers with these prescriptions to either pick them up or get them through the mail, according to Meredith Adler, a Barclays Capital analyst.

CVS said revenue from its retail pharmacy business increased 3 percent, but the loss of tobacco sales hurt earnings by 3 cents per share. The full-year impact of missing tobacco products will reduce earnings by 7 to 8 cents per share, the company said.

"As expected, the tobacco exit negatively impacted," Peter Costa, a Wells Fargo Securities analyst, said in a note. "We expect this impact may nearly double in Q4."

Herald wire services contributed to this report.

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US services firms grow more slowly, but hiring up

WASHINGTON — U.S. services firms expanded more slowly in October, but the pace of growth was still healthy. Hiring also rose to the fastest pace in more than nine years.

The Institute for Supply Management said Wednesday that its services index dropped to 57.1 in October, down from 58.6 in September. That was the second straight drop after the index had risen steadily since February to 59.6 in August, the highest in eight years. Any reading over 50 indicates expansion.

Steady hiring this year means more Americans are earning paychecks, which supports spending at retail stores, hotels and other service companies. Wednesday's data indicates that growth among service firms is cooling off a bit after rapid expansion earlier this year.

The ISM is a trade group of purchasing managers. Its survey of services firms covers businesses that employ 90 percent of the American workforce, including retail, construction, health care and financial services firms.

A gauge of hiring rose to 59.6, its highest level in nine years. That increase suggests that Friday's government report on jobs and unemployment could show another strong gain.

Still, there were plenty of signs that growth among service firms may have reached a plateau after accelerating for most of this year. A gauge of new orders fell nearly two points to 59.1, and a measure of order backlogs also fell.

"The majority of the respondents' comments reflect favorable business conditions," said Anthony Nieves, chair of the ISM's services index committee. "However, there is an indication that there continues to be a leveling off from the strong rate of growth of the preceding months."

New export orders fell sharply, to 53.5 from 57.5 in September, a sign that slowing growth overseas is beginning to impact U.S. firms. However, most of the firms responding to the survey are focused on the U.S. market and don't have any international business. Only about 35 percent said they had any overseas sales.

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Raytheon buys Blackbird Technologies for $420M

NEW YORK — Raytheon Co. said Wednesday that it bought privately held cybersecurity company Blackbird Technologies for about $420 million.

Raytheon, a defense contractor based in Waltham, Massachusetts, said the acquisition will help expand its surveillance and cybersecurity services to clients. Blackbird, headquartered in Herndon, Virginia, has customers in the defense, intelligence and law enforcement industries.

"Blackbird expands Raytheon's already-established footprint in the intelligence community market while helping to grow our cyber operations and special missions support to the Department of Defense," said Lynn Dugle, president of Raytheon's intelligence information and services unit, in a statement.

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Report: State foreclosures spike again

The number of foreclosure petitions in Massachusetts grew for the seventh straight month in September, but one expert says the numbers are not an accurate reflection of what is happening in the housing industry right now.

Foreclosure petitions rose 68 percent from September 2013, while foreclosure deeds — finalized foreclosures — rose 5 percent from a year before, according to a report from The Warren Group. Petitions rose to 734 across the state and deeds rose to 294.

The spike is not concerning, said Cassidy Murphy, editorial director of The Warren Group.

"Most of what is happening right now is people clearing out their backlogs of what they didn't do," Murphy said. "It's not much to write home about."

The increase is because of an artificially suppressed foreclosure market last year while lenders waited for new legislation to be passed.

"(Lenders) were waiting to hear what they needed to do," Murphy said. "We were not seeing them do (foreclosures) at a normal rate."

Murphy said even the inflated number of foreclosure deeds pales in comparison to the height of the housing crash.

"There were thousands of foreclosures a month, now we're down to a couple hundred," she said.

She said the backlog of foreclosures that has been building up while lenders wait for legislative guidance may not be cleared until late next year.

"Things will be bouncing around a little bit," she said.

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Boston.com blunders over contest victor

In politics, sometimes you can have it both ways. Boston.com proved that last night.

In the minutes before news outlets nationwide called the New Hampshire U.S. Senate race for U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, the website prematurely posted a pair of conflicting stories — one entitled "Scott Brown Wins U.S. Senate Seat for New Hampshire," the other under the headline "U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen Beats Scott Brown in New Hampshire."

The site responded to the error on their Twitter page soon after, saying "... The NH election stories were published prematurely. We're taking steps to fix the problem. Sorry for any confusion."

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HoJo seeks stars of ’60s ads

The Howard Johnson hotel chain is hunting for a former Quincy High School student, who came to the aid of a sailor on leave while training to be an apprentice cook in the former Dorchester HoJo's restaurant in the 1960s.

A nationwide search is underway for Ronald J. Brodeur, then a 17-year-old Quincy High junior, and 13 other former HoJo hotel and restaurant employees featured in the brand's "Spotlight on You" advertising campaign in the '60s.

As part of its 60th anniversary, HoJo's will reward the workers with five-night hotel stays and possibly invitations to appear in another ad campaign.

Founded in Quincy in 1925 as a drugstore with a soda fountain, HoJo's is now a chain of 432 hotels based in Parsippany, N.J., under Wyndham Hotel Group.

Brodeur assisted a sailor en route to visit his fiancee in Attleboro after returning from sea to Boston. The sailor had pulled up in front of the Dorchester HoJo's in a borrowed car, and Brodeur ended up helping him remount a wheel so he could make it to a garage. The good deed earned Brodeur a cash reward and a starring role in a HoJo ad.

"We chose to focus on the ads from the 'Spotlight on You' campaign because they speak not only to a very special time in the Howard Johnson brand's history — a time when the brand was growing and expanding by leaps and bounds across the interstates with hotels and restaurants, but also because they highlight an unwavering commitment to hospitality and great customer service," said Rui Barros, Wyndham Hotel Group's president and managing director of North American franchise operations.

The chain has launched its nationwide search through classified ads in newspapers, Facebook and other social media channels, and its own websites.

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New school music to charter’s ears

A music-oriented Boston charter school stands to be part of Roxbury's revival after signing a purchase-and-sale agreement for land to build a permanent facility about a quarter-mile from Dudley Square.

The 16-year-old Conservatory Lab Charter School plans to consolidate two temporary Brighton and Dorchester locations into a new school for about 450 pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade students. The land is part of the planned $140 million mixed-use Bartlett Place development.

"We're very excited to be where we are right now in terms of the process," Head of School Diana Lam said. "Most of our students come from Roxbury and the surrounding area, and we feel that also it is right at the center of the city."

The Conservatory Lab is "music-infused," with a focus on project-based learning and daily music instruction. All students play an instrument, and the school has 10 orchestras.

Plans call for a 70,000- to 72,000-square-foot school.

"We are engaged in trying to get the money together," Lam said. "The building may cost anywhere from $30 (million) to $35 million, but we don't need to raise all of that because we will have a stream of revenue."

The school receives tuition-reimbursement funds from the state to the tune of about 
$5.8 million this year.

The 1.6-acre building site is in the former 8.5-acre MBTA Bartlett bus yard bought in 2010 by Nuestra Comunidad Development Corp. and Dorchester's Windale Developers. Their Bartlett Place plans include 323 mixed-income apartments and owner-occupied homes, 55,000 square feet of retail and commercial space — including a 12,000-square-foot Harvest Co-op Market — in addition to the school.

"We have three buildings that could go into construction next year, which is exciting for Roxbury," said David Price, Nuestra Comunidad's executive director. The charter school could be the first, because it needs to open by mid-2016, he added.

The school would be open to the community at night and weekends for classes, workshops and music lessons.

"We're very excited to expand the services that we can provide to community members in Roxbury and to students that may not attend our school, but who live in Roxbury," Lam said.

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Survey: US businesses add 230,000 jobs in October

WASHINGTON — U.S. companies added 230,000 jobs in October, a private survey said, the most in four months and a sign that businesses are still willing to hire despite signs of slowing growth overseas.

Payroll processer ADP said Wednesday that the job gains were slightly ahead of the 225,000 added in September, which was revised up from an initial estimate of 213,000. Job gains above 200,000 are usually enough to lower the unemployment rate.

The data indicates that steady growth in the past six months has encouraged businesses to step up hiring. That could lead to a healthy job gain in Friday's government report on jobs and unemployment. The ADP numbers cover only private businesses and sometimes diverge from the government's more comprehensive report, which includes government agencies.

Economists forecast that the government's report will also show that employers added 230,000 jobs in October, according to a survey by FactSet.

Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, said that faltering economies in Europe, China and Japan haven't yet caused U.S. employers to pull back on adding workers.

"I don't think what's going on overseas is going to undermine the very strong numbers we're seeing right now," he said.

However, it's too early to say that other international trends, such as the strengthening dollar, will have no impact in the coming months, Zandi added. A stronger dollar makes U.S. exports more expensive overseas.

In fact, U.S. exports slowed in September, the government said earlier this week, a sign that weakness overseas may already be hitting some companies. Weaker overseas sales caused the trade deficit to jump 7.6 percent in September.

The job gains in the ADP report were broad-based: Construction firms added a solid 28,000 jobs, while manufacturing gained 15,000 positions. Professional and business services, which include mostly higher-paying positions such as accountants and engineers, gained 53,000.

Hiring has been strong this year, partly fueled by average growth of about 4 percent at an annual rate in the April-June and July-September quarters. Employers have added an average of 227,000 jobs a month in 2014, which puts this year on pace to be the strongest year for job creation since 1999.

Other recent reports suggest that Friday's government jobs report could be a healthy one. Manufacturers hired at a faster pace in October than in the previous month, according to a survey by the Institute for Supply Management, a trade group.

And applications for unemployment benefits have fallen to 14-year lows, evidence that employers are cutting very few jobs.

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Engine in failed rocket launch likely to be pulled

NEW YORK — Orbital Sciences says it will likely stop using the type of engines that were employed when its unmanned Antares commercial supply rocket bound for the International Space Station exploded moments after liftoff last week.

The company says its investigation of the crash is continuing, but preliminary results point to a failure in one of its two main engines involved in the first stage of launch. Orbital says it still plans to fulfill its contract with NASA to deliver all remaining cargo to the Space Station by the end of 2016.

The engines involved are liquid oxygen and kerosene-fueled AJ26 engines made by Aerojet Rocketdyne. The engines were originally designed and produced during the Soviet era in Russia, though modifications have been made.

On its website, Orbital said each AJ26 engine was sent from the Aerojet Rocketdyne facility in Sacramento, California, to the NASA/Stennis Space Center in Mississippi for hot fire acceptance testing, prior to heading to the Wallops Island, Virginia, launch site.

It will introduce an already-planned upgrade to the Antares propulsion system early in 2016.

Orbital Sciences Corp., based in Dulles, Virginia, says there will be no cost increase for NASA and it doesn't expect costs related to the accident to be material for Orbital in 2015.

Shares of Orbital Sciences rose $1.06, or 4.2 percent, to $26.18 in morning trading Wednesday.

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SodaStream to move its West Bank factory in 2015

JERUSALEM — Israeli drink maker SodaStream International Ltd. will relocate a factory next year that activists criticized for being in an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, a representative said Wednesday.

Nirit Hurwitz said that the decision to move the facility to Lehavim in Israel's southern Negev region is for "purely commercial" reasons and is not connected to pressure from Palestinian activists who had boycotted the company because of its location.

Activists launched a campaign boycotting the company because of the factory being in an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, a territory captured by Israel in 1967 that's claimed by the Palestinians.

Hurwitz said the new location received a $20 million grant from the Israeli government. The new location "will become our flagship manufacturing site and is expected to deliver operational excellence and result in savings of 2 percent across our entire cost base." she said.

SodaStream employs hundreds of Palestinians and gives them equal benefits as Israeli workers. Most of them are from nearby West Bank towns. For Palestinian workers from Ramallah, the new facility will be 107 kilometers (66 miles) away. For those from Hebron, it will be 48 kilometers (29 miles) away.

"We are offering all employees the opportunity to join us in Lehavim, and specifically, we are working with the Israeli government to secure work permits for our Palestinian employees," SodaStream CEO Daniel Birnbaum said.

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Casino servers settle lawsuit over skimpy uniforms

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Forty women employed at an Atlantic City casino have resolved their discrimination lawsuit over skimpy uniforms.

The lawsuit was filed in 2011 after Resorts Casino Hotel adopted a roaring '20s theme after the popularity of the HBO series "Boardwalk Empire," which was based on Prohibition-era Atlantic City's reputation as the vice capital of the East Coast.

The uniforms were short, skin-revealing black dresses with deep open backs. Waitresses also wore fishnet stockings and ornate Jazz Age hats.

Older servers claimed they were told they had to audition for their jobs in the new skimpy flapper costumes. They said they were given costumes too small for them and were photographed in awkward poses that emphasized body fat.

A panel put together by an outside modeling agency recommended who should stay and who should go based on photographs of the auditions, according to court documents.

The workers' lawyer, Kevin Costello, tells The Press of Atlantic City  the case is resolved, but he can't comment on the terms.

Resorts vice president and general counsel also confirmed the case was settled but wouldn't comment.

A Resorts statement in 2011 said the auditions were done "in a fair and objective manner."

"Boardwalk Empire" ended its run Sunday.

___

Information from: The Press of Atlantic City (N.J.), http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com

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