Patrick taking steps to limit Zohydro

Gov. Deval Patrick is taking new steps to limit prescriptions of an addictive opioid called Zohydro after his proposed ban of the drug was blocked by a lawsuit.

State officials will require doctors who prescribe Zohydro to complete a risk assessment and pain management treatment agreement, which will address pill counts, safe storage and other factors.

Patrick sought to ban the drug entirely last month, calling it a public health risk. Zohydro's maker, Zogenix Inc., sued Patrick on April 7. A week later, a federal court judge ruled in the company's favor.

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Ex-CEO admits stealing from prominent NYC charity

NEW YORK — The politically connected former CEO of a prominent New York City charity has admitted he helped steal more than $9 million from the organization in an insurance scheme that authorities linked to campaign contributions.

William Rapfogel pleaded guilty Wednesday to grand larceny, money laundering and other charges.

He admitted he stole more than $1 million from the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, which he led from 1992 until his August firing.

Authorities say Rapfogel and several conspirators inflated the price of the organization's insurance so they could pocket the overcharge. Authorities say they split more than $9 million over 20 years.

Rapfogel will be sentenced to 3 1/3 years to 10 years in state prison if he pays more than $3 million in restitution. He already has turned over nearly $1.5 million.

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Faster production brings Boeing $965M 1Q profit

Boeing's increased rate of commercial jet manufacturing is starting to pay off for shareholders.

In the first three months of this year, 161 new airplanes rolled off the company's assembly lines — more jets than the same period last year. That increased rate contributed to a $965 million profit for Chicago-based Boeing Co. post in the first quarter.

The net income was actually down 12.7 percent from last year's $1.1 billion first quarter profit, but that is because Boeing took a $330 million accounting write-off related to changes in its retirement plans. The company also noted that its 2013 earnings were inflated by a one-time research and development tax credit.

Net income per share dropped to $1.28 per share from $1.44 during last year's first quarter. But adjusted to exclude the write-off, earnings were $1.76 per share, beating the estimate of $1.56 per share from Wall Street analysts surveyed by FactSet. Shares rose $2.38, or 1.9 percent, to $129.93 in midday trading.

The company reported $20.47 billion in revenue, more than the $20.15 billion expected by Wall Street. That's up 8 percent from the $18.9 billion in revenue during the same period last year.

Revenue at Boeing's commercial plane unit rose 19 percent. The business grew thanks to increased production rates on its 737 manufacturing lines. In April, the 737 program reached a production rate of 42 per month. Boeing hopes to increase that to 47 airplanes a month in 2017 to help feed a worldwide demand for the narrow-body jet.

The company's much delayed 787 Dreamliner also showed progress, reaching a production rate of 10 per month — although only 18 were delivered during the first quarter. Still, that's a major improvement over last year, when only one Dreamliner was delivered due to a worldwide grounding of the fleet over concerns about its lithium-ion batteries catching on fire.

Boeing has backlog of 5,100 airplanes on order with a combined book value of $374 billion.

On the defense side, revenue fell 6 percent and Boeing lowered its full year revenue guidance for military aircraft to $14.2 billion, down from $15 billion. Its global support and services revenue is expected to climb, however, from $7.8 billion to $8.6 billion. Both changes reflect a realignment within the defense unit.

Boeing also repurchased 19.4 million shares for $2.5 billion during the first quarter.

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

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US stocks edge lower after a six-day rally

NEW YORK — The stock market slipped Wednesday after rallying for six straight days as investors worked through another round of quarterly earnings reports from U.S. companies. Intuitive Surgical was among those reporting disappointed results. A worse-than-expected report on the housing market also weighed on the broader market.

KEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell two points, or 0.1 percent, to 1,878 as of 11:10 a.m. Eastern. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 10 points, or 0.1 percent, to 16,504 and the Nasdaq composite lost 19 points, or 0.5 percent, to 4,142.

ROBOT REPAIR: Surgical robot make Intuitive Surgical dropped $39.90, or 10 percent, to $382.37. The company reported a 77 percent drop in first-quarter earnings. Intuitive Surgical sold only half has many robots in the last quarter as it did in the same period a year ago. The company warned two weeks ago that earnings would come in far below expectations, causing its stock to fall sharply from a recent high of $540.63 reached April 3.

FLYING HIGHER: Airline stocks were among the biggest advancers. Delta Air Lines rose $1.80, or 5 percent, to $36.68. Delta's first-quarter earnings climbed after the company filled more seats on its planes and paid less for fuel. Boeing rose $3.25, or 2.5 percent, to $130.80. The company's quarterly earnings beat expectations as it boosted airplane production.

THE $84,000 PILL: Gilead Sciences rose $2.16, or 3 percent, to $75.12 after the company reported a surge in first-quarter earnings. Gilead's drug Sovaldi, a new treatment for Hepatitis C, had $2.3 billion in sales in the first quarter alone, which beat the record for any drug in its first whole year on the market. While Sovaldi has a 90 percent success rate in curing Hepatitis C, the drug has a price of $1,000 per pill, or around $84,000 for a typical course of treatment.

HOUSING STALL: The Commerce Department said that new home sales fell 15 percent in March, their worst level in nearly a year. The number of home sold slowed to an annual rate of 384,000, well below economists' forecasts of 450,000. The news hit homebuilder stocks hard. KB Home fell 51 cents, or 3 percent, to $16.02 and Ryland Group fell 89 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $37.30.

GAME OF SHOWS: Netflix fell $13.60, or 3.5 percent, to $359.99. Time Warner and Amazon.com announced that HBO's award-winning shows such as "The Sopranos" and "Six Feet Under" would be available exclusively for Amazon Prime subscribers, a big loss for Netflix. HBO had been one of the biggest holdouts in bringing its content to streaming video services. Time Warner rose $1.17, or 2 percent, to $66.12.

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First lady announcing one-stop job site for vets

WASHINGTON — Aiming to streamline employment resources for people leaving the military, the government is creating an integrated website that can help job-seekers create resumes, connect with employers and become part of a database of veterans and their spouses for companies to mine for skills and talents.

First lady Michelle Obama was announcing the launch of the new Veterans Employment Center on Wednesday at Fort Campbell, Ky., during a special veterans' jobs summit organized by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, the Pentagon and the departments of Veterans Affairs and Labor.

"Our service members haven't always had the time or information they needed to prepare their resumes, to plot their career goals, to meet with employers and get the jobs they deserve," the first lady said in her prepared remarks. Mrs. Obama and Vice President Joe Biden's wife, Jill, have long been focused on the needs of veterans.

The one-stop job-shopping tool comes amid an increase in Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans as U.S. participation in those conflicts has ended or winds down. Unemployment among veterans who have served since September 2001 stood at 9 percent in 2013, about 1.6 percentage points higher than the overall civilian population.

The website, ebenefits.va.gov, is the first online resource that combines information provided by a variety of agencies and employers. It will help veterans and military spouses build resumes, translate military skills into private-sector aptitudes and provide career and training data with the click of a mouse.

Dakota Meyer, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan and a Medal of Honor recipient, said the civilian and military worlds have a difficult time understanding each other. "It's something as small as in the military we call it a mission and in the corporate world they call it a project," he said.

Meyer, who is working with the Chamber of Commerce Foundation in its outreach to veterans, said the government's launch of its integrated jobs website will help bridge that gap.

"I was a sniper in the Marine Corps. How many jobs do you think the civilian world, the corporate world has for snipers? So how do you market that?" he said. "The tool will help translate your skills over to whatever the corporate world is going to understand. So being a sniper — leadership skills, discipline, integrity, whatever-it-takes attitude, personnel management. These are skills that any corporation is looking for."

The Obama administration's most high-profile online tool, the HealthCare.gov site designed to enroll Americans in health plans, had a disastrous initial rollout last fall. But administration officials said Tuesday that they have tested the veterans site to ensure that it can handle the expected traffic and the various tasks it promises to carry out.

Wednesday's announcement is part of a monthlong series of events marking the third anniversary of Joining Forces, the nationwide initiative that Mrs. Obama and Jill Biden created in 2011 to boost employment, education and health care for active-duty service members, military families and veterans.

Biden, who will appear at Fort Campbell with Mrs. Obama, will also announce that the military spouses' employment program has enlisted 228 employers, up from the 60 companies that had made a commitment when the program launched in June 2011.

UPS is among the corporations that have pledged to hire more veterans, recruiting 13,000 veterans in the past 12 months, said Lytana Kids, UPS vice president for workforce planning. That's about 8 percent of the parcel delivery company's overall hires, compared with 5 percent before. An integrated website would make that task even easier, she said.

Ross Cohen, senior director of the veteran and military spouse employment program at the Chamber of Commerce Foundation, said it was easy for veterans to feel at a loss.

"Efforts like this one really make it easier to navigate toward a job," he said.

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Online:

Benefits site: https://www.ebenefits.va.gov/ebenefits/jobs

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Follow Jim Kuhnhenn on Twitter at http://twitter.com/jkuhnhenn

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Governor seeking direct flight from Boston’s Logan to Mexico City

Gov. Deval Patrick is working to establish a direct flight between Boston and Mexico City this year, which would be the latest nonstop flight aimed at economic development in the state.

"Mexico is a powerful economy and a growing one, and our trade relationship has itself been growing. There's opportunity there and we need to seize it," Patrick said.

Patrick said the administration is in talks with Interjet and AeroMexico about a nonstop flight.

Massport said in a statement that businesses are interested in direct flights to Mexico and it "is on our short list for new international service."

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Massachusetts homes sales down in March

BOSTON — Massachusetts homeowners still appear reluctant to put their houses on the market, driving sales volume down and prices up last month, two organizations that track the real estate market said Wednesday.

The number of single-family homes sold dropped almost 12 percent in March compared with the same month a year ago, while the median price jumped more than 8 percent to more than $314,000, according to the Waltham-based Massachusetts Association of Realtors.

The Warren Group, a Boston publisher of business data, reported an 8 percent decrease in sales volume and a nearly 9 percent boost in the median price to $315,000, the 18th consecutive month of higher year-over-year prices.

"The low inventory of single-family homes in the market is the primary cause of the decreasing sales activity," said Timothy M. Warren Jr., chief executive of The Warren Group. "Motivated buyers, however, are eagerly bidding for the limited supply which accounts for the increasing sales prices. People want to buy homes before prices and interest rates rise further."

The organizations use slightly different figures in their calculations.

The future is positive, said Realtors' President Peter Ruffini.

"While the market still needs more homes for sale — including both existing homes and new construction — the increase in new listings in March is a good sign," he said. "With home values on an upward trend, it gives homeowners the opportunity and incentive to take advantage of the current buyer demand and list their homes for sale."

Condominium sales remained strong.

The Warren Group reported a nearly 13 percent increase in condo sales last month compared with March 2013, while the Realtors reported a 4 percent jump.

Both groups reported an increase in median condo prices in the 10 percent to 11 percent range.

"As we see from the sales numbers, condos continue to be an attractive option for first-time home buyers or empty nesters," Warren said.

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Amazon snares classic shows in deal with HBO

NEW YORK — Fans of classic HBO shows like "The Sopranos" and "The Wire" will soon have access to those series and more through Amazon Prime in the first online streaming deal signed by the cable network.

Starting on May 21, Amazon Prime members — who pay $99 a year for streaming entertainment, two-day shipping and other perks— will also have access to "Six Feet Under," ''Big Love," as well as early seasons of "of Boardwalk Empire" and "True Blood." Past seasons of newer shows such as "Girls," ''The Newsroom" and "Veep" will also become available throughout the multi-year deal, about three years after airing on HBO.

Original movies including "Too Big to Fail" and "Game Change" will also become available, as will original comedy specials from Lewis Black, Louis C.K., Ellen DeGeneres and Bill Maher.

There was no mention of "Game of Thrones," one of the most pirated shows in history. Other shows such as "Sex and the City" and "Entourage" were also left out of the deal.

The exclusive HBO deal is a big win for Amazon, which is competing with Netflix and Hulu for streaming viewers as more people cut the cord on cable services. Time Warner, which owns HBO, has long seen Netflix as a threat to HBO and has steadfastly refused to license even its old shows to the company for streaming.

Netflix announced its first price hike in three years this week to help pay for more original programming, such as "House of Cards." Shares of Netflix dropped nearly 4 percent Wednesday following the announcement.

Amazon, too, raised the price of Prime in January from $79 a year, which had not changed since the company introduced the service in 2005. Back then, Prime did not include online streaming. But Amazon steadily expanded into new areas, not just movie streaming but e-readers and grocery delivery. There are even reports of a new, Amazon smartphone.

Amazon and HBO did not disclose the financial terms of the deal, nor its duration.

HBO Go, the network's streaming service that's currently only available to subscribers, will also be offered on Amazon's new streaming device, Fire TV, likely by the end of the year. The $99 device streams online video, music and other content to televisions, competing with the likes of Apple Inc. Roku.

The deal "positions Prime Instant Video as a viable competitor and potentially more appealing alternative to Netflix," said Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter. "Through the HBO deal, in addition to its own original content, Amazon has the potential to offer close to 70 different series that we believe HBO owns outright, with multiple seasons available for the more successful shows. In comparison, we believe that Netflix's original series figure is closer to 10, with up to only two seasons available."

Glenn Whitehead, executive vice president of business and legal affairs at HBO, said that the company has always wanted to capitalize on its position as owners of its original programming.

The Amazon-HBO deal comes the same week that TV broadcasters are facing off at the U.S. Supreme Court with TV-over-the-Internet provider Aereo, which offers live broadcast television for a monthly fee.

Shares of Seattle-based Amazon fell $3.92 to 325.40 in late morning trading amid a broader market decline.

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Spacewalking astronauts complete urgent repair job

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Spacewalking astronauts easily replaced a dead computer outside the International Space Station on Wednesday and got their orbiting home back up to full strength.

The two Americans on board, Rick Mastracchio and Steven Swanson, hustled through the urgent repair job, swapping out the computers well within an hour. The new one tested fine.

"Excellent work, gentlemen," Mission Control radioed.

The removed computer, a critical backup, failed nearly two weeks ago. The prime computer has been working perfectly, but NASA wanted to install a fresh spare as soon as possible.

Mission Control waited until after the arrival of a capsule full of fresh supplies Sunday.

Replacing the computer — a compact 50-pound box — involved just three bolts, hardly anything for a spacewalking chore.

Engineers do not know why the original failed. Mission Control asked the spacewalkers to keep an eye out for any damage that might explain the breakdown. Nothing jumped out.

Flight controllers were trying to load software into the spare computer on April 11, but it failed to activate. That set into motion a frenzy of ground meetings and tests to fix the problem.

NASA feared that if the primary computer went down as well, the entire space station would be in jeopardy. These two computers — the primary and backup — control the pointing of the solar wings and radiators, as well as the movement of the robot-arm rail cart.

It was the first failure of one of dozens of so-called MDMs, or multiplexer-demultiplexers, in and outside the space station.

Mission Control kept the spacewalk short and straight-to-the-point; it lasted a mere one hour and 36 minutes. All routine spacewalks by U.S. station crew have been on hold since last summer's near-drowning by a spacewalking astronaut. His helmet filled with water from the cooling system of the suit, and NASA is continuing to investigate the problem.

NASA hopes to reuse the bad computer, once it's inspected indoors by the astronauts and updated.

Their mission accomplished, Mastracchio and Swanson exchanged a few jokes and laughs as they got ready to go back inside.

"My arms are too short for a selfie," Mastracchio said with a chuckle, his camera pointed at himself.

Mission Control spotted a small object floating over Mastracchio's right shoulder as the spacewalk drew to a close. He said he didn't think he lost anything. The NASA commentator, Dan Huot, later said it appeared to be a tiny wire tie.

The space station is home to six men: the two Americans, three Russians and one Japanese.

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Online:

NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

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Delta navigates nasty winter, tops profit forecast

DALLAS — Delta Air Lines Inc. is making more money by filling more seats on its planes and paying a bit less for fuel.

Delta's first-quarter profit beat expectations and underscored how most big airlines are prospering with a combination of strong business travel, slightly higher fares and money from extra fees.

Even bad weather couldn't stop Delta from boosting profit, although it canceled more than 17,000 flights in January and February — double the number from a year ago — which cost the company $90 million in revenue and $55 million in pretax income.

Ed Bastian, president of the Atlanta airline, said Wednesday that Delta expects revenue to remain strong through the year thanks to solid demand. He said that a key statistic of revenue per mile should grow in the mid-single digits during the April-through-June second quarter.

Delta shares jumped $2.01, or 5.8 percent, to $36.97 in morning trading. They began the day up 27 percent in 2014.

Delta said that net income in the first quarter was $213 million, or 25 cents per share, up from $7 million, or a penny per share, a year earlier.

Excluding items such as fleet-restructuring costs and fuel-hedging, Delta earned 33 cents per share. Analysts, who usually exclude one-time costs and benefits like that, were expecting 29 cents per share, according to FactSet.

Revenue rose 5 percent to $8.92 billion, matching analysts' forecasts.

Passengers flew 4 percent more miles than in early 2013, which helped boost occupancy to 82.7 percent on the average flight, up from 81.2 percent a year ago. The average fare per mile rose 1 percent.

Including Delta Connection regional flights, the company spent $2.70 billion on fuel, its largest expense in the quarter. Still, that was a savings of $109 million, or 4 percent, as Delta paid $3.03 per gallon instead of last year's $3.24. The company expects total fuel costs of $2.97 to $3.02 per gallon in the second quarter.

The break on fuel spending more than offset an increase of $58 million, or 3 percent, in labor costs, the company's second-biggest expense at $1.97 billion.

As long as travel demand holds up, Delta should be able to cover those costs.

The company overcame severe winter weather and the shift of Easter travel into April.

"We see continued revenue strength as we move through the year from corporate revenue gains, the benefits of the Virgin Atlantic joint venture and improved ancillary revenues," Bastian said.

Ancillary revenues include fees for checking bags, changing reservations, getting an economy seat with more legroom, and other perks.

Helane Becker, an analyst with Cowen and Co., said Delta was aggressively controlling costs other than fuel and said the company's outlook for the second quarter was stronger than expected.

The financial strength of U.S. airlines has increased as mergers have reduced competition and made it easier for the carriers to control the supply of seats. Later this week, American Airlines and Southwest Airlines are expected to report that their first-quarter profits also rose sharply from last year. Among the largest four U.S. airline companies, only United Continental Holdings Inc. is expected to report a loss.

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Contact David Koenig at http://www.twitter.com/airlinewriter

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