Tilly's to debut in two Bay State malls

California action sports clothing retailer Tilly's will make its New England debut with stores opening at the South Shore Plaza in Braintree and Peabody's Northshore Mall in mid-November.

The 30-year-old Irvine, Calif.-based chain sells West Coast-inspired surf, skate, motocross and lifestyle brands' clothing, shoes and accessories at 159 stores in 20-plus states.

Its South Shore Plaza store will be on the second level of the Nordstrom wing, and the Northshore Mall location will be on the second floor near Guest Services.

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Bluebird bio lands $9.3M for study

Cambridge-based gene therapy developer bluebird bio said today it has been awarded $9.3 million from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine to support a Phase 1/2 study for the company's product LentiGlobin, which is designed to treat a group of inherited blood disorders.

The study will be initiated in the United States next year.

LentiGlobin introduces a full functional human beta-globin gene into the patient's own hematopoietic stem cells, which ultimately produce fully functioning red blood cells. The company is currently conducting a Phase 1/2 trial examining the feasibility, safety and efficacy of LentiGlobin in treating beta-thalassemia and sickle cell disease.

The CIRM award is among the first awards under the agency's Strategic Partnership Awards initiative, which is designed to engage more effectively with industry and increase outside investment in CIRM-funded stem cell research.

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Mass. economy grows 1.9 percent, just below U.S. GDP

The growth in Massachusetts real gross domestic product increased at an annual rate of 1.9 percent in the third quarter of 2012, 0.1 percentage point below the U.S. real GDP, according to the latest MassBenchmarks Current Economic Index released today.

In the first and second quarters of this year, the state's economy grew at revised annual rates of 2.0 and 3.0 percent, respectively, well below the 4.0 percent rate of growth originally reported for each quarter earlier this year, officials said. In the first two quarters of 2012, the U.S. economy grew at annual rates of 2.0 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively.

The MassBenchmarks Leading Economic Index for September was 2.3 percent, the same as the three-month average for July through September. Yet officials said the state's economy slowed sharply in the third quarter with payroll employment growth slowing to 0.2 percent, and unemployment increasing by half a percentage point to 6.5 percent.

Officials said Massachusetts' weaker performance reflects its higher reliance on Europe as an export destination, as well as stagnant demand for information technology.

"If the state's economy continues to grow at the pace predicted by the leading index, and if productivity growth returns to its trend rate, real Massachusetts gross domestic product is expected to grow at 2.3 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter of this year and in the first quarter of 2013," said Northeastern University economist Alan Clayton-Matthews. "Given expected productivity growth, this trend is inconsistent with an expectation of virtually no net employment growth in Massachusetts over the next six months."

Officials said that despite the poor recent overall economic performance and the slow outlook for the rest of the year, employment in computer systems, consulting, scientific research and development, software and durable manufacturing have continued to increase.

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Developer says Milford casino still in play

A Milford developer says he hasn't folded his hand and is still planning to ante up to challenge Suffolk Downs for the Boston area's sole casino license.

David Nunes told the Herald that he is still working with Warner Gaming and is planning to seek a full casino license for a proposed resort in Milford. While Nunes said he is still in the game, he will not be among the hopeful casino developers attending a meeting Monday in Framingham with the Massachusetts Gaming Commission and consultants. The gaming board and its consultants are planning to lay out the complex application process Monday and will be meeting individually next week with developers to explain the extensive background check process, among other issues.

Nunes would not comment on a published report that said he is slated to make a formal proposal to the town of Milford by the end of the year. He did, however, confirm he's going forward but would not discuss the details.

"I am mum on my plans," Nunes said via email. "Time will tell the story."

While gaming officials have lamented that no one has stepped forward to challenge Suffolk Downs for the Boston license, Nunes has long claimed he is dedicated to getting a casino built in the Metrowest town.

His partner, Warner Gaming, manages the Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas and operates several other gaming facilities across the country, including tribal casinos in New Mexico and Spokane, Wash. The company's website lists Crossroads Resort as a current client. A Warner spokesperson did not return calls.

Gaming commissioners went so far as to pursue Wall Street investors in hopes of drumming up interest in the Boston license, pointing to western Massachusetts, where no less than four proposals are in the works. Ameristar, MGM and Penn National have each launched plans for casinos in Springfield that range from $700 million to nearly $1 billion, while Mohegan Sun is planning a massive resort for Palmer. Raynham Park and Plainridge Racecourse in Plainville are both expected to seek the state's sole slot parlor license while the Wampanoag Tribe is planning a Taunton casino.

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Bill Rodgers shop hits finish line

The Bill Rodgers Running Center, one of the first stores to open at the revitalized Faneuil Hall Marketplace in the late 1970s, is closing after a 35-year run.

Famed Boston Marathoner Bill Rodgers and his co-owner brother, Charlie Rodgers, will say goodbye to their final customers on Wednesday.

Financial and personal reasons factored into their decision, according to Bill Rodgers, whose new plans with his brother include selling running memorabilia online and organizing road races.

"We're kind of sad about it," Rodgers, 64, said. "The store was great fun. We met people from all over the world. We'll just kind of shift gears a little bit."

Bill Rodgers Running Center opened in Cleveland Circle, at the Boston Marathon's 22nd-mile mark, in 1977 and moved to Faneuil Hall Marketplace the next year. The running retail business since has become a more crowded, competitive field.

"There are running stores all over now," Rodgers said. "There's online sales and that sort of thing. But there's not many that have a sense of history and the original focus we did: to be an inspirational learning center, where you could learn about races around New England and who was the best podiatrist."

The brothers also lost close friend and 35-year assistant manager Jason Kehoe, who died in June.

"We were lifetime friends," Rodgers said. "Charlie, Jason and I started running cross country together in 1963 in Newington, Conn. It's a friendship thing. Our sport is not just about the money."

In addition to selling running memorabilia online, Rodgers hopes to organize a "zoo run" at Franklin Park Zoo and perhaps revive the Jingle Bell Run that started at the store in 1977.

He still runs about 25 races a year around the country — he ran the Kansas City Marathon last weekend and will tackle the Ashland Half Marathon this Sunday.

"It's a great sport," he said. "There's a lot of friendship in the sport. In the end, that's what you have. But we were a successful business."

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Galvin fines Citigroup Global Markets $2M over Facebook IPO leak

Massachusetts Secretary of State William F. Galvin today fined Citigroup Global Markets Inc. $2 million for failing to supervise research analysts who disclosed confidential information about last spring's Facebook initial public offering on which the company was a member of the underwriting syndicate.

The order issued by the Securities Division censures CGMI, which admitted to the division's statement of facts and agreed to permanently cease and desist from violating the state securities law.

CGMI was known as Salomon Smith Barney when it signed a consent order in 2003 as part of a global settlement of charges of publishing fraudulent research reports, permitting inappropriate influence by investment bankers over research analysts and failing to adequately supervise employees who engaged in those practices.

"It is essential in these times of rapid and diffuse means of communications that financial institutions be vigilant to ensure that the rules on IPOs are observed by all their personnel so that the integrity of the process is maintained," Galvin said. "This penalty should serve as a warning to the industry as a whole."

CGMI could not immediately be reached for comment.

Facebook chose CGMI to be part of the syndicate that underwote the social network's May 18 IPO.

"At all relevant times, the applicable securities laws and related rules required members of the Facebook IPO underwriting syndicate to refrain from disseminating written research or other written content about Facebook until 40 days after the IPO," the order said.

Facebook also required CGMI's senior analyst to sign a non-disclosure agreement.

The senior analyst, a managing director of Citigroup Investment Research based in San Francisco, led the company's research on Facebook and is considered the top Internet analyst, according to Institutional Investor Magazine.

On April 17, he assigned a junior analyst to work on research projects in connection with the Facebook IPO. On May 2, that junior analyst emailed two employees at TechCrunch.com, seeking feedback on a Facebook document that contained confidential CGMI information, including the senior analyst's view of investment risks and positives and his revenue estimates for Facebook after the IPO.

In September, TechCrunch hosted the first post-IPO interview by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

The email exchanges were produced by CGMI on Sept. 14 in response to a subpoena. The junior analyst was terminated by CGMI on Sept. 27.

In addition to the Facebook matter, the division's investigation also uncovered emails showing that the senior analyst covering technology had given his unpublished information about YouTube revenue estimates to a reporter for a French business magazine on April 30.

In an email to a Citi employee who questioned him on the communication, he responded, "This could get me in trouble. Shoot." This communication occurred days after the senior analyst had received a "letter of education" for a failure to obtain pre-approval on a public appearance.

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Mass. fines Citigroup $2M over Facebook IPO

The top securities regulator in Massachusetts has fined Citigroup $2 million, charging that an analyst there leaked confidential information about Facebook's initial public offering.

Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin announced the charges today. Citi agreed to the settlement without admitting or denying wrongdoing.

Citi was part of the team of banks that helped underwrite the deal that made Facebook a public company in May. When a bank helps underwrite such a deal, it has information about a company that the broader investing public does not have. The bankers who underwrite the deal are not supposed to act on that information or share it with any favored clients, because it would give them an unfair advantage over the public.

The arrangements can also bring accusations of conflicts of interest; banks not only help companies go public or do other deals, they also have units that provide research on the companies. The research is supposed to be impartial, but the banks have a stake in how a company does if it is helping it with underwriting.

According to Galvin's office, a junior analyst in Citigroup's San Francisco office was assigned to help research Facebook. On May 2, the junior analyst sent an email to two employees at the technology website TechCrunch.com, with proprietary information about Citigroup's research on Facebook.

"I am ramping up coverage on FB and thought you guys might like to see how the street is thinking about it (and our estimates)," the junior analyst wrote.

A TechCrunch employee wrote back: "There's no way I can publish this doc from an anonymous source, right?"

A minute later, the junior analyst replied: "My boss would eat me alive."

The analyst and the TechCrunch employee were friends, according to Galvin's office, and had gone to Stanford together.

Citigroup fired the junior analyst in September. The bank told Galvin's office that the junior analyst acted alone. In addition to agreeing to the $2 million fine, Citi also agreed to review its policies for overseeing analysts' communications, and to strengthen compliance training for the analysts.

© Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Babson Capital launches new global fund

Babson Capital Management LLC said today it has completed the initial public offering of its Global Short Duration High Yield Fund, which began trading on the New York Stock Exchange today under the symbol "BGH."

Babson Capital said the fund raised $462.5 million in its common share offering, excluding the underwriters' option to purchase additional shares. Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Wells Fargo Securities served as lead managers of the common share underwriting syndicate.

The firm said the fund will extend Babson Capital's reach to retail and high net worth investors.

"We have found that both institutional and retail investors are seeking access to our investment platforms where we focus on finding relative value across global markets," said Anthony Sciacca, Babson's managing director and head of the Global Business Development Group. "We will continue to listen to investors and provide solutions that meet their investment needs."

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Coldwell Banker hires former Patriot Mike Richardson

Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in New England said today that former New England Patriots [team stats] cornerback Mike Richardson has joined the real estate firm's Boston-Charlestown office as a sales associate.

Richardson, 28, will provide residential real estate services in all areas of Boston as well as the surrounding communities.

Richardson was drafted by the Patriots in 2007. He transitioned into real estate after retiring from the NFL in 2011. A graduate of the University of Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business, Richardson has a degree in marketing.

"Next to my love of football, I have always had a passion for real estate," Richardson said. "I chose to affiliate with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage because of its powerful marketing tools, exceptional educational programs and excellent reputation for providing superior service to clients."

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