The Ticker

Ukrainian hackers attack retailers' data

Ukrainian hackers have attacked several dozen small- and medium-sized U.S. retailers in data raids that appear to be smaller and less sophisticated than the ones that hit Target Corp. and Neiman Marcus Group Ltd., according to Bedford-based RSA Security. 
 RSA discovered the theft when it found a large cache of stolen data on a server used by the hackers, according to an analysis posted on the company's website yesterday. The breach, which started Oct. 25 and continued into last week, affected at least 41 companies, including one medium-sized retailer and several gas station chains, said an RSA executive, who asked not to be named because the details are confidential. The hackers compromised credit-card data for about 50,000 customers, an RSA executive said.

RSA said it has notified the FBI and the retailers, which it declined to identify.

State economic growth outpaces U.S.

Massachusetts' real gross domestic product grew at an estimated annual rate of 5.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2013, outpacing the nation's GDP, which grew at an annual rate of just 3.2 percent, according to a new report.

State economic growth last year exceeded that of the nation in three of four quarters, according to MassBenchmarks, the journal of the Bay State economy.

"The Massachusetts economy appears to be 
benefitting from improving conditions in national and international economies, and by increasingly confident households who are demonstrating a willingness to spend," Alan Clayton-Matthews, MassBenchmarks' senior contributing editor and associate professor of economics and public policy at Northeastern University, said in a statement.

Practically Green raises $3 million

Boston-based start-up Practically Green has raised $3 million, the company said.

Founded in 2010, Practically Green works with employers to create sustainability programs for employees through projects and competitions. Its mobile and Web apps encourage users to keep track of water usage, energy conservation and other categories. Clients include Unilever, MGM Resorts International, NBC Universal and eBay.

Today

 Commerce Department releases personal income and spending for December.

 Labor Department releases the fourth-quarter employment cost index.

THE SHUFFLE

South Shore Bank has announced James M. Dunphy has joined the bank as an executive vice president. Dunphy will oversee South Shore Bank's commercial lending, credit and small business lending operations.

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Panel: We’d refund $85M casino fees

The state Gaming Commission is advancing an idea to refund casinos their hefty $85 million licensing fee if a well-funded push to overturn the Bay State's gaming law is successful, which would put a serious crimp in the state budget that relies on those fees to fund transportation and other projects.

A commission rep has been asked to testify about the issue at an upcoming hearing of the Joint Committee on Economic Development, which is studying the ramifications of the effort to put a casino repeal question on the November ballot. License applicants are concerned they will pay the license fee — $85 million for a resort casino, $25 million for a slots parlor — and have nothing to show for it if gaming is outlawed.

"That's not fair," Gaming Commission Chairman Stephen Crosby said. "We hear that, and one reasonable fix would be for the Legislature to do whatever it would have to do to make that money refundable in the unlikely event that that all happened."

Crosby said any legislative fix should be in place before Feb. 28, when the commission will award the state's first and only slots parlor license. The chairmen of the joint economic development committee, Sen. Gale Candaras of Wilbraham and Rep. Joseph Wagner of Chicopee, did not return calls for comment.

This year's state budget originally counted on $195 million in licensing revenue from two casinos and one slots parlor, but that was recently adjusted to $110 million out of concern one of the casinos would be licensed too close to the end of the fiscal year.

"The budget is built on a number of assumptions that we closely monitor throughout the year, and this is one," said Alex Zaroulis, spokeswoman for the Executive Office of Administration and Finance.

Gov. Deval Patrick's budget for next year anticipates $53 million in gaming license revenue and $20 million in taxes on revenue a new gaming facility will generate. Patrick's office declined to comment on whether he'd support refunding the money if the casino law is overturned.

The group working to strike down the casino law, Repeal the Casino Deal, raised $175,476 last year, and is petitioning the Supreme Judicial Court to get on the November ballot over the objection of Attorney General Martha Coakley, who argues the question would violate the implied contractual rights of license applicants. A coalition of casino and slots proponents have hired a lawyer, Carl Valvo, and filed a motion to intervene in the case. The court will hear arguments in May.

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US stocks move higher, helped by Facebook, GDP

NEW YORK — It was a stock market turnaround.

Stocks rose sharply Thursday, with large parts of the market erasing losses from the previous day as investors cheered a batch of strong earnings and data that showed the U.S. economy grew at a robust annual rate in the fourth quarter.

Investors also got a welcome respite from the recent turmoil in overseas markets, particularly in Turkey and Argentina.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 19.99 points, or 1.1 percent, to 1,794.19, with all ten sectors of the index closing higher. That more than made up the 18.29 points the index lost on Wednesday.

The Nasdaq composite jumped 71.69 points, or 1.8 percent, to 4,123.13 and the Dow Jones industrial average rose 109.82 points, or 0.7 percent, to 15,848.61.

Investors welcomed news that U.S. economy grew at a 3.2 percent annual rate in the final three months of 2013, a positive sign for the economy in 2014. Consumer spending, a major driver of the U.S. economy, picked up in the quarter.

"It was a good, balanced GDP report," said Sean Lynch, global investment strategist with Wells Fargo Private Bank, which manages $170 billion in assets.

Good news from a big technology player also boosted the market. Facebook jumped $7.55, or 14 percent, to $61.08. The social media company reported results late Wednesday that exceeded the expectations of financial analysts. Facebook's adjusted profit was 31 cents per share, four cents better than forecast.

It wasn't all good news out of the technology sector. Amazon.com sank in after-hours trading after releasing results that fell short of what investors were expecting. The stock of the online retailing pioneer fell $13 or 3.2 percent, to $403.01 about 90 minutes after the market close.

In other earnings news, Visa rose $3.76, or 2 percent, to $220.88 after the company reported a 9 percent rise in first-quarter profits, beating expectations.

Alexion Pharmaceuticals was the biggest advancer in the S&P 500, rising $28.27, or 21 percent, to $162 after the company also beat analysts' expectations and gave a strong 2014 outlook. Alexion is a specialized drug maker focused on rare genetic diseases.

The company helped lift the stocks of other drugmakers. Dow members Merck and Pfizer each rose more than 2 percent. Specialized drugmakers Gilead Sciences and Biogen were up 2 percent and 4 percent, respectively.

Even with Thursday's gains, it's been a difficult month for investors. The Dow is down 4.4 percent in January, the worst start to a year since 2009.

Emerging markets worries drove most of the sell-off over the last two weeks. A survey on Thursday confirmed that manufacturing in China, the world's second-biggest economy, slowed in January. And this week, the Turkish lira hit record lows, partly because a police bribery scandal there might destabilize the Turkish government.

In Argentina, the peso had its sharpest slide in 12 years earlier this month.

"The currency problems in the emerging markets caught a lot of people by surprise, and that overflowed in to U.S. markets," Wells Fargo's Lynch said.

Investors got a break from those troubles Thursday. The Turkish lira, Argentinian peso and the South African rand, another troubled currency, stabilized.

The iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF, an exchange-traded fund that tracks stocks located in less-developed countries, rose 1 percent after falling 1.5 percent the day before.

Despite Thursday's upturn, the broader trend in the market appears to be downward for the time being, strategists say.

"I'm pretty focused on corporate earnings, and that's about it," said Ian Winer, director of trading at Wedbush Securities. "Earnings have been OK, but not all that great. I think we're going lower, and I think (the sell-off this month) is just the beginning."

Several investors have said the U.S. stock market will experience a "correction," meaning a decline of 10 percent or more in a benchmark index like the S&P 500, sometime this year. That chorus has gotten louder in the last couple of weeks. The last time the market had a correction was in October 2011.

"The markets have been looking for a reason to pull back and certainly the emerging markets and currency problems gave them a reason to do so," Lynch said.

The bond market also had a day of stability. The yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury note edged up to 2.70 percent from 2.68 percent the day before.

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Yahoo email account passwords stolen

NEW YORK — Usernames and passwords of some of Yahoo's email customers have been stolen and used to gather personal information about people those Yahoo mail users have recently corresponded with, the company said Thursday.

Yahoo didn't say how many accounts have been affected. Yahoo is the second-largest email service worldwide, after Google's Gmail, according to the research firm comScore. There are 273 million Yahoo mail accounts worldwide, including 81 million in the U.S.

It's the latest in a string of security breaches that have allowed hackers to nab personal information using software that analysts say is ever more sophisticated. Up to 70 million customers of Target stores had their personal information and credit and debit card numbers compromised late last year, and Neiman Marcus was the victim of a similar breach in December.

"It's an old trend, but it's much more exaggerated now because the programs the bad guys use are much more sophisticated now," says Avivah Litan, a security analyst at the technology research firm Gartner. "We're clearly under attack."

Yahoo Inc. said in a blog post on its breach that "The information sought in the attack seems to be names and email addresses from the affected accounts' most recent sent emails."

That could mean hackers were looking for additional email addresses to send spam or scam messages. By grabbing real names from those sent folders, hackers could try to make bogus messages appear more legitimate to recipients.

"It's much more likely that I'd click on something from you if we email all the time," says Richard Mogull, analyst and CEO of Securois, a security research and advisory firm.

The bigger danger: access to email accounts could lead to more serious breaches involving banking and shopping sites. That's because many people reuse passwords across many sites, and also because many sites use email to reset passwords. Hackers could try logging in to such a site with the Yahoo email address, for instance, and ask that a password reminder be sent by email.

Litan said hackers appear to be "trying to collect as much information as they can on people. Putting all this stuff together makes it easier to steal somebody's identity."

Yahoo said the usernames and passwords weren't collected from its own systems, but from a third-party database.

Because so many people use the same passwords across multiple sites, it's possible hackers broke in to some service that lets people use email addresses as their usernames. The hackers could have grabbed passwords stored at that service, filtered out the accounts with Yahoo addresses and used that information to log in to Yahoo's mail systems, said Johannes Ullrich, dean of research at the SANS Institute, a group devoted to security research and education.

The breach is the second mishap for Yahoo's mail service in two months. In December, the service suffered a multi-day outage that prompted Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer to issue an apology.

Yahoo said it is resetting passwords on affected accounts and has "implemented additional measures" to block further attacks. The company would not comment beyond the information in its blog post. It said it is working with federal law enforcement.

___

Online:

Yahoo blog post:

http://yahoo.tumblr.com/post/75083532312/important-security-update-for-yahoo-mail-users

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State economic growth expected to continue at modest pace

Massachusetts' real gross domestic product grew at an estimated annual rate of 5.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2013, outpacing the nation's, and likely will continue to grow in the first half of the year, albeit at a slightly more modest rate, according to a new report.

The MassBenchmarks Leading Economic Index for last month projects that real Massachusetts GDP will grow at a 5 percent annual rate in the first quarter and a 4.7 percent rate in the second, according to the journal of the Bay State economy published by the UMass Donahue Institute in collaboration with the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.

"We had very strong growth in the fourth quarter of 2013, but you can't expect state employment to keep growing at a 3 percent annual rate," representing almost 25,000 net new jobs, said Alan Clayton-Matthews, MassBenchmarks' senior contributing editor and associate professor of economics and public policy at Northeastern University.

While the nation's GDP grew at an annual rate of just 3.2 percent, Massachusetts benefited from an improving global economy and from increasingly confident households that were spending more money, said Michael Goodman, MassBenchmarks' co-editor and associate professor of public policy at UMass Dartmouth.

Joblessness remains a persistent problem in Massachusetts, however, particularly for those under 25, for the long-term unemployed and for those without a high school degree, Goodman said, In December, the state unemployment rate was 7 percent, surpassing the national rate of 6.7 percent.

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Nikkei falls, most Asia markets shut for holidays

BANGKOK — Japan's Nikkei stock index fell Friday as the yen strengthened, but the handful of other Asian markets open during Lunar New Year holidays gained after U.S. corporate earnings continued to exceed expectations.

Financial markets are closed in China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines.

Among stock markets not observing the holiday, India's Sensex gained 0.2 percent to 20,547.31 and Thailand's SET was up 0.6 percent at 1,271.81. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.1 percent to 5,183.20 while New Zealand's benchmark gained 0.5 percent to 5,258.40.

Japan's Nikkei 225 reversed early gains that were sparked by the government reporting increases in inflation and factory output. Inflation is a possible sign of economic recovery in Japan, which has been plagued by falling prices during two decades of stagnation.

But a rise in the yen against the U.S. dollar was negative for exporting stocks, dragging the Nikkei down 1 percent to 14,852.64.

Better-than-expected U.S. earnings encouraged some investors to buy more stocks, IG strategist Stan Shamu said in a market commentary.

Facebook stock posted double digit gains because of its quarterly profit report, which boosted other technology stocks.

Shamu said about half of the companies in the S&P 500 index have reported earnings so far with most beating expectations for revenue and earnings per share.

U.S. stocks rose sharply Thursday as investors cheered the strong earnings and data that showed the U.S. economy grew at a robust annual rate of 3.2 percent in the fourth quarter.

The S&P 500 rose 19.99 points, or 1.1 percent, to 1,794.19. The Nasdaq composite jumped 71.69 points, or 1.8 percent, to 4,123.13 and the Dow Jones industrial average rose 109.82 points, or 0.7 percent, to 15,848.61.

Benchmark U.S crude for March delivery was down 19 cents at $98.04 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract gained 87 cents to finish Thursday at $98.23, boosted by the GDP report.

In currencies, the euro slipped to $1.3549 from $1.3577 late Thursday. The dollar fell to 102.47 yen from 102.78 yen.

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John Henry makes himself Globe publisher, Sheehan to be CEO

Red Sox owner John Henry named himself publisher of The Boston Globe yesterday and former Hill Holliday head Mike Sheehan as chief executive officer — a move that demonstrates Henry's day-to-day focus on the broadsheet, Sheehan told the Herald.

"He's going to be very active in the strategic direction overall at the Globe, which he's eminently capable of doing," said Sheehan. "It's a reflection that he is going to be active. ... This is not a hobby."

Henry will focus on strategy, while Sheehan will handle business growth and a still-to-be-hired chief operating officer will oversee the day-to-day business operations, said Sheehan.

Asked if former Hill Holliday executive Jack Connors — who once tried to buy the paper — would be involved with Henry's venture, Sheehan said, "That's a question for John, but I've not heard that."

Sheehan officially resigned as Hill Holliday chairman about 10 days ago and had been serving as an ad consultant to Henry before the two discussed the leadership structure this week, he said.

"I've spent 30 years with CFOs and CEOs of companies helping to build their business," said Sheehan. "Now I get to apply that specifically to the Globe."

Henry takes over for former publisher Christopher Mayer, who announced his abrupt resignation a few hours after Henry addressed the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce earlier this month.

Sheehan, like Henry, stressed the importance of the Hub remaining a two-newspaper town.

"I believe the stronger the Herald is, the stronger the Globe is," said Sheehan, "and the stronger Boston is."

Sheehan is also the treasurer of The One Fund Boston, the charity that raises money for Boston Marathon victims.

Henry declined comment to the Herald yesterday through a spokeswoman, but said in a statement: "My main role as publisher is to ensure that the Globe has the right management and that management has the resources to accomplish its mission."

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Porter Sq. Galleria goes to L.A. firm

The Porter Square Galleria has a new owner under a $35.55 million deal that closed yesterday.

Los Angeles real estate investment management firm CBRE Global Investors bought the 57,265-square-foot retail center from KS Partners.

Built in 1989, the property is 100 percent leased, with a two-level Walgreens, Anna's Taqueria, Potbelly Sandwich Shop and Rock'N Fitness as tenants.

"This is part of our urban retail plan for a fund that is sponsored by CBRE Global Investors," senior managing director Kim Hourihan said. "We loved the location, being right at a T stop and ... sort of the crossroads there in Cambridge."

The galleria is an "urban retail trophy" in a highly developed area, which is very popular now with investors, said a source close to the deal, who also cited the square's "great" demographics.

KS Partners, a real estate investment and development company with offices in Woburn and New York, could not be reached.

The sale was brokered by Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, which declined comment.

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New Seaport rentals launch

Transportation and retail needs of the South Boston waterfront are being pushed to the forefront as the building boom continues with the latest luxury apartment building officially opening yesterday.

"It's going to propel the conversation, the public policy, to address these issues," said John Drew, developer of Waterside Place on Congress Street.

Drew said a Silver Line extension and basic services such as a pharmacy and a grocery store are needed as more residential units are built in the area.

Waterside Place includes 236 rental units, and recently opened apartment building 315 on A has 202 units. Another 684 units are being developed.

"We have great opportunity, we also have great challenges," said state Rep. Nick Collins who represents South Boston. "Transportation infrastructure and operation needs are dramatically changed."

The Boston Redevelopment Authority launched a South Boston retail survey in December, asking residents and people who work in the Seaport District if they are satisfied with the number of stores. Those results are being reviewed, but the BRA said there were more than 1,700 responses.

Mayor Martin J. Walsh said fixes to transportation and retail issues will be coming.

"You're going to start to see the amenities come now," Walsh said. "You're talking of an area that's never been developed and all of a sudden we're developing it."

Melina Shuler, a spokeswoman for the BRA, said "we're working on a multi-agency transportation plan to ease traffic, working to bring a greater mix of housing affordability to the area, and we're encouraging more retail."

Waterside Place includes 10,000 square feet of planned retail space.

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They’re sold on Magoun Square

If you want to gauge the energy in Somerville's Magoun Square, take a look at the retail storefronts and the empty lots and old garage sites filling up with new housing.

Two years ago there were about a dozen empty storefronts in the retail district at the intersection of Broadway and Medford Street, but now there's a new sign and new venues such as Daddy Jones Bar, Modelo Butcher Market, K-2 Beer & Wine shop and Pennypacker's, a food truck gone brick and mortar, joining the popular Olde Magoun's Saloon.

Winchester natives Greg Huber, 29, and Leah Gallagher, 27, bought a top floor condo in an old Victorian here less than a year ago and already two new single-family houses have sprouted up across the street. Side-by-side auto body and glass shops will soon be sites for about 25 units, the Sons of Italy wants to add housing to its property, and there's talk of other deals recently signed or about to be.

"We're thrilled that we bought in Magoun Square," said Gallagher, who commutes to her financial services job in downtown Boston. "We have friends our age who are also looking to buy here because housing is still reasonably priced and it's a great neighborhood to raise a family."

The Magoun neighborhood got a big boost with the 2012 opening of Maxwell's Green, a successful 199-unit high-end apartment and townhouse complex built on a brownfields former factory site — a project that drew the attention of Huber and Gallagher to the area. And then there's the long-delayed Green Line extension from Lechmere, which will stop along Lowell Street when it opens in 2018. And the Somerville bike path is coming up to the area from Davis Square this spring.

Longtime residents such as Courtney O'Keefe, a former alderman and advocate for the neighborhood, knows that the area her parents moved to 30 years ago to open a sub shop is about to change.

"You'd like to keep it as a little secret, a hidden gem, but the word is getting out," said O'Keefe, 33, who moved back. "But there is some room for growth here that fits in with the neighborhood and maintains what's now a nice balance between longtimers and newcomers."

O'Keefe adds that the rebirth of the retail district has been more important than the promise of the Green Line. "I've been saying all along not to put all our eggs in the Green basket," she said.

Other Somerville locals such as Dimitra Tsourianis Murphy also see the potential. After working for the Lyons Group opening and managing hip Hub venues, she returned to her roots and bought a building in Magoun Square and just over a year ago opened Daddy Jones Bar, a cocktail bar with Greek food and a neighborhood feel that draws natives and newcomers.

"Magoun Square used to be a drive-through area and now there's a reason to pause here," said the 33-year-old Murphy, who says the square could use some clothing shops as well as a local business association. "I'm seeing a lot of young families moving in, which is really great for the neighborhood."

You can still buy a single-family here in the mid-$400,000s, unlike Davis Square a mile away where housing prices are astronomical. Few want to see that happen in Magoun, but condo conversions are picking up.

"There's still old-timers here with two-family houses who live in one unit and rent the other to one of their kids," said Ted Tobin of KSS Realty, which co-developed Maxwell's Green. "But there's more young buyers looking to get in on the ground floor of something special. Being able to wake up and have places to go in your own square adds to the appeal. This area has a bright future."

Huber and Gallagher are already thinking of buying an investment property in the neighborhood.

"I'm a real believer in Magoun Square," said Huber, who commutes to his medical sales job in Burlington. "It's a nice, homey place, and the retail area has just taken off. There's no doubt it's up and coming."

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