Subaru enhances its Legacy

Still the class leader in affordable all-wheel-drive vehicles and a New England favorite, Subaru has refreshed the Legacy Sport sedan for 2014.

Despite being a "boutique" brand, not one of the automotive powerhouses, Subaru is a must-shop when working your way through the crowded field of mid-sized sedans. The famed all- wheel-drive remains the key selling point, and with each iteration of the Legacy, the Japanese maker chips its way into more market share.

This more stylized offering features a sharpened nose and front fenders, with the headlamps wrapping around to emphasize the new lines. Under the hood the 2.5-liter, horizontally opposed engine produces 173 horsepower and drives the car through a continually variable transmission.

Unlike its little sibling, the Impreza, the bigger engine drives the CVT quietly and efficiently without the incessant whine, which tends to make me cringe, that the smaller 
2-liter produces. This sedan has a sporty feel to it and the front Macpherson strut and rear wishbone suspension make for sure handling and a fun car to toss around. The car tends to plunge a little when pushed, but roll was fairly minimal. It's not the amped-up rally racer WRX, but I appreciated the easy ride.

Subaru has featured Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive for so long they've got the engineering nailed on it. The one drawback I did find was the low-slung four door struggled to get through deeper snow. Dropped lower than the Outback or the Crosstrek, to help handling and fuel efficiency, I hung up on a snowplow drift that I tried punching through. But once clear, the car had no issues confidently maneuvering through the rest of the day.

On the highway the Legacy is quiet and gets on the higher end of good mileage, making the better part of 32-33 miles per gallon, a gas-sipper compared to other cars in its class. It drops to about 24 mpg locally but I found the car to be a bit better on average.

The interior — although upgraded with some leather trim, metal-trimmed pedals and patterned plastics — still suffers compared to its competitors like the Toyota Camry, Honda Accord, Mazda 6 and Ford Fusion. And I found the infotainment screen to be small and dated, like Volkswagen. The driver's position provides good sight lines, and the steering is light and responsive. Controls are well-made and simple enough to use without using the manual. Most controls have steering wheel redundancy, and surprisingly the Bluetooth phone is one of the better ones I've used, providing a clear signal and comfortable levels of hands-free conversation.

So although the interior refinements trail others, a situation I bet is addressed on the next refresh, the all-wheel-drive Legacy at a MSRP of $23,595 looks like a good deal even before adding the $2,500 Sport Equipment Value package for a delivered price of $26,418. That package adds a moonroof, 18-inch alloy wheels, a reverse camera, auto-dim mirror and fog lamps, yet you're still checking out at thousands less than aforementioned competitors.

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Cape Wind blows both ways

Cape Wind and its opponents are both claiming victory after a U.S. District Court judge yesterday upheld the Interior Department's approval of the proposed $2.6 billion offshore wind farm but said two federal agencies violated the Endangered Species Act in their reviews of the project.

Judge Reggie B. Walton ruled against four lawsuits challenging the Interior Department's granting of the nation's first offshore wind lease to Cape Wind after a permitting process that spanned a decade.

"These are incredibly important legal victories for Cape Wind," Jim Gordon, the company's president, said in a statement. "It clears the way for completing the financing of a project that will diversify New England's electricity portfolio."

In his 88-page opinion, Walton rejected a lengthy list of legal claims project opponents had raised, including arguments over sea turtles, Native-American artifacts, navigational safety and the adequacy of the project's environmental impact statement.

In what the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound called a "landmark win for the environment," however, the judge ruled that both the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service violated the Endangered Species Act in their reviews of Cape Wind, and he ordered them to revisit its impacts on migrating birds and endangered right whales in Nantucket Sound.

Specifically, Walton remanded the case to the wildlife service to independently evaluate a shutdown of turbines during migratory bird season to reduce bird mortality, and instructed the marine fisheries service to assess whether and how many right whales might be harmed by the wind farm's construction and operation.

"This is good news for environmentalists and for all of us who want to see the fragile and unique environment of Cape Cod protected," said Audra Parker, president and CEO of the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound. "The court has validated that federal agencies have taken unacceptable shortcuts in their review of Cape Wind."

The NMFS did not return calls yesterday. An FWS spokesman declined to comment, saying the agency needed time to review the court's decision.

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Penn breaks ground on Plainridge slots parlor

Penn National Gaming broke ground on its $225 million slots parlor at the Plainridge harness racetrack in Plainville, which is expected to open in "a little over a year," company officials said.

Plainridge Park Casino will be an integrated gaming and racing operation, and the 106,000-square feet facility will have several bars and restaurants along with more than 1,200 slot machines.

"We are elated to begin construction on our 27th property and look forward to opening Plainridge Park Casino," said Jay Snowden, Penn National's chief operating officer.

Penn National was awarded the state's only slots parlor license last month by the state Gaming Commission.

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‘Dynamic’ $hift for Green Monster

Prices for seats and standing-room tickets for Fenway Park's Green Monster will be based on what the market will bear this season.

The Red Sox have adopted so-called "dynamic" pricing for the tickets, which means prices — much like those for airline tickets — will increase or decrease in real time based on demand and market conditions including the date of a game, the opponent and the weather.

The pricing model — a form of which is used by about 80 percent of Major League Baseball teams — is the latest Red Sox move to better align tickets with their market value, according to Red Sox chief operating officer Sam Kennedy.

"There's a lot of research ... that (shows) fans in other markets respond very well to it," he said.

Tickets for the 269 Green Monster seats were $165 last season, and the 150 standing-room tickets were $35. On Tuesday, when the tickets go on sale, initial prices could range from $30 for standing-room to as much as $300 for an Opening

Day seat, the team said.

It has no current plans to expand dynamic pricing to other parts of the ballpark next year, according to Kennedy. "We'll see how it goes and evaluate that middle to end of season or even next off-season," he said. "This is a big shift for us in 2014 for our ticket pricing in general."

The Sox moved to "variable" pricing for the rest of its regular-season tickets this season. Prices were organized into five tiers based on expected demand for each game, but were set in advance of the season. That led to a reduction in average prices for 32 games, according to the team.

The San Francisco Giants was the first MLB team to use dynamic pricing when it started testing it in 2009, according to MLB spokesman Matthew Gould. "Variable (pricing), in some capacity, dates back to at least 2002," he said. "Every MLB club currently does some form of price-shifting."

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Obama touts overhaul of rules on who gets overtime

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says it's not right that businesses that treat their employers fairly can be undercut by competitors who don't.

In his weekly radio and Internet address, Obama is promoting his plan to update rules about which workers are eligible for overtime pay. Obama says he wants to restore the principle that if you have to work more, you should earn more.

Businesses can avoid paying overtime for some workers who earn above a certain threshold. Obama says under the current rules, some salaried workers are actually paid less than the minimum wage.

In the Republican address, Rep. Bill Johnson of Ohio says seniors deserve better than what Obama's health care is delivering. He says if Obama won't help Republicans repeal the law, Obama should at least protect seniors.

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Online:

Obama address: www.whitehouse.gov

GOP address: www.speaker.gov

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Obama overtime plan already stirring controversy

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama's move to make more workers eligible for time-and-a-half overtime pay is being hailed by Democrats who see it as a potent midterm election issue and condemned by Republicans and business leaders as presidential overreach. Supporters say it will help the still fragile economy, critics say it will damage it further.

It is likely to affect millions of American workers.

"From my perspective, they have to be pulling numbers out of the air right now," said Washington labor lawyer Tammy McCutchen, referring to the conflicting claims by partisans that it would either help or hurt the economy. "We don't even know what the policy is going to be."

She's closer to the process than most. As administrator of the Labor Department's Wage and Hour Division during the George W. Bush administration, McCutchen oversaw the last rewrite of the program in 2004.

Currently, salaried workers making more than $455 a week, or $23,660 a year, aren't eligible for time-and-a-half overtime if some of their work is considered supervisory, even though many spend most of their day doing manual, clerical or technical work with few management duties.

Obama signed a presidential memorandum on Thursday directing the Labor Department to devise new overtime rules "to ensure that workers are paid fairly for a hard day's work." He's tossing out most of the rules McCutchen wrote in the process.

"Well, it's going to be bad for business," she said in an interview. "It's going to be good for my bottom line. Lawyers all over the country are going to be making a lot of money."

She called the rules "my babies. I spent two years of my life working on them. It's personal for me. It's going to be very sad to see them taking out a lot of the stuff I put in," she said.

But she also warned that the Obama administration should expect a rocky road ahead in implementing whatever new policy emerges — just as the Bush administration faced last time around.

Those close to the process suggest it will take 12 months to 18 months for the agency to complete its new assignment.

The move clearly has angered business groups and congressional Republicans, but it fits in with the overall Democratic midterm election game plan of focusing on income inequality and the middle class at the same time the stock market has soared.

"This will help to build an economy that honors work, not one that steals from workers," AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said. "While workers are denied overtime pay that they have earned, compounding flat and falling wages, the bonus pool for Wall Street grew from $1.9 billion in 1985 to $26.7 billion in 2013 — an average annual increase of 14 percent in nominal terms."

Business and conservative groups argue that Obama's order will have the opposite effect of what is intended and could lead businesses to reduce the number of employees or cut pay, resulting in a drag on national economic growth.

"The federal government, in particular, shouldn't be involved in labor markets in any way, shape or form," said Jeffrey Miron, director of economic studies at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, and a Harvard University economics professor. "It shouldn't be setting hours legislation and it shouldn't be providing union protection."

The order was the latest in a series of executive actions Obama has taken in an end run around congressional Republicans, who have blocked many of his proposals. With Congress blocking his attempt to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour, he used his executive powers to raise it to that level for government contractors.

Thursday's presidential memorandum is aimed at workers who make more than the federal minimum but are ineligible for overtime pay under present law because they are designated as management, even when they have little or no supervisory responsibilities.

"If you're making $23,000, typically you're not high in management," Obama said in unveiling the initiative.

The White House contends the 2004 revisions to the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act are outdated and allow employers to exempt too many workers from overtime pay.

Despite the contrary claims of Democrats and Republicans as to the economic impact of Obama's move, economists suggest any such impact will be minimal.

"Be a boom to employment among lawyers, but otherwise not a big deal," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics.

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Follow Tom Raum on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/tomraum

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Firm to help find cures for children

Although their stories differed in detail, they shared a passion and a purpose no parent would envy: finding a cure for the diseases that afflict — and, in some instances, might one day kill — their children.

At the ribbon-cutting yesterday for Intellimedix, the newest member of the Cambridge biotech cluster, a group of men spoke from personal experience about parent-driven innovation in the high-stakes world of scientific research.

Motivated by his daughter's Dravet syndrome, a severe seizure disorder that doctors told him couldn't be cured, Daniel Fischer co-founded Intellimedix to accelerate the discovery of new drugs, as well as repurpose old ones, to treat neurological diseases. His daughter recently started a new drug and has been seizure-free for a month.

"My advice to parents is don't accept whatever you hear from doctors," he said. "My other message is don't do it alone. You need academia. You need big pharma."

Eleven years ago, Brad Margus learned that two of his sons had a rare, lethal genetic disease that combined a loss of muscle control with cancer and immune deficiency.

While running his company, Margus studied molecular genetics, formed a nonprofit, raised $30 million, set up a clinic at Johns Hopkins Hospital and coordinated clinical trials.

"The good news is the science is not really predictable," he said. "A lot of (the breakthroughs) are based on serendipity."

When Harvey Lodish and seven other MIT professors founded Genzyme in 1981, he never imagined that Cerezyme, a drug he helped develop, would one day be used to treat his grandson for Gaucher disease.

"You never know who's going to benefit from what you do in the lab," said Lodish, chairman of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center's Scientific Advisory Board.

Parents, he said, play an "enormous" role in raising money to support early-stage research.

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Jury deliberations near in Madoff worker trial

NEW YORK — After a five-month-long look at what the government learned about Bernard Madoff's epic fraud, jurors are close to beginning to weigh whether five of his former employees were his conspirators or his dupes.

A Manhattan federal jury could start deliberating as soon as Friday in the first criminal trial to result from one of history's biggest frauds. Closing arguments were expected to wrap up, followed by lengthy legal instructions and possibly some deliberations before the weekend.

Madoff has said he acted alone in cheating thousands of investors out of nearly $20 billion in a decades-long Ponzi scheme. But federal prosecutors say five back-office subordinates gave him vital help in weaving his financial fiction.

"Each of these defendants played a crucial role in the fraud," Assistant U.S. Attorney John Zach told jurors in a summation last week. He said the five told thousands of lies to customers, financial institutions, regulators and the Internal Revenue Service.

The defendants are Annette Bongiorno, Madoff's longtime secretary; Daniel Bonventre, his director of operations for investments; JoAnn Crupi, an account manager; and computer programmers Jerome O'Hara and George Perez. They say they, like Madoff's investors, were fooled by a master at deceit.

Madoff and his former finance chief, star prosecution witness Frank DiPascali, made it their business "to keep the fraud as contained and cabined as humanly possible because it if gets out, we are done — we are spending 150 years in jail, as Mr. Madoff is now," one of Perez' attorneys, Larry Krantz, said in his closing argument last week.

Prosecutors say Perez and O'Hara developed computer programs to manufacture false books and records that made the fraud work. But O'Hara's lawyer, Gordon Mehler, told jurors his client was just an everyday tech worker who was "used, abused, manipulated, lied to, snookered and bamboozled" by Madoff and DiPascali.

Bonventre oversaw the account in which investors poured money, cloaked it from auditors and regulators and tapped it to help plump up the brokerage side of Madoff's business, Zach said. He said Crupi was a key player in the accounting fraud, while Bongiorno — Madoff's secretary for 40 years — was responsible for billions of dollars in fake trades and oversaw a massive rewriting of customer accounts while making more than $18 million herself.

Bongiorno's lawyer, Roland Riopelle, said she believed all the money she made was legitimate.

"She herself is a victim of the fraud," he said in his summation, adding that she saw millions "of what she thought was her own money but was really Bernie Madoff's monopoly money go up in smoke."

The fraud collapsed in December 2008 when Madoff ran out of money and confessed to FBI agents that his business was a sham. Now 75, he pleaded guilty and is serving a 150-year prison sentence.

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Reach Jennifer Peltz on Twitter @ jennpeltz.

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BP regains ability to do work for government

WASHINGTON — The oil company behind the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history can once again perform work for the federal government.

Under an agreement reached Thursday with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, more than two dozen BP entities and its Houston-based oil production and exploration arm can secure new government contracts.

The company had been suspended from performing any new government work since November 2012, after BP agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $4.5 billion fine for criminal charges involving the death of 11 workers and lying to Congress about how much oil was spilling into the Gulf of Mexico.

The temporary ban barred the oil company for 16 months from leasing more offshore oil and gas properties and renewing fuel contracts with the U.S. military. The decision comes just before the Department of Interior will offer more than 40 million acres for oil and gas exploration and development in the Gulf of Mexico in March lease sales.

For five years, BP will have to abide by a series of ethics, safety and other requirements. An independent auditor will also verify its compliance with the deal.

The company also agreed Thursday to drop its lawsuit challenging the suspension.

"Today's agreement will allow America's largest energy investor to compete again for federal contracts and leases," said John Minge, chairman and president of BP America, Inc., in a statement.

The new chair of the Senate Energy Committee, Sen. Mary Landrieu, praised the agreement.

"BP has rightly been held responsible in a court of law and should continue to make whole the individuals and businesses that were impacted by the oil spill, but barring them from entering new contracts on top of that amounted to double jeopardy and set a terrible precedent that I hope will not be repeated," said Landrieu, D-La. "The good news is that BP will now be able to participate in next week's lease sale that will bring much-needed revenue to Louisiana and other oil-producing states along the Gulf Coast."

Tyson Slocum, director of Public Citizen's Energy Program, criticized the move for letting BP "off the hook." The company "has failed to prove that it is a responsible contractor deserving of lucrative taxpayer deals," he said.

The April 2010 spill occurred after BP's Macondo well blew out, causing the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig to explode, killing 11 workers. Millions of gallons of oil spewed into the Gulf, with crude soiling shoreline and beaches from Louisiana to Florida.

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Follow Dina Cappiello on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/dinacappiello

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Dems grapple with dilemma on Keystone XL pipeline

WASHINGTON — Democrats are grappling with an election-year dilemma posed by the Keystone XL oil pipeline.

Wealthy party donors are funding candidates who oppose the project — a high-profile symbol of the political debate over climate change. But some of the party's most vulnerable incumbents are pipeline boosters, and whether Democrats retain control of the Senate after the 2014 midterm elections may hinge on them.

The dilemma was highlighted Thursday as President Barack Obama's former national security adviser — and now a consultant to the oil industry — said Obama should approve the pipeline to send Russian President Vladimir Putin a message that "international bullies" can't use energy security as a weapon.

The comments by retired Gen. James Jones came as a top Democratic donor again urged that the pipeline be rejected.

Tom Steyer, a billionaire environmentalist, has vowed to spend $100 million —$50 million of his own money and $50 million from other donors — to make climate change a top-tier issue in the 2014 elections.

Steyer, who opposes Keystone, declined to say whether he would contribute to Democrats who support the pipeline, including Sens. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Mark Begich of Alaska, Mark Pryor of Arkansas and John Walsh of Montana. All face strong challenges from Republicans in energy-producing states where Obama lost to Mitt Romney in 2012.

Still, a spokesman said Steyer believes Democratic control of the Senate is important from a climate perspective.

Jones told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the Canada-to-Texas pipeline is a litmus test of whether the U.S. is serious about national and global energy security. Approval of the pipeline would help ensure that North America becomes a global energy hub and a reliable energy source to the U.S and its allies, Jones said. Rejecting the pipeline would "make Mr. Putin's day and strengthen his hand," he said.

Jones, who left the Obama administration in 2010, now heads a consulting firm that has done work for the American Petroleum Institute, the oil industry's chief trade group, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Both groups support the pipeline.

Landrieu, who chairs the Senate Energy Committee, pressed Secretary of State John Kerry on the pipeline issue Thursday at an appropriations hearing. Landrieu called approval of the pipeline "critical" to the national interest and said that in Louisiana, "it's hard for us to even understand why there is a question" whether it should be approved. The State Department has jurisdiction over the pipeline because it crosses a U.S. border.

Kerry told Landrieu he was "not at liberty to go into my thinking at this point," but added: "I am approaching this, you know, tabula rasa. I'm going to look at all the arguments, both sides, all sides, whatever, evaluate them and make the best judgment I can about what is in the national interest."

Polls show Americans support the pipeline, with 65 percent saying they approved of it in a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. Twenty-two percent of those polled opposed the pipeline.

Steyer, a former hedge fudge manager, spent more than $10 million to help elect Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe and Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., last year. In a conference call with reporters Thursday, Steyer declined to comment on where his advocacy group, NextGen Climate Action, would spend money this fall. But he noted the views of Landrieu and other endangered Democratic incumbents were well known.

"I think those senators voted on this long before 2014," he said, "so I don't think there's any real change here."

Steyer hosted a fundraiser last month at his San Francisco home attended by at least six Democratic senators, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada. The event, which raised $400,000 for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, also was attended by former Vice President Al Gore, who said the party needs to make global warming a central issue in the midterm elections.

Chris Lehane, a Democratic strategist who advises Steyer, has said the group would not go after Democrats, even those who support the pipeline.

"We're certainly not subscribing to what I would call the tea party theory of politics," Lehane said. "We do think it's really, really important from a climate perspective that we maintain control of the Senate for Democrats."

Steyer said Thursday he has not decided whether to spend money in Colorado, where Democratic Sen. Mark Udall is likely to be challenged by GOP Rep. Cory Gardner. Udall was among more than 30 Democratic senators who engaged in a talkathon urging action on climate change this week, but he has largely stayed out of the Keystone fight. Udall voted against budget amendments urging both support and rejection of the pipeline, arguing that they injected politics into a process that should remain at the State Department.

Udall wants to evaluate the project "on the merits and using objective, scientific analysis," said spokesman Mike Saccone.

Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Robert Menendez, D-N.J., said he hoped Thursday's hearing would offer "a balanced, thoughtful" approach that "puts aside some of the politics that have surrounded this debate" over the pipeline.

"We are here to find answers and shed more light than heat on the issue," Menendez said, although the hearing soon devolved into a series of claims and counterclaims.

The $5.3 billion pipeline would carry oil derived from tar sands in western Canada through the U.S. heartland to refineries on the Texas Gulf Coast.

Pipeline supporters, including lawmakers from both parties and many business and labor groups, say the project would create thousands of jobs and reduce the need for oil imports from Venezuela and other politically turbulent countries.

Opponents say the pipeline would carry "dirty oil" that contributes to global warming. They also worry about possible spills.

The State Department said in a Jan. 31 report that building the pipeline would not significantly boost carbon emissions because the oil was likely to find its way to market no matter what. Transporting the oil by rail or truck would cause greater environmental problems than the pipeline, the report said.

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Associated Press writer Matthew Lee contributed to this report.

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Follow Matthew Daly on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MatthewDalyWDC

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Endangered: Boston condos under $500G

The number of Boston condominiums for sale for under $500,000 has plummeted by 84 percent over the past four years, leaving many people priced out of the market, statistics show.

There were 424 active condo listings in the city as of March 10, and only 178 — 42 percent — were priced at less than $500,000, according to the Greater Boston Association of Realtors. In 2010, 1,145 of the 1,836 condo listings — or 62.4 percent — were in that price range.

"These are really dramatic drops," said David Bates, a broker at Gibson Sotheby's International Realty and author of the blog The Bates Real Estate Report. "People are getting priced out."

A general rule of thumb for prospective buyers is that their monthly mortgage payment shouldn't exceed one-third of their monthly gross income. So in Boston, where the Census Bureau says the median household income was $53,136 in 2012, $500,000 is the most many people can afford to pay for the convenience of living in the city.

The reason the number of condos beneath that price point has dwindled so dramatically is because the demand for them has increased at a much faster rate than new inventory has come on the market, said Michael DiMella of Charlesgate Realty Group.

Adam Stearns, a 30-year-old sales manager, has been looking for a two-bedroom condominium around $350,000 but has seen only six to eight properties in the past six months, even though he has been preapproved and has been looking in places as varied as East Boston, Dorchester and Mission Hill.

"Your money doesn't go that far in the Boston real estate market," Stearns said. "I think sellers are taking advantage of the fact that it's a seller's market and asking for far too much."

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Doctors eye Google Glass

Doctors at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center are bringing the cutting-edge technology of Google Glass to the emergency room — for instant, hands-free access to patients' records — and experts predict the device will soon be a common sight in Boston's hospitals and beyond.

"I think 2014 will be a tipping point," said Dr. John Halamka, chief information officer at Beth Israel. "It's very clear to me the desktop is no longer the preferred device in health care. The idea of using tablets was very big in 2013. I think in 2014 we'll see the early adopters (of Google Glass)."

Halamka and his colleagues are already among the first physicians in the country to test the new technology. Four emergency physicians have been using the glasses regularly, and the response — both from doctors and patients — has been positive, Halamka said.

Dr. Steven Horng, an emergency physician who wears the orange-rimmed specs during every shift in the ER, said Google Glass has already showed its potential, pro­viding quick, critical information. He cited the case of a patient who was bleeding from the head and had trouble explaining his allergies and medications.

"He couldn't remember that much because he was scared and overwhelmed," Horng said. "He remembered he had an allergy to some sort of blood pressure medication."

Horng identified the medication and learned that the patient was on blood thinners, a crucial detail, via Google Glass, which let him stay with the patient — instead of waiting for the patient to finish talking, so he could walk to a computer to look up information.

"This was a real stream­lining of the workflow," Horng said. "What we see is what we would normally see on a computer work station. We have access to an entire patient medical record."

Beth Israel doctors have formatted patient data to fit the small screen. They have taken steps to make sure it's pro­tected behind the hospital's firewall — and not publicly accessible on the Internet. The glasses are activated by bar codes in patient rooms, which link to patient records. They can also be programmed to display alerts — like a patient's plummeting blood pressure.

As well as saving precious minutes, Google Glass lets doctors avoid touching keyboards and tablet screens that can carry germs and spread infection. And, Halamka noted, "You're still making eye contact with the patient. You don't have to look away. You're not dis­tracted."

The $1,500 glasses also can be used to take videos of patients and surgery, a function being tested at Rhode Island Hospital in Providence.

"There's all kinds of potential," said Dr. Joseph Kvedar of Partners HealthCare's Center for Connected Health. Partners plans to test Google Glass soon. Kvedar predicts most physicians, already using laptops, tablets and desktops, will embrace the new technology.

"It can easily fit into your normal workflow of taking care of a patient and augment your care of them," Kvedar said. "I think there will be a lot of interest in the physician community in wearables."

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The Ticker

Flood bill passes Mass. House

The state House of Representatives has unanimously approved a bill aimed at softening the impact of new federal flood insurance rules on many coastal homeowners.

The measure would tie the level of flood insurance that must be purchased to a homeowner's outstanding mortgage balance, rather than the full replacement value of the home. The bill now goes to the Senate.

FTC probing 
Herbalife

The Federal Trade Commission opened a formal investigation into Herbalife's operations yesterday, pushing shares of the nutrition and weight loss company sharply lower.

Shares of Herbalife plunged as much as 
15 percent after being temporarily halted but gradually recovered from lows, ending the day down 7.3 percent. Shares were up more than
4 percent prior to the halt. A circuit breaker also briefly halted trading in shares of rival Nu Skin due to volatility.

Today

 Labor Department releases jobless claims.

 Commerce Department releases retail sales data for February.

 Commerce Department releases business inventories for January.

TOMORROW

 Labor Department releases the Producer Price Index for February.

THE SHUFFLE

Hortensia Roig, general secretary of the Escuela de Empresarios in Valencia, Spain, has joined Berklee College of Music's presidential advisory council. With this appointment, Roig becomes the first Spanish woman to serve on the council.

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Twitter feathers nest in Cambridge

Twitter plans to aggressively hire local brainiacs for its new Kendall Square headquarters for Twitter TV and Crashlytics — two ventures the San Francisco social media colossus sees as the keys to its future.

"This is absolutely critical stuff that's very important to the future of Twitter," Alex Roetter, vice president of engineering, told the Herald at Twitter's new Cambridge office yesterday. "The two projects that we started with here are just centrally important projects to the company."

Built around two Cambridge-based acquisitions the social media giant made last year, Bluefin Labs and Crashlytics, Twitter's local office is working on connecting advertisers with users watching live television and tracking bugs and crashes in mobile apps.

Twitter's television efforts, including targeted advertisements through its Twitter Amplify program — being developed in Cambridge — will be crucial for Twitter's future revenue and user experience.

"I can get you messages that not only are really valuable and interesting to you but also valuable to marketers," Roetter said. "It's a really big part of our strategy going forward."

Twitter this week hired Baljeet Singh, a veteran of YouTube and Google, to head the television and video products, seen as a key path to profitability. Singh developed YouTube's pre-video ads, among other projects.

The other project based in Cambridge, Crashlytics, still sells its bug and crash tracking system for apps to other developers. Roetter and senior vice president of engineering Chris Fry see Crashlytics as a significant part of Twitter's "mobile first" strategy.

"We care that the world's mobile developers have the best tools to build the best experience for end users," Roetter said.

The company also plans to increase the head count in Cambridge, currently at more than 100 employees spread over two floors. While the company won't say how many people it plans to hire, the new office has rows of empty desks ready to be filled. Twitter's job listings show 16 openings in Boston.

"We've already been hiring a bunch of new people, and we plan to keep doing that," Roetter said. "We're aggressively investing in not just the projects that they were doing as independent companies but new projects on top of them."

Tim Rowe, founder and CEO of the Cambridge Innovation Center in Kendall Square, said the arrival of Twitter and other tech giants brings jobs, money and talent to the area's startup culture.

"It's not just that it's cool," Rowe said. "It helps ensure every­one's future."

Fry said the products being developed in Cambridge will shape what Twitter becomes.

"You can come work in Boston and make fundamental changes to what Twitter is," he said. "We decided to go big in Boston."

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Shops focus on race, recovery

Nearly a year after the first bomb exploded in front of Marathon Sports during the 117th Boston Marathon, the Boylston Street store has recovered financially, but emotionally the scars linger.

"That's going to be there for a while," owner Colin Peddie said. "That's something that we're going to have to keep an eye on, especially as we get closer (to next month's race). We're having a big meeting well before the marathon just to make sure everybody's on the same page and if there are any concerns or questions. Other than that, it's a time of reflection."

The retailer's insurer fully covered the loss of business and damage sustained from the blast. And business has been good since.

"For better or worse, (the store) is a destination because we're so close to the marathon finish line," Peddie said. "There's a lot of tourist traffic."

Marathon Sports will be open during this year's race, providing customers with clear shopping bags because of security restrictions. "We want to support what's going on out there," Peddie said. "It's going to be a great day."

Vlora, meanwhile, saw lots of customer support when it reopened after the bombings, but the Boylston Street restaurant lacked the proper insurance to cover its 11-day shutdown and spoiled food. And then a tough winter kept many customers away.

"We ended up closing on snowy days," co-owner Aldo Velaj said. "So I'm really looking forward to the marathon."

Boylston Street candy store Sugar Heaven will be selling "Boston Strong" lollipops and T-shirts during this year's race. Its business is back to normal after an $80,000-$90,000 marathon-related loss that wasn't covered by insurance.

"We're very positive," owner David Sapers said. "We hope people come and … that this catastrophe hasn't shaken (them) to the point where they can't enjoy the marathon."

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Democrats clock all-nighter with climate talk

WASHINGTON — Democratic senators clocked an all-nighter, working in shifts into Tuesday morning to warn of the devastation from climate change and the danger of inaction.

Addressing a nearly empty chamber and visitor gallery, more than two dozen speakers agreed with each other about the need to act on climate change. Naysayers — Republicans — largely stayed away, arguing hours earlier that regulation would cost Americans jobs in a sluggish economy.

The talk-a-thon ended at 8:55 a.m., almost 15 hours since it began. It was the 35th all-night session since 1915, according to the Senate.

Florida Sen. Bill Nelson, who flew aboard the space shuttle Columbia in 1986, said when he looked out at the rim of the earth, "you could see what sustains all of life, the atmosphere. I became more than an environmentalist. I saw in its entirety how fragile this ecosystem is."

Nelson closed out the talk.

Hawaii's Brian Schatz said, "Climate change is real, it is caused by humans, and it is solvable."

In Schatz's view, the debate, such as it was, showed that a growing number of senators are committed to working together on climate change, even if no Republicans were among them. "This is where intractable, longstanding issues get solved," he said of the Senate.

Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse thanked the many Senate employees who remained on duty throughout the night — doorkeepers, U.S. Capitol police, clerks and young pages. He alluded to the light at the top of the Capitol Dome that remains on when either the House or Senate is in session.

"I hope that wasn't the only light shed last night," Whitehouse said, hoping that the debate proved illuminating.

Sens. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Ben Cardin of Maryland offered stories of the impact of rising sea levels on their home state locales and constituents.

"We are on the cusp of a climate crisis," Warren said, that threatens "our health, economy and our world."

"We can translate climate destruction into a positive," insisted Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who spoke about fuel cells built in Danbury and other Connecticut cities. He called climate change "implacable, relentless and only we can stop it."

Despite that bravado, Democratic leaders made it clear they have no plans to bring a climate bill to the Senate floor this year. Indeed, the issue is so politically charged that a host of Democrats who face tough re-election fights in the fall opted to skip the session. Sens. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Mark Begich of Alaska and Kay Hagan of North Carolina were among Democrats who stayed away.

Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., said Democrats who showed up were not convincing anyone with their stunt.

"They'll have an audience of themselves, so I hope they enjoy it," Inhofe said about an hour into the marathon, planned to last for nearly 15 hours. Inhofe's speech marked the only time Republicans engaged in the debate. Two other GOP senators, Alabama's Jeff Sessions and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, took to the Senate floor earlier Monday to denounce Democrats before the overnight session began.

McConnell suggested the Democratic motivation was campaign money — Tom Steyer's money.

"It's cruel to tell struggling coal families that they can't have a job because some billionaire from San Francisco disagrees with their line of work," McConnell said. He was referring to Steyer, a former hedge-fund manager and environmentalist who says he will spend $100 million — $50 million of his own money and $50 million from other donors — to make climate change a top-tier issue in the 2014 elections.

Leading off, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., called climate change "a question of our own survival" and said the United States and other countries have a responsibility to act "before it is too late."

House Democrats pushed through a bill to limit greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warming in 2009, then lost their majority the following election. A climate bill led by then-Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry collapsed in 2010 without a vote in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said the climate debate, which had its own Twitter hashtag, #Up4Climate, had drawn interest from around the nation and the world. Democrats received two separate petitions urging them to act, with a total of about 100,000 signatures, Boxer said.

"The American people are listening," Boxer said. "They care." She added that the event should "wake up Congress to the dangers of climate change."

Boxer and Whitehouse lead the recently launched Senate Climate Action Task Force, which organized the session.

Whitehouse said the session was needed to highlight obstacles to climate legislation, including ads financed by Charles and David Koch, conservative activists who have spent $15 million on Senate races, mostly criticizing Democrats over Obamacare. The Koch brothers, whose interests include oil, chemicals, textiles and paper, have also spent millions on ads critical of action against climate change.

Whitehouse conceded that lawmakers do not have the 60 votes needed to act on the matter, even in the Democratic-controlled Senate, but said the speeches could help change the dynamic.

The episode followed overnight speeches last year by Republicans Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Ted Cruz of Texas. Paul criticized U.S. drone policy, while Cruz pushed to take money away from the new health care law.

____

Follow Matthew Daly on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MatthewDalyWDC

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Value of European listings hits 10-year average

LONDON — In another sign that Europe's economy is turning the corner, a leading ratings agency found Tuesday that the value of new stock market listings in 2013 recovered to match the 10-year average.

Standard & Poor's said 13 billion euros ($16.6 billion) worth of new equity was floated last year and that the revival is set to continue this year, barring any economic or market shocks.

The agency credited the advance on buoyant equity markets, pent-up demand from private equity owners and optimism over the European economy's prospects.

Over the past few years, stock market listings in Europe have suffered in the wake of the global financial crisis and the ensuing debt problems that afflicted many countries that use the euro as their currency. A risk-averse approach dominated sentiment across corporate boardrooms.

Now that fears of a euro breakup have been dramatically reduced and economic growth has resumed across the 18-country eurozone, firms are beginning to look at fresh ways to raise money to capitalize on growth prospects. The improved economic backdrop is evident in the performance of stock markets across the region, which makes valuations more attractive for those looking to raise money to invest in the business or to cash out.

S&P found that business services companies and consumer-facing firms in sectors such as retail and leisure have so far been leading the revival in initial public offerings, or IPOs.

It pointed out that private equity firms are at the forefront of the revival in listings as they look for ways to exit their investments. An example includes the London IPO of amusement park operator Merlin Entertainment, which came to market as Blackstone and CVC Capital Partners reduced their stakes.

S&P said a variety of companies may be looking to tap markets in the period ahead, including commercial and professional services, health care, information technology, consumer staples, and cable.

Despite the advance, the value of IPOs was still way down on 2007's 10-year peak of 36 billion euros. That buzz of activity, however, was likely a sign of trouble ahead. By 2008, the world economy was facing one of its worst financial crises in decades, largely because of excessive risk-taking in financial markets.

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Japan lab weighing retraction of stem cell paper

TOKYO — A Japanese government-funded laboratory said Tuesday it is considering retracting a research paper describing a simple way of turning ordinary cells from mice into stem cells.

The Riken Center for Development Biology in Kobe, Japan, has been looking into questions raised over images and wording in the paper, co-authored by lab scientist Haruko Obokata.

Riken said Tuesday that it may retract the paper because of credibility and ethics issues, even though an investigation is continuing.

The paper was published in the scientific journal Nature in late January. It was praised as a possible groundbreaking method for growing tissue for treating illnesses such as diabetes and Parkinson's disease using a simple lab treatment.

Riken and Nature are investigating allegations including anomalous lines in an image of DNA fragments and a partial plagiarism.

Another author, University of Yamanashi professor Teruhiko Wakayama, said Monday that he believed his part of the research — stem cell production by using the cells provided by Obokata — was appropriate but wanted a third party to run detailed analysis on the stem cells produced. He said he'd rather drop the paper and resubmit it after addressing all questions.

The two scientists were part of a group of researchers, in Boston and Japan, who exposed cells from spleens of newborn mice to a more acidic environment that they're used to. That turned them into stem cells, they said. Cells from other tissue of newborn mice appeared to go through the same change, which could be triggered by exposing cells to any of a variety of stressful situations.

Scientists hope to harness stem cells to replace defective tissue in a wide variety of diseases. By making stem cells from the patient, they can get around the problem of transplant rejection.

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British transit union leader Bob Crow dies at 52

LONDON — British transit union leader Bob Crow — a hero to many of his members but a scourge to London commuters — has died at the age of 52.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport Union said Crow, its general secretary since 2002, died early Tuesday. It did not disclose the cause.

One of the few British union leaders to be a household name and recognizable face, Crow led his union through a series of disruptive strikes on London's busy subway system.

He was a villain to right-wing newspapers — and to many a frustrated commuter — but many union members saw him as a leader who got results.

London Mayor Boris Johnson, with whom Crow often clashed, praised him as "a fighter and a man of character."

"Whatever our political differences, and there were many, this is tragic news," Johnson said.

"There can be absolutely no doubt that he played a big part in the success of the Tube, and he shared my goal to make transport in London an even greater success."

With his bald head and cloth cap, Crow affected an old-fashioned, working-class demeanor, but he faced criticism for his six-figure salary and subsidized home.

At a time when most people thought the era of militant trade unionism long over, he was unafraid to confront management and stage walkouts.

Former London Mayor Ken Livingstone, a politician broadly sympathetic to Crow's left-wing views, said that "with the passage of time people will come to see that people like Bob Crow did a very good job."

"The only working-class people who still have well-paid jobs in London are his members," Livingstone said.

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US House committee investigating GM recall

DETROIT — A congressional committee is investigating the way General Motors and a federal safety agency handled a deadly ignition switch problem in compact cars.

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton of Michigan says the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration received a large number of complaints about the problem during the past decade. But GM didn't recall the 1.6 million cars worldwide until last month.

Upton says the committee will hold a hearing soon. He says the committee wants to know if GM or the agency missed something that could have flagged the problems sooner.

An Associated Press review of driver complaints to the agency found some dating to late 2005. GM admits it knew of the problem in 2004.

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Collecting disabled workers' judgment difficult

DES MOINES, Iowa — Federal and state officials are having trouble collecting the multimillion-dollar judgment a Texas company was ordered to pay for mistreating 32 mentally disabled workers at an Iowa labor camp.

The Des Moines Register reports (http://dmreg.co/1nwRGmj ) Henry's Turkey Service of Goldthwaite, Texas, has yet to pay nearly $6 million in judgment money and fines against the company and its leader Kenneth Henry.

A jury agreed last year that Henry's discriminated against its employees, who were hired out to work at an Iowa turkey processing plant. The initial verdict was the largest in the history of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which brought the case.

Henry's Turkey Service sent hundreds of mentally disabled men from Texas to labor camps in seven states.

In Iowa, the 32 mentally disabled men lived in a dilapidated former schoolhouse in Atalissa for years. They were paid roughly $65 a month no matter how many hours they worked and endured verbal and physical abuse.

The Iowa operation was shut down in 2009 after family members reported the conditions to state officials.

So far, federal officials have collected assets worth between $30,000 and $40,000, and they're collecting about $3,500 in monthly lease payments on land owned by Henry.

Iowa regulators say they don't plan to pursue the $1.1 million in penalties the company owes the state because it appears unlikely Henry's will pay.

"Because of the bankruptcy filing, it's likely none of the penalties will be collected," said Kerry Koonce, spokeswoman for the state labor commissioner.

Attorney Robert Canino, who represented the workers, said he and federal Justice Department officials continue looking for ways to collect what is owed to the men.

Records suggest that Henry and his business partner owned a Texas ranch worth $2.5 million in 2009, and the company owned property worth between $3 million and $4 million.

"So it is a matter of what can be done to attempt to secure those kinds of assets toward liquidation that would go to the men for the damages they have been awarded," Canino said.

Sherri Brown, sister of former worker Keith Brown, who now lives in Fayetteville, Ark., said she doesn't expect to ever receive any money from the case.

"I have never had any illusions about us seeing one dime from all of this," she said. "Keith does expect that, though. He occasionally asks about that, and I have to explain to him that we fought this case for other people, so that this sort of thing would never happen again to anyone else."

___

Information from: The Des Moines Register, http://www.desmoinesregister.com

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Survey: Uninsured rate drops; health law cited

WASHINGTON — With just three weeks left to sign up under President Barack Obama's health care law, a major survey tracking the rollout finds that the uninsured rate keeps going down.

The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, released Monday, found that 15.9 percent of U.S. adults are uninsured thus far in 2014, down from 17.1 percent for the last three months — or calendar quarter— of 2013.

That translates roughly to 3 million to 4 million people getting coverage.

Gallup said the share of Americans who lack coverage is on track to drop to the lowest quarterly level it measured since 2008, before Obama took office.

The survey found that almost every major demographic group made progress getting health insurance, although Hispanics lagged.

With the highest uninsured rate of any racial or ethnic group, Latinos were expected to be major beneficiaries of the new health care law. They are a relatively young population and many are on the lower rungs of the middle class, holding down jobs that don't come with health insurance.

But the outreach effort to Hispanics got off to a stumbling start. The Spanish-language enrollment website, CuidadodeSalud.gov, was delayed due to technical problems. Its name sounds like a clunky translation from English: "Care of Health." A spot check of the Spanish site on Sunday showed parts of it still use a mix of Spanish and English to convey information, which can make insurance details even more confusing.

All indications point to lackluster Latino numbers, prompting the administration to make a special pitch as the end of open enrollment season approaches on March 31. The president was on Spanish-language television networks last week to raise awareness.

Gallup found the biggest drop in the uninsured rate was among households making less than $36,000 a year — a decline of 2.8 percentage points.

Among blacks, the uninsured rate was down by 2.6 percentage points. It declined by 1 percentage point among whites. But Latinos saw a drop of just eight-tenths of a percentage point.

The Gallup poll is considered authoritative because it combines the scope and depth found in government surveys with the timeliness of media sampling. Pollsters interview 500 people a day, 350 days a year. The latest health care results were based on more than 28,000 interviews, or about 28 times as many as in a standard national poll.

The survey can be an early indicator of broad shifts in society. Gallup saw a modest decline in the uninsured rate in January, and now two full months of data indicate a trend is taking shape.

Gallup said the drop coincides with the start of coverage under the health care law on Jan. 1. The major elements of the Affordable Care Act are now in effect. Virtually all Americans are now required to get covered or risk fines. Insurers can no longer turn away people with health problems. New state-based markets are offering taxpayer-subsidized private insurance to middle-class households.

Medicaid rolls are also growing, with about half the states agreeing to the program expansion in the law. Low-income people who qualify for Medicaid are able to sign up year-round, so the uninsured rate may keep going down even after the end of open enrollment for private coverage.

The administration is citing numbers that are far higher: about 4 million people signing up for private coverage, and 9 million for Medicaid.

But those statistics also include people who already had health insurance and switched to coverage offered under the law. The government numbers also include children, while Gallup focuses on adults.

The survey was based on telephone interviews from Jan. 2-Feb. 28 with a random sample of 28,396 adults aged 18 and older in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. For results based on the total national sample, the margin of error is plus or minus 1 percentage point, larger for subgroups.

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Don't bite on bitcoin

The fact that bitcoin is becoming more popular — with an ATM at South Station and even spinoff startups — is not a sign that it is a legitimate or stable currency.

Nine months ago, I told you you'd be hearing a lot more about bitcoin. But I declined to take a position on the newfangled form of Internet currency, which is beloved by libertarians because it's not backed or controlled by any government. Now I'm taking a position: Get into bitcoin only if you like playing with fire and have money to burn. Know that getting into bitcoin is like gambling — or speculating, or prospecting. And know that bitcoin will crash. Maybe not this year. Or even next year. But it will crash, eventually. And then it will never come back.

That's not to say that whoever invented bitcoin isn't a genius. This mysterious, unstable pseudo-currency has lots of interesting benefits, such as no-cost microtransactions and the ability to transact across international lines. As an exercise in computer science, bitcoin is a beauty. But that doesn't make it a legitimate currency.

This is how it will pan out: As bitcoin becomes more known to people, the value will rise dramatically as investors see it as a hedge against economic uncertainty and a chance to get in on the ground floor of an exciting new market. And the value will rise because there is a finite number of bitcoins. That value can't be manipulated or controlled by any entity (i.e. the Fed), so there's no way to print more bitcoins to get people to spend more bitcoins, as our government does with the dollar. But while proponents of bitcoin see the inability to adjust the spigot as a benefit, it's also a fatal flaw. The lack of any oversight means that there's no way to prevent people from hoarding their bitcoins. Bitcoins will continue to rise in value as people hoard them, until one day somebody wants to cash in. And on that day, everyone will want to cash out at once. And that is when the system will collapse.

Some banks are starting to get interested in bitcoin. But they're not interested in it because it's legitimate. They're interested in making a quick buck off people like you and me. Same with the ATM companies, the so-called bitcoin entrepreneurs who land totally uncritical interviews at a certain broadsheet. So say it with me now: the popularity of something doesn't equate to its legitimacy or its merit. Bitcoin isn't a currency; it's a commodity.

And it's doomed to fail.

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Medical marijuana business prospects topic of Boston forum

As Massachusetts gears up for its entry into the medical marijuana business, entrepreneurs will meet Saturday for a forum on the new industry.

Hosted by the National Cannabis Industry Association, the all-day Northeast CannaBusiness Symposium will focus on education, with updates on federal and regional marijuana policy.

"Obviously the medical marijuana industry is getting started in Massachusetts, and there's a lot of activity in the Northeast overall, so Boston is a good location for talking about the region," said deputy director Taylor Left, whose group is based in Denver and Washington, D.C.

Other panel discussions at the event, which will be held at the Courtyard Boston Downtown, will focus on testing and extraction, a process used to remove oil from marijuana; building a medical marijuana business on strong principles; and securing financing.

The 3-year-old nonprofit association bills itself as the largest U.S. marijuana trade group and the only one representing related businesses at the national level. It has some 450 member businesses, including 14 based in Massachusetts, many of which provide ancillary services to the industry, Left said.

Denver's Dixie Elixirs & Edibles is an event sponsor. It produces 120 marijuana-infused products, including drinks, chocolates, mints and topical items such as salve, lotion and bath soak.

"We're coming there to do business," CEO Tripp Keber said. "It's an incredibly target-rich environment. I firmly believe that Dixie will be there in a meaningful way (and) ... will have Dixie's branded line of infused products in your market as the state allows."

Since interstate transport of its products is illegal, Dixie plans to sign a Massachusetts licensee to cultivate marijuana and manufacture and distribute its products here.

Portsmouth, N.H.-based Ideal 420 Technologies, another event sponsor that produces cultivated soil to grow marijuana, also hopes to tap the Bay State market.

"It's a beautiful model," CEO Richard Yost said. "The grower having the ability to really ramp up on the production side in Massachusetts is quite different from any other states."

Yost welcomes the chance to work with large-scale 
marijuana growers in his company's backyard.

"Now I can really put a lot of my science and technology to use," he said. "I can now have my plant scientists in Boston to work with growers in a tangible way."

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Markets kept in check by Asian developments

LONDON — The mood in financial markets steadied Monday despite earlier big losses in Asia following disappointing Chinese and Japanese economic data.

Despite the calmer tone in the European trading sessions, traders, particularly in oil markets, are mostly focused on developments on the other side of the world.

While media headlines were dominated by the search for the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777, which disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, investors were hit by a double dose of downbeat economic news.

Figures showing that China's exports fell by an unexpectedly large 18 percent in February reinforced fears over the outlook for the world's number 2 economy.

Meanwhile, Japan, the world's third largest economy, reported a record current account deficit for January, and lowered its economic growth estimate for the October-December quarter to 0.7 percent from 1 percent.

"Global financial markets are starting the week off on a cautious footing," said Carl Campus, an analyst at BMO Capital Markets.

In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was flat at 6,710 while Germany's DAX fell 0.5 percent at 9,307. The CAC-40 in France bucked the prevailing trend to trade 0.3 percent higher at 4,381.

Wall Street was poised for a subdued opening too with both Dow futures and the broader S&P 500 futures down 0.1 percent.

Earlier in Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 closed down 1 percent at 15,120.14 and China's Shanghai Composite plunged 2.9 percent to 1,999.06. Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 1.8 percent to 22,264.93.

A notable mover during the Asian session was Malaysia Airlines, which fell sharply following the disappearance of one its jets en route to Beijing. Though its shares ended 4 percent lower on the Kuala Lumpur stock market, they had been 10 percent lower earlier.

Oil prices were under pressure following the Chinese and Japanese data, as traders worried about the outlook for global growth. A barrel of benchmark New York crude was down 1.2 percent at $101.34.

Elsewhere, the euro remained near its highest levels against the dollar since October 2011. Trading flat on the day at $1.3880, the euro may soon make another attempt to breach the $1.40 mark.

The currency has been buoyant since last Thursday's decision by the European Central Bank not to cut interest rates further amid what it sees as an improving economic backdrop. Its advance went into reverse, albeit a modest one, following Friday's solid U.S. nonfarm payrolls figures which cemented market expectations that the Federal Reserve will continue to reduce its stimulus.

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Casinos’ projections trump panel’s

The annual gaming revenue projected by the competing Mohegan Sun and Wynn Resorts casino proposals exceed a new state Gaming Commission study, which factors in competition from the slots parlor the commission green-lighted to open at the harness racetrack in Plainville.

The commission's study, released late last month by the firm HLT, projects the Boston-area casino will generate $749 million in gross gaming revenue with a slots parlor open in Plainville, with $606.9 million coming from Massachusetts and $142 million from neighboring states. The state will take 25 percent of that revenue in taxes.

Mohegan Sun projects $857 million in gross gaming revenues in its first year for a casino at Suffolk Downs in Revere, while Wynn projects $804 million for its Everett site.

Gaming Commission Chairman Stephen Crosby said the board will study the discrepancies.

"We'll be looking at their projections, looking at their assumptions and giving them a good scrub," Crosby said.

Clyde Barrow, a University of Massachusetts Dartmouth professor and gaming expert, said his independent studies have projected well north of $800 million, particularly for a Suffolk Downs casino, because it's in such a dense population area.

"They're high," Barrow said, "but I came out in the same space as they did."

Wynn says it's been conservative in its estimates, and supporters of the Everett casino say the Las Vegas company has the economic strength to deliver on promises.

"The hastily devised Mohegan Sun casino proposed in Revere at the last minute will not attract visitors from outside our region or even take away any business from Mohegan Sun's main operation in Connecticut," Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria said in a statement. "Wynn Resorts has a proven track record of attracting international customers to their facilities — that's the type of operator Massachusetts needs."

Gary Luderitz, Mohegan Sun's vice president of operations and development, stuck by the projections, saying the company is better positioned to tap customers in the region due to its existing database and that the commission's estimate that the average adult will leave $375 at the Boston-area casino per visit '"sounds a little low to me."

"We're starting from a very strong position in the Northeast," Luderitz said. "Our data analysis consultants used figures that had held up in other work that they've done. We feel pretty good about it."

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Tee time part of Obama's Florida family vacation

KEY LARGO, Fla. — President Barack Obama got out on a Florida golf course Saturday with two former professional athletes and the cousin of one of his top advisers.

Obama's foursome included Ahmad Rashad, Cyrus Walker and Alonzo Mourning, the White House said.

Rashad is a sportscaster and former NFL wide receiver. Mourning is a former center for the NBA's Miami Heat who has helped raised money for Obama's campaigns. Later this month, Obama is scheduled to headline a fundraiser for the House Democrats' campaign arm at Mourning's Miami home.

Mourning is also helping the administration promote Obama's new health care law. He played golf with Obama in Florida last November.

Walker is a cousin of Obama senior adviser Valerie Jarrett.

Obama, his wife, Michelle, and daughters Malia and Sasha, arrived Friday afternoon at the Ocean Reef Club for a weekend getaway. The private, by-invitation-only membership club has two championship 18-hole golf courses.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Obama was looking forward to some warm-weather downtime with his family.

Before escaping the cold weather in Washington, Obama recorded his weekly radio and Internet address. In the message, Obama said he's hearing from business owners across the country who are voluntarily paying their workers more than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.

Congressional Republicans are resisting Obama's pleas to raise the wage to $10.10 an hour, saying it will lead employers to eliminate jobs.

In the Republican address, Ohio Sen. Rob Portman says Obama's proposed 2015 budget taxes too much and spends too much. Portman says Senate Republicans have a plan to spark economic recovery by getting government out of the way.

___

Online:

Obama address: http://whitehouse.gov

Republican address: www.youtube.com/user/gopweeklyaddress

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Austin tech firm had 20 employees on missing plane

AUSTIN, Texas — An Austin, Texas, technology company says 20 of its employees were aboard the Malaysia Airlines plane that went missing over the South China Sea.

Jacey Zuniga, a spokeswoman for Freescale Semiconductor, says 12 Malaysian and 8 Chinese employees are "confirmed passengers." She says no American citizen Freescale employees were on the flight.

"At present, we are solely focused on our employees and their families," Gregg Lowe, president and CEO of Freescale says in a statement. "Our thoughts and prayers are with those affected by this tragic event." The company, the statement reads, has assembled a team of counselors for those impacted by the tragedy.

Flight MH370, a Boeing 777 airplane, was last seen on radar at 1:30 a.m. (1730 GMT Friday) above the waters where the South China sea.

Freescale Semiconductor is a technology company focused on what it calls "embedded processing solutions." It works with clients in a variety of markets, including automotive and consumer electronics, to address technology issues using microprocessors and sensors.

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Buick is showing classic symptoms of vapor lock

Here is a problem that I have fought for almost two years. My 2001 Buick Regal will not start after a shutdown and heat soak. The car has 128,000 miles, never shuts down while driving, starts and runs perfectly in the morning. When it won't restart, you can crank it until the battery runs down, but the car won't start. After shutting the engine off it will start immediately — if you don't wait too long! Engine operating temperature is normal, it never overheats and has a new thermostat and ECT sensor. There are no intake manifold leaks, either vacuum or coolant. Fuel pressure is normal, but a new regulator was installed along with a new MAF sensor. In a no-start condition the spark will jump a gap of at least one inch at the coil.

In the summer I carry a jug of water in the trunk (in winter I use snow) and in a no-start condition I pour about a quart of water on the intake plenum. The car will start right away and will run perfectly until the next no-start condition.

I can't recall a better description of vapor lock. The proper term is fuel percolation, which describes residual engine heat boiling the ready fuel supply in the fuel rails near the plenum/intake manifold. When this occurs, fuel pressure fades due to the aerated fuel disrupting fuel delivery from the injectors. Even though fuel pressure may be "normal" when tested with the engine running, I suspect fuel pressure drops quickly after shutdown due to percolation.

Using water to cool the intake stops the percolation. The first few injector pulses bleed air from the rail and, as fuel pressure returns, the engine starts.

But how to eliminate the problem? Start with three simple steps. Idle the engine for 30 seconds before shutdown to allow coolant to carry residual combustion heat from the cylinder heads into the radiator. Pop the hood open to the safety catch position to allow hot air to escape from under the hood. And try different brands of fuel, looking for a fuel with a vapor pressure less prone to this issue.

In addition, make sure airflow through the A/C condenser and radiator is clear and unobstructed. If the cooling system hasn't been serviced recently a power flush may lower coolant and underhood temperatures measurably.

And to cover all the bases turn the ignition to the "on" position and listen for the fuel pump to run for two seconds and then stop, confirming that the fuel pump relay and fuel pump are operating properly. I'd also test for injector pulse widths from the PCM to confirm that the fuel injectors are being commanded to open/close on a hot restart.

I have a well-maintained 2003 Acura 3.2L TL-S model with 114,000 miles. My Goodyear dealer has continued to propose replacement of the timing belt and water pump. He said the belt should have been replaced at the seven-year mark or 100,000 miles. I can't seem to find any definitive recommendations from Acura or on the Internet about this repair. I want to maintain the car and continue to drive it for a number of years and would value your opinion on this repair.

Acura's service recommendation for this vehicle and engine, as outlined in my Alldata automotive database, calls for timing belt replacement at 105,000 miles/84 months under normal operating conditions. Under severe service conditions — operation at ambient temperatures under minus-20 degrees or above 110 — replacement is recommended every 60,000 miles.

With this engine, a timing belt failure could allow contact between pistons and valves, resulting in catastrophic engine failure, so a new timing belt makes perfect sense. Include pre-emptive replacement of the water pump.

Paul Brand, author of "How to Repair Your Car," is an automotive troubleshooter, driving instructor and former race-car driver. Readers may write to him at: Star Tribune, 425 Portland Ave. S., Minneapolis, Minn., 55488 or via email at paulbrand@startribune.com. Please explain the problem in detail and include a daytime phone number. Because of the volume of mail, we cannot provide personal replies.

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Device aids weight loss

Doctors at three Massachusetts hospitals are recruiting people battling Type 2 diabetes and obesity for a clinical trial of a medical device that has been approved in other countries to reduce blood sugar and body weight without the need for the kind of weight-loss surgery that more than 200,000 Americans undergo each year.

Made by Lexington-based GI Dynamics, the EndoBarrier is a thin, flexible, tube-shaped liner placed via the mouth during a brief endoscopic procedure and inserted in the duodenum, the first section of the small intestine, just beyond the stomach, said Dr. Lee M. Kaplan, the trial's lead investigator and director of the Obesity, Metabolism and Nutrition Institute at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

"The food you eat goes down the middle of the tube," Kaplan said, "but the tube blocks interactions between the food and hormone secretions," which can affect insulin sensitivity, glucose metabolism, satiety and food intake.

In commercial use outside the U.S., the device has been shown to achieve as much as a 30 percent reduction in glucose levels within the first week and a 10 percent to 20 percent body-weight loss within the 12-month period for which it has been approved for use in countries including England, France, Germany and Australia, said Stuart Randle, GI Dynamics' president and CEO.

"No one yet knows why, when you bypass the first section of the intestine, these hormones change so dramatically and so immediately," Randle said.

The U.S. trial, which currently is enrolling people at 22 sites, including MGH, Boston Medical Center and UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, will end in two years and, if it shows that the EndoBarrier is safe and effective, the Food and Drug Administration could approve the device in about a year.

If it does, the EndoBarrier could offer new hope to the 26 million people who have been diagnosed with diabetes in this country, including approximately 360,000 adults in Massachusetts, where the disease each week causes an average of 22 deaths, 38 lower-leg amputations, 13 new cases of end-stage renal disease and five new 
cases of blindness, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

"Obesity and diabetes are twin epidemics that remain out of control, and while we have good medical therapies for diabetes and some good therapies for obesity, they don't always work," Kaplan said. "For those patients who need additional therapy, this device may provide a valuable new option. But testing it is critical."

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