The Ticker

Dow soars 421 points

The Dow Jones industrial average had its biggest surge in three years yesterday, soaring 421 points in its second straight triple-digit gain after the Federal Reserve's reassurance that it was in no hurry to raise interest rates.

Bullish earnings from technology giant Oracle also drove the rally.

Fed chair Janet Yellen said Wednesday that she foresaw no rate hike in the first quarter of 2015.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 421.28 points, or 2.4 percent, to 17,778.15. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 48.34 points, or 2.4 percent, to 2,061.23. The Nasdaq Composite gained 104.08 points, or 2.2 percent, to 4,748.40.

Woman sues over elevator fall at Fenway

A 22-year-old woman who fell two stories down an elevator shaft at Fenway Park and was seriously injured is suing the owner of the Boston Red Sox and an elevator company.

Elisabeth Scotland of Brigantine, N.J., sued Wednesday in Suffolk Superior Court against Fenway Sports Group and Otis Elevator Co. of Farmington, Conn. The suit seeks an unspecified amount in damages.

The suit says Scotland fell when a closed elevator door opened when she brushed up against it, and she suffered a traumatic brain injury, spinal injuries, facial fractures and dental damage.

A Red Sox spokesman declined to comment on the accident, but said all Fenway Park elevators are safe and the team wishes Scotland well.

Whidden Hospital workers ratify pact

Union health care workers at Whidden Memorial Hospital in Everett announced yesterday they ratified a new contract agreement with Cambridge Health Alliance that grants them raises and a minimum start rate of $15 an hour, effective July 1, according to 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East.

The agreement covers more than 230 caregivers at the hospital, the union said.

Emerson announces dorm starts

Emerson College has announced plans to begin construction of two student housing projects that will increase its Boston undergraduate housing capacity by more than 33 percent.

In April, Emerson College will begin construction at 1–3 Boylston Place on an 18-story, 380-bed student housing project. The college also plans to renovate its largest student residence hall, known as the Little Building, located at 80 Boylston St., adding 290 new student beds to the 750 beds currently in the building.

• Newburyport's Muzzy Lane Software, a developer of game-based educational software, announced that Conall Ryan, left, has joined the company as president and chief executive officer. Ryan previously served as executive vice president of Houghton Mifflin Co., where he guided the development of the first Curious George digital titles.

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Hot Property: Think inside the Box in Chelsea’s Flats at 22

The Flats at 22 in Chelsea's new Box District neighborhood is now leasing — and providing some relief from Boston's high apartment prices.

This is developer Mitchell Properties and builder Traggorth Cos.' third apartment project in the area of former box and bedding factories that has been reborn into a neighborhood of market-rate and affordable apartments and condos as well as a new park along Gerrish Avenue. The Box District won the 2014 Urban Land Institute's Jack Kemp affordable and workforce housing award.

The Flats at 22, with 50-units of mixed-income new construction apartments, is renting market-rate units for as little as $1,425 for studios, which includes a garage parking space and building amenities such as a rooftop fitness center, roof deck lounge, a community room with a full kitchen and projection TV, and an outdoor patio with barbecue grills.

One-bedrooms in the pet-friendly complex start at $1,625 per month and two-bedrooms at $1,900.

The Flats at 22 has 29 market-rate units, of which 20 percent have been leased ahead of a Jan. 15 opening. It's offering one month free rent for 12-to-18-month leases.

"We are renting to a lot of young professionals who have looked for apartments in Boston and balked at the prices," said Tanya Hahnel, Traggorth's project manager for Flats at 22. "You get much more for your money over here along with the amenities and free garage parking."

For example, model Unit 111, a 659-square-foot one- bedroom, has hardwood floors throughout and a recessed-lit kitchen with 18 tall cabinets, bi-level gray granite counters with a breakfast bar, stainless-steel Whirlpool appliances and an open living/dining area with floor-to-ceiling windows and a private back entrance. There are stylish barnboard-style doors, a walk-in closet in the bedroom and a large tiled bathroom. The rent is $1,695 a month, which also includes an in-unit washer and dryer, a tankless water heater and USB outlets for phone charging.

Model Unit 115, with similar finishes and two carpeted bedrooms, two full bathrooms and a private rear entrance, is going for $2,100 a month.

The 46 units at the adjacent The Flats at 44 opened in March, and the 41 market-rate units leased quickly.

"People looking for afford­ability and nice, modern apartments have been finding us," said Margaret Farrell, regional manager of HallKeen Management, which manages the 150 ­total units in Mitchell's three buildings, including the brick-and-beam Atlas Lofts, carved out of a former bedding factory in 2010.

The rehabbed Box District is only a block from City Hall just north of Bellingham Square. A new Silver Line Box District stop connecting to South Station is under construction behind the Flats at 22 and will open in 2016.

"Getting the Silver Line will be a huge boost for Chelsea," said HallKeen marketing manager Courtney Mathiowitz. "And this neighborhood is a national model on how to do mixed-income housing in an urban neighborhood."

Hahnel said that the mostly young professionals renting in Mitchell's Box District properties like the fact that it's a diverse neighborhood with lots of children.

"It's not a sterile place," she said. "It's active and full of life."

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Weak coffee sales hurt Dunkin’ Donuts earnings

Dunkin' Brands announced weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter sales and lowered its 2015 outlook yesterday, blaming declining sales of Dunkin' Donuts' packaged coffee and continued pressure on consumers.

Shares fell as much as 9.45 percent yesterday to $41.85 — the most since Dunkin' Brands' 2011 initial public offering — before closing at $43.05, down 6.86 percent.

"This has been a challenging year for our businesses," CEO Nigel Travis said in a statement. "While our earnings growth expectations for 2015 are below our longer-term targets, we are committed to returning to double-digit growth in the subsequent years."

Struggling joint-venture Dunkin' restaurants in Korea and Baskin-Robbins in Japan also remain under pressure and are forecast to negatively impact 2015 results, according to Travis.

"We are disappointed by the ongoing softness in Dunkin' U.S. (comparable-store sales), which was attributed to a tough environment — presumably being caused by heightened competition — and decelerating sales of packaged coffee — probably weakness in K-cups," Baird Equity Research analyst David Tarantino said in a research note yesterday.

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Boston’s Revere Hotel gets a new owner

Boston's trendy Revere Hotel has a new owner, a little more than 2 1⁄2 years after it debuted following a $29 million transformation of an undistinguished Radisson Hotel into the luxury boutique property.

Bethesda, Md.-based Pebblebrook Hotel Trust, owner of Boston's W Hotel, has bought the 356-room hotel, a lucrative 826-space attached parking garage and a vacant adjacent Stuart Street property for $260.4 million from New York's Northwood Investors.

The parking garage makes it difficult to decipher the strength of Pebblebrook's purchase on a per-room basis, the typical metric for hotel purchases, according to Matthew Arrant, executive vice president of Pinnacle Advisory Group, a Boston hospitality consulting firm.

"The parking garage is a really big component of the revenue stream," he said. "But (the total purchase price) is a testament to the strength of the Boston market right now and how far the market has come since Northwood bought (the hotel)."

Northwood acquired the hotel for $143.5 million in 2010.

It's a strong time for hotel sellers, with additional value gained because of the strength of the market overall, said Andrea Foster, vice president and New England practice leader of PKF Consulting USA.

"It's also a good time for buyers," she said. "With the future forecast for occupancy and rate projections, there's still upside for buyers in the next couple of years."

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Innovation expansion urged: Four areas envisioned as new Boston ‘districts’

A task force appointed in September by Mayor Martin J. Walsh is eyeing four neighborhoods as potential innovation hubs, Boston's economic development czar said yesterday.

Although its final recommendations are not due until Jan. 30, the four areas most discussed by the Neighborhood Innovation District Committee are East Boston, the Bowdoin-Geneva and Fields Corner sections of Dorchester, and Dudley Square in Roxbury to Uphams Corner in Dorchester, said John Barros, who co-chairs the committee.

"Mayor Walsh sees an opportunity to bring the innovation economy into Boston's neighborhoods," said Melina Schuler, a spokeswoman for the mayor. "The recommendations being made by the Neighborhood Innovation District Committee are first steps in establishing how communities can participate and benefit from this new type of entrepreneurship and job creation."

While government can be the catalyst for that, the private sector "can make it real and sustainable," as has been the case with MassChallenge, said Scott Bailey, senior director of partnerships for the Boston-based startup accelerator and competition.

"The real challenge in any of these neighborhoods is how do you keep them included in what's going on in other places," Bailey said. "It's not about building a cluster and leaving it off on its own."

Charles Teague, CEO of Lose It!, a startup that makes software to help people lose weight, said when his company was looking for a location, it chose Boston's Innovation District because it was more affordable than Cambridge's Kendall Square and had a vibrant community of tech companies working on some of the same problems. He worries that sense of community could be "fragmented" if the city creates other innovation districts.

But Tim Rowe, founder and CEO of the Cambridge Innovation Center, said: "Innovation-driven prosperity can't remain the province of just a few neighborhoods. If Boston wasn't pursuing this, we'd be asking it to."

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Gas pipeline woes halt National Grid hookups on Cape

Residents of eight Cape Cod towns will have to wait years before new natural gas lines can be installed after National Grid instituted a moratorium on new hookups.

The company will not install any new gas connections for five to seven years after the Department of Public Utilities and National Grid found potentially faulty welds — some almost 60 years old — in a 21-mile pipeline on the Cape, forcing­ National Grid to lower the pressure in the transmission line, which cut the amount of gas it can carry.

The pipeline will not be able to supply gas to more customers until infra­structure fixes are made, work that has no exact timetable.

"We're going to have to do some pretty significant infrastructure enhancement work," said National Grid spokesman Jake Navarro.

The work will prevent potential customers in Dennis, Harwich, Brewster, Chatham, Orleans, Eastham, Barnstable and Yarmouth from hooking up to the gas supply.

Navarro said National Grid has about 100,000 customers on the Cape, and was adding between 800 and 1,000 each year.

DPU spokeswoman Mary-Leah Assad said in a statement that the agency is looking into the situation.

"The DPU's Pipeline Safety & Engineering Division is engaged in an on­going investigation to determine the integrity of the gas main and ensure it is in compliance with federal and state regulations," she said.

National Grid does not believe any other pipelines in the state will need the same kind of repairs, Navarro said.

Meanwhile, Nstar yesterday filed for a 12 percent delivery rate increase, citing­ rising costs to deliver gas to homes. That comes after Nstar said it would increase its supply rates by 29 percent due to rising demand for natural gas.

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Reports: North Korea ordered the Sony attack

Federal authorities have determined that hackers working on behalf of the North Korean government were behind the attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment, according to published reports.

"We have found linkage to the North Korean government," a source told CNBC.

CNN's Evan Perez said that an announcement is expected on Thursday that would "assign attribution" to the country, which threatened retaliation over the release of "The Interview."

An FBI official said that the agency had no immediate comment because the investigation is ongoing. But they are expected to issue a statement on their findings within the next day. A spokesman for the National Security Council also had no comment.

The New York Times reported that U.S. officials had differences of opinion on whether the hackers were aided by Sony insiders. The Times reported that U.S. officials had determined that North Korea was "centrally involved" in the attacks on Sony.

It's unclear what kind of action the U.S. may take, if any, in response, or whether it would issue any kind of an official statement. The White House had no immediate comment.

In an interview with ABC News on Wednesday, President Obama said that his administration was taking the hacker attack seriously but that "for now my recommendation would be, go to the movies."

Sony announced that it was pulling the movie from release after major theater chains decided not to show it. On Tuesday, the studio said that it was leaving a decision of whether to show the movie to exhibitors. That came after the hackers issued a threat of physical harm and a "9/11" style attack at theaters where the movie was being shown. But an official with the Department of Homeland Security told media outlets that there was "no credible intelligence" showing an active plot.

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

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Patient Fed spurs Wall Street

The Federal Reserve yesterday said it will be "patient" in raising interest rates, sending stocks soaring as Wall Street registered its best day in more than a year.

Fed chairwoman Jan­et Yellen said economic fundamentals will be the guide for raising the benchmark interest rate, not a specific date, and she foresees no rate hikes in the first quarter of 2015.

Yellen also said the central bank would not make policy changes right now, despite plunging oil prices­ and potential turmoil overseas, particularly in Russia.

The Fed made a slight distinction in its policy statement by adding the word "patient," said David Wessel, a federal reserve expert with the Brookings Institution.

"They're trying to not signal any change in policy, (but) wean themselves off of language that was so dependent on when they stop buying bonds and put more focus on the economy," Wessel said.

The Fed also lowered its expectation for inflation, which the bank has repeatedly said is a key indicator that will affect policy.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 288 points or 1.7 percent, while the Standard and Poor's 500 index closed 40.15 points higher, or 2.04 percent.

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Brewery expansion on tap for Jack’s Abby

Framingham craft beer maker Jack's Abby Brewing will undergo a major expansion that will allow it to ramp up production, offer its beer in cans and 12-pack bottles and open a restaurant and much larger tasting room.

The 3-year-old company has leased new space in Framingham that will expand its brewery more than five-fold to 67,000 square feet with state-of-the-art brewing equipment.

"The craft beer industry, as a whole, has been picking up (and) we've been beneficiaries of that," said Eric Hendler, who cofounded Jack's Abby with brothers Jack and Sam. "Additionally, we do only lagers, which are not very common for craft breweries to make. We feel that distinguishes us to the consumer."

Jack's Abby's best-selling beer is Hoponius Union, an India pale lager.

Its new quarters in a former Avery Dennison plant will have an initial brewing capacity of 50,000 barrels annually — which it doesn't expect to hit in the first year — and space to expand to 125,000. The Hendlers plan to start brewing there in late 2015.

This year, in its current 12,000-square-foot brewery, the company will brew 14,000 barrels to service customers in Massachusetts, Connecticut and parts of New York and Vermont — up from 6,500 barrels last year.

"We're expecting to brew around 25,000 barrels in 2015, which is the maximum our current space is capable of producing," Hendler said.

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Sony has 'no further release plans' for 'The Interview'

Sony Pictures Entertainment has walked out on "The Interview," deciding against releasing the Seth Rogen-James Franco comedy in any form -- including VOD or DVD.

"Sony Pictures has no further release plans for the film," a spokesman said Wednesday.

The studio issued the statement a few hours after pulling the planned Christmas Day release of "The Interview" in the U.S. in response to the hackers who threatened to attack movie theaters and moviegoers if the comedy were released.

By late Wednesday afternoon, the studio had removed any mention of "The Interview" from its official web site.

The move could open the door for Sony to sell the rights to a rival distributor -- though Hollywood is still reeling from Tuesday's invocation of a possible 9/11-type terrorist attack on exhibitors if they screened "The Interview."

Prior to the decision to pull the film, a Sony Pictures insider had told Variety that the studio was weighing releasing the film on premium video-on-demand. Such a move would have allowed the studio to recoup some of the film's $42 million budget and tens of millions in promotion and advertising expenditures.

Sony's nightmare began on Nov. 24 when the "Guardians of Peace" hackers disabled the studio's computer system and began disclosing internal documents, email messages, film budgets, executive salaries and the social security numbers of thousands of employees.

"The world will be full of fear," the group's Tuesday message said. "Remember the 11th of September 2001. We recommend you to keep yourself distant from the places at that time. (If your house is nearby, you'd better leave.)"

In response, most of the country's largest theater chains -- including AMC, Regal, Cinemark, Carmike and Southern Theatres -- announced they would either delay showing the picture or would drop it altogether.

"The Interview" centers on an assassination attempt on North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un. There has been speculation that the country may be involved in the hacking as retaliation for the film, though it has denied involvement.

On Wednesday, several published reports said that federal authorities had determined that hackers working on behalf of the North Korean government were behind the hack attack. CNN's Evan Perez said that an announcement is expected on Thursday that would "assign attribution" to the country.

"The Interview" has been scheduled for release in foreign markets starting in late January.

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

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Sony hack: Lionsgate sought merger talks with Sony, says report

Lionsgate Entertainment made an approach to Sony Corp in the middle of this year, according to Sony emails leaked by hackers.

The Reuters news agency today reported that the emails show a conversation between activist investor Daniel Loeb and Nicole Seligman, president of Sony Corp of America, and between Seligman and Sony Pictures Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton.

Seligman reported Loeb as saying in mid Aug. that Lionsgate executives wanted to meet Sony Corp CEO Kazuo Hirai, "to toss around ideas for a merger or acquisition."

Hirai declined the meeting, but expressed interest in collaboration at an operational level.

Lynton apparently responded that it would be "very disruptive" if the 'lionsgate stuff gets out."

Sony Corp. at the time was under pressure from Loeb to spin off the profitable SCE from the rest of the consumer electronics to games group which has been struggling for years to fend off a succession of loss-making issues. Sony considered, but rejected Loeb's spin-off idea, and in October Loeb revealed that he had sold his Sony stock.

Lionsgate has this year also been the focus of merger and acquisition speculation with both China's Alibaba and Wanda touted as possible suitors.

Lionsgate vice chairman Michael Burns wrote to both Hirai and Seligman again on Sept 6. announcing: "we remain very intrigued by the possibility of working together."

On Sept. 18 Hirai wrote back: "Given our entertainment business strategy, I don't believe a meeting with me would be fruitful or a good use of your time.…. However, we are always interested in the possibility of smart collaboration between studios at the operational level."

Reuters said that it was unable to establish the authenticity of the documents and emails. Daniel Leob's Third Point hedge fund is an investor in Variety.

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

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Stocks mostly lower before Fed statement

BEIJING — Global stocks were mostly lower Wednesday as oil prices tumbled again while investors waited for a U.S. Federal Reserve statement on monetary policy.

KEEPING SCORE: In early trading, Germany's DAX shed 1 percent to 9,471.58 points and France's CAC-40 was off 0.9 percent at 4,056.06. Britain's FTSE 100 dropped 0.8 percent to 6,283.22. Wall Street looked set for a rebound. Futures for the Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard & Poor's 500 were both up 0.5 percent. On Tuesday, the S&P lost 0.9 percent and the Dow ended down 0.7 percent.

FED MEETING: The Federal Reserve was due to end a two-day meeting on Wednesday with a statement that, despite turmoil in Russia, was expected to drop a promise to keep interest rates low for a "considerable time." Analysts expected no immediate change in monetary policy, which the Fed has said would return to normal sometime next year following its history-making stimulus in the aftermath of the 2008 global crisis.

THE QUOTE: "The dominant theme is nervous trading in emerging markets as the Federal Reserve is tipped to switch to a hawkish bias," said Stan Shamu of IG Markets in a report. "While the US economy has been progressing significantly, the challenge will be how to proceed given the backdrop of turmoil in the rest of the world. The U.S. has been immune to events abroad so far but perhaps this will worry the Fed enough to exercise caution."

ASIA'S DAY: China's Shanghai Composite Index gained 1.3 percent to 3,061.02 points and Tokyo's Nikkei 225 added 0.4 percent to 16,819.73. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was off 0.4 percent at 22,585.84 and Seoul's Kospi lost 0.2 percent to 1,900.16. Taiwan, Singapore and Manila also were down while Sydney, Bangkok and New Zealand rose.

RUBLE ROCKED: The ruble dropped 20 percent under pressure from lower oil prices and Western sanctions over Moscow's conflict with Ukraine. That was despite a decision by Russia's central bank to hike its benchmark interest rate to support the ruble. "The end is near for Russia's economic and financial stability," said Carl B. Weinberg of High Frequency Economics in a report. Weinberg warned foreign creditors might face a wave of defaults by Russian borrowers. Apple Inc. halted sales in Russia, blaming the financial turmoil.

OIL SLUMP: Crude prices fell further from already-low levels, hammering stocks of energy producers. U.S. crude was down $1.01 to $54.92 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract gained 2 cents the previous session to $55.93. Brent crude, used to price international oils, lost 76 cents to $59.23 per barrel in London.

CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 117.12 yen from 117.07 yen late Tuesday. The euro fell to $1.2469 from the previous day's $1.2502.

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McDonald's in Japan limits orders of fries

TOKYO — Only small fries with that? McDonald's in Japan is limiting the serving size of fries as stocks run short due to labor disruptions on the U.S. West Coast.

McDonald's began rationing its fries Wednesday morning. It said prolonged labor negotiations with port workers on the West Coast have made it difficult to meet demand despite an emergency airlift of 1,000 tons of processed spuds and an extra shipment from the U.S. East Coast by sea.

Frozen french fries — ready for the deep-fryer — are a leading U.S. export. The spuds are partially cooked and cut before shipping.

Japanese consume more than 300,000 tons of french fries a year, mostly at fast-food restaurants, and largely sourced from imports of frozen, processed potatoes from America, according to U.S. figures. Shipments in December are expected to be just over half the normal level, Japanese newspapers reported.

But demand is rising as convenience stores are increasingly also selling fries.

McDonald's has 3,100 outlets in Japan. It cut prices for set meals to compensate for including only small fries.

Customers expressed disappointment as they left a downtown Tokyo McDonald's outlet on Wednesday.

"The kids like the bigger sizes, like M and L, so it's a shame," said businessman Kenichi Kuniki, 45.

Japan's locally grown potatoes are mostly eaten fresh, rather than as fries, and production has been declining for years. But Japan enforces strict limits on where and how fresh potatoes are imported.

The powerful dockworkers union and multinational shipping lines have been negotiating a new contract for about 20,000 West Coast workers. In the meantime, labor disruptions have slowed shipments and driven costs higher.

Japanese are also facing a shortage of butter that has prompted grocery stores to limit shoppers to one or two packages apiece. That shortage stems from declining domestic production plus trade barriers and other restrictions that limit imports.

The restrictions are meant to ensure that local farmers who face high costs here are protected from foreign competition, to ensure Japan maintains some self-sufficiency in its food supply, but supply doesn't always meet demand.

"It's a bit sad," said Hiroko Inomata, 34, clutching the bag of small fries and a teriyaki burger she bought for lunch. "But it is so that everyone can have some."

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Associated Press video journalists Kaori Hitomi and Emily Wang contributed.

Elaine Kurtenbach on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ekurtenbach

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Sony ex-employees hit studio with another class action suit over hack attack

Two ex-employees of Sony Pictures Entertainment have filed a class action suit against the studio, claiming that it was negligent in protecting personal information and also in planning for the release "The Interview" in the face of a threat of a hacker attack.

The lawsuit was filed by production coordinator Susan Dukow, whose credits include "Last Action Hero and "Jerry Maguire," and Yvonne Yaconelli, production manager on "Spider-Man II," "The Green Hornet' and "The Smurfs 3D."

The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday, is the second filed in the past day related to the hacking attack. Two ex-employees filed a lawsuit in federal court in Los Angeles late Monday.

The latest lawsuit makes some similar claims, but also that Sony "knew the risks and repercussions associated with releasing" "The Interview," in which Seth Rogen and James Franco portray entertainment journalists recruited to kill North Korean leader Kim Jung Un. North Korea condemned the film, but has denied involvement in the hacker attack.

"Various news reports suggest the original script of 'The Interview' included a fake villain, but that Sony specifically changed the script to make North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un the film's villain," the lawsuit states, "Upon information and belief, Sony knew it was reasonably foreseeable that producing a script about North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un would cause a backlash. Upon information and belief, Sony executives were excited about the possibilities of producing a film with a real-world villain."

The lawsuit contends that Sony's "actions and inactions" related to the release of "The Interview" "created an unreasonable risk" of a security breach.

The FBI is investigating the breach, but has not said whether they have determined that North Korea was in fact connected to the hacking attack.

The lawsuit claims violations of the California Data Breach Act, invasion of privacy, violation of the California Confidentiality of Medical Information Act, and negligence.

The lawsuit claims that Sony "was aware its security devices were deficient and vulnerable," and that personal information fo employees and ex-employees was vulnerable.

An SPE spokeswoman said they had no comment.

The lawsuit was filed by Douglas Johnson, Neville Johnson and Brian Shippen-Murray of Johnson & Johnson in Beverly Hills.

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

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Ruble volatile as Russians rush to stores

MOSCOW — The Russian government looked at ways of easing the selling pressure on the ruble Wednesday amid fears the country may face a full-blown bank run and as consumers look to buy big-ticket items before prices rise.

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

The ruble has lost more than 50 percent of its value this year. After posting fresh losses early Wednesday, the ruble recovered some ground and was 0.9 percent lower at 68 rubles at 1.15 p.m. Moscow time (1015 GMT).

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

It has shed 15 percent of its value this week despite Tuesday's surprise move by Russia's Central Bank to raise its benchmark interest rate to 17 percent from 10.5 percent, which was intended to make it more attractive for currency traders to hold onto their rubles. At one point on Tuesday, it was down 20 percent.

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

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

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

The collapse of the national currency has spurred Russians to buy cars and home appliances before prices shoot higher. Several car dealership were reported to have suspended sales, unsure how far down the ruble will go, while Apple has halted all online sales in Russia. Swedish furniture giant IKEA is also due to raise prices Thursday, raising speculation that its stores will be very busy over the next few hours.

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

Andrei Klepach, deputy chairman of the state-owned VEB bank, said in comments carried by Tass that the budget up to $1.6 billion because of a weaker ruble but he warned that "the economy is collapsing."

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

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

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

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

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Frank Jordans contributed to this report from Berlin.

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The legal case for publishing Sony emails

On Sunday, media outlets received letters from famed attorney David Boies, representing Sony Pictures Entertainment, urging them to destroy or ignore the trove of hacked documents and e-mails from the hacking attack on the studio.

While his letter certainly may have given news organizations pause over what to do with the fountain of information coming their way, to actually hold the media legally liable for publishing information they have obtained looks to be a longshot.

In 2001, the Supreme Court, in a 6-3 decision, ruled in favor of a radio station that broadcast an illegally intercepted cell phone conversation between labor officials over teacher salaries. Justice John Paul Stevens wrote that the First Amendment protected the broadcast of such issues of "public concern."

So would the Sony e-mails be of "public concern"?

Eugene Volokh, professor at the UCLA School of Law and author of the Volokh Conspiracy blog at the Washington Post, says that even though Boies didn't define what a "public concern" is, he sees some latitude for the media in this case because it involves a major corporation. He wrote on this issue Monday in a blog post.

"Sony is a very big important business," he says. "What it does has significance to the country economically. It is also significant culturally."

He adds, "As a result, communications from business people to other business people are things likely to be seen as a matter of public concern." Even emails about Angelina Jolie would be of "public concern," he argues, because she is not only a celebrity but a businesswoman with a cultural impact.

The case for the media is bolstered by another case, he notes. That is a 1969 D.C. Circuit decision that sided with the media in publishing articles based on documents stolen from the office of then Sen. Thomas Dodd (D-Conn.). Dodd sued, claiming invasion of privacy and "conversion," or the use of stolen property, but the court rejected that claim. (Dodd was the father of Christopher Dodd, the former senator and current chairman of the MPAA).

"When information is a matter of public concern, the court held, the fact that it was illegally leaked doesn't make publishing it an invasion of privacy," Volokh wrote on his blog.

Where media outlets could be held liable is if they publish such things as emails that disclose an individual's personal health information or Social Security numbers, or emails between mid-level employees gossiping about private information, Volokh notes. But most media outlets wouldn't be interested in such details anyway, he suggests.

Emails also are protected by copyright, and media outlets also could be held liable for infringement. But many publications have quoted excerpts of emails that are fair use or the "lawful use of facts," he says. A much harder case for the media to make would be if it published major portions of the script to the next James Bond movie, "SPECTRE."

While the media may be on a solid legal footing, that isn't to say that outlets are free from debate over the ethical or moral issues involved in publishing. With Aaron Sorkin and likely others weighing in, that debate is likely to continue for a long, long time.

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

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China imprisons businesswoman in rail graft case

BEIJING — A Beijing court on Tuesday sentenced a businesswoman linked to China's fallen ex-railway minister to 20 years in prison for bribery and interfering with bids for rail projects.

Ding Yuxin, formerly known as Ding Shumiao, illegally helped 23 companies win bidding for 57 projects and personally received 2 billion yuan ($330 million) for her efforts, the Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People's Court said on its microblog.

Her actions severely disrupted the bidding system for railway contracts, the verdict said.

Ding, who only finished primary school, has been portrayed as a key intermediary for then-railways boss Liu Zhijun's corrupt dealings. Between 2004 and 2011, Ding offered some 49 million yuan in kickbacks to Liu, who helped her "illegally gain huge economic benefits," the court said.

Liu, known as the driving force behind China's bullet train network, was convicted last year of taking bribes and steering contracts to associates and received a suspended death sentence. A suspended death sentence in China is usually changed to life in prison after two years.

Ding was also fined 2.5 billion yuan ($410 million) and had assets worth 20 million yuan ($3 million) seized. She is at least the fourth person to be sentenced in relation to the Liu corruption scandal.

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HBO Go now available on Amazon Fire TV set-top

HBO Go, the premium cable network's Internet-video service, is now available on Amazon Fire TV set-top box -- an addition the e-commerce giant hopes will put the device on better footing with holiday shoppers against connected-TV rivals.

Amazon's Fire TV is adding the service, available only to HBO subscribers with a subscription through participating pay-TV providers, under the companies' multiyear content-licensing pact that made Prime Instant Video the exclusive online-based subscription VOD service to offer past seasons of HBO originals like "The Sopranos" and "The Wire."

Under the licensing deal for Amazon's Prime Instant Video, HBO specified that episodes for shows currently airing on the cabler will not arrive on the service until approximately three years after premiering on the network -- and excluded "Game of Thrones" entirely.

Now Fire TV users who also are HBO subs have access to all episodes of "Game of Thrones"  and other current programming. In all, HBO Go provides more than 1,700 titles, including every episode of the cabler's series, original films, miniseries, sports, documentaries, specials and a selection of movies.

In the spring of 2015, HBO Go also will be available on Fire TV Stick, Amazon's $39 HDMI dongle that's a response to Google Chromecast and the Roku Streaming Stick.

According to Amazon, since it launched the Fire TV this spring, the device has more than quadrupled its content selection, with over 700 apps and games now available. Those include apps for Netflix, Hulu Plus, YouTube, WatchESPN, Vevo, Pandora and Showtime Anytime.

"Given our longstanding relationship with Amazon, we're delighted to bring HBO GO to Amazon's Fire TV -- offering our vast collection of award-winning TV series and movies to Fire TV users," said Jeff Dallesandro, HBO's VP of digital domestic network distribution.

Through Dec. 28, Amazon is selling the Fire TV box for $79 -- a 20% discount off the regular $99 price

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

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Google top-trending searches of 2014: 'Frozen,' Robin Williams and World Cup

Disney's "Frozen" was the only entertainment title to break into Google's top 10 ranking of U.S. trending searches for the year, alongside other major stories of 2014 including the suicide of actor and comedian Robin Williams, the World Cup and the Ebola virus outbreak.

Other top-trending movies were "Interstellar," "Divergent" and "Gone Girl," while the top TV shows among U.S. searchers were "Game of Thrones," "No, You Shut Up," "True Detective" and "Orange Is the New Black," according to Google's annual year in search report.

Google's "trending" queries are searches that had the highest amount of traffic over a sustained period in 2014 compared with 2013. According to the search giant, that's more reflective of current popularity than raw number of searches. More info is available at google.com/trends/2014.

Top U.S. Trending Searches
1. Robin Williams
2. World Cup
3. Ebola
4. Malaysia Airlines
5. Flappy Bird
6. ALS Ice Bucket Challenge
7. ISIS
8. Ferguson
9. "Frozen"
10. Ukraine

Trending Movies of 2014
1. "Frozen"
2. "Interstellar"
3. "Divergent"
4. "Gone Girl"
5. "Lone Survivor"
6. "Godzilla"
7. "22 Jump Street"
8. "Big Hero 6"
9. "Annabelle"
10. "Maleficent"

Trending TV Shows
1. "Game of Thrones"
2. "No, You Shut Up!"
3. "True Detective"
4. "Orange Is the New Black"
5. "Blood, Sweat & Heels"
6. "The Following"
7. "House of Cards"
8. "Gotham"
9. "South Park"
10. "American Horror Story"

Trending Movie Trailers
1. "Gone Girl"
2. "Interstellar"
3. "Divergent" trailer
4. "Frozen"
5. "The Lego Movie"
6. "Avengers 2"
7. "Godzilla"
8. "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1"
9. "Annabelle"
10. "Maleficent"

Trending Actors
1. Jared Leto
2. Matthew McConaughey
3. Macaulay Culkin
4. Chris Pratt
5. Theo James
6. Ansel Elgort
7. Jamie Dornan
8. Alfonso Ribeiro
9. James McAvoy
10. Laurence Fishburne

Trending Actresses
1. Jennifer Lawrence
2. Renee Zellweger
3. Betty White
4. Ellen Page
5. Kim Novak
6. Margot Robbie
7. Jacqueline Bisset
8. Lena Dunham
9. Melanie Griffith
10. Lea Thompson

Trending Celebrities (Excluding Deaths)
1. Jennifer Lawrence
2. Kim Kardashian
3. Tracy Morgan
4. Ray Rice
5. Tony Stewart
6. Iggy Azalea
7. Donald Sterling
8. Adrian Peterson
9. Renee Zellweger
10. Jared Leto

Trending Celebrity Deaths of 2014
1. Robin Williams
2. Joan Rivers
3. Philip Seymour Hoffman
4. Maya Angelou
5. Jan Hooks
6. Harold Ramis
7. Shirley Temple
8. Lauren Bacall
9. Mickey Rooney
10. James Avery

Trending Music Artists
1. Iggy Azalea
2. Lorde
3. Sam Smith
4. Meghan Trainor
5. Solange Knowles
6. Nicki Minaj
7. Weird Al
8. Sia
9. Daft Punk
10. Taylor Swift

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

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Russian ruble down sharply despite rate hike

MOSCOW — The Russian ruble has regained some ground after declining by a whopping 20 percent earlier Tuesday.

The ruble extended Monday's collapse — when it declined by 10 percent — despite the pre-dawn interest rate increase to 17 to 10.5 percent by the country's central bank.

It traded at 72 per dollar late Tuesday afternoon — more than 60 percent down from where it was in January.

The currency has been battered by sliding oil prices as well as the sanctions that the West has imposed on Russia over its involved in Ukraine.

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Sales of macadamias soar in Korea after nut rage

SEOUL, South Korea — Nut rage imploded the career of a Korean Air Lines executive and embarrassed her family and country. Now South Korean retailers are experiencing the unexpected upside: a boom in sales of macadamias.

The flavorful macadamia nut was unfamiliar to many South Koreans until Cho Hyun-ah, the daughter of Korean Air's chairman, ordered a flight attendant off a Dec. 5 flight from New York City after she was served them in a bag, instead of on a plate.

She resigned from executive roles including head of cabin service last week amid a storm of criticism about the tantrum that forced the flight to return to the gate. But macadamias are now a household name in South Korea and with curiosity about their taste piqued, sales are booming.

Auction, a South Korean unit of eBay and South Korea's second-largest e-commerce website, said Monday that sales of macadamias surged nearly 12-fold during the previous five days without any promotions. It said macadamias previously made up 5 percent of its nut sales but were now accounting for almost half.

South Korea's largest online shopping retailer, Gmarket, also owned by eBay, said Macadamia nut sales jumped 20 times during the six days to Sunday compared with the previous week.

The website of e-commerce firm Coupang showed Mauna Loa macadamia nuts had sold out, with about 100 users asking on the comments section for the product to be quickly restocked.

One Coupang user asked if Mauna Loa macadamia nuts are the same brand that delayed the Korean Air flight. Another person who identified themselves as a seller replied that they probably are because orders have shot up.

One user parodied Cho's behavior on the plane, leaving a comment that asked the seller to ship the macadamia nuts on plate, or get out.

Cho's over-mighty behavior hogged headlines around the world and spawned various parodies on the Internet.

Cho made a publicly apology last week. Her father also publicly apologized and said he should have raised her better.

20.26 | 0 komentar | Read More

The power and the danger of email! (just ask Sony execs!)

"COMMON sense is not so common," said Voltaire.

I KNOW I shouldn't be, but I continue to be astounded by what people at the highest levels of various business -- and just plain folks -- put into emails, on Facebook, iPhone, iCloud, Twitter, Instagram and whatever else is out there, making fools of so many.

I'm probably guilty of being too indiscreet at times in my own emails, but I can't imagine anybody mucking through my hard drive, or caring. Anyway, I still actually write notes, a lot of notes. And I make phone calls.

The latest computer hacking scandals, with movie executives calling Angelina Jolie a "minimally talented spoiled brat" and others making somewhat racist jokes about President Obama's taste in films, is amazing. Especially the latter. Not that these exchanges were so terrible, just people attempting to be "funny."

Does nobody think before pressing "send"? This is hardly the first hacking event, hardly the first time emails or photos have come back to bite movie actors and politicians in the backside. Not to mention all the regular people out there who have found intimate online conversations and picture exchanges made public and "gone viral."

Of course, sometimes these things are not accidents. Nobody can make me believe that the aide to a GOP congressman, who typed out a vicious Facebook rant about the daughters of President Obama, didn't know exactly what she was doing. That the remarks would get out, get big play and then be applauded by all those conservatives who irrationally loathe Obama boggles the mind. Her "apology" was a joke. She never mentioned the teenage girls she trashed. It was all about her prayer, and her parents and her regret. Her, her, her! Then she was fired. But I can't help feeling that is exactly what she wanted -- martyrdom. We'll see this person again, believe me.

EMBARASSED Hollywood execs will survive joking about Obama, especially with the president's popularity down.

Sony Picture's co-chairman, Amy Pascal, whose producer pal Scott Rudin trashed Angelina Jolie, actually has a bigger problem, although photos have surfaced of Pascal and Jolie embracing -- this after the "leak." In the pic, Jolie is staring blankly, with a slight grasp on Pascal. Amy has a firm two-armed grip on the star. Pascal's face is obscured, but you just know she's saying, "Angie, darling!"

The profits of Jolie's movies -- like those of all actors, even the biggest -- vary. But this actress remains probably the top female star in the world, still.

And it's not just Jolie. She and hubby Brad are a juggernaut, especially in certain types of films. Everybody wants a slice of that pie. And some people want to join in their philanthropies.

Bring back the postal service!

OH, and all the brouhaha over Sony's comedy "The Interview" about two idiots (James Franco and Seth Rogen) attempting to assassinate North Korea's Kim Jong-un, is well deserved.

What an appalling idea, no matter what kind of man or leader Kim is. Imagine if North Korea made a movie about assassinating an American president -- just for "fun." Nobody here would think it was very funny.

"IN HER EXQUISITE, almost painterly studies, in both individual portraits and in groups, Annie Leibovitz has produced an unparalleled portrait of the men and women who have driven the culture of the last half century," writes Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter.

This is just one of the quotes extolling Annie, and now for the gift for that person who thinks they have almost everything. "ANNIE'S BIG BOOK" comes for only $2,500 and is a collector's edition of No. 1,000 to 10,000 volumes of great photo after photo. (There is also an "Art Edition" for $5,000.) The promotion of this item from Taschen can be seen in their stores all over the world from Amsterdam to Brussels, Cologne, Hamburg, Hollywood, New York and Paris, of course. When you unfold the promo for this work of art with Whoopi Goldberg on the cover, barely exposing herself in a milk bath, you have to stretch both arms wide to look at it. (In addition to Whoopi, you can buy this very special book with Patti Smith, David Byrne or Keith Haring on the cover you select.)

I have been photographed by Annie myself, twice, but I'm betting I'm not in this work of art because everybody else is in it. And I don't know anybody who can afford to buy it. But there must be people simply itching to throw money around. And then they can pay extra for Marc Newson's specially designed tripod stand on which to display the book. Onward and upward with the arts!

SPEAKING OF spending money, I love it that almost every one of my Christmas cards so far is of famous people's children. I even heard from the controversial screenwriter Joe Eszterhas, who helped make a star out of Sharon Stone in "Basic Instinct," went so far as to threaten the Hollywood agent Michael Eisner, got off drug and eventually moved with the woman he loved (Naomi) to an aptly named Chagrin Falls, Ohio, and got religion. He quotes Mother Teresa in his card ("It is Christmas every time you smile at your brother and offer him your hand") and his boys Joe, Nick, John Law and Luke are movie star handsome themselves.

And just to keep our standards up here, how about the card and photo from Audrey and Martin Gruss, who I usually associate with Palm Beach. Their card shows them posing with a 1936 Bugatti Type 57 in front of Hampton Court Palace in London. (And Palm Beach natives used to say this marriage would "never last." I guess the Gruss family and the Bugatti showed them!)

I RECEIVED one of those "nostalgia" letters this week from Jim Mitchell, who, in his and my heyday, used to visit El Morocco every night -- he to "work" and me to look on. He expresses sadness over the death of former fashion designer and good guy, Luis Estevez, a friend of ours for over 50 years. Jim writes: "I arranged a party for Luis and his wife, Betty, to give at Le Bijou on West 4th Street in New York. It was to celebrate Vivien Leigh and Jean-Pierre Aumont, who were starring in "Tovarich" on Broadway.

At the supper party none other than Greta Garbo appeared, as well as Rock Hudson, George Hamilton, Arlene Dahl and Jerome Zipkin, who later scored as a friend of the Reagans. I just invited people and they came. I didn't know what I was doing in those days, as you told it in your memoir; we were both just having a ball observing the rich and famous at play. When word got around that Garbo and Rock were in Le Bijou, 1,000 people gathered outside the restaurant. There were lots of police on call. It was madness. But fun. And, p.s., Dolores Sherwood Guinle Littman Ruspoli Bosshard died this week in Palm Beach. Her ashes are being buried at Trinity Church in Manhattan on January 17. -- Too much sadness. I am going to start having a good time again this very night. You do too!"

YOU CAN plan to join the gang New Year's Eve at Barbetta, which has been operating on West 46th Street since 1906. Ballroom dancing to the Felix Swing Band, multicourse dinner, black tie suggested, white tie would be divine! Call 212-246-9171, or email barbetta100yrs(at)aol.com. Only $185 for a night to remember! Sorry I won't be there, I'll be having fun in the sun somewhere.

20.26 | 0 komentar | Read More

Union calls 3-day strike at German Amazon centers

BERLIN — A union has launched a three-day strike at five Amazon.com distribution centers in Germany, the latest in a string of walkouts in a long-running wage dispute with the American online retailer.

The ver.di union called workers at Bad Hersfeld, Leipzig, Graben, Rheinberg and Werne out on strike from early Monday until late Wednesday. It didn't say how many people would be involved. Amazon has more than 9,000 full-time employees in Germany.

The union has been pushing for higher pay, arguing Amazon workers receive lower wages than others in retail and mail-order jobs. Amazon says its distribution warehouses in Germany are logistics centers and employees earn relatively high wages for that industry.

Amazon said customers can expect punctual deliveries despite the walkouts in the pre-Christmas period, news agency dpa reported.

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India's Reliance Entertainment sells cinemas chain to Carnival

HONG KONG - Reliance ADA Group, the Indian backer of DreamWorks, has agreed to sell its Big Cinemas chain to Carnival Cinemas in what is believed to be the biggest ever deal in the Indian multiplex sector.

The deal was announced by Reliance Capital, on behalf of Reliance MediaWorks, the struggling subsidiary of Reliance Entertainment that has operated the Big Cinemas theaters since swallowing the Adlabs company in 2006.

Precise details of the transaction were not released, but Reliance Capital said that it would reduce debt by $112 million, while still holding on to $32 million of underlying property assets.

Reliance Capital insisted that the disposal is in line with a "stated objective of focusing purely on its core financial services businesses, significantly reducing exposure to non-core investments in the media and entertainment sector, and reducing overall debt."

However, the deal is a major climb down for Reliance ADA and Reliance Entertainment. Under their management the chain slipped from being the market leader in the Indian multiplex sector to third.

And, as with previous entertainment sector disposals, the group seems to want to still hang on. Reliance described the deal as the "[beginning of] a long term relationship with the rapidly growing Carnival Group," and reported that it had an option to buy a minority stake in Carnival if and when it makes an initial stock market listing.

When the deal completes its necessary regulatory clearances, Carnival will at once become India's number three cinema group behind PVR and Inox Leisure. The approximately 250 Reliance screens will lift it to over 300 nationwide.

"We are targeting to achieve 1,000 screens by the year 2017," said Shrikant Bhasi, chairman of the Carnival group, in a statement. That will be achieved through organic growth, especially in second and third tier cities, he suggested.

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

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Ruble hits new record low; Europe stocks higher

FRANKFURT, Germany — The ruble hit a new record low against the U.S. dollar as weaker oil prices keep up the pressure on Russia's slowing economy.

European stocks and U.S. stock futures inched higher Monday, while Asian markets fell as weak Japanese data, slumping oil prices and a hostage situation in Australia's largest city made investors more cautious.

KEEPING SCORE: In early afternoon European trading, France's CAC 40 was up 0.4 percent at 4,126.2 and Germany's DAX gained 0.25 percent to 9,618.5. Britain's FTSE 100 added 0.30 percent to 6,319.3 Futures pointed to a rebound on Wall Street after Friday's decline, which produced the worst weekly loss in U.S. shares in more than two years. Dow futures were up 0.6 percent at 17,296.00 and S&P 500 futures gained 0.7 percent to 2,004.25.

RUSSIA'S PAIN: The ruble crashed through 60 to the dollar, trading at 60.33 by early afternoon. The falling price of oil — the chief source of Russian exports and tax revenues — has weighed heavily on the currency. The ruble started the year at 32.85 to the dollar.

Even a small increase in the oil price Monday didn't help. The ruble's fall puts pressure on ordinary people through higher prices for imported goods, and could hurt companies and banks that must repay debts in dollars.

OIL SLUMP: Oil inched higher after another rout on Friday that was sparked by the International Energy Agency saying that global demand will grow less than previously forecast next year. On Monday, benchmark U.S. crude was up 49 cents at $58.30 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

JAPAN ELECTIONS: Japan's ruling coalition won in lower house elections Sunday, giving Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Liberal Democrats up to four more years. But the "tankan" business survey released Monday highlighted challenges facing Abe's government which is using lavish monetary and fiscal stimulus to try to end two decades of stagnation. More than two-thirds of companies surveyed said the outlook for the coming quarter was "not so favorable."

THE QUOTE: "The fears around an oversupply of oil are refusing to go away, with anxiety around the issue heightening even further at a time when resurfacing questions over the global economic recovery are continuing to dominate headlines and leading to the fear that there will be even less demand for oil," said Jameel Ahmad, chief market analyst for FXTM.

SYDNEY SIEGE: A hostage situation is unfolding in Sydney, Australia and the nation's prime minister saying it may be "politically motivated." Five people have been able to flee the cafe in downtown Sydney where a gunman took an unknown number of hostages at the height of Monday morning rush hour.

ASIAN SCORECARD: Japan's Nikkei 225 closed down 1.6 percent at 17,099.40. Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 1 percent to 23,027.85 and Seoul's Kospi shed 0.1 percent to 1,920.36. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.6 percent to 5,186.10. China's Shanghai Composite reversed losses to close up 0.5 percent at 2,953.42. Markets in Taiwan, Singapore and Indonesia fell.

CURRENCIES: The dollar fell a bare 0.1 percent to 118.76. The euro fell 0.26 percent on the day $1.2428.

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Drug companiess to lose $65 billion on patents

Pharmaceutical companies will lose an estimated $65 billion in sales by 2019 due to patent expirations of leading drugs, according to one research and consulting firm.

The companies that will likely be hardest hit include Otsuka, Eli Lilly and AstraZeneca, which has a research and development center in Waltham, according GlobalData.

Eli Lilly and AstraZemeca have seen profits fall in the central nervous system therapeutics market since 2010, with AstraZeneca losing the greatest share over the past three years, said Adam Dion, a GlobalData analyst covering healthcare industry dynamics.

AstraZeneca "has been bleeding sales" in that market since it lost its patent on Seroquel, a treatment for bipolar disorder, which led to the entry of cheaper, generic alternatives, Dion said.

The company's market share has dropped from about 9 percent in 2010 to about 3 percent last year, he said.

"In the United States, when a patent expires on a small-molecule drug, the generics can be many, and you can lose 90 percent of your revenues or more," said Seamus Fernandez, a Leerink Partners analyst. "That kind of competition decreases the sustainability of your revenue stream."

Eli Lilly's market share fell from 14.3 percent in 2010 to 11.2 percent in 2013, primarily due to decreasing sales of Zyprexa, which is used to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, Dion said. Zyprexa sales have plunged from more than 
$5 billion to $1.2 billion since the company lost its U.S. patent exclusivity in 2011, he said.

Otsuka's anti-psychotic drug Abilify was the sales leader in the central nervous system market, with $9.5 billion last year, Dion said. But the company stands to lose $6.2 billion by 2019 as a result of generic competition after Abilify's U.S. patent expires next year, "making it the biggest victim of the pharmaceutical industry's current patent cliff," he said.

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Hackers to Sony: ‘Christmas gift’ to be the worst

Sony hackers have promised to release a disastrous "Christmas gift" that will "put Sony Pictures into the worst state" — another round of embarrassing personal emails, according to multiple news reports.

One of the emails allegedly ridicules Leonardo DiCaprio for passing on an upcoming Steve Jobs biopic.

"Was this about the deal ... or did he just change his mind," movie producer Mark Gordon said in a leaked email, which was published online yesterday. "The latter," responded Sony Pictures co-chairman Amy Pascal, reports state.

The Sony hack, which was first reported last month, has not only revealed thousands of private emails sent by top executives, it also made thousands of employee Social Security numbers public and leaked five new Sony films, including the "Annie" remake, Brad Pitt's "Fury," and "Still Alice" to online file-sharing hubs.

In one of the leaked messages, Oscar-winning movie producer Scott Rudin reportedly called Angelina Jolie a "minimally talented spoiled brat," according to multiple reports.

But it looks like the worst is yet to come — "We are preparing for you a Christmas gift," reads a message from the hackers that was posted online yesterday, according to Variety. "The gift will be larger quantities of data. And it will be more interesting. The gift will surely give you much more pleasure and put Sony Pictures into the worst state."

Evidence is mounting that North Korea, outraged over the upcoming comedy "The Interview," may have launched the cyber attack.

The comedy is about a pair of hack TV journalists — played by Seth Rogen and co-star James Franco — who are recruited by the CIA to assassinate Kim Jong Un after they land an interview with the North Korean leader.

North Korea's state-run news agency KCNA declared the film an "act of war" and promised "a merciless counter-measure" if the U.S. allowed it to be distributed.

"The Interview" is set to be released in theaters Christmas Day.

Herald wire services contributed to this report.

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Uber executive in dispute with San Francisco landlord

SAN FRANCISCO — An Uber executive who recently suggested launching a million-dollar campaign to investigate journalists critical of the ride-booking company is in a bitter dispute with the landlord of his rental condo.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported Saturday that Uber senior vice president Emil Michael filed a restraining order last year against his landlord. Michael accuses his landlord, tech industry lawyer John Danforth, of waging a harassment campaign designed to make Michael move.

A judge tossed out the request in September 2013, calling Michael's court filing borderline frivolous. Michael alleged that Danforth gave keys to the condo to several workers and, in one case, a "stranger" was discovered in his backyard.

Danforth told the judge that the stranger was a "highly experienced gardener" doing her "routine monthly watering and clean up." Danforth said the workers were a painter, a plumber, a locksmith and repairmen for appliances who entered the condo only after giving Michael 24 hours' notice.

But the dispute persists according to emails sent by Michael to Danforth reviewed by the Chronicle.

"This appears to be part of Mr. Michael's efforts to escalate (and/or short-cut) a landlord-tenant dispute," Danforth wrote to the judge, "something we have already tried to resolve through multiple contractor visits, two mediation sessions and protracted follow-up emails."

After the judge tossed out the case, Michael continued to send Danforth emails claiming Danforth is "snarky and jealous." Michael also claimed that he's friends with San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr who planned to call Danforth to warn him about "about your illegal entries to date and a warning about future ones."

Suhr said he knows Michael but that he isn't considered a friend.

"I know who he is. I've met him. We're not friends," Suhr said. Suhr said police were called to the condo last year because of dispute between Michael and Danforth. But police determined the dispute was a matter for the civil courts and not a criminal case.

Michael leased the renovated three-bedroom, two-bathroom, 1,986-square-foot condo from Danforth in June 2012 for $9,500 a month, lease and property documents show.

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Virus, drought to hike grocery prices despite cheap gas

A dramatic drop in the price of gas won't make your grocery bill any easier to swallow because officials are forecasting a hike in food prices in nearly every category, due to brutal drought, fluctuations in demand and a virus afflicting farm animals.

"For 2015, we're predicting the price of food will increase 2 to 3 percent," said Annemarie Kuhns, agricultural economist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service, which takes into account several factors, including the Consumer Price Index, the price of energy and grocery store wages.

The USDA is predicting hikes of 4.5 to 5.5 percent for beef, veal and pork — by far the highest jump expected.

Poultry, seafood, dairy, and fruits and vegetables are also expected to climb by 2.5 to 3.5 percent, with sugar and sweets seeing a 2.5-percent hike, the USDA fears.

Eggs, cereals and bakery products are all expected to increase less than 1.5 percent.

Beef and veal prices will likely continue to reflect a cattle inventory that is at a historic low due to drought in Texas and Oklahoma, Kuhns said, while porcine epidemic diarrhea virus, which affects pigs' litter sizes and increases piglet mortality, is expected to push up the price of pork.

Demand for cheese and other dairy products also remains high, supporting increased prices, she said.

The hikes are expected even as major drops in the prices of gas and diesel needed to transport food are saving grocery stores big money.

"For the food supply chain, if the price of fuel and energy in general is going down, it's a windfall," said Andrew Wolf, senior equity research analyst at BB&T Capital Markets' Food and Agribusiness Group in Boston. "They won't lower their prices, but it'll mean less inflation in prices because one of their big costs has just dropped."

Nationally, the average price of regular gasoline on Friday was $2.60 per gallon, down 11.7 cents from a week earlier and 65.2 cents from last year, while the average price of diesel was $3.44, down 8 cents and 41 cents, respectively.

But whatever amount consumers save through lower gas prices could be cancelled out by the across-the-board food price increases the USDA is predicting.

"If the price of food increases 2 to 3 percent, that would have some negative impact on household budgets because it's higher than the rate of inflation and wage rates," said Alan Clayton-Matthews, associate professor of economics and public policy at Northeastern University.

The impact will be particularly hard felt by people already struggling to make ends meet, said John Drew, president and CEO of Action for Boston Community Development.

"The vast majority of Americans will be affected because most people's wages aren't going up," Drew said. "But it will affect the poor and unemployed or underemployed even more because a lot of them still are just trying to hold onto their housing. If the price of food goes up, they're going to have to decide: Do I pay the rent or mortgage, or do I feed my family?"

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New app hits the parking SPOT

For Boston drivers, easy and parking are two words rarely found together.

SPOT CEO Braden Golub wants to change that. His new mobile app launched on Thursday connects private spot owners and drivers looking for a place to park.

The idea was born out of necessity, said Golub, who was up early Saturday mornings feeding the meter on his girlfriend's car, when she stayed at his Back Bay apartment.

As he walked home, he noticed 20 out of the 25 spots in his private lot empty.

"I would've gladly paid someone to park her car in one of those empty spots," he said. "There's got to be a better way."

Through the app, spot owners rent their unused space for anywhere from an hour to a month and SPOT takes a 15 percent cut on the transaction.

Owners set their own price, which is generally 40-60 percent cheaper than nearby garages.

Touted as the airbnb.com of parking, SPOT amassed 6,000 users since its beta launch in June.

About 90 percent of those users are renters, while only 10 percent are spot owners, but Golub said he hopes to build up inventory in the coming months.

Allston resident Sasha Garfunkel uses SPOT to find parking in Brookline when she visits her boyfriend.

"It's been really easy and convenient," she said. "In Brookline you're not allowed to park anywhere and sometimes I'd have to have my boyfriend come pick me up, so I jumped on the opportunity not to have to do that."

Golub took other cities into consideration for the launch, but found Boston was the "perfect geographical area" for an app like SPOT.

Since SPOT only deals with private property, they have not run into any issues with the city.

SPOT plans to expand to Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Miami, Los Angeles and San Francisco in early 2015.

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