Silverado redo earns its awards

Never one to shy from a full-sized pickup truck fight, Chevy redesigned the 2014 Silverado 1500 by trimming some weight, updating the interior and reworking the engine to improve gas mileage. And for this year it's captured Truck of the Year honors from the North American Truck and Car Awards and Motor Trend.

Going nose to nose with the Ford F150, Dodge Ram and Toyota Tundra, Chevy throws its elbows around by combining a refined ride and burly off-road capabilities. Underneath the good-looking body are upgraded shocks, underbody shields and a heavy-duty air cleaner.

Our spacious crew cab tester was fitted out with the Z71 package, upscaling the truck with a luxury finished leather cabin, Bose stereo, a full array of built-in electronics including a 110-volt outlet, five USB outlets, Bluetooth and MyLink. Along with hill and trailer descent controls the $850 Driver Alert package provides a seat vibrating alarm when you're too close or have strayed from your lane. The back-up camera is helpful even though the rear vision is excellent.

The V-8 5.3-liter ECOtec3 engine makes 355 horsepower providing 11,000 pounds of towing and you'll be hard-pressed to know when the fuel-saving cylinder deactivation feature kicks in turning the V-8 into a gas sipping V-4. It also has good acceleration and the 6-speed transmission is smooth. Rated mileage for this engine is 16 miles per gallon in the city and 22 on the highway. The quiet and compliant Silverado is a nice-riding truck owing to improved shocks and dampers. But don't let the smooth ride fake you out. You'll still get some bumping about on rough roads so keep the lid on your coffee.

During my test period I battled a couple of decent snowstorms and the all-wheel drive was flawless. I simply left the Auto setting on and never even had to give it a second thought, confidently plowing through piles of snow, slush and ice.

The exterior, at first glance, hasn't changed much. A huge, squared off, heavily chromed front end remains while some body sculpting creates better aerodynamics. The EZ Lift tailgate and bed include step-up slots in the bumper and hand grips on the rails. LED lighting is new for both the interior and exterior. The crew doors have been changed to front hinges squeaking out a couple of extra inches of interior space.

Even with all the creature comforts added on, the core of the Silverado is a workhorse. Fitted out with either a 5-foot 8-inch or 6-foot 6-inch bed, you're talking about maxing out the payload to nearly a ton. So while you're not going to want to hose out the interior of a leather-laden Z71, it still means business on the worksite, yet will clean up for an evening in the city. And hey, it's a truck, so there's plenty of personal storage space starting with a huge padded center console, two glove boxes and cup holders galore.

Despite recent accolades, Silverados aren't moving off the lots quickly so excellent deals can be had.

With a base of $43,650, our tester with the LTZ Plus Package upgrade priced out at $50,475 — it's a big ticket but competitively positioned. All that being said some model Silverados can be leased for as little as $170 per month.

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Stock investors hit from all sides in January

NEW YORK — Stock investors were hit from all sides in January.

Concerns about the global economy and U.S. company earnings, as well as turmoil in emerging markets, led the Dow Jones industrial average to its worst start since 2009. However, many investors remain hopeful that the problems will not spill over into the rest of 2014.

They even see the downturn as healthy, given the U.S. market's rapid rise last year.

The Dow slid 5.3 percent in January while the Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 3.6 percent and the Nasdaq composite declined 1.7 percent.

Investors entered the year with some degree of skepticism and nervousness. The stock market went basically straight up in 2013. The S&P 500 index ended 2013 with a gain of nearly 30 percent, its best year since 1997.

"No amount of negative news could derail the market last year," said Jonathan Corpina, a floor trader at the New York Stock Exchange with Meridian Equity Partners.

But no stock market can go straight up forever.

Many investors expected 2014 to be a more muddled and volatile year for the market. Market strategists late last year were looking for the S&P 500 index to notch a modest gain of 4 percent to 6 percent, ending in the range of 1,850 to 1,900.

Investors were also looking for more pullbacks this year and possibly a correction, the technical term for when a stock market index like the S&P 500 falls 10 percent or more. Three months ago, analysts at Goldman Sachs said there was roughly a 60 percent chance that a correction would happen this year.

"People did look at these stock market valuations at the beginning of the year with a degree of nervousness," said David Kelly, chief market strategist with J.P. Morgan Funds. "A correction would probably be healthy for the market."

But many investors were surprised by January's turbulence. With one exception, the Dow had triple-digit moves every trading day in January.

Still, with the broader S&P 500 index down just 3.6 percent from its January 15 peak, the downturn is hardly severe.

"There's been some negative news out there — the economic data, corporate earnings and what's now going on in emerging markets — but I'm not convinced the headlines are bad enough to be a catalyst to push us into a correction," Corpina said.

Investors point to the December jobs report, released on Jan. 10, as the event that started the troubles. The U.S. government said employers created only 74,000 jobs in December, the worst month for job creation in since 2011 and far below expectations.

Up until then, weeks of data showed the U.S. economic recovery was accelerating. U.S. companies were selling record levels of goods overseas; layoffs had dwindled; and the Federal Reserve was pulling back on its economic stimulus program, citing an improving economy.

Many investors called the December jobs report as a statistical fluke. But the report has weighed on stocks all month, investors say.

"It set a negative tone for the market," Kelly said.

Other economic reports also painted a picture of U.S. economic growth possibly flattening out instead of accelerating.

Investors combined these economic worries with mixed signals from U.S. companies.

Wall Street is in the middle of earnings season, when the country's major corporations report results for the final three months of the year. Half of the members of the S&P 500 have reported, and the results have been mixed. While fourth-quarter corporate earnings are up a respectable 7.9 percent from a year earlier, companies have been cutting their full-year outlooks and reporting weaker sales, according to data provider FactSet.

Wal-Mart, the nation's largest retailer, said Friday that earnings may come in at the low end or below its prior forecasts. It also expects sales at stores open at least a year to be flat. The company previously forecast that sales would be modestly higher.

Wal-Mart's forecast echo the comments from Macy's, Target, Best Buy and other retailers.

Of the companies who have reported so far, 44 companies have cut their full-year profit outlooks while 10 have increased their outlooks, according to data from FactSet.

Adding to concerns about the U.S. economy and earnings were problems in overseas markets.

The bad news started with China. A recent report showed manufacturing activity in the world's second-largest economy unexpectedly contracted in January. The report added to other recent signs that the Chinese economy was slowing down after years of massive growth.

Then came currency troubles in smaller emerging markets, particularly Turkey, South Africa and Argentina.

All three saw their currencies fall sharply against the dollar, as investors began to pull out of emerging markets and return their money to less-risky parts of the globe.

"These governments were financing themselves with (foreign investor money), and now that these investors are looking to go home, there's no source of money to replace them," said Krishna Memani, chief investment officer at Oppenheimer Funds.

On Friday, the U.S. stock market closed out January on another down note. The Dow fell 149.76 points, or 0.9 percent, to 15,698.85. The S&P 500 dropped 11.60 points, or 0.7 percent, to 1,782.59 and the Nasdaq lost 19.25 points, or 0.5 percent, to 4,103.88.

Investors shouldn't panic yet, money managers say.

They will get the January jobs report next week. Also, another 93 members of the S&P 500 are scheduled to report earnings.

"A 5 percent decline in equities is not an earthshattering event by any measure, particularly after last year," Memani said. "It's still way too early to give up on equities."

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AP Business Writer Alex Veiga contributed to this report from Los Angeles.

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Mass. women promote Cape Ann gourmet sea salt

GLOUCESTER, Mass. — The location of the harvest is a secret because ... well, because the Salt Ladies want to keep it that way. And it does not do to cross the Salt Ladies.

The unseasonably balmy 40-degree temperatures of Martin Luther King Jr. Day have drawn Alison Darnell and Heather Ahearn — along with their 28 large plastic buckets — to this small public beach that, for reasons of competitive advantage, shall remain nameless.

Even on holidays, the salt show must go on.

Waterproofed from their feet up and double-gloved, the two women spend the next hour lugging the empty buckets into the sea and returning to terra firma with 5 gallons of pristine Cape Ann seawater in each — the very nectar that begins the process to produce mounds of pure gourmet sea salt for discerning gourmands and seat-of-the-pants cooks alike.

Ahearn and Darnell are founders, senior executives, cooks and chief seawater Sherpas for Atlantic Saltworks, a fledgling North Shore-based company that produces gourmet sea salt for sale on the company's website and, up to this point, at a limited number of retail locations, such as The Cave in Gloucester.

They started the company in August. Basically, at least for now, it is run out of their respective homes — Salem for Ahearn and Wakefield for Darnell.

When it's time to cook the salt from the seawater, operations shift to the shared commercial kitchen the company leases in Amesbury, where the seawater is boiled to produce the briny flake finishing sea salt that is the rage in the cooking world. The yield is about 3 ounces per gallon of water.

"It just tastes better," Darnell said. "We don't use anti-caking agents like a big company might use, and we don't take anything from the salt, and we don't add anything to it."

Once collected, the seawater is allowed to settle. Then it is filtered to remove organic impurities and boiled to produce the salt.

The whole enterprise started with the boiling of 1 gallon of seawater out of Salem Harbor on Ahearn's kitchen stove, just to see if they could do it.

"We actually made salt, and we were hooked," Darnell said. "But it's one thing to boil down a gallon of water on your stove to produce salt and another to consistently produce the finest flake."

The women, both 39, hold MBAs from Babson College and day jobs in traditional businesses. But that 1 gallon of water turned their hearts to salt.

The idea in hand, they embarked on their research.

They investigated the history of salt and identified those companies — such as Maldon Salt Co., in Essex, England — regarded as the producers of the finest flake and finishing salt. They checked with local and state regulatory about the propriety of freely harvesting seawater from public areas and with health agencies for the applicable standards.

Then they hit the road, traveling the North Shore coastline from Newburyport to Salem, sampling and testing the seawater, searching for the right salinity and the highest purity. That search ultimately led them to Cape Ann, where they found what they considered the very best water for what they believe is the among the best sea salts anyone is making.

"We narrowed it down to a couple places we liked because of the taste of the salt and because they just felt like it was the right places to be," Ahearn said.

They even performed a blind taste-test of salts made from seawater from varying spots.

"It was very slight, but you could tell the difference ,and we knew that one was slightly better than the other," Darnell said. "It's amazing what we've learned in a short time. Salt is all we talk about. My husband is so bored with it."

Though they started the company in August, Darnell said they didn't even attempt their first sale until November. Much of the work now involves marketing the product and getting the word out to chefs and everyday cooks, making them aware of the daily uses for what often is regarded as a somewhat precious spice.

"We don't want folks to think of it as so super-special that you're only going to take it out and use it on special occasions," Darnell said.

They've also expanded their product line to include salt blends and are looking at the possibility of expanding into brines or spice rubs.

The marketing is a bit of a small-ball effort, involving word-of-mouth and local food shows. Joey Ciaramitaro gave them a shout-out on the highly popular "GoodMorningGloucester" blog. They also have been invited to showcase their salt at some of the region's most prestigious food shows, such as Eat Boutique magazine's Boston Holiday Market during the Christmas season, as well as the upcoming SoWash open market in Boston.

The goal for Atlantic Saltworks is to centralize cooking and packaging operations in one exclusive location, with Gloucester as the women's primary choice.

"I have to say we've felt extremely welcome in Gloucester," Ahearn said.

In crafting their own Gloucester connection, according to Justin Demetri — a Cape Ann historian with the Essex Shipbuilding Museum — the Salt Ladies will add to a long historical line of Gloucester's connection with salt.

"Gloucester, at the turn of the (19th) century, was the world's largest importer of salt," Demetri wrote in response to an email request. "It was the largest fishing fleet in the Western Hemisphere and one of the last great salt fish ports.

The death knell for the industry, however, came with the establishment of fresh fish markets in Boston and elsewhere around 1850.

"As people's tastes changed, salt fish's market share would slowly decrease," Demerit said. "By the arrival of flash freezing in the 1920s, Gloucester's salt fishing fleet was on its last legs."

Now, almost 100 years later, Gloucester's role in the salt business may be reawakening — thanks to the Salt Ladies.

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Obama running out of reasons to reject Keystone XL

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is running out of reasons to say no to Keystone XL, the proposed oil pipeline that's long been looming over his environmental legacy.

Five years after the pipeline's backers first asked the Obama administration for approval, the project remains in limbo, stuck in a complex regulatory process that has enabled Obama to put off what will inevitably be a politically explosive decision. But the release Friday of a long-awaited government report removes a major excuse for delay, ramping up pressure on the president to make a call.

The State Department's report raised no significant environmental objections to the pipeline, marking a victory for proponents, who argue the project will create jobs and strengthen America's energy security.

Environmentalists disagree and insist approval would fly in the face of Obama's vaunted promise to fight climate change, even as the report gives him political cover to approve it. They argue the report, which provides a detailed assessment of tar sands emissions, offers Obama more than enough justification to oppose the pipeline.

Obama is not tipping his hand. But the White House pushed back on the notion that the pipeline is now headed for speedy approval. Only after various U.S. agencies and the public have a chance to weigh the report and other data will a decision be made, said White House spokesman Matt Lehrich.

"The president has clearly stated that the project will be in the national interest only if it does not significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution," Lehrich said, echoing a declaration Obama made in a speech laying out his climate change plan.

A final decision isn't expected until this summer, at the earliest, meaning the verdict could potentially come in the run-up to November's midterm elections, in which energy issues are likely to be a factor in some key races. The decision might also coincide with the Obama administration's release of new emissions rules for existing power plants that are also politically contentious.

Because Keystone has become a proxy for the broader battle over energy vs. environment, Obama's decision will have an outsized impact on his environmental legacy. The issue has taken on a life of its own, trailing Obama seemingly wherever he goes.

Protesters, one who dresses as a polar bear, show up regularly outside the White House and at Obama events across the country to demonstrate against it. Both sides have run television ads urging Obama to take their side on the pipeline, which would carry oil from tar sands in western Canada 1,179 miles to a hub in Nebraska, where it would connect with existing pipelines to carry more than 800,000 barrels of crude oil a day to refineries on the Texas Gulf Coast.

"Sometimes you don't get to choose the symbol of an issue — they get chosen for you, and there's no better example of that than Keystone," said Daniel J. Weiss, director of climate strategy at the Center for American Progress and a Keystone opponent. "His decision on this issue will symbolize his record on climate and energy for people on both sides of the debate."

If Obama gives Keystone the green light, environmental groups that are already upset with him for promoting domestic oil and gas drilling are sure to pile on. Moreover, it's unlikely to win him any accolades from Republicans. Whit Ayres, a Republican pollster, said rather than give Obama credit for finally making the decision they wanted, Republicans will criticize him for taking so long.

Ironically for Obama, who has been seeking out opportunities to act unilaterally in the face of congressional gridlock, this is one decision the president may wish weren't up to him. Republicans seized on Obama's vow to use his "pen and phone" to take executive action this year as they urged him Friday to sign the pipeline's permit.

"Please pick up that pen you've been talking so much about and make this happen," said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

The White House has sought to dodge questions publicly about the pipeline by arguing the review process is housed at the State Department, which has jurisdiction because the pipeline would cross a U.S. border. But privately, administration officials concede that Obama will decide an issue of this magnitude.

Obama doesn't just face domestic pressure on the issue — Canada has been angered at the long delays of the project it needs to export its growing oil sands production. Obama meets with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper at a trilateral summit in Mexico in a few weeks.

Obama blocked the Keystone XL pipeline in January 2012, saying he did not have enough time for a fair review before a looming deadline forced on him by congressional Republicans. That delayed the choice for him until after his re-election.

Now that the review is complete, other government agencies have 90 days to comment. Then Secretary of State John Kerry makes a recommendation to Obama on whether the project is in the national interest, taking into account Obama's pledge that the effect on greenhouse gas emissions will be part of that equation.

The State Department report Friday said Keystone is unlikely to significantly impact oil sands extraction or the demand for heavy crude oil at U.S. refineries. Keystone opponents called the report flawed and argued it ignored evidence.

___

Associated Press writer Matthew Daly contributed to this report.

___

Follow Nedra Pickler on Twitter at https://twitter.com/nedrapickler

Follow Josh Lederman at https://twitter.com/joshledermanAP

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New Seaport rentals launch

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Panel: We’d refund $85M casino fees

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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They’re sold on Magoun Square

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Porter Sq. Galleria goes to L.A. firm

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Nintendo profit falls on sluggish Wii U sales

TOKYO — Profit at Nintendo Co. fell 30 percent in the first nine months of the fiscal year as sales of Wii U home consoles, 3DS devices and game software languished. Top executives announced they would take pay cuts.

The Japanese maker of Super Mario and Pokemon video games reported Wednesday a 10.2 billion yen ($99 million) profit from April to December, down from 14.55 billion yen a year earlier. It did not break down quarterly numbers.

Nintendo's president, senior managing director, managing director and directors said they will take a pay cut for five months starting in February to take responsibility for the poor performance.

President Satoru Iwata's pay will be halved, two representative directors including reputed game creator Shigeru Miyamoto, were hit with a 30 percent cut. The other seven board members will lose 20 percent of their pay, according to the company.

The popularity of smartphones, tablets and other gadgets has been drawing consumers away from consoles devoted to games. Nintendo has resisted changing its business to incorporate such devices.

"It would be a positive surprise if Nintendo comes out with an online game strategy for smartphones, although the market doesn't expect that move," said Tomoaki Kawasaki, senior analyst at IwaiCosmo Securities Co.

Consumers will still buy Nintendo games if they are wowed by them, but that hasn't been happening, he said.

The Kyoto-based company this month forecast a loss of 25 billion yen ($242 million) for the fiscal year through March 2014. It had earlier forecast a profit of 55 billion yen ($532 million). Nintendo had profit of 7 billion yen last fiscal year.

Nintendo slashed its annual forecast for Wii U sales from 9 million units to just 2.8 million, fewer than a third of its earlier estimate.

The company said it sold 2.4 million units in April through December, a slower pace than 3 million units in the same period of 2012.

"In the fourth quarter, we expect sales to decrease significantly due to seasonal factors as the year-end sales season concludes," Nintendo said in a statement.

Nintendo also cut the sales forecast for its hand-held 3DS video game devices to 13.5 million units from 18 million units for the fiscal year.

The company is expecting software sales to struggle as well.

Nintendo's philosophy is to take the road less traveled and "they have been steadfast in sticking to that strategy," said Eiji Maeda, senior analyst at SMBC Nikko Securities Inc.

Nintendo hits a home run once in a while, said Maeda, noting that the Wii and DS devices were hits.

The weak yen, which is generally a plus for exporters such as Nintendo, was not enough to offset the damage from sluggish sales. Nintendo racked up a foreign exchange gain of 48 billion yen ($465 million) during the first three quarters, more than double the same period the previous year.

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Web attack traffic soars

The U.S. had the third-highest percentage of observed cyber attack traffic in the third quarter of 2013, and hackers managed to shut down websites more often in the first three quarters of the year than in all of 2012, according to a new report.

Akamai, the Cambridge company that delivers almost one-third of all Web traffic, observed attack traffic originating in 185 countries or regions during the third quarter, up 10 over the previous one, according to the company's "State of the Internet" report.

Thirty-five percent of attack traffic was carried out by computers in China, 20 percent was carried out in Indonesia, and 11 percent was carried out in the U.S., up from 6.9 percent the previous quarter, the report found. What's unknown is where the people who were controlling those computers are from, said David Belson, the report's editor.

"We believe these countries have large numbers of compromised computers that are being used to originate malicious traffic," Belson said.

One of the most common types of attacks is a distributed denial of service — or DDoS — in which thousands of computers controlled by one person overwhelm a website, making it inaccessible, said Charlie Miller, a security engineer at Twitter.

Akamai customers reported 281 such attacks in the third quarter, down from 318 in the previous one. However, the total number of DDoS attacks in the first three quarters of last year — 807 — was greater than the 768 reported in all of 2012.

"It could be the toolkits available to launch these attacks are becoming more easily accessible," Belson said. "Or it could be that more Akamai users are reporting them."

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Expert: Fall River’s rush job a gamble

Fall River Mayor William Flanagan's goal of opening the state's first casino through an alliance with Foxwoods, announced just yesterday, is bold but potentially perilous, an industry expert said.

"I hope these people know what they're getting themselves into," Boston College professor and gaming expert Richard McGowan said. "I just wonder if they realize what some of the impacts (of a casino) could be. It does hit me that the city is seemingly desperate to get this revenue. Maybe they figure they have nothing to lose."

The goal is particularly lofty because a Fall River casino is on a later Gaming Commission timetable than the proposed Boston-area casinos. The state commission will decide in May if Wynn Resorts or Mohegan Sun will get the Boston license, and isn't expected to decide until November who will get the license in the southeastern region. The city's goal is to secure an option on a site in the next 30 days, hold a referendum by April and sign a host agreement around then, all to be the first Bay State casino to begin developing customer loyalty.

"Being the first ones to open their doors (in Connecticut), Foxwoods was able to develop that loyal, return customer," Flanagan said. "It's going to be done in phases, and I believe, based on the internal dialogue we have had, if we stay on this aggressive timeline, we'll be able to open our doors first."

At a press conference on the proposed $750 million Fall River casino, Foxwoods CEO Scott Butera referenced an axiom from his time on Wall Street — "Time wounds all deals."

"We have a community that really gets what we're talking about," said Butera, who pivoted to Fall River around Christmas after his proposed Milford casino failed to win voter support.

Also on the casino front yesterday, Mohegan Sun announced surrounding community agreements with Cambridge, Chelsea, Lynn, Malden, Medford, Melrose and Salem. The communities will receive a total of $3.75 million to offset the impact of Mohegan's proposed Suffolk Downs casino. Boston and Somerville still don't have deals with Mohegan, and several communities are contesting their exclusion by Wynn to the gaming commission. The commission will decide next month who gets surrounding community status and who doesn't.

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Group aims to improve food at Pa. corner stores

PHILADELPHIA — From the outside, Carmen Medina's convenience store appears to be an oasis in the food desert of gritty north Philadelphia, from its bright yellow-and-white striped awnings to the fake palm tree sculptures on the sidewalk.

A glimpse inside proves the image is no mirage. The Indiana Food Market is part of the Healthy Corner Stores Network, which aims to teach residents about nutritious eating through grocery promotions and outreach efforts like cooking demonstrations.

Customers were recently offered slices of pizza made on-site with store-bought ingredients: whole-wheat tortillas, tomato sauce, part-skim mozzarella cheese and diced green peppers and onions.

"We try to get people to try a sample, and in that process we talk to them about eating whole grains, and trying out new things, and showing them where healthy items are in their corner store," said program educator Maria Vanegas.

Led by the Philadelphia health department and The Food Trust, the corner store initiative has enlisted about 650 of the city's 2,000 or so corner stores to broaden their inventory of fresh produce, whole grains and low-fat dairy.

The healthy products appear to be selling. Data collected by The Food Trust, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit dedicated to ensuring access to healthy affordable food, indicates store owners have reported profits on those items and expanded their supply.

Corner groceries are a critical source of food in many poor urban neighborhoods without full-service supermarkets. About 21 percent of Philadelphians have limited supermarket access, compared with 8 percent of the U.S. population overall, according to a 2012 study by The Reinvestment Fund, a nonprofit that finances neighborhood revitalization in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Experts say many purchases made in corner stores — like chips, candy and soda — are calorie-rich and nutrient-poor, contributing to higher rates of obesity and related chronic diseases among low-income residents.

Yet people's food choices are influenced by what is available, said Dr. Giridhar Mallya, the health department's director of policy and planning. What if stores carried healthier options?

The Food Trust began working with the city in 2010 to find corner store owners willing to sell more wholesome fare. Some feared they'd end up losing money on unsold, spoiled produce; others said they wanted to offer better food but didn't know where to start, program senior associate Brianna Almaguer Sandoval said.

The corner store initiative offers four levels of participation. At the lowest tier, a store owner could get a $100 incentive to introduce four healthy items and receive training on how to buy, price and promote fresh produce. Higher-level stores get free mini-refrigeration units, special shelving and signage.

Last summer, Indiana Food Market became one of five stores at the top tier. Medina, the manager, got the colorful new exterior awnings, an eye-catching refrigerated produce case and a special display for whole grains. English and Spanish signs steer the mostly Latino clientele to healthier choices. And the market got a "Fresh Corner" kiosk for pamphlets, recipe cards and cooking demonstrations, where Vanegas made pizza in a toaster oven.

The program has been well received by customers, Medina said, noting they often ask when the food lessons are scheduled. Oatmeal, fruit and whole-grain rice have become big sellers, she added.

"People have started to buy new things and healthy things, and it's really great," Medina said in Spanish, according to a translation by Vanegas.

Shopper Sarita Falu said it's important for the market to sell fruits and vegetables, since many residents don't have the means to get to a supermarket regularly. But she didn't expect Medina to have people like Vanegas interacting personally with customers.

"I was very surprised that she'd actually have somebody here giving us that knowledge of nutrition," Falu said.

Mallya cautioned that it's too early to know whether the marketing effort is affecting consumer buying habits. But early data from two top-tier stores shows produce sales up 50 percent and bottled water sales up 76 percent compared with lower-level stores, according to The Food Trust.

The city has invested about $1.5 million in the program since 2010. The Food Trust could not provide exact numbers on its budget; several foundations and government agencies have paid for various aspects of the initiative, which has expanded to Camden, N.J., and the Philadelphia suburbs of Norristown and Chester.

Similar, smaller-scale interventions at corner stores in Baltimore have been studied by Johns Hopkins University nutrition professor Joel Gittelsohn, who found significant increases in the purchase of healthy foods.

He said the ideal solution would be to put more supermarkets in these communities, which are sometimes referred to as food deserts.

"But we're a long away off from that," Gittelsohn said. "Why not work with the existing infrastructure and improve it?"

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Follow Kathy Matheson at www.twitter.com/kmatheson

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Mass. grants $40 million for health initiatives

BOSTON — Gov. Deval Patrick has announced that more than $40 million in grants will be awarded to community-based programs for preventing chronic illnesses by cutting health care costs.

Nine community-based partnerships, including the Boston Public Health Commission, city of Worcester and city of Lynn are among the recipients.

The initiative is intended to reduce costs tied to diseases such as diabetes, obesity and asthma that can be prevented if people know how to maintain and manage their health.

Each of the grantees under the Prevention and Wellness Trust Fund will receive up to $250,000 initially.

Additional funding will be awarded for grantees that show promise over the next three years. Funding will be subjected to the specific health and cost savings benchmarks administered by the Department of Public Health.

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Connector-fix price tag unknown

Massachusetts Health Connector officials, who admitted in October they've incurred "substantial costs" as a result of developing manual workarounds to the disastrous $69 million state Obamacare website, still aren't saying exactly how much that price tag has ballooned.

The Herald first reported Thursday that state officials knew as early as February — nine months before the launch — that parts of the site would probably be delayed.

In an Oct. 25 memo, Dr. Jay Himmelstein of UMass Medical School lamented to website developer CGI that the state has "already incurred substantial costs to develop and implement operational workarounds."

But state officials yesterday refused to say exactly how "substantial" those costs have become.

"The commonwealth is committed to holding CGI accountable for the cost of workarounds made necessary by their IT system failures, and is exploring ways to do so," said spokesman Jason Lefferts. "The workarounds and alternative pathways to coverage have allowed us to maintain our existing gains in coverage while offering subsidized health insurance to thousands of new people through the Affordable Care Act, despite CGI's shortcomings."

A CGI statement said: "CGI and its more than 300 team members working on the Connector site are dedicated to delivering continuous improvements in system performance and the user experience for the residents of Massachusetts." Flummoxed Bay Staters have encountered long waits and crashes while trying to sign up for federally mandated health insurance.

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Siemens net profit rises 20 percent, orders up

FRANKFURT, Germany — Industrial equipment maker Siemens AG said quarterly net profit rose 20 percent as the company moved past one-time charges for delays delivering high-speed trains.

Net profit rose to 1.46 billion euros ($2 billion) in the fourth quarter of 2013, the company's fiscal first. That was up from 1.21 billion euros a year ago.

Last year the company had 116 million euros in charges connected to delay in production of trains for Germany's railway company, and a 150 million euro loss at its solar power business. This year's figure also had stronger gains for real estate sales.

But while the bottom line improved, a stronger euro and slower demand in emerging markets hurt top-line revenues. They were down 3 percent at 17.325 billion euros.

Orders — a key determiner of future profits — rose 9 percent. Saudi Arabia helped with a 1.6 billion euro order for two driverless subway lines in the capital, Riyadh.

CEO Joe Kaeser called it a "sound quarter," adding that "market conditions were not in our favor."

Siemens said Tuesday expects "challenging" markets this year. It predicted it would grow net profit by 15 percent, assuming flats sales with currency effects excluded.

The Munich-based company also said it was withdrawing its listing on the New York Stock Exchange. It says the U.S. accounted for less than 5 percent of its global trading volume and that ending the listing would simplify financial reporting. Siemens has traded as ADRs, or American Depositary Receipts.

Siemens shares rose 1.6 percent to 98.98 euros in morning trading in Europe.

Siemens makes a wide range of heavy equipment and infrastructure, including trains, power turbines, and medical diagnostic devices.

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India's central bank hikes key interest rate

NEW DELHI — India's central bank raised its key interest rate for the third time in four months Tuesday and its governor said combating stubbornly high inflation is the top priority despite an "increasingly worrisome" slowdown in economic growth.

The announcement of a quarter percentage point increase in the lending rate Tuesday to 8 percent sent Indian stocks lower, adding to losses accumulated during a sell-off in emerging markets that began late last week.

Investors had hoped that the Reserve Bank of India would leave the rate at which it lends to banks unchanged after a dip in December inflation to 6.2 percent and a decline in the current account deficit.

Reserve Bank chief Raghuram Rajan said Tuesday that inflation is a far greater short-term risk to the economy than slower growth because it hurts the poor the most and discourages spending.

"The so-called trade-off between inflation and growth is a false trade-off in the long run," Rajan said. "It is possible to bring inflation under control without a substantial sacrifice of short-term growth, provided we do what is necessary and are patient."

At the same time, the central bank cut its economic growth forecast for the fiscal year ending March to 4.6 percent from 5 percent.

Still, he predicted the economy could recover to 5-6 percent growth in the year ending March 2015 provided the global economy improves, inflation eases and investment projects worth more than $63.5 billion move ahead.

The Sensex index was down 0.3 percent to 20,644.53 on news of the rate increase.

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Perks entice top engineers

As Boston's tech scene explodes and successful companies continue to grow at a breakneck pace, firms are stepping up to make sure top engineers end up at their desks and not at the business next door.

"If you want access to the best talent, you have to compete," said Andy Palmer, CEO and co-founder of Data-Tamer. Data-Tamer offers $5,000 referral bonuses, 16 weeks of parental leave, and lunch daily, part of an effort to sell the Cambridge company as an attractive place to work.

"These are the kinds of things that people sort of expect," Palmer said. "The best people have options, always have options."

"Everyone is trying to pitch the angle that makes them sexier than the guy next door," said Steve Conine, co-founder, chairman and CTO of e-commerce company Wayfair. "It's an employee's market."

Eliot Knudsen, a field engineer at Data-Tamer, said he is routinely approached about possible job opportunities. "I'm sent messages by recruiters maybe every couple days, several times a week," Knudsen said.

Knudsen said many of the messages are from recruiting companies, but some are internal recruiters at major companies, who reach out directly to gauge interest in a job.

Companies that are on the cusp of rapid growth are making sure they have the talent they need for the next step.

"People we're trying to hire are all actively recruited by other people," said John Nagro, director of engineering for HubSpot.

HubSpot gives $10,000 referral bonuses for successful hires, and offered a $30,000 referral bonus — paid twice — for hired candidates last summer. As companies such as Wayfair, HubSpot and newly public Care.com grow in market share and value, they are hiring engineers to keep pace.

"It's always competitive to hire engineers in Boston. That will only continue to be a challenge," said Sarah Hodges, vice president of marketing for Smarterer, which helps companies make smarter hires, and co-founder of Intelligent.ly, a professional development firm for start-ups.

Still, it is not all about the money.

"Money's not enough to attract great talent," Hodges said. "It's more important than ever to think about cultivating talent from within and building a really great culture."

Knudsen said he chose 
Data-Tamer not for the benefits or daily lunch, but because he saw an opportunity to grow as an engineer.

"The best people have the opportunity to work for companies that are not only interesting to work for and have competitive compensation, but are companies that have an inspiring mission," Palmer said.

Nagro cites the culture and opportunity to ship code daily as some reasons why engineers choose HubSpot.

"It's a very competitive market," Nagro said.

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Johansson addresses criticism over SodaStream deal

LOS ANGELES — Scarlett Johansson has responded to criticism over her new ad campaign for an Israeli company that operates in the West Bank, but she's not pulling out of the endorsement deal.

The 29-year-old actress said in a statement released Friday to The Huffington Post that she "never intended on being the face of any social or political movement, distinction, separation or stance" as part of her affiliation with SodaStream International Ltd.

The Israeli drink maker recently signed the "Her" and "The Avengers" actress as its first "global brand ambassador." She is to appear in a television ad during the Super Bowl on Feb. 2.

SodaStream has come under fire from pro-Palestinian activists for maintaining a large factory in an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, a territory captured by Israel in 1967 and claimed by the Palestinians.

Oxfam International took issue with Johansson this week because the humanitarian group opposes "all trade" from Israeli settlements, saying they are illegal and deny Palestinian rights.

Johansson has served as a global ambassador for Oxfam since 2005, raising funds and promoting awareness about global poverty.

"I remain a supporter of economic cooperation and social interaction between a democratic Israel and Palestine," said Johansson. "SodaStream is a company that is not only committed to the environment but to building a bridge to peace between Israel and Palestine, supporting neighbors working alongside each other, receiving equal pay, equal benefits and equal rights."

Johansson added that she stands behind the SodaStream product and is proud of her work with Oxfam.

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Grocer powers on with idea

State permitting will pave the way for food waste from 213 Stop & Shop supermarkets to be converted into energy to power the grocery chain's Freetown distribution center.

Quincy-based Stop & Shop Supermarket Co. plans to build a multimillion-dollar, 12,000-square-foot, clean-energy processing center — known as a product recovery operation (PRO) — that will use anaerobic digestion to convert food products not suitable for consumption into electricity and heat for the warehouse and produce a fertilizer byproduct.

The company hopes to bring the facility online early next year. It's the first of its kind in Massachusetts, and a first for the chain, which now sends food waste from its stores to composting and animal feed facilities.

"The PRO will convert these spoiled food products into a clean, odorless gas to fuel a generator that will produce electricity (and heat) to help operate the Freetown distribution center," spokesman Greg O'Brien said.

The 1.1-million-square-foot distribution center operates around the clock. The PRO will process an average of 95 tons of food waste per day and will be able to produce 1.137 megawatts of power for up to 40 percent of the center's electrical needs and backup power in case of an outage.

The state Department of Environmental Protection issued permits for the project Thursday.

"This is really an innovative approach," DEP spokesman Joseph Ferson said. "It dovetails with the Patrick administration's goal of diverting organic waste out of landfills and incinerators to anaerobic digesters to really turn trash into a valuable resource for renewable energy."

Food and other organics account for 25 percent of the state's solid waste stream, and the DEP has a goal to reduce organics disposal by 450,000 tons per year by 2020. It's now finalizing regulations that will require institutions that generate one ton or more of food waste per week to donate or repurpose what's usable and ship what's remaining to an anaerobic, composting or animal-feed operation.

Stop & Shop, which will apply for a 10 percent federal investment tax credit for the project, does not yet have a firm handle on total costs, according to O'Brien.

He stressed that Stop & Shop will continue to donate to food banks. "This is spoiled food that cannot be consumed," he said. It will include unsold food including produce, bakery and deli items, products past expiration dates, and rejected food products from the distribution center.

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Smoking out the rough idle and stalling of Expedition

I have a 2001 Ford Expedition with the 5.4-liter V8 and 103,000 miles. At 98,000 miles it developed a rough idle and began stalling at stop signs.

My local mechanic noticed low fuel pressure and replaced the fuel filter and fuel pump. It ran good but then the "Check engine" light came on and the rough idle and stalling returned. The mechanic could not find anything wrong but a scan found codes P0171 and P0174. Another mechanic came up with the same codes and checked for vacuum leaks but could not find any. I have continued to drive the vehicle and the "Check engine" light is still on. Any suggestions?

My Alldata automotive database confirmed that the P0171 and P0174 codes indicate a lean fuel/air condition from both cylinder banks. Since technicians have checked for but not found the problem, I'd suggest a "smoke" test to help identify any vacuum leaks. This simple test involves introducing a non-toxic smoke into the crankcase under low pressure and then watching for any smoke escaping from the engine, induction system or vacuum lines.

Also, a ruptured diaphragm in the fuel pressure regulator, located on the fuel rail downstream of the fuel injectors, could cause low fuel pressure as well as fuel leakage directly into the intake manifold. If there's
liquid fuel in the vacuum line at the regulator, the diaphragm is ruptured. Rough idle and stalling at stops are often symptoms of a failed fuel pressure regulator.

I own a 2008 2.4-liter four-cylinder Toyota Camry with 98,000 miles that I service every 5,000 miles. For the past 15,000, miles I have had to add 2 to 2 1⁄2 quarts of engine oil between changes. The service writer at the Toyota dealership tells me that 1 to 1  1⁄2 quarts every 5,000 miles is normal for these aluminum engines. I have not noticed a decrease in engine power or any smoke from the tailpipe. I bought this car new expecting to get 200,000 miles out of it. I think this is a lot of oil for a car to burn.

One quart per 2,000 miles is completely within Toyota's "normal" oil consumption guidelines of one quart per 1,200 miles. Your concern is due to the change in oil consumption. Has oil use continued to increase? Or is it stable at this rate? Unless or until the consumption rate increases to excess, I would not be particularly concerned.

Unless oil use is being caused by a clogged PCV system or "sticky" piston rings, there's no easy "fix." You could try de-carbonizing the rings/grooves to free any sticking rings that could increase the amount of oil reaching the combustion chambers. Remove the spark plugs after shutting down the hot engine and pour an ounce or so of SeaFoam directly into each cylinder. After an hour or overnight, temporarily disable the ignition and fuel injection and crank the engine to expel any liquid in the cylinders. Reinstall the plugs, re-enable the ignition and injection, then start and drive the vehicle for at least 20 minutes.

I use "high-mileage" oil and change it every 3,000 miles on my two high-mileage cars. What kind of oil should I use when topping up the oil between changes during this very cold weather? Would 0W-20 full synthetic be the best bet? What is your opinion on using 0W-20 full synthetic for the regular oil changes during the cold months?

When adding oil between oil changes, use the same brand/viscosity already in the crankcase. Adding a different oil isn't harmful but the additive package and viscosity are likely not the same. I don't think 0W-20 would be a good choice in high-mileage vehicles unless the carmaker suggests it in the service recommendations. For most modern engines a full synthetic 5W-30 would be a good choice in cold temperatures.

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.

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