T hopes companies will snap up station names

T riders could soon be getting off the train at Macy's — Downtown Crossing Station — or hopping on the Boloco — Blue Line.

The MBTA issued a request for proposals yesterday, seeking companies interested in buying the naming rights to nine stations and the Green, Red, and Blue lines. The Legislature included an amendment in last summer's massive transportation finance bill that lets the MBTA sell naming rights, with supporters estimating it could generate as much as $20 million for the cash-strapped T.

Naming a station presents an interesting opportunity for advertisers, Boston University marketing professor Tobe Berkovitz said.

"Every time a train pulls in, the announcer says the name of your brand," Berkovitz said.

Still, there could be some drawbacks.

"If something bad happens or if people have bad experiences at the station, then all of a sudden it is a negative," Berkovitz said.

The bidding starts at 
$1 million annually for five years for South Station, Airport, Downtown Crossing, Park Street, Back Bay, North Station, State Street, and Boylston stations, and $500,000 for Yawkey because the T says it has fewer daily customers.

Bids are due Feb. 27 and the naming rights will go to the "highest qualified bidder," according to MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo, with licenses expected to be awarded by July 1. The proposals must follow the MBTA's existing advertising standards, meaning alcohol and tobacco companies, as well as political parties and religious groups, are excluded.

It's not the first time the MBTA has floated the idea of naming rights — in 2001 no bidders stepped forward. And a proposal in 2011 drew criticism from a Washington, D.C., nonprofit that advocates limiting commercialization.

Berkovitz said the most natural fit would be sports teams and other attractions. In 2009, Barclays bought the naming rights to a Brooklyn subway station for $4 million over 20 years, to go with the now-complete Barclays Center, home to the New York Nets.

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Employment numbers spur Dow climb

The number of people applying for unemployment benefits last week dropped more than expected, another sign of continued growth in the economy that sent the Dow yesterday to a record high close.

"The underlying trend suggests job destruction continues to decline," said Sterne Agee chief economist Lindsey Piegza. "This is a welcome step in the right direction and further reinforces the Fed's assessment of a stronger labor market."

Initial unemployment claims — which are seen as an indicator of layoffs — dropped by 42,000 to 338,000 last week while the Dow Jones Industrial Average shot up more than 122 points to close at 16,479.88. It was the biggest decline in jobless claims in a year.

The jobless report was great news for Wall Street, but because trading slows in late December, any positive or negative news is magnified, said Christine Armstrong, Morgan Stanley senior vice president.

"It's very light volume. You can skew things," Armstrong said. "We're probably going to have the same thing next week."

Roughly 3.8 billion shares were bought or sold yesterday, 38 percent below the three-month average.

Although the numbers are heading in the right direction, this time of year makes jobless claims difficult to read, Piegza said.

"Claims are particularly volatile this time of year," she said.

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The Ticker

Twitter up 4.8 percent in continuing surge

Twitter stock jumped 4.8 percent yesterday to close at $73.31 a share on optimism by investors that the company has room to expand sales in advertising.

The stock has surged 32 percent over the past five days, 76 percent this month, and has nearly tripled since the microblogging social network went public at $26 a share in November.

Obama signs bipartisan budget deal

President Obama signed a bipartisan budget deal yesterday easing spending cuts.

Although the budget deal falls short of the grand bargain that Obama and congressional Republicans once aspired to, it ends the cycle of fiscal brinkmanship — for now — by preventing another shutdown for nearly two more years. But the rare moment of agreement may be short-lived.

Hanging over the start of the year is a renewed fight over raising the nation's borrowing limit, which the Treasury says must be resolved by late February or early March to avert an unprecedented U.S. default. Both sides are positioning behind customary hard-line positions, with Republicans insisting they want concessions before raising the debt limit and Obama insisting he won't negotiate.

McDonald's closes employee website

McDonald's Corp. has shut down a website intended to provide employees with work and life guidance after it generated negative publicity for the fast-food company.

The McResource program has been criticized for creating unrealistic budgets and offering advice that was out of touch with its workers' pay. The website, which was run by an outside company, also reportedly discouraged workers from eating fast food.

Amazon: Growth in Prime numbers

Amazon said yesterday it had signed up more than 
1 million new customers last week for its Amazon Prime membership program, which for $79 a year provides free two-day shipping on many items and a free streaming video service.

The company said the program continues to grow, with "tens of millions of members worldwide."

THE SHUFFLE

• Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in New England announced that it has hired Kevin Dumont, left, as a field trainer. He will serve as a trainer instructing affiliated sales associates in Southern Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
• J Barrett & Co. announced that Andrea O'Brien, a full-time real estate agent, has joined the agency in its Beverly Farms office. O'Brien has extensive business experience in customer service, including management.
• M/A-COM Technology Solutions Holdings Inc., a supplier of high performance RF, microwave and millimeter wave products, announced the appointment of Robert J. McMullan as its chief financial officer.

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The Ticker

Maine powering back up

PORTLAND, Maine — Crews have restored power to some 43,000 people in Maine who had been without electricity since the weekend ice storm.

By noon yesterday, about 62,000 remained without power. That's down from more than 105,000 on Tuesday.

Utilities worked through Christmas day as a chill settled over the state. Some places were below zero on Christmas morning with highs only expected in the teens in many areas. Complicating efforts are expected wind gusts around 20 mph in some places, which could bring down more tree limbs.

The storm has claimed one life in Maine. State police say a 50-year-old Knox man died Tuesday when he tried to refill a generator with gas. They believe he was overcome by carbon monoxide fumes.

Emergency and warming shelters are open around the state.

Longmeadow wants $1M for casino

LONGMEADOW — The town of Longmeadow is seeking $1 million in upfront compensation from MGM Resorts International, citing traffic issues that would result if an $800 million resort casino is built in nearby Springfield.

Longmeadow Town Manager Stephen Crane told the Republican newspaper that the town is relying on a study done for the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission by an independent engineering firm.

The study found that Longmeadow and West Springfield would have the most impact from casino traffic among neighboring cities and towns.

The state's gambling law requires casino developers to negotiate mitigation agreements with surrounding communities.

MGM has rejected Longmeadow's demands, saying they are far out of line with other surrounding community agreements. The company says there's no definitive evidence that Longmeadow's traffic problems would be any worse.


TODAY

 The Labor Department releases weekly jobless claims.

 Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, releases weekly mortgage rates.

THE SHUFFLE

Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in New England announced that it has hired Kathleen Medeiros, above, as a field trainer. Medeiros will be responsible for conducting a wide variety of educational and training courses for the company's sales associates in Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.

 Berkshire Bank announced that Gary Urkevich has been named SVP Information Technology. In this role, Urkevich will manage and direct all activities of the IT department to provide core services to the company, including client service, infrastructure, corporate systems, and information security.

 Cambridge Health Alliance, a community health system that serves Cambridge, Somerville, and Boston's metro-north communities, has named Assaad Sayah, M.D., as its chief medical officer. Dr. Sayah will provide physician leadership, ensure high quality care for patients, and be an advocate for CHA's physicians and all associates.

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Booming tech opportunities key Hub-Israel collaboration

Boston-area techies are heading to Tel Aviv for a marathon hackathon at Google in a trip that highlights the burgeoning relationship between the Israeli and Bay State tech sectors.

"Israel right now is at a really unique place in the tech world," said Max Kleiman-Weiner, an MIT Ph.D. candidate who is on the first tech-focused trip run by Birthright Israel, a program that sends Jewish young adults to tour Israel. "There's just so much happening in terms of startups and tech."

The trip, which includes half a dozen Boston-area techies, will culminate in a 36-hour hackathon — a marathon coding session — at Google's Tel Aviv office. The group will be split into teams and will work alongside Israeli developers to create a project under a not-yet-announced theme.

Israel's booming tech sector has made big news in the United States this year, most recently when Israeli social mapping service Waze was acquired by Google for close to $1 billion.

Israeli companies have also paid dividends for Massachusetts. A report earlier this month found Israeli-founded businesses brought nearly $12 billion in economic benefit to Massachusetts, and employed more than 6,600 people.

The report says future growth between Israel and Massachusetts will be a result of similarities in focus, including in robotics and biotech.

Kleiman-Weiner said Israel is especially interesting to him because his focus — machine learning — is taking off there.

"That space is particularly hot in Israel," he said. "For me it's definitely a place I want to keep my eye on and figure out what's going on there."

Gidi Mark, CEO of Birthright Israel, said the nonprofit chose to design the trip around technology out of a belief that it is a great global unifier.

"We believe that this is the beauty of the 21st century," Mark said.

That connection has already brought together the group. Kleiman-Weiner said he had not considered going on a Birthright trip, but the tech focus sold him.

He said while the technology and the companies the group will visit are interesting, he is most interested in meeting and making significant connections with other people who share his tech interests.

"During the time the groups are here, there is a development of long-term relationships that changes the perspective and the perception about each other," Mark said. "Many of them have identical spheres of interest."

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New app incorporates social media and driving

Dreading a long road trip home this holiday season? Relief is on the way in the crowdsourced driving app Waze.

Recently acquired by Google — reportedly for more than $1 billion — this brilliant app for iOS, Android and Windows Phone is a new take on GPS navigation. In short, it makes traffic social.

Waze, based in Israel, allows users to report — and commiserate about — road hazards, police activity and traffic conditions, with a critical mass of devotees leading to a stunning level of accuracy that, on my recent four-hour drives to and from New York, far surpassed that of Google Maps and my portable GPS.

However, you will want to make sure the passenger in the car — not the driver — is using Waze. While full-voice integration is surely the future, Waze currently requires a set of eyes on the screen.

What sets Waze apart from other traffic apps is that it makes calculations based on the vehicle speeds of other users. Both my Garmin GPS and Google Maps suggested that I exit the Mass Pike at the Brighton tolls — but Waze noticed cars were crawling and recommended an alternate route.

Even during a long, frustrating journey, using Waze allows you to at least feel like a good Samaritan. While using Waze, I was able to tell drivers on a particularly narrow stretch of Interstate 95 in Connecticut that a stopped vehicle in the right shoulder meant that those nearby should keep left.

But I'd be careful not to dub Waze a traffic safety app. The ability to report the location of speed traps — probably 
a key reason for its popularity — is likely not appreciated by the law enforcement community.

In true social network form, Waze users choose screen names and avatars that show their location on a map. You'll get the occasional "hi there" or "this stinks" message from other users. In an emergency, the ability to ask another user "do you have jumper cables" or "know how to change a tire?" is something that I'd consider if AAA or state trooper help were far off.

Google Maps is in the process of integrating some Waze features, and at some point, Google Maps will probably subsume all of Waze. In the meantime, Waze is a great way to make those endless holiday car trips a bit more bearable.

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Retailers tighten holiday policies to thwart fraud

If you didn't like your gift today, take note. Some retailers have tightened their return policies in a continuing attempt to curb fraud that will cost the industry an estimated $3.4 billion during this year's holiday period.

Return deadlines at Best Buy and Sears are the two "biggies," according to Somerville consumer advocate Edgar Dworsky.

"Both of them are cutting their return windows in half for certain or all goods," said Dworsky, who conducts an annual return policy survey.

Best Buy reduced its regular return period to 15 days from 30 for most customers in March, and it shortened its holiday return period, which now runs until Jan. 15 instead of Jan. 24. In addition, special orders no longer are refundable.

Sears' regular return policy for major appliances and vacuums is now 30 days, down from 60, and it has excluded those products from its extended holiday period.

"They're trying to cut their losses in some cases," Dworsky said. "Best Buy doesn't want people to use that digital camera for several weeks or months and then bring it back, because they're going to have to sell it as an open box item."

Nearly 6 percent of holiday returns are fraudulent, according to a recent National Retail Federation survey. Holiday return fraud accounts for 38.7 percent of the industry's estimated $8.76 billion in annual losses tied to return fraud.

That's why almost three-quarters of retailers require customers to show identification if they don't have receipts. Examples of fraud include returns of stolen items, using counterfeit receipts for returns, and "wardrobing" — the return of used, but non-defective merchandise such as special occasion clothing or electronics.

Toys R Us extended its holiday return period until Jan. 25 for most items, but certain electronics bought on or after Nov. 1 must be returned by Jan. 9. Other electronics must be returned within 30 days, down from 45 days.

Macy's, meanwhile, now charges a 15 percent restocking fee for the return of furniture and mattresses.

And if you're returning gifts in hopes of pocketing cash, don't count on that, even with a gift receipt.

"You can't convert that white elephant to cash in all likelihood," Dworsky said. "You're most likely to get an even exchange or a merchandise credit if there's nothing else you want at the store,"

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Post Office stuffs stockings with 3-cent stamp hike

The U.S. Postal Service delivered a surprise on Christmas Eve that may land them on some naughty lists as it announced a temporary 3-cent price increase on first-class stamps.

The hike, approved by an independent Postal Regulatory Commission, will raise the cost from 46 cents to 49 cents a letter. The commission justified the increase in the face of severe volume decreases, going back to 2008, and as a way for the Postal Service to recoup a reported $2.8 billion in losses.

The increase will take effect on Jan. 26 and will last no more than two years. The commission rejected a request to make the hike permanent.

There will be a 6 percent increase on bulk mail, periodical and package service rates. The mail industry is said to oppose the increase, saying charities and bookstores will suffer from the increased cost of mass mailings and package delivery.

The Postal Service reportedly lost $5 billion last fiscal year.

Herald wire services contributed to this report.

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Phishing scammers go after Target data breach victims

Target Corp. is warning of "phishing" scam emails aimed at customers whose card information was compromised under the breach of its point-of-sales system.

"We are aware of limited incidents of phishing or scam communications," spokeswoman Molly Snyder said in a statement yesterday. "To help our guests feel confident that what they are hearing from Target is really from us, we are in the process of setting up a dedicated resource on our corporate website where we will post PDFs of all official communications that Target sends to our guests."

Target confirmed that it was partnering with the Secret Service and Department of Justice on the investigation of the Nov. 27-Dec. 15 breach that left credit and debit card information of an estimated 40 million customers vulnerable. Yesterday it said it wanted to make clear that "neither entity is investigating Target."

Meanwhile, JPMorgan Chase increased withdrawal and spending limits it had imposed on 2 million debit-card customers affected by the Target breach.

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Suggestions sought for new Logan routes

The state's largest employer group is urging businesses to weigh in on the next international destinations that Massport should target for nonstop flights from Boston.

With direct Boston-
Beijing service set to begin in June, the Logan International Airport operator is soliciting business leaders' help in convincing airlines to start additional routes.

"The employer feedback really does make a difference," said Christopher Geehern, spokesman for Associated Industries of Massachusetts. "When Japan Airlines instituted the direct flights between Boston and Tokyo, they actually started that route before establishing routes in other larger cities because of the clear demand expressed by the business community in Massachusetts."

In addition to the 2012 Tokyo service launch, a prior Massport survey led to direct Boston air service to Panama City that started in July. Massport also signed deals for direct Dubai and Istanbul flights to start next year.

"Massport has relied on the political, business and civic communities to help land five new international routes in the last two years, and we continue to engage those groups to help us determine potential routes that will be most beneficial to growing the regional economy," Massport spokesman Richard Walsh said. "It is no secret that Israel, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Brazil are among the new nonstop destinations that have generated significant interest."

Mexico City and Milan also are at the top of businesses' list, Geehern said.

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