The Ticker

Avid risks NASDAQ delisting

Avid Technology Inc. of Burlington said it's no longer in compliance with NASDAQ listing rules, which require the company to file reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission in a timely manner. Last month, the company postponed its most recent earnings report saying it needed more time to evaluate the company's "accounting treatment."

Avid must submit a plan to regain compliance with the NASDAQ by May 20.

Travel website makes Tiny acquisition

TripAdvisor has acquired Tiny Post, an app that lets users write over photos and turn them into stories, for an undisclosed amount. Tiny Post's staff will be based in TripAdvisor's Palo Alto office.

In October, TripAdvisor announced it had acquired travel inspiration site Wanderfly.

Drug firms announce EU decisions

Genzyme received a positive opinion from the European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use for its drug Aubagio, which is designed to treat adult patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. However, the committee didn't recommend the drug receive a new active substance designation.

Ariad Pharmaceuticals also announced the EU gave a positive opinion on its marketing application for Iclusig, also known as ponatinib, for treating patients with specific forms of leukemia.

Raynham co. closes on $10M financing

Medrobotics Corp. said it has closed up to $10 million in new debt financing from Hercules Technology III, L.P., an affiliate of Hercules Technology Growth Capital Inc. The funding precedes the company's anticipated commercial launches in Europe and the United States.

TODAY

• Newtown, Conn., natives living in Hub host fund-raiser at Fenway Park to benefit their hometown.

MONDAY

• Mayor Thomas M. Menino to deliver his annual address to the Boston Municipal Research Bureau.

THE SHUFFLE

• Boston-based real estate services firm Cassidy Turley has promoted Denise Orlando, above, from manager to vice president. Orlando has served as a member of the firm's corporate advisory services team for six years, working with the portfolio management and corporate advisory groups on a national and global level.
• Shawmut Design and Construction has promoted Randy Shelly to vice president of the company's hospitality group. Shelly replaces veteran Paul Doherty, who has accepted a new position within Shawmut.
• Bedford-based 1366 Technologies has appointed China expert Yasheng Huang to its board of directors. Huang is professor of political economy and international management.

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BRA pushing forward on Downtown vendors

Boston Redevelopment Authority officials will meet with Downtown Crossing pushcart operator Craig Caplan on Tuesday to discuss the future of the outdoor program after Mayor Thomas M. Menino intervened to prevent the vendors' ouster at the end of this month.

"This meeting is part of the ongoing conversation that is happening to determine the next phase of the Downtown Crossing pushcart program," BRA spokeswoman Melina Schuler said. "Talking and listening to the needs of pushcart operators is a crucial part of moving the pushcart program in Downtown Crossing forward."

Last week, Menino gave 26 pushcart operators in the Downtown Boston Business Improvement District a 60-day reprieve after the BID informed them they would be required to shut down at the end of this month. Vendors' permits now have been extended at least through the end of May.

The vendors, who have been hawking food and merchandise since the late 1970s, cried foul after receiving notice that the BID planned to implement a temporary, scaled-down pushcart program this spring for which they'd have to reapply — without guarantees of being accepted. The vendors argue that they've remained in business during Downtown Crossing's hard times and should be included in its revitalization.

The BID's long-term plan, which the BRA supported, was to upgrade and professionalize the vending program for 2014, with new merchandise and more permanent kiosks.

"We have communicated to all the vendors that their Public Works permits have been extended for another 60 days," BID president Rosemarie Sansone said by email. "The BID is continuing to work closely with the BRA and other city agencies in developing a plan for the coming year. In speaking to many of the vendors, we have let them know we are addressing this issue as thoughtfully and quickly as possible."

Caplan, who has forwarded a letter to Menino along with 1,000-plus names on a petition that supports the vendors, did not respond to Herald inquiries.

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It’s hip to be square in Cambridge

This architect-designed home may be the most unique in Cambridge, as much a work of art as a place to live.

The single-family detached house at 19 Clifton St. sits on commonly held land behind an 1886-built home and is technically part of a two-unit condo association. Designed in 2006 by local architects Beat Schenk and Chaewon Kim, the dwelling consists of three stacked boxes set at angles, with an exterior of stained Okoume plywood, the kind normally used on yachts.

The home looks unusual from the outside, but the interior consists of well-thought-out rooms and a masterful use of space. The two-bedroom, free-standing townhouse is on the market for $579,000.

From the front of the house you don't see any windows, but there are windows on the far side and in back, and many of the rooms get decent light from skylights cut into the exposed roof corners.

The first floor of the house has a skylit living/dining area with a white Carrara marble floor. A plywood staircase set at an angle divides this room from a kitchen area with four skylights that features a bottom row of stainless steel cabinets topped by brown granite counters.

Up above is a row of frosted glass lift-up cabinets. Stainless-steel appliances include a new Bosch dishwasher, a General Electric refrigerator and an Amana gas stove with a stainless-steel hood that vents to the outside. There's an additional wall for more kitchen storage and gadgets.

A glass door leads out to a crushed stone back yard with trees that provides parking for two vehicles.

The home's second floor has a guest bedroom, set off with sliding plywood doors, with polished plywood floors and knotty pine walls with two skylights and a window. Adjacent is a full bathroom with a white ceramic sink and a tub/shower with Carrara marble walls. Also on this floor is a small home office area with a window and a built-in bookcase.

The third floor is a sunny master bedroom suite with a large oak-floor bedroom, two windows, a wide skylight and recessed lighting. In one corner of the room is a two-door custom wardrobe with built-in drawers and hanging rods.

An angled frosted-glass window shields the bedroom from a large en-suite master bathroom. This space features Carrara marble floors and walls and an open shower area. There's also an area for a stacked Kenmore washer/dryer.

The 150-square-foot finished basement, with a window, is outfitted as a family room. The home has a heat-pump-based multi-zoned central heating and air-conditioning system.

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Take these jobs and love it

Patrick administration officials touted yesterday's jobs report, trumpeting that the state has returned to pre-recession employment levels, but the anemic 500 jobs created last month could be one indication that Massachusetts is not out of the woods yet, economists told the Herald.

Statistics for the Bay State show 18,900 jobs were created in January, compared to the 16,100 initially estimated.

Robert Nakosteen, a professor of economics and statistics at the UMass Amherst Isenberg School of Management, questioned the enormous gap between the January and February jobs numbers, which are gleaned from a survey of employers.

"If the numbers are accurate, it's a strange pattern," Nakosteen told the Herald. "It's certainly not part of any trend I can imagine."

There are now 3,318,500 people working in Massachusetts, compared to 3,304,300 in April 2008, when the recession took hold here, according to the state Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development.

Last month, the state unemployment rate ticked down to 6.5 percent from 6.7 percent in January. But initial estimates show that only 500 jobs were created in February, with five of 10 sectors losing jobs.

Both Nakosteen and Northeastern University economist Alan Clayton-Matthews said the Massachusetts economy has improved, but they forecast modest growth in the months ahead.

"I expect the state's economy to grow, but the growth to slow a bit because of the increase in the payroll tax and sequestration," Clayton-Matthews said, referring to the across-the-board cuts in federal spending that took effect this month.

Those cuts stand to have a greater impact here than in other states because Massachusetts receives a disproportionate amount of federal funding for research, health care and defense, Nakosteen said.

Frank Conte of the Beacon Hill Institute at Suffolk University said the state should also be worried about the loss of 2,900 manufacturing jobs since February 2012.

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Walmart ad chops Stop & Shop

Walmart takes aim at competing local grocery stores in a new price-comparison advertising campaign, but a Somerville consumer advocate warns such ads are "inherently deceptive."

The Bentonville, Ark.-based retail giant specifically targets Quincy-based Stop & Shop, showing how a shopper saved 14 percent at its Walpole store on items that she had purchased at a Stop & Shop in the same town.

Walmart launched the price-comparison campaign more than a year ago in Charlotte, N.C., and now is shooting commercials in some 50 markets across the country.

"We've had a lot of positive customer feedback, and we think that reflects how much customers appreciate learning about the price differences that exist in their communities and where they can find the most affordable prices," spokesman Bill Wertz said.

In a TV commercial shot Tuesday in Walpole, shopper "Grey" from Wrentham, who was compensated for her appearance, saved a combined 14.3 percent, or $14.75, on 24 items, ranging from Cabot Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese (8 oz.: $2.28 at Walmart and $3.04 at Stop & Shop) to Tide Clean Breeze Laundry Detergent (100 oz., 64 loads: $11.97 at Walmart and $14.49 at Stop & Shop). Some items were duplicates, but all except four were cheaper at Walmart, whose comparison excluded non-identical items and random-weight meat and produce on Grey's original Stop & Shop receipt.

But Somerville consumer advocate Edgar Dworsky urges shoppers to "take such comparisons with a grain of salt," noting they generally don't include a big enough sample of random items to mimic the average consumer's shopping experience.

"Do your own comparison for the items you buy," said Dworsky, a former director of consumer education at the state Executive Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation and former state attorney general in consumer protection. "The best shopper is the 'specials' cherry picker. The one who buys the best sales items from a variety of stores is going to save the most. You cannot save the most just going to one store."

Walmart's campaign runs through Monday and includes print, radio, TV and online elements at www.walmart.com/boston.

A Stop & Shop spokeswoman said "we continually strive to bring our customers savings every day." The chain offers weekly specials, "Real Deals" items on sale for multiple weeks and a gas rewards program. It also recently has provided clip coupons in its circulars, according to spokeswoman Suzi Robinson.

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Saudi buyer has new Ames for Hub mansion

Brokers wrapped up a blockbuster deal in Boston's Back Bay this week, finalizing the $14.5 million sale of the Ames-Webster mansion.

But it took three years and a hefty 37 percent price cut before a deep-pocketed Saudi businessman snapped up 306 Dartmouth St., one of the largest properties in the neighborhood.

The grand 26,000-square-foot property — with 50 rooms and 28 fireplaces and parking for up to six cars — hasn't been serving as a home but rather the offices of owner Raymond Property Co., a Hub real estate developer.

Originally listed in January 2010 for $23 million, then transferred to broker Campion & Co. in May 2011, the property had one price reduction to $18 million in November 2011.

306 Dartmouth was built as the home of Stephen Van Rensselaer Thayer and his wife, Alice. The wealthy Thayer was president of the Institute of 1770, Hasty Pudding Club and the Harvard Boat Club. But during construction, Thayer died at the age of 24. The home was bought by Charles Whitney, who sold it to prominent capitalist Frederick L. Ames in 1880.

Ames was born into great wealth in the 1830s. His great-grandfather founded the Ames Shovel Works and Ames invested heavily in railroads, becoming one of the principal owners of the Union Pacific Railroad.

Ames was determined to give this home his personal stamp, so he hired the architectural firm Sturgis and Brigham to extensively renovate the home and add a four-story, off-center tower — highly fashionable at the time.

The renovation also doubled the size the home's dining room, and added some of the finest museum-quality finishes including a skylight by Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant. The French artist's work is housed in collections across the world including New York's Metropolitan Museum and Russia's Hermitage.

Campion's listing boasted that the mansion has an "embassy-worthy main floor with handsome carved wood and elegant detail at every turn. The main entry is covered in hand-applied tesserae glass mosaic and bordered in market. The great hall, with its elaborate staircase and tower, is 60 feet long.

According to real estate records, the buyer of the property was FAL Boston LLC, an entity managed by Fahad Al-Athel, a Saudi sheikh and head of FAL Holdings, a conglomerate based in Riyadh. FAL was represented by broker First Boston Realty.

It's unclear at this point what Al-Athel intends to do with the property — keep it as an office, convert it back to a single-family residence or divide it into condominiums. The property has duel permit status both commercial and residential.

One thing is certain: The powerful Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay will be watching closely.

Jennifer Athas is a licensed real estate broker. Follow her on Twitter @JenAthas.

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Managers have ball in their court

Some companies blame March Madness for distracting workers and sapping office productivity, but other firms say the college basketball tourney actually boosts morale and can be a team-building tool.

ZeroTurnaround, a Hub-based Java productivity tools maker, is among the companies that uses the tournament to boost competition between sales staff to generate new opportunities and deals.

"Our 'March Madness' is about hitting our March numbers, and if people are hitting their numbers, I don't care if they check ESPN," ZeroTurnaround President and COO Alex Laats told the Herald. "If you just recognize that it's on people's minds and if you can turn that around and turn it to your advantage, then you can boost productivity and have fun with it."

At Jumptap, employees rally around March Madness through group polls and viewing parties after work. Later this month, Jumptap's MobileSTAT, a monthly report that shows mobile audience trends, will include March Madness-themed data, said spokeswoman Christina Feeney: "For Jumptap as a business, it's absolutely a positive."

The hoops competition heats up today and tomorrow as 64 teams face off on the road to the national championship.

A recent Challenger, Gray & Christmas study found that the tournament's first two days of play will cost American companies at least $134 million in "lost wages" as an estimated 3 million employees will spend one to three hours following the basketball games instead of working.

Even President Obama took time out of his busy schedule to release his tourney picks. The commander-in-chief has Indiana beating Louisville to win the national championship.

But Katie Loehrke, an editor at J.J. Keller & Associates, said March Madness can give workers with little in common something to bond over.

"One of the things that can really influence morale in a positive way is employees who feel like they're trusted," she said. "If they're trusted to get their work done and still be able to flip over to ESPN.com for five minutes ... that can boost morale."

Hub-based online fantasy sports startup DraftKings has an internal bracket challenge going on among its 13 employees that's designed to help them generate better products and experiences for customers.

"There's no better way to know what a sports fan wants than to live it," said CEO Jason Robins.

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Expo-sure is key for game makers at PAX

Thousands of gamers will be descending on the Seaport District tomorrow — many dressed as their favorite characters — as the highly anticipated PAX East extravaganza kicks off, offering a glimpse of the latest video games while giving independent developers unparalleled exposure and a chance to make it big in a rapidly changing $67 billion industry.

Nearly 80,000 people from around the world are expected to attend the three-day expo at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, making it the largest trade show in New England and the largest gaming industry event on the East Coast.

"The audience at PAX matters," said Monty Sharma of the Massachusetts Digital Games Institute, or MassDiGi. "When it comes to connecting with fans, PAX is really it. Indie developers — small guys — don't have large marketing budgets. So you get 80,000 people walking past your game, and that's a huge boost."

This year's PAX East comes at a time when the marketplace for video games has been expanding to include more women, but shifting away from big games for consoles such as Xbox and PlayStation and toward games for mobile devices including iPads and iPhones, MassDiGi execs noted.

The most high-profile indication of that shift was this week's departure of John Riccitiello as chief executive of Electronic Arts after the big console game producer's recent disappointing financial returns.

"Fifteen years ago, you couldn't play a game on your cellphone. There's a revolution that's been happening in the last five years in the industry with the rise of Facebook games and mobile," said Trevor Stricker, president of Boston-based developer Disco Pixel. Another major shift is toward digital distribution — meaning people can download games without going to a store.

In the past 18 months, Erik Asmussen, the founder of 82 Apps, a Cambridge-based independent developer, has launched three games, including "PWN: Combat Hacking," which was released March 14 and will be showcased at PAX.

"Games that cost $50 million to make means they're riskier," Asmussen said. "The advantage to being a small developer is I'm giving my own time, and I'm not incurring massive debt. It allows me to be a little more risky, a little more nimble. I can go to shows like PAX and talk directly to the audience and hear what they want."

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Sox hit deal out of park

The owners of the Boston Red Sox have snapped up a parking garage on Lansdowne Street opposite Fenway Park, paying $10.5 million for the potential redevelopment play.

"I'm not sure what exactly they have in mind for the property, but they could expand it, go up, a lot of different things," said John Rosenthal, the Hub developer who sold the garage that Sox sluggers sometimes hit with out-of-the-park home runs. "It has great potential."

The garage sale stems from a partnership Rosenthal struck six years ago with the Sox that paved the way for his $450 million Fenway Center project, set to break ground this year.

Under current zoning, the two-story garage could be converted into an eight-story building — about twice the height of the iconic Green Monster across Lansdowne.

The Sox were tight-lipped yesterday about what they'll do. "It will be operated as a parking garage for the foreseeable future," Sox spokeswoman Zineb Curran said.

Marc Ganis, a Chicago-based sports business expert, said it's a no-brainer for the team to take control of the 340-space garage.

"If you are the Red Sox and you are landlocked, so to speak, anytime a property adjacent to the stadium becomes available you have to buy it, even if you don't have any immediate uses for it," Ganis said. "It's both an offensive move to expand and a defensive move to prevent competing businesses from moving in."

Rosenthal bought the garage for $2.5 million in 1993 and planned to redevelop it. But, facing opposition from the Sox owners, who wanted to protect historic Fenway Park, Rosenthal shifted his project to Sox-owned parking lots and Pike air-rights parcels on the other side of Brookline Avenue.

Rosenthal and the Sox remain partners on a Pike air-rights parcel behind the garage, "so that could be a future development site."

Rosenthal's highly visible Stop Handgun Violence billboard covers the back of the garage along the Pike. An easement will allow the billboard to stay, but Rosenthal expects it to eventually find a new home.

Ganis said that with the salary savings alone from last year's big trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Red Sox can afford to take it slow on the garage.

"The debt service on $10.5 million isn't very much," he said. "Getting rid of Carl Crawford for half a season took care of that ... and they got something that will last forever. They should send the Dodgers a thank-you card."

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Asia stocks mixed after Cyprus vote on bailout

BANGKOK — Asian stock markets were mixed Wednesday after Cypriot lawmakers rejected a tax on bank deposits that would have partly funded an emergency bailout to save the Mediterranean country from financial collapse.

The vote in the Cyprus parliament Tuesday rejected a plan cobbled together by international lenders to provide the country with 15.8 billion euros ($20.4 billion) to bail out its heavily indebted banks and shore up government finances.

If it doesn't get the money, the banks could fail, Cyprus' government finances could be ruined for years and the country could face expulsion from the union of 17 countries that use the euro. That's a scenario European policymakers fought to avoid with Greece as its bailouts were negotiated because of fears it would splinter the currency union.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.9 percent to 22,234.37. South Korea's Kospi fell 0.4 percent to 1,970.57. Australia's stock market was dragged lower by mining shares. The S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.3 percent to 4,972.50. Benchmarks in Taiwan, Indonesia and Singapore also fell. Mainland Chinese shares and New Zealand rose. Stock markets in Japan were closed for a public holiday.

"The trouble in Cyprus is going to cause risk aversion," said Daniel Martin of Capital Economics in Singapore. "It's a reminder of how precarious things are in Europe. At some point, we're expecting a nasty shock from Europe, probably in the second half of the year."

But strong housing data from the U.S. softened the damage to confidence. Government data showed U.S. builders stepping up construction of homes, while a private report showed the number of Americans with equity in their homes increased last year. That suggests one of the biggest drags from the housing crisis is easing.

Investors will also be monitoring the U.S. Federal Reserve, which ends a two-day policy meeting later Wednesday. The Fed is expected to keep borrowing costs at record low levels despite signs of a strengthening economy. The meeting will end with updated economic forecasts and a policy statement, and Chairman Ben Bernanke will hold a news conference.

Fears over Cyprus have also been contained by the European Central Bank's backstop to euro nations. The ECB said after the vote that it would continue to provide emergency liquidity to Cypriot banks to make sure they do not collapse.

Among individual stocks, Chinese property stocks rose sharply. Hong Kong-listed Evergrande Real Estate Group surged 5.8 percent. Australian mining giants BHP Billiton fell 2.5 percent and Rio Tinto Ltd. shed 2.1 percent.

Stocks were mixed Tuesday after Europe debt woes offset the encouraging housing data. The Dow Jones industrial average rose marginally to 14,455.82. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 0.2 percent to 1,548.34. The Nasdaq composite index dropped 0.3 percent to 3,229.10.

Benchmark oil for April delivery was up 20 cents to $92.36 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell $1.58 to finish at $92.16 a barrel on the Nymex on Tuesday.

In currencies, the euro slipped to $1.2872 from $1.2875 late Tuesday in New York. The dollar fell to 95.03 yen from 95.09 yen.

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Follow Pamela Sampson on Twitter at http://twitter.com/pamelasampson

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