Massachusetts investment adviser, companies charged by SEC

BOSTON — Officials with the Securities and Exchange Commission say they've charged a Massachusetts investment adviser and his companies on allegations they misappropriated at least $16 million belonging to a fund managed by some of the defendants.

The SEC announced the charges Friday against 40-year-old Daniel Thibeault of Framingham and several companies the agency said he controls, including Graduate Leverage LLC, GL Capital Partners LLC and GL Investment Services LLC, all based in Waltham.

The SEC alleges Thibeault and GL Capital Partners were the investment advisers to a fund called the GL Beyond Income Fund and misappropriated at least $16 million from the fund to use for personal expenses and to run other businesses.

Thibeault and his lawyers didn't immediately return messages Friday.

Thibeault also was charged with securities fraud last month.

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It’s a Whole new story at 
old Herald site

Whole Foods Market debuted its newest Boston store in the South End yesterday — its second largest in the region and considered a flagship for its North Atlantic division — and co-CEO Walter Robb sees room in the Hub for another of its size.

"We've seen the city evolving, so we have lots of plans," the Boston native said. "The opportunity to come in here and get 50,000 square feet — that's hard to do these days, and I do think there's another one (in the future pipeline)."

The Austin-based natural and organic food company entered Massachusetts in 1992 with its $26.2 million purchase of the former six-store, Boston-based Bread & Circus.

Its South End supermarket is in National Development's $200 million Ink Block project, the former Boston Herald headquarters site for more than half a century, and it memorializes the newspaper's history throughout its decor.

"It will be a great part of the community, but I'm also blown away by how much recognition of the Herald has been preserved," said Herald Publisher Patrick J. Purcell, a minority investor in the Ink Block project.

Newton's National Development worked for five years to bring a supermarket there, according to managing director Ted Tye.

"But no one quite got this neighborhood and what we were trying to do," Tye said. "Is it Chinatown? Is it the South End? Is it safe? There was a little risk at the time. (Whole Foods) set the tone for what we're trying to do here — nice, upscale development."

South End resident John Young was shopping at the new Whole Foods just after its opening yesterday.

"We've had a wonderful Foodie's (Urban Market in the South End), but we've been hankering for a Whole Foods," he said. "Now I don't have to get deep lines in my hands carrying heavy bags all the way from (the Symphony Whole Foods)."

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Dec. gains cap year of strong job growth

Employers posted strong gains in hiring in December, capping the best year for job creation since 1999 and showing businesses are increasingly confident, but analysts don't expect a repeat of those blockbuster numbers this year.

"Prospects for 2015 are good, but not great. The 2015 job tally will still be solid at about 2.65 million," said Doug Handler and Michael Montgomery, of IHS Global Insight, in a research note. "(2015) will only earn a silver medal rather than gold."

Employers added 252,000 jobs in December, the Labor Department reported yesterday, for a total of close to 3 million jobs last year.

"It's a strong report, 252k jobs is good," said Nigel Gault, co-chief economist at The Parthenon Group, "and the number in the previous couple of months was revised up."

The jobs numbers for October and November were revised upward by 50,000 and the unemployment rate dropped to 5.6 percent from 5.8 percent in November. The rate is now at its lowest point since 2008, but that was affected at least in part by people giving up looking for work.

Yesterday's jobs report also threw a puzzling wrench in the cogs for economists. Conventional wisdom says more jobs will put pressure on employers to pay workers more, but average hourly earnings actually declined in December.

"It's just very odd to understand why wage inflation would be slowing at this point," Gault said. "People don't see the sort of spending power increases helping increase their real incomes and give consumer spending a boost."

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Obama to focus on cybersecurity issues next week

WASHINGTON — Continuing the break with State of the Union tradition, President Barack Obama will spend most of next week previewing more of the proposals he will outline in the upcoming address, including on identity theft, electronic privacy and other cyberspace issues, the White House announced Saturday.

Traditionally, the White House closely guards plans to be offered in the State of the Union until just before the president delivers the nationally televised address.

But in a bid to generate excitement as he begins the next-to-last year of his presidency, Obama began previewing new initiatives during the week, including programs to boost homeownership by reducing mortgage insurance premiums and increase access to higher education by paying for the first two years of community college for Americans who meet certain criteria.

"I didn't want to wait for the State of the Union to talk about all the things that make this country great and how we can make it better, so I thought I'd get started this week," Obama said Wednesday in Michigan, where he discussed a rebounding U.S. auto industry. "I figured, why wait? It's like opening your Christmas presents a little early."

All of the proposals include steps Obama can put in place on his own, a practice he used frequently last year that irritated Republicans. Other proposals will require collaboration with Congress, which Republicans now control. They reacted coolly to Obama's announcements.

Last week, Obama highlighted proposals to help the economy and the middle class. The emphasis in the week ahead will be on cyberspace issues.

Obama will use an event at the Federal Trade Commission to lay out the next steps in his plan to tackle identity theft and improve consumer and student privacy. It follows up on a plan Obama announced last October to tighten security for the debit cards that transmit federal benefits, like Social Security payments, to millions of Americans.

After holding his first meeting of the new year with the top leaders in Congress on Tuesday, Obama will discuss cybersecurity, including ways to get the private sector and federal government to voluntarily share more cybersecurity information. He'll do so at the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center, which is housed in the Department of Homeland Security and shares information among the public and private sectors.

On Wednesday, Obama will be in Iowa to talk about ways to make affordable, high-speed Internet more available nationwide. The White House would not say where in Iowa the event will take place.

Vice President Joe Biden is also pitching in, traveling to Norfolk, Virginia, on Thursday to announce new funding to help train people to join the cybersecurity workforce, the White House said.

Obama's State of the Union address is scheduled for Jan. 20.

___

Follow Darlene Superville on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/dsuperville

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U.S. holiday sales merry good

U.S. holiday sales posted their strongest growth in nearly a decade, thanks to an improved economy and purchases spread over a longer season, rather than concentrated on a few key days, according to a leading research firm.

Consumer spending in November and December rose 4.6 percent over the same period the previous year, exceeding the 3.8 percent ShopperTrak had projected and marking the best performance since 2005, when sales grew 5.2 percent.

"Holiday seasons have been up each year since 2010 in small amounts, but what sets this one apart is it was enough to create profitability," said Jon B. Hurst, president of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts, which expects to release state data next week. "Other holiday seasons' gains weren't large enough to offset increased costs."

The trend toward shopping earlier in the season continued last year, as November's sales growth outpaced December's. With a strong early push after Halloween and consistent deals throughout the month, November saw $120.2 billion in sales, a 5.4 percent increase over the same period in 2013, while December saw 
$149.9 billion, up 4 percent from the previous year, according to ShopperTrak.

With the exception of slight reversals in 2009 and 2011, when the calendar leaned more favorably toward December, the split between the two months continues to narrow — a 10-year trend that points to retailers' success in lengthening the shopping season, as well as consumers' increased willingness to shop early, the firm said.

"We saw improvement in the economy and labor market that really started to help the overall spending pace," said Michael P. Niemira, principal and chief economist at The Retail Economist. "Declining gas prices further helped discretionary spending."

Super Saturday, which falls on the weekend before Christmas, was the top sales day of the year, with an estimated $9.2 billion in sales, just edging out the $9.1 billion generated on Black Friday, according to ShopperTrak.

But the two days fell short of expectations, with Super Saturday sales gaining only .46 percent and Black Friday sales falling more than 7 percent, underscoring the declining importance of a single day or two in the season, the firm said.

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Jaguar sedan’s power doesn’t pounce

The 2015 Jaguar XF Sport delivers a highly refined driving experience worthy of its price.

Built to compete with the Audi A6, BMW 5 series, and Mercedes-Benz E-Class vehicles, the Jaguar XF is an excellent choice for those who want to stand out from the crowd. With an MSRP of $59,875, it could even be considered a good value as it comes packed with standard features.

This British-made sedan possesses plenty of power — enough to maintain interest, but not so much that it overwhelms. It has a responsive and peppy 340-horsepower, 3.0-liter V6 engine with acceleration that doesn't lurch or intimidate. The XF Sport's engine is in the middle of the XF lineup, which ranges from a 2.0-liter 4-cylinder to a 5.0-liter V8 engine.

The XF Sport has an intelligent all-wheel-drive system that keeps the power on the rear wheels until needed, providing sure footing even in slick road conditions. For further control in adverse weather conditions, it also has winter and dynamic modes.

Our tester had an aerodynamic exterior coated in Italian racing red metallic paint, a charcoal interior and 20-inch dark grey wheels. It comes equipped with heated leather seats and a heated steering wheel, which were both tested on a raw, cold day and proved strong enough to use instead of the climate control system. It also had a heated windshield.

Retractable air vents automatically open on ignition for a James Bond effect when using the car's push-button start. Access to the car is gained by a keyless entry system, so you only need to have the key in your pocket to open the locked doors.

Xenon headlights present clear definition even on back streets at night. Signature LED lights outline the headlights, giving this Jaguar an even more distinctive look.

The steering is impressive. Tight spots are easily navigated and parking is incredibly easy. The XF also has a blind spot monitor to alert you to oncoming vehicles in other lanes.

Like its recent Jaguar and Range Rover predecessors, the XF has "intelligent stop-start," which is annoying in that it can only be overridden on a trip-by-trip basis.

Jaguar (and Range Rover for that matter) could use a revamp of the electronics/entertainment cluster. It is a very capable 380-watt touch screen GPS/entertainment system with great sound, but it is not customizable and cannot be configured to match your preferred mode as a default.

A four-year, 50,000 mile warranty with roadside assistance matches the other vehicles in its class. The only drawback when considering a Jaguar is its reliability reputation and lower than average resale value.

In the end, the Jaguar XF Sport is a thoroughly enjoyable vehicle that boasts both style and performance.

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Stylish townhouse resides 
in Somerville

This stylishly designed four-level contemporary townhouse between Davis and Teele squares in Somerville comes with a number of smart-home-enabled features.

An apps package lets you use your mobile device to control the unit's fireplace, lighting, built-in Sonos surround system and Nest thermostats. The doorbell rings on your device and an entry camera lets you see who's at the door and open it.

The three-bedroom Unit 3
at 41 Elmwood St. is one of eight townhouses in three buildings. It has an attached garage and a private top-floor deck, and is on the market for $1,249,900.

You enter the attached HardiePlank-sided townhouse into a foyer with a coat closet. A few steps up is an open living/dining area with 14-foot ceilings with recessed lighting and built-in speakers. This space has three tall 9-over-9 windows with transoms above, stained oak floors and a built-in stone-faced gas fireplace with storage shelves on one side.

You step up from the living area into a stylish oak-floored kitchen with 20 dark-stained custom 
locally made wood cabinets and white quartz countertops, including an island/breakfast bar that seats four. Stainless-steel appliances include a built-in Sub-Zero refrigerator, a Bosch wall oven, microwave and dishwasher, and a Wolf electric induction cooktop with a glass-mosaic tile backsplash. The kitchen has four windows as well as a built-in white quartz-topped desk area.

Off the kitchen sits a ceramic-tiled half bathroom.

A turning oak staircase leads up to two bedrooms on the second level, with a closet off the hallway holding a stacked stainless-steel Asko washer and dryer.

The master bedroom has oak floors, two windows, and two closets with built-in storage, one a walk-in. The en-suite master bathroom features porcelain-tile floors and surround a walk-in shower with a rolling glass door. A digital shower controller warms up the water, displays temperature and has a timer. There's a double-sink wood vanity topped with light-brown granite.

Across the hall is a smaller second bedroom with oak floors, five windows and a double-door closet. There's also a second full bathroom with a porcelain tile floor, a white-quartz-topped vanity and white subway tile around a tub shower.

Stairs to the third level open onto a flex space — a third bedroom or home office with two windows and a skylight. A glass door leads out to a decent-sized private deck.

The fourth level leads down from the living area. Halfway down is direct access to an attached one-car garage. And there's a glass door out to a rear passageway but no private or common yard space.

The lower level has a carpeted family room with a full-size window. Off this space sits a half bathroom with a pedestal sink.

A utility room holds a tankless water heater and the unit's forced-air heating and central air-conditioning systems.

Home Showcase

• Address: 41 Elmwood St., Unit 3, Somerville
• Bedrooms: Three
• Bathrooms: Two full, two half
• List price: $1,249,900
• Square feet: 2,199
• Price per square foot: $568
• Annual taxes: To be determined
• Monthly condo fee: $195
• Location: A half mile to restaurants, retail and Red Line T station in Davis Square; quarter mile to offerings in Teele Square.
• Built in: 2014
• Broker: Stephen Bremis of Bremis Realty at 617-828-1070

Pros:

• Living dining area with 14-foot ceilings, tall windows, horizontal gas fireplace
• Smart-home technology with Sonos sound system with built-in speakers, Nest thermostats
• Stylish kitchen with white quartz counters, custom-made cabinets, high-end appliances, built-in desk
• Master bedroom suite with two closets, bathroom with digital-controlled shower
• Top floor flex room opens out to private deck

Cons:

• No private or common yard space

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SpaceX launches for NASA, no luck with rocket landing at sea

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX pulled off another successful launch of supplies to the International Space Station on Saturday, but its revolutionary attempt to land the leftover booster on an ocean barge fared less well.

The company's billionaire founder Elon Musk said the first-stage of the unmanned Falcon rocket made it to the platform floating a couple hundred miles off Florida's northeastern coast. But the booster came down too hard and broke apart, he said.

"Close, but no cigar this time," Musk said via Twitter. He said it bodes well for the future, though.

It was the first time anyone tried anything like this. Musk maintains that recovering and reusing rockets is essential for bringing down launch costs and speeding up operations.

The primary mission for SpaceX was delivering more than 5,000 pounds of supplies ordered up by NASA, including hasty replacements for experiments and equipment lost in the destruction of another company's cargo ship last fall, as well as extra groceries. Belated Christmas presents were also on board for the six space station astronauts.

"Hurrah! A #Dragon is coming to visit bringing gifts," Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti said in a tweet from orbit.

Without interfering with the $133 million delivery, Musk had fins for guidance and landing legs installed on the first stage of the rocket, and positioned a modified barge off the coast of Jacksonville. A ship with SpaceX staff watched from a safe 10 miles away as the 14-story booster approached the platform, marked with a giant X.

Musk reported that the platform itself — 300 feet by 100 feet, with wings stretching the width to 170 feet — was fine following the attempted touchdown well before dawn. But he said some of the equipment on deck will need to be replaced. There ended up being no good video of the "landing/impact," he said in a tweet, noting it was "pitch dark and foggy" out in the ocean.

"Will piece it together from telemetry and ... actual pieces," he said.

Brief TV images from booster cameras, broadcast by NASA, showed water bubbles.

In the weeks preceding the landing test, Musk had estimated there was a 50-50 chance, at best, that the Falcon's first-stage booster would land vertically on the platform. A pair of attempts last year to bring boosters down vertically on the open ocean went well, but company officials conceded before Saturday's try that a platform touchdown was considerably more challenging.

Once separated from the upper stage of the rocket Saturday, the main booster re-ignited as planned for the flyback, according to SpaceX. Automatic engine firings maneuvered the booster down toward the autonomous, modified barge. The Air Force maintained the ability, as always, to destroy the booster if it strayed off course.

NASA watched the post-launch drama with keen interest, but its biggest focus was on the Dragon racing toward the space station. The capsule is due to arrive there Monday.

The shipment — the sixth by SpaceX since 2012 — is needed more than usual because of the recent loss of another company's supply ship.

Orbital Sciences Corp.'s Antares rocket exploded seconds after liftoff in October, destroying the entire payload and damaging the Virginia launch complex. That rocket is grounded until next year.

This SpaceX delivery was supposed to occur before Christmas, but was delayed by a flawed test-firing of the rocket. Then a problem with the rocket's steering system cropped up at the last minute during Tuesday's initial launch attempt.

NASA is paying SpaceX and Orbital Sciences to keep the space station stocked in the wake of the retired shuttle program. The $1.6 billion contract with SpaceX calls for 12 flights; the $1.9 billion contract with Orbital calls for eight. SpaceX also returns items to Earth; Orbital cannot.

Russia and Japan will make their own supply runs this year.

SpaceX, headquartered in Hawthorne, California, also has been contracted by NASA to develop beefed-up Dragons for astronaut rides to the space station, beginning as early as 2017. Boeing also is hard at work on a manned capsule. In the meantime, NASA is paying tens of millions of dollars to Russia for each U.S. astronaut launched aboard the Soyuz spacecraft.

___

Online:

SpaceX: http://www.spacex.com/

NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

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AP Source: GM plans affordable 200-mile electric car in 2017

DETROIT — General Motors plans to start selling an affordable electric car in 2017 that will be able to go 200 miles on a single charge.

A person briefed on the matter told The Associated Press that GM plans to start selling a $30,000 battery powered family car called the Chevrolet Bolt sometime in 2017.

A concept version of the car will be unveiled Monday at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, according to the person, who asked not to be identified because the official announcement hasn't been made.

The Bolt has been in the works for years and is designed to compete with electric offerings from Tesla Motors Inc. and Nissan Motor Co.

The Palo Alto, California-based Tesla has plans for a $35,000 electric car called the Model 3, which also is expected to go 200 miles per charge. Nissan sells the electric Leaf, which starts at about $30,000 and can go up to 100 miles per charge.

GM has been selling the Chevrolet Volt plug-in electric car since late 2010, but it goes only 38 miles on electric power before a gas generator kicks in. An updated version of the Volt with greater all-electric range also will be unveiled at the auto show.

GM conceived the $35,000 Volt as a mass-market car that could handle most trips on electric power, but had the generator to end worries that people would run out of juice. A concept version of the first-generation Volt was unveiled eight years ago at a time when GM didn't know for certain that the battery system would work.

The company also offers the all-electric Chevy Spark subcompact that can go 82 miles on a charge. It starts at $26,685. Electric cars are eligible for a $7,500 federal tax credit.

Doug Parks, GM's vice president of global product development, said in 2013 that GM was working on a 200-mile electric car for around $35,000, confirming that the company was in a race with other automakers to hit that mileage range at a moderate price.

GM has invested millions in developing electric cars starting with the EV1 in the 1990s. It doubled the size of its battery testing lab at a technical center in suburban Warren, Michigan, to 100,000 square feet in 2013, allowing it to test batteries and controls faster. It took about four years for GM to develop the Volt and bring it to market.

The new Volt, due out later this year, will hit showrooms at an uncertain time for electric vehicles with gas prices at $2.15 a gallon nationwide, down more than $1 per gallon from a year ago.

The 200-mile electric car was first reported late Friday by the Wall Street Journal.

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Oil price fall a top topic as Venezuelan president in Iran

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran and Venezuela vowed Saturday to work together to stabilize falling global oil prices as Iran's supreme leader accused "enemies" of using crude prices as a political weapon.

With Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by his side, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani urged OPEC members to "neutralize schemes by some powers against OPEC and help stabilize an acceptable oil price in 2015." Maduro also called for OPEC's cooperation in stabilizing oil prices.

Both Iran and Venezuela rely on oil prices to boost their respective economies. Oil prices have plunged more than 55 percent since June to less than $50 a barrel, placing a severe strain on the two countries.

Maduro is touring several OPEC nations to drum up support for a production cut to boost prices. He is to visit Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, to discuss the oil market slump.

"We are making efforts to create a consensus among OPEC members and other oil-producing states, including Russia, to cooperate and use novel mechanisms to reverse the oil price to an acceptable level," Maduro was quoted by Iranian state television as saying.

Maduro later met with Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who blamed the freefall in oil prices on "enemies."

"Our common enemies are using oil as a political weapon and they definitely have a role in the sharp fall in oil price," state television quoted Khamenei as saying.

Khamenei did not elaborate, but Shiite power Iran indirectly has blamed the Sunni kingdom of Saudi Arabia, a regional rival, for pushing down the prices over refusing to cut its production. OPEC as a whole has yet to agree to curb production.

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