$5m in tax breaks going to IBM for Littleton project

The Massachusetts Economic Assistance Coordinating Council approved $5 million in state and local tax breaks for IBM Corp., which recently began a $63 million expansion in Littleton. IBM vice president Bob McDonald said the company plans to create 42 jobs at the site over the next decade. McDonald said the computer giant, based in Armonk, N.Y., has already begun renovating a building and hopes to move into it next month. McDonald said the tax incentives were important, but the company would have gone forward with the expansion without them. IBM has 4,000 employees in Massachusetts, including about 2,000 in Littleton. (Todd Wallack)

A New York man was charged by federal prosecutors in Boston with conspiracy for allegedly providing software that was used for stealing payment card numbers from retailers. Authorities claim Stephen Watt, 25, was among a group who from 2003 to 2008 conspired to access retailers' computers to commit fraud and identity theft. Watt allegedly provided a "sniffer" program to Albert Gonzalez, according to court documents. While documents did not further identify Gonzalez, a Florida man by the same name has been charged by US officials with leading a ring that allegedly committed the largest theft of customer data to date, from TJX Cos. of Framingham and other merchants. Watt was not tied to any specific thefts by prosecutors and a spokeswoman for the US attorney's office declined to elaborate. (Ross Kerber)

Delta Air Lines Inc. and Northwest Airlines Corp. combined to create the world's largest carrier after the Justice Department gave its approval. Delta, the third-biggest US airline by traffic, and number six Northwest take the top global spot as the largest carrier from AMR Corp.'s American Airlines. Delta chief executive Richard Anderson leads the new company, which keeps Delta's name and Atlanta headquarters. Delta agreed to buy Northwest in April in an all-stock deal, and their shareholders endorsed the plan in September. The new Delta will have $35 billion in annual sales and 75,000 employees, and deliver $2 billion in new revenue and cost savings, the airlines have said. The transaction was valued at $2.63 billion, based on yesterday's closing stock prices. (Bloomberg)

Like many of the top pharmaceutical companies, Wyeth is narrowing its research focus to far fewer diseases as it tries to produce more successful new drugs, particularly for conditions lacking good treatments. Wyeth is even ending research in its signature areas in women's health - contraceptives and menopause treatments - and switching to other female health problems with an unmet need, such as ovarian cancer and lupus. The company is scaling back from doing research in its current 14 therapeutic areas to just six, Dr. Evan Loh, a Wyeth vice president, said. Instead of doing research on a total of 55 diseases, it now will work on 27. Effective immediately, the changes are part of a January restructuring meant to cut about 10 percent of its then-50,000 jobs. (AP)

Community bankers and other financial institutions can write off tax losses on indirect ownership stakes in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Internal Revenue Service said. The change will benefit smaller banks that had large investments in the preferred shares of the mortgage-finance companies. Fannie and Freddie were placed into conservatorship by the government last month, wiping out most of the value of their preferred stock. "This is huge," said Paul Merski, the chief economist of the Independent Community Bankers of America in Washington. "This will save banks 40 cents on the dollar of losses." Banks owned about $16 billion in preferred shares of Fannie and Freddie Mac. (Bloomberg)

The Pentagon picked teams led by Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, and the US subsidiary of British defense conglomerate BAE Systems PLC to compete in developing a lightweight tactical vehicle to replace the Humvee. However, it was BAE Systems who walked away the big winner. It will lead one of teams selected, and its Armor Holdings subsidiary is on another. The Army and Marine Corps awarded deals to General Dynamics Corp. and Humvee maker AM General; Lockheed Martin Corp. and Armor Holdings; and BAE Systems and Navistar International Corp. All three teams will submit seven prototypes, plus four trailers to be evaluated. (AP)