Plan for Brighton housing withdrawn

Less than a month after City of Boston officials said they would oppose a 330-unit residential development proposed in Brighton on the former New Balance Athletic Shoe Inc. headquarters site, the developer withdrew its proposal. North Beacon Place, at North Beacon and Everett streets, was proposed by an affiliate of BV Development LLC, which fielded heavy criticism from the community at a public meeting in mid-December. Mark Maloney, director of the Boston Redevelopment Authority, said at the time that the project would adversely affect about 100 small businesses in the area. A spokesman for the development company said it had planned to accommodate the city's desire for more commercial space in an adjacent building. (Thomas C. Palmer Jr.)

RSA Security tops 4th-quarter estimates

RSA Security Inc., which makes Internet-security products, said fourth-quarter earnings were 9 to 10 cents a share, higher than prior estimates, because of greater demand. RSA said revenue was $69 million to $79 million, up from an estimate of $63 million to $67 million. The Bedford company had forecast earnings of 4 to 7 cents per share. "Demand for our products was strong throughout the quarter and increased during the month of December," chief executive Art Coviello said. Shares rose $1.40, or 9.2 percent, to $16.69. (Bloomberg)

Fidelity backs dual-listing proposal

Fidelity Investments, the largest US mutual fund company, said it supports plans to allow companies to list their shares on both the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq. The proposal, which a news report on Tuesday said has been accepted by Hewlett-Packard, could chip away at the centuries-old open outcry trading system employed by the NYSE. Critics say the system slows down trades and adds costs, but NYSE data show that while most trades qualify to be executed electronically, only a fraction of investors choose that route. Fidelity, which has urged the NYSE to reform the specialist firms that conduct most of the exchange's trades, said the proposal for dual listing would increase competition. HP chairman and chief executive Carly Fiorina said it was company policy not to discuss market speculation. Both Nasdaq and the NYSE declined to comment. (Reuters)

EMC clears hurdle for VMware purchase

EMC Corp. of Hopkinton, the world's number three maker of data-storage computers, was cleared by US antitrust enforcers to buy closely held VMware Inc. for $635 million, the Federal Trade Commission said. The government said it closed its investigation of the proposed acquisition of VMware, whose programs let server computers run several operating systems such as Windows and Linux software. The development was released in a list of concluded merger reviews by THE NATION

SEC chief wary of stock options expensing

Securities and Exchange Commissioner Paul Atkins questioned whether US accounting rule makers should require expensing of stock options, saying it could create more problems than it solves. Atkins, the first SEC member to align himself openly with critics of mandatory expensing, said he was not trying to tell the Financial Accounting Standards Board what to do and was only expressing his own opinion, not that of the entire SEC. But at a conference on stock options expensing, he said he feared FASB was moving toward requiring options expensing for political reasons, not accounting ones. "Putting a fair value on something as complicated as long term stock options is almost an impossible task," he said. FASB is expected to issue a proposed rule soon to force companies to expense stock options, or count them as a routine cost like wages on income statements. (Reuters)

Hacker pleads guilty in N.Y. Times case

A hacker admitted he broke into The New York Times's computer system to illegally access contributors' personal details and LexisNexis information services. Adrian Lamo, 22, of Carmichael, Calif., pleaded guilty to a single count of computer damage, telling US District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald he was "genuinely remorseful for all the harm that my activities have caused." A plea agreement between prosecutors and the defense says that federal sentencing guidelines would result in a sentence of six months to a year in jail. Although prosecutors at one time had alleged that Lamo obtained more than $300,000 worth of services from the LexisNexis electronic information service, prosecutors yesterday said they believe his damage was in the range of $30,000 to $70,000. (AP)

Levi Strauss closes last two US plants

Levi Strauss & Co., the California Gold Rush outfitter whose trademark blue jeans have been an American clothing staple for generations, closed its last two sewing plants in the United States. The financially troubled company has been steadily shifting production to overseas contractors for several years to cut costs and invigorate drooping sales in the ultra-competitive apparel market. About 800 workers at the San Antonio plants lost their jobs. Jeff Beckman, a Levi Strauss spokesman, said, "We tried to do our best to maintain manufacturing in the United States, but we have to be competitive to survive as a company." (AP)

JetBlue shares fall on analyst comments

JetBlue Airways Corp. shares fell 11.2 percent after a J.P. Morgan analyst said the low-fare carrier's 2004 profits will be unchanged as it faces increased competition. "We no longer believe JetBlue is capable of earnings growth in 2004, despite a planned 37 percent increase in capacity," analyst Jamie Baker said in a note to clients. Baker reduced his 2004 earnings forecast to 84 cents from 99 cents, and the 2005 estimate to $1.10 from $1.25. Shares fell $3.25 to $25.67. JetBlue did not return calls for comment. (Bloomberg)

Instinet to fire 185, take $60m charge

Instinet Group Inc., the electronic stock brokerage, will spend $60 million to fire 185 employees, 15 percent of its work force, and reduce office space because of its decision to split the company's operations. Instinet said it expects the cuts to eliminate $30 million in expenses in 2004. The company said most of the job reductions and office space consolidation will be completed by July. Last year, it said it would split its electronic trading business from its agency brokerage business, which seeks stock orders from mutual funds. (Bloomberg)

Sprint PCS to add 180 US retail stores

Sprint Corp.'s PCS Group mobile-telephone unit, the fourth-biggest US wireless provider, will add 180 retail locations this year, boosting its store count by nearly a third. Sprint PCS will raise its total stores to 800, said a spokesman. He didn't elaborate on locations for the new stores. The statement comes amid an acceleration in customer growth at Sprint PCS. The company said Tuesday that it added 390,000 subscribers in the fourth quarter, up from 184,000 in the third. Sprint PCS, with more than 20 million subscribers, including affiliates who use its brand, has not given any 2004 estimates. (Bloomberg)

Barnes & Noble to buy rest of Web unit

Barnes & Noble Inc., the largest US book retailer, agreed to buy the remaining stake in its unprofitable Internet unit for about $150 million in cash, raising its previous offer by $35 million after shareholders balked at the lower bid. Stockholders of Barnes & Noble.com will receive $3.05 for each share they own. Barnes & Noble had offered $2.50 a share in November for the 25 percent of the Web retailer it does not own. The company also said it settled shareholder lawsuits filed last year related to the purchase. (Bloomberg)