Deal is reached to buy McCourt's Brookline home

THE REGION

The real estate agent handling the sale of Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt's Brookline mansion confirmed a deal has been reached. Saul Cohen, president of Hammond Residential Real Estate/GMAC in Brookline, said a buyer has agreed to a contract on the seven-bedroom, eight-bath colonial at 40 Cottage St. WBUR Radio first reported the sale Wednesday. Cohen would not disclose the buyer or sale price, but said the pact also includes an adjacent six-bedroom, four-bath house at 170 Sargent Road that McCourt owns. The Cottage Street property set a record when it was first listed at $22 million in 2004, but since then the asking price had dropped as low as $15.75 million. The Sargent Road property was recently listed at $4.5 million. (Keith Reed)

EMC Corp. has amended its internal stock ownership guidelines to require executives to hold larger stakes in the data storage company, according to a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. On average, EMC said, the new guidelines will require executives to hold nearly 50 percent more shares than the current rules. Executives will have three years to comply with the new guidelines, which were amended on Aug. 2. The new stock ownership rules require EMC's chairman and chief executive to hold 500,000 unrestricted shares and mandate that the vice chairman hold 200,000 shares. (AP)

Logan International Airport officials are bracing for a threatened two-day strike by pilots of Irish airline Aer Lingus that could cancel eight flights scheduled to arrive in and leave from Boston Tuesday and Wednesday. Five hundred Aer Lingus pilots may walk off the job for 48 hours starting at 7 p.m. Boston time Monday -- midnight Tuesday in Ireland -- in an ongoing dispute over a two-tier airline pay plan for pilots. A strike would cancel Boston flights Tuesday and Wednesday to and from Shannon nonstop and flights to and from Dublin that stop in Shannon en route. Aer Lingus plans to move up the Boston-bound flight Monday from Dublin and Shannon by one hour so it lands before the strike deadline. Late yesterday, Aer Lingus and its pilots union had still not agreed on terms for starting talks, Dow Jones reported. (Peter J. Howe)

The unemployment rate for Massachusetts rose to 5.1 percent in July, up from 4.9 percent the previous month. The increase came as the size of the state's labor force fell by 2,000 people, despite a general upward trend over the past year. Based on a survey of employers, the state says it added 4,200 new jobs in July. But a separate survey of households found an increase in the number of people in the labor force without jobs. (AP)

Brooks Automation Inc., whose robots and pumps are used in microchip production lines, named director Robert Lepofsky chief executive. He is replacing Edward Grady, 60, who will retire at the end of September after three years in the role, the Chelmsford company said. Lepofsky, 62, joined Brooks's board in October 2005 after the company bought Helix Technology Corp., where he had been chairman and chief executive. (Bloomberg)

THE NATION

Palo Alto, Calif.-based Hewlett-Packard Co. reported a 29 percent rise in quarterly profit and surpassed Wall Street estimates on improving margins from cost cuts and falling component prices, sending its shares up 2 percent. The world's largest personal computer maker also provided an earnings and revenue outlook for its current quarter that is ahead of analysts' expectations. Net income in its fiscal third quarter rose to $1.78 billion, or 66 cents per share, from $1.38 billion, or 48 cents per share, a year earlier. (Reuters)

Fannie Mae, the largest US buyer and guarantor of home mortgages, reported that its profit dropped 36 percent in 2006 and said it expects higher delinquencies and credit losses this year from the turbulence in the mortgage market. The government-sponsored company, which finances or guarantees one of every five home loans in the United States, said it earned $4.1 billion, or $3.65 a share in 2006, down from $6.35 billion, or $6.01 a share, in 2005 and $5 billion, or $4.94 a share, in 2004. (AP)