Markets

stocks lag in 2015, even as US economy improves

As major US stock indexes stumbled across the finish line last week, they ended the year with barely any gains, despite the US economy chugging along at a 2.5 percent growth rate and unemployment falling to 5 percent, the lowest level in nearly eight years. But worries about an economic slowdown in China, a weaker global economy, and the timing and trajectory of interest rate increases by the Federal Reserve led to wild ups and downs, with the Dow Jones industrial average ending the year down about 2 percent and the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 Index losing just under 1 percent. Another factor contributing to modest losses was the plunging price of oil, good for consumers, but bad for big energy and industrial companies, whose stocks can move markets.

Public offerings

IPOs slow down to end the year

The IPO window might be slamming shut. After three years of strong demand, initial public offerings from biotech companies tailed off markedly in 2015, especially during the second half of the year. Eleven biotechs in Massachusetts completed IPOs in 2015, down from 15 last year, according to the Greenwich, Conn., research firm Renaissance Capital. Only one local tech company, the Boston digital security firm Rapid7 Inc., completed an IPO in 2015, down from four in 2014.

health care

Blue Cross bolsters end-of-life benefits

The state’s largest health insurer will offer some of the newest and most comprehensive end-of-life benefits in the nation, aiming to prod patients and health care providers to discuss death openly and expand services to help people live out their last days. The move by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts comes as health organizations put more emphasis on providing and paying for care that’s more in line with patients’ wishes. While the primary goal is not cost control, the effort has the potential to lower health care spending by giving patients more options to replace hospital care with less expensive hospice and home care.

retail

E-commerce big winner in holiday shopping season

The holiday season shaped up to be a relatively healthy one for retailers. Retail sales were up 7.9 percent between Black Friday and Christmas Eve, compared to the same period in 2014, according to MasterCard SpendingPulse. MasterCard SpendingPulse found that e-commerce provided momentum this holiday season, with sales up 20 percent. The strength in online shopping was consistent with many forecasts, which predicted e-commerce would post greater sales growth than brick-and-mortar stores. Over the Thanksgiving weekend, brick-and-mortar stores saw a 10.4 percent sales decline, while online sales hit record levels.

lottery

Lottery ponders daily fantasy sports games

The Massachusetts Lottery is looking for companies that could help it roll out daily fantasy sports and other digital games, hoping to reach young people more likely to tap on a smartphone screen than scratch a paper ticket. The lottery is in the early stages of studying the market for digital games and doesn’t plan any new contests without backing from elected officials, director Michael Sweeney said. The lottery’s interest in daily fantasy sports reflects both the sector’s explosion into a multibillion-dollar industry, led by DraftKings Inc. of Boston and FanDuel Inc. of New York., and slow growth of traditional lottery games.

personal finance

minimum wage, tax credit rise

The state on Jan. 1 raised its minimum wage to $10 an hour and expanded a tax credit on earned income, two moves intended to help hundreds of thousands of workers on the lower rungs of the economic ladder. The minimum wage boost will give an estimated 450,000 full-time workers an average raise of about $2,000 a year. The amplified Earned Income Tax Credit will provide as much as $500 of extra income annually to low-income Massachusetts families with at least three children. More than 400,000 workers file for the benefit each year.

energy

Cumberland Farms sells Gulf Oil unit

A Boston private equity firm bought Gulf Oil from Framingham-based Cumberland Farms in a deal reportedly worth $800 million. ArcLight Capital Partners announced the deal in a press release Tuesday. Gulf will maintain its name and headquarters in Massachusetts, and the transition is not expected to disrupt existing practices or agreements, ArcLight said. Gulf is a terminal operator and wholesaler of refined petroleum products, including heating oil, diesel fuel, and gasoline.

Real Estate

HoME prices rising statewide

The residential real estate recovery in Massachusetts has been so strong over the past year that home values have risen not just in enclaves around Boston, but also in smaller, lower-income cities across the state. The median sale price of a single-family home was $340,000 for the first 11 months of 2015, up 2.3 percent statewide from the same period in 2014, according to the Warren Group, a Boston real estate tracking firm. Many municipalities saw greater gains, particularly cities such as Lynn, New Bedford, and Fall River that haven’t always benefited from the economic booms.

development

Another tower for the Back Bay

Another big tower may be rising in the Back Bay. Boston Properties filed a notice with the city that it wants to build a 1.4 million-square-foot complex of office space, housing, and retail above the Back Bay Station between Clarendon and Dartmouth streets. While details such as the project’s height are still being finalized, any development of that size would alter the city’s skyline alongside the John Hancock Tower, the Prudential Center, and a new generation of towers, among them the 61-story One Dalton near the Christian Science Plaza, on which construction began this year.

health care

For-profit hospital company gets mixed review

Steward Health Care System has maintained important medical services for elderly and low-income patients, but its mounting losses raise concerns about the for-profit hospital company’s financial stability, Attorney General Maura Healey said in a report. Steward lost $75 million on operations in 2014, up from $55 million in 2013 and $22 million in 2012, the report said. The company also has large debt and $369 million in unfunded pension liabilities. A Steward spokeswoman said the 2014 loss was largely due to the financial struggles and closing of Quincy Medical Center. Steward also spent heavily to upgrade technology and facilities, she said.