The Ticker

JP Morgan reaches $4B deal with feds

JPMorgan Chase & Co. has reached a tentative $4 billion deal with the U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency to settle claims that the bank misled government-sponsored mortgage agencies about the quality of mortgages it sold to them during the housing boom, the Wall Street Journal reported online yesterday.

The deal is for less than the $6 billion the agency initially sought, the Journal said, citing people close to the discussions.

Ariad in trouble after failed study

Cambridge-based Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc. is working on a new financial plan after increased risks of blood clots stopped a study aimed at expanding use of its only approved drug. The shares sank.

The study, called Epic, was testing Ariad's Iclusig against Novartis AG Gleevec in newly diagnosed chronic myeloid leukemia. Iclusig is still on the market and the company is working with regulators on changing the drug's labeling to reflect the safety findings, Ariad said yesterday in a statement.

"It's the end of Ariad as we know it," Mike King, an analyst with JMP Securities, said yesterday. The risks will relegate Iclusig to "break glass in case of emergency" use only, said King, who predicted the company may fire workers and halt plans to expand its headquarters.

Ariad will work in the next few weeks to put a new financial and operating plan in place, Chief Executive Officer Harvey Berger told analysts and investors on a conference call. It's premature to discuss the potential for a partnership or sale of the company, he said in response to a question.

"We are working as a team on a substantially revised financial plan that will extend out our cash runway substantially beyond where we are today," Berger said. "We're taking a fresh look at every component of our budget, every near- and long-term expenditure," he said, citing clinical trials, facilities and people.

Ariad plunged 41 percent to $2.67 at the close in New York yesterday, extending a record drop that started when the study enrollment was first halted earlier this month. The shares have lost 86 percent this year.

BMC gets two research awards

Boston Medical Center has been approved to receive two research awards from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. One will fund a study of the delivery of cancer care to patients who face socio-legal barriers and the other a test of the effectiveness of integrative medical group visits for treating chronic pain.

THE SHUFFLE

• Thomas Hilditch, left, has been appointed a regional vice president of the 18,000-plus member Institute of Real Estate Management. His expertise includes site operations, staff development, budgeting, building systems, and community relations.
• Gary D. Hoffstein joins Needham-based Salus Capital Partners as the senior vice president, chief information officer, responsible for managing the direction of technology to support the firm's continued growth through strategic planning and evaluation.

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Globe holds off closer

The John Henry era will soon begin at The Boston Globe — though not as early as originally hoped — as the broadsheet prepares to end two decades under the control of its out-of-town overlords.

A source close to the deal told the Herald yesterday that finalizing the purchase and executing the formal transfer of the newspaper from the Times to the Red Sox owner — which had been expected to happen sometime over the weekend — likely won't take place until next week at the earliest.

Both the Globe and a rep for Henry declined comment yesterday, and a Times spokeswoman did not return calls or emails.

Henry announced in August he was buying the New England Media Group — which includes the Globe, Boston.com, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette and related properties — for $70 million.

Since then, Henry has remained tight-lipped publicly about his long-term plans for the paper — including whether he will sell the Morrissey Boulevard building or cut staff. That silence has left Globe staffers on tenterhooks, said Alan Mutter, a former newspaper editor and an adjunct professor at the University of California at Berkeley.

"In the newsroom and elsewhere in the building, everyone's wondering what's going to happen next," said Mutter. "Their number-one primary concern is will they have a job ... There are all sorts of ways you can restructure the business and cut costs."

Had the deal occurred over the weekend, Henry could have been in the unusual position of printing the first edition of his new Globe reflecting the outcome of tomorrow's potential ALCS-clinching Red Sox game.

Meanwhile, analysts said it was long overdue for the Times to unload its local newspaper portfolio.

"They get (to get) rid of what they believe is a losing business," said analyst Ed Atorino of The Benchmark Company. "A lot of newspapers are struggling. In a way, there are so many problems at the Times, it probably became a distraction."

Said Mutter: "The New York Times clearly decided to sever everything that could be a distraction to the main brand. What they're getting is not so much money, but peace of mind — they don't have to worry about The Boston Globe anymore."

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Boston hospitals get $12M NIH grant

Two local hospitals are using a federal grant to form the Boston Biomedical Innovation Center, the latest effort by nonprofit hospitals to play a role in transforming medical research into commercially viable products.

The seven-year, $12 million grant — one of three nationwide from the National Institutes of Health — will ensure that scientific advances at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital will "rapidly lead to new drugs, medical devices and diagnostic tools that can help improve — and even save — the lives of patients everywhere," said Dr. Anne Klibanski, chief academic officer at Partners HealthCare.

"The purpose is to help bridge the chasm in realizing the benefits of many discoveries," said Dr. Joseph Loscalzo, chairman of the department of medicine at Brigham and Women's and a Harvard Medical School professor.

As government funding grows more difficult to secure, hospitals are turning to industry to establish joint projects, said Michael Pistone of the Center for Technology Commercialization at Cincinnati Children's Hospital, which spends $1 million annually to advance research to the point of commercial viability.

Boston Children's Hospital has joined with a California diagnostics equipment maker to form a company to develop tests for pediatric diseases. And, Mass. General is teaming with AstraZeneca to find the best matches between patients and treatments.

"It's obvious you need to have partnerships in order to make medical progress," said Edward Abrahams, president of the Personalized Medicine Coalition, an education and advocacy group. "We need to break down the barriers."

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Downtown evolves as a neighborhood

No longer do the sidewalks roll up after 6 p.m. in the Financial District.

The Hub will see twice the number of new housing units during this cycle than it did last cycle. And it is well-positioned to absorb the housing spurt, as there is a shift toward more urban living.

Accompanying the new housing are more amenity retail options and a different vibe in office tenancy in Downtown Crossing and the Financial District — an area we now just call downtown.

Greg Vasil, CEO of the Greater Boston Real Estate Board, said the lines for the two districts were artificially drawn — one a retail area and the other an office area — but now it is all one.

"The Downtown Crossing area was always the place to shop, and as a natural progression over time, the area is going from a retail district to a mixed-use district," Vasil said. "Downtown Crossing is on its way to becoming another 'living district,' where you have the amenity retail, such as the Walgreens superstore, Roche Brothers grocery store, as well as more fitness centers, retail and restaurants."

David Begelfer, CEO of NAIOP-Massachusetts, a commercial real estate association, said Boston has evolved, both commercially and residentially.

"It is no longer the sense if you are looking for residential you look only to the Back Bay or the South End, you are looking at options that go across the city," Begelfer said. "Same thing goes for office, it is no longer just the Financial District; it is Back Bay, the Seaport, Allston, Brighton and Fenway that are showing very strong life for office development, not a usual situation."

Over the past 13 years, the topography of Greater Boston's commercial tenant landscape has shifted significantly.

To keep talent, companies are moving into the city. Many of these non-financial companies want to be in an urban location with some street vibe to it, said Peter Farnum, senior managing director and principal at Cassidy Turley.

"PayPal, with its move into the fifth and sixth floors of One International Place, and Technip, with its relocation from East Cambridge to One Financial Center, are just two of the recent technology and innovation firms to move into the downtown market," Farnum said.

A significant step forward in changing the face of downtown is Millennium Partners' $630 million complex of new offices, stores and 450 luxury residences on the former Filene's site at the corner of Washington and Summer streets.

Advertising giant Arnold Worldwide and its sister agency, Havas Media, will occupy about 125,000 square feet in the project.

Several other housing developments already are underway in the downtown, including the recently opened 256-unit condo building at Millennium Place and a 381-unit apartment tower by Kensington Investment on Washington Street.

With its AAA bond rating, Boston is on its way to becoming a world class city.

Jennifer Athas is a licensed real estate broker. Follow her on Twitter @Jenathas.

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Budget battles bad for business

Even though there's a short-term deal to reopen the government and raise the debt ceiling, the never-ending cycle of budget fights are hurting consumer confidence and creating uncertainty about the economy, business leaders and an economist said.

"All of the surveys show that consumers are cautious," said Jon Hurst, president of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts. "It couldn't have come at a worse time," Hurst said of the 16-day showdown.

With just over a month before the holiday shopping season gets going, lower confidence could lead to lower spending at a key time, he said.

The bipartisan legislation put together by the Senate lets the Treasury borrow through Feb. 7, and funds the government through Jan. 15. The Senate and later the House both passed it last night. The White House said President Obama signed the bill early today, hours after the House gave final approval.

"We fought the good fight. We just didn't win," House Speaker John Boehner said.

The White House budget office has already instructed federal workers to plan to return to work this morning.

"We'll begin reopening our government immediately and we can begin to lift this cloud of uncertainty from our businesses and the American people," the president said.

The bill, however, only delays the same debate, said Jim Klocke, executive vice president of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce.

"The fact that the deal that has been struck is only a three-month fix is in many ways only going to prolong the uncertainty," Klocke said. "All we've done is deferred the arrival of the bullet for a few months."

Nigel Gault, co-chief economist for the Parthenon Group, said the nation's global credibility will take a hit.

"We've gone to the brink once again, damaged the international reputation of the U.S.," Gault said.

The bill contained almost nothing substantial for Republicans demanding changes to Obamacare. The only provision is a requirement for Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to produce a report stating her agency can verify the incomes of individuals who apply for federal subsidies.

Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, a potential 2016 presidential candidate, told Boston Herald Radio yesterday he was never in favor of shutting down the government as a way to fight Obamacare. "I've always thought really if you want to talk about Obamacare, talk about how bad it is, and how awful it's going to be ... that's all good. But attaching it to shutting down the government, I didn't think was a good idea," he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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White House: Furloughed workers can return to work

WASHINGTON — The federal government is back open for business.

The Obama administration changed the government's status to "open" early Thursday, more than two weeks after a partial shutdown took hold when funding from Congress ran out.

Minutes after President Barack Obama signed a hard-fought deal struck in Congress, the White House directed all agencies to reopen promptly and in an orderly fashion. Furloughed federal employees across the country are expected to return to work Thursday.

"In the days ahead, we will work closely with departments and agencies to make the transition back to full operating status as smooth as possible," said Sylvia Mathews Burwell, director of the Office of Management and Budget.

Unless they are told otherwise, all employees should return to work on their next regularly scheduled work day, the Office of Personnel Management said. For most workers, that means they'll be expected to clock in Thursday morning.

But the administration also said agencies are strongly encouraged to be flexible where they can, including by allowing telework, flexible scheduling and excused absences in cases of hardship. Many federal workers may be unable to return to work on such short notice.

The White House encouraged federal workers to check OPM's website for additional instructions about returning to work.

Hundreds of thousands of workers have been furloughed since the shutdown started Oct. 1. The measure Obama signed Thursday restores government funding through Jan. 15. It also extends the nation's borrowing authority through Feb. 7, averting a potential default.

___

Online:

Office of Personnel Management: http://www.opm.gov

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Obamacare adviser: Rollout in crisis

The MIT mastermind behind the state's health insurance reform law and key adviser to President Obama's plan says the botched rollout and technical issues plaguing signups for the health exchanges that are part of the administration's signature bill threatens to devolve into a crisis if they are not fixed soon.

"I wish it were going a little bit better," said Jonathan Gruber, an economics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the architect of Romneycare, which was the blueprint for Obamacare. "I think it harms the perception."

Healthcare.gov has seen outages and slow response times, preventing people from signing up for the health care exchanges that are part of Obamacare since its launch Oct. 1.

Still, Gruber believes that the difficulties people have had signing up online will be forgotten in six months, as long as the current issues are taken care of soon.

"Right now we're at 
DEFCON politically problematic," he said.

If the problems persist through November, he said, the consequences will be more significant. There is a Dec. 15 deadline to apply for coverage effective Jan. 1.

"At the end of November we move to genuinely problematic," and it will become a crisis if the issues are not resolved by March 31, when open enrollment closes, he said.

Gruber said he wouldn't be surprised if some technical problems persist but that doesn't mean the online exchanges and the law itself are not working.

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Asian stocks mixed as US debt deal deadline looms

MANILA, Philippines — Asian stock markets fluctuated between gains and losses Wednesday as a deadline for divided U.S. lawmakers to agree on a higher government borrowing limit drew ever closer.

Unless Congress acts by Thursday, the government will lose its ability to borrow and will be required to meet its obligations by relying on cash in hand and incoming tax receipts. That could mean the U.S. is unable to repay holders of Treasury bills that mature in coming days and would be in default on its debt.

Japan's Nikkei 225 was up 0.2 percent at 14,464.04 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 0.4 percent to 23,226.53. China's Shanghai Composite fell 1.4 percent to 2,203.34. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 0.2 percent to 5,268.20.

Stock indexes in Singapore, Malaysia, New Zealand and the Philippines eked out modest gains.

"The market is still relatively calm waiting for the storm to hit tomorrow, when the U.S. will reach its debt ceiling and then default will follow and all hell will break loose," said Francis Lun, chief economist at GE Oriental Finance Group in Hong Kong.

"Everybody is thinking the inevitable now. It is inevitable that the U.S. will miss an agreement before the deadline," he said.

On Wall Street, stocks were flat or down all day Tuesday, but the size of the losses waxed and waned depending on which politician was giving a press conference about the budget impasse. The market closed with its first loss in a week. Yields on short-term government debt rose sharply as investors worried about the possibility of a default.

Another reason for Wall Street's pessimism was that any deal reached this week might simply set up another showdown a few months down the road.

Lawmakers are also trying to agree on ending a partial government shutdown that has resulted in many Federal workers idled without pay.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 133.25 points, or 0.9 percent, to 15,168.01. The Standard & Poor's 500 fell 12.08 points, or 0.7 percent, to 1,698.06. The Nasdaq composite fell 21.26 points, or 0.6 percent, to 3,794.01.

In energy markets, benchmark crude for November delivery was up 4 cents at $101.17 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell $1.20 to close at $101.21 on Tuesday.

The euro fell to $1.3511 from $1.3522 late Tuesday in New York. The dollar rose to 98.53 yen from 98.22 yen.

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Asian stocks gain on US debt deal hopes

MANILA, Philippines — Asian stock markets rose Tuesday, tracking gains on Wall Street, where shares were boosted by signs that Washington was moving closer to a deal that would avert a debt default by the U.S. government.

Two days from a deadline to increase the U.S. debt ceiling, investors remain focused on developments in Washington. Most think a deal will be reached in time and stock markets were holding up.

The U.S. has to increase the amount of debt it can sell by Oct. 17 or face a possible default, a scenario that could derail the U.S. economic recovery and roil international markets.

Investors in Asia "are hoping that the US can have a deal done to resolve the debt limit problem in coming days, so I think that's the biggest news for the Asian markets," said Jackson Wong, vice president at Tanrich Securities in Hong Kong.

Negotiations between Republicans and Democrats over the weekend failed to reach a conclusion either on raising the debt ceiling or the partial shutdown of the U.S. government, which has now entered a third week.

Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average added 0.2 percent to 14,425.04 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.6 percent to 23,351.84. South Korea's Kospi was 0.8 percent higher at 2,036.56. Taiwan's stock index rose 0.9 percent to 8,347.55.

China's Shanghai Composite index bucked the trend, down 0.3 percent at 2,230.62.

Wong said recent economic data from China has been mixed, with investors still not sure whether the Chinese economy will stabilize after a prolonged slowdown.

Markets in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines were closed for holidays.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 64 points, or 0.4 percent, to close at 15,301 on Monday.

The Standard & Poor's 500 rose seven points, or 0.4 percent, to 1,710. The Nasdaq composite rose 23 points, or 0.6 percent, to 3,815.

In energy trading, benchmark crude for November delivery was down 13 cents at$102.28 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The euro rose to $1.356 from $1.3554 late Monday. The dollar dropped to 98.45 yen from 98.67 yen.

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SF area transit strike looms hours before deadline

OAKLAND, Calif. — A San Francisco Bay Area transit system and its two largest unions were negotiating right up to a midnight deadline Monday as fear of a second gridlock-inducing strike in three months intensified.

The parties held talks throughout the day after the unions backed off a threatened strike deadline late Sunday and gave Bay Area Rapid Transit managers a 24-hour reprieve. But by late afternoon it appeared that both sides were remaining firm in their positions.

BART board president Tom Radulovich urged representatives of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555 and the Service Employees International Union Local 1021 to let its more than 2,300 members vote on the agency's final offer presented Sunday.

"We've been at this for a total of 150 days at this point and we think it's time for the union leadership to let us know, to let the people in the Bay Area know whether they are going to take an offer to their membership," Radulovich said.

But SEIU 1021 executive director Pete Castelli said the unions remained unhappy with BART's last offer. He urged BART to tweak the offer and warned commuters that the unions may go on strike at midnight Monday if a deal can't be reached.

He said the parties are somewhere between $6 million to $10 million apart.

"The public needs to understand we were close to a deal and remain close to a deal," Castelli said. "We apologize to the riders, but we put it squarely at BART's feet. We feel that have to give them notice tonight that unless something breaks and there's a Hail Mary, there will be a strike."

About 400,000 riders take BART every weekday on the nation's fifth-largest commuter rail system.

"I am so frustrated with the way they've been holding the riders hostage," said BART commuter Toba Villatore, 45, of San Francisco as she headed to work. "I'm tired of staying up until midnight wondering if there's going to be a strike or not."

Sticking points in the 6-month-old negotiations include salaries and workers' contributions to their health and pension plans. Castelli said Monday that while the parties had made progress on pay, pension and health care benefits they also were still at odds on issues related to work rules.

BART General Manager Grace Crunican said that the offer presented to the union Sunday was $7 million higher than Friday's proposal. It includes an annual 3 percent raise over four years and requires workers to contribute 4 percent toward their pension and 9.5 percent toward medical benefits.

Workers from the two unions, which represent more than 2,300 mechanics, custodians, station agents, train operators and clerical staff, now average about $71,000 in base salary and $11,000 in overtime annually, the transit agency said. BART workers currently pay $92 a month for health care and contribute nothing toward their pensions.

Crunican said the unions have two weeks from Sunday to accept the deal before it is taken off the table.

"It is time to bring this to a close," Crunican said.

BART workers went on strike for nearly five days in early July and were about to go again on Friday when a 60-day cooling-off period ordered by Gov. Jerry Brown expired.

However, the parties continued negotiating over the weekend and into Monday, as ridership was light because of strike fears and the Columbus Day holiday.

A pending strike forced San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee to cancel a trip to China. He said that "people's very livelihoods hang in the balance."

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5 cars for the explorer ready to settle down — with flair

Adventure and exploration is all fine and good, but it doesn't mean a whole lot if you don't like where you end up.

If you've had enough of blazing a trail over rough terrain, car expert Mike Magrath, features editor at Edmunds.com, has put together a list of top cars that are perfect for settling down and settling in.

"You can get something a little extra that not only meets your needs, but will impress you," Magrath said.

Here are five cars that balance what you need and what you want.

 2014 Honda 
Odyssey

The minivan is a staple of settling down, and the Odyssey gets it right, Magrath said. Complete with a new, optional, built-in vacuum cleaner, the Odyssey is the ultimate family vehicle.

"There is nothing with more human friendly space than a minivan," Magrath said, and the Odyssey has "all the room in the world to load your kids and your stuff." (Base price: $28,825)

 2014 Lexus IS 350

"The Lexus IS 350 is the car you get when you're tired of blending into your suburb," Magrath said. "It has all of the standout looks to separate you from the crowd."

The luxury sedan's looks are great, but the inside is just as good, Magrath said.

"It's proven, powerful, super drivetrain won't let you down," he said. (Base price: $39,465)

 2013 Toyota 
Prius C

A no-frills hybrid, the Prius C absolutely excels at city driving, Magrath said.

"It will slog through those city streets and return an honest to goodness 53 miles per gallon," he said.

Small and light, "the Prius C is an excellent commuting, parking, living among people car," Magrath said. (Base price: $19,080)

 2014 Porsche Panamera

Porsche's luxury sedan, the Panamera, does everything a sedan needs to, but with the performance of a Porsche.

"It offers the type of performance you expect from a sports car half its size," Magrath said.

With the Panamera, "no one at the golf club needs to know when the sun goes down, you go race," he said. (Base price: $78,100)

 2013 Jaguar XF

The XF is a family car for the car lover. "It's something passionate that pulls you," Magrath said of the XF. "It is rich with intricate little details."

Available in multiple configurations, including a 550 horsepower V8, "it's an experience," Magrath said.

"It's a car with tons of personality." (Base price: $46,975)

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Study ties chemical to possible miscarriage risk

BOSTON — New research suggests that high levels of BPA, a chemical in many plastics and canned food linings, might raise the risk of miscarriage in women prone to that problem or having trouble getting pregnant.

The work is not nearly enough to prove a link, but it adds to "the biological plausibility" that BPA might affect fertility and other aspects of health, said Dr. Linda Giudice, a California biochemist who is president of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. The study was to be presented Monday at the group's annual conference in Boston. Last month, ASRM and an obstetricians group urged more attention to environmental chemicals and their potential hazards for pregnant women.

BPA, short for bisphenol-A, and certain other environmental chemicals can have very weak, hormone-like effects. Tests show BPA in nearly everyone's urine, though the chemical has been removed from baby bottles and many reusable drink containers in recent years. The federal Food and Drug Administration says BPA is safe as used now in other food containers.

Most miscarriages are due to egg or chromosome problems, and a study in mice suggested BPA might influence that risk, said Dr. Ruth Lathi, a Stanford University reproductive endocrinologist.

With a federal grant, she and other researchers studied 115 newly pregnant women with a history of infertility or miscarriage; 68 wound up having miscarriages and 47 had live births.

Researchers analyzed blood samples from when the women were discovered to be pregnant and divided them into four groups based on BPA levels. Women in the top quarter had an 80 percent greater risk of miscarriage compared to those in the bottom group even though they were similar in age and other factors. However, because the study is relatively small, there was a big range of possible risk — from only slightly elevated to as much as 10 times higher.

"It may be that women with higher BPA levels do have other risk factors" for miscarriage that might be amplified by BPA, Lathi said.

The study is not cause for alarm, but "it's far from reassuring that BPA is safe" for such women, she said.

To minimize BPA exposure, avoid cooking or warming food in plastic because heat helps the chemical leak out, she said. Don't leave water bottles in the sun, limit use of canned foods and avoid handling cash register receipts, which often are coated with resins that contain BPA.

"It's impossible to avoid it completely," Lathi said.

___

Online:

BPA info: http://1.usa.gov/QHrkfN

Infertility info: http://www.sart.org and

http://www.asrm.org

___

Follow Marilynn Marchione on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MMarchioneAP

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The Ticker

Menino to get lifetime award from biz council

Retiring Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino is picking up a prestigious honor from a regional business organization.

The New England Council plans to present Menino with a lifetime achievement award at its annual dinner Wednesday in Boston.

The city's longest-serving mayor will leave office at the end of the year. He's battled health problems in recent years.

TOMORROW

• Columbus Day — Bond market closed; stock markets, commodities markets open.

TUESDAY

• Coca-Cola Co., Johnson & Johnson and Citigroup Inc. report quarterly financial results before the market opens.
• Yahoo Inc., Intel Corp. and CSX Corp. report quarterly financial results after the market closes.

WEDNESDAY

• National Association of Home Builders releases housing market index for October.
• Federal Reserve releases Beige Book.

THURSDAY

• Labor Department releases weekly jobless claims
• Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, releases weekly mortgage rates.
• Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew says the government's borrowing authority will expire Oct. 17.

FRIDAY

• Conference Board releases leading indicators for September.

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Site lets buyers haggle for goods

After his menswear business "took it on the chin" when the economy went sour, Shawn Harris was approached by fashion websites such as BuyWithMe and Gilt City that offered to promote his clothes, but he demurred.

They would have slashed his prices by half right from the outset, he said, and then he would have had to split the profits with them.

"I felt there had to be a better way," said Harris, 37. "I thought, 'What if I let the consumer tell me what they're willing to pay, and I give them a reward?'"

That seed of an idea grew into Nyopoly, the women's fashion business that he founded in Boston in 2011 and that will compete against 127 other MassChallenge finalists from around the world on Oct. 30 for a share of $1 million in prize money.

Since the website went live 11 months ago, it has registered 3,000 members, who negotiate for current-season clothes, shoes and accessories ranging in price from $65 for a pair of small-brand ballet flats to $1,300 for a Prada bag.

Members can make up to three offers on any item and receive an answer in seconds. If their first offer is accepted, they get a 
20 percent cash-back credit to use toward a future purchase. If their second offer is accepted, they get a 10 percent cash-back credit. And if their third is accepted, they get only the item — but at the discounted price they offered.

If that offer is rejected, they can either pay full price or wait 48 hours to make a new round of offers on the item. In the meantime, they can still negotiate for other Nyopoly goods.

Harris can afford to use all this haggling as a business model because he buys goods at wholesale either directly from the brands or through distribution, he said.

"It beats going to the store," said Stacie Calixte, 35, of Brockton, who's bought about a half-dozen things from Nyopoly since she first heard about the site from her mother in January. "It's more convenient, and it gives you more flexibility than sites that say, 'This is our price; take it or leave it.'"

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