Fortune‘s latest cover story, “The Age of Unicorns,” details the rise in the number of tech companies that are valued at $1 billion or more. The once-rare designation—hence the mythical name—is now shared by more than 80 startups.

The Unicorn Club remains exclusive. The Decacorn Club, with valuations of $10 billion or more, even more so. But the most exclusive one of all?

Just four companies on Fortune‘s Unicorn List have female CEOs—about five percent of the total. A handful more have female co-founders on their leadership teams. Many entrepreneurs and venture capitalists have acknowledged a rise in the number of female-founded startups.

So why aren’t more unicorns led by women?

Aileen Lee, the venture capitalist who made the term famous, has some thoughts. She says that the shift in the number of women-led unicorns hasn’t been “as dramatic as it should be or we want it to be.”

Women famously struggle to raise capital. Eighty-five percent of companies that were funded between 2011 and 2013 have no women on their executive teams, according to Babson College researchers. The firm Lee launched in 2012, Cowboy Ventures, is “open for business for supporting a more diverse group of founders.” She believes female founders (and teams with more diversity) will drive “awesome” returns.

Until Lee’s viewpoint spreads down Sand Hill Road, aspiring female founders have a handful of role models to emulate. Founder-CEOs such as Elizabeth Holmes of blood diagnostics upstart Theranos, Lynn Jurich of solar energy provider SunRun, and Adi Tatarko of home renovation and design platform Houzz have proven that it’s very possible for women to build companies that cross the billion-dollar hurdle.

Tatarko, who started Houzz with her husband Alon Cohen in 2009, joined the Unicorn Club after raising $165 million in 2014, but that was never her goal. “It’s too difficult to start and run a business for [reaching a billion-dollar valuation] to be your ultimate objective,” she says. “It will be very hard to get up in the morning if that’s all that drives you.”

Bootstrapping in the early days can be invaluable experience, she says. “Spend the first six to 12 months building a great product or service that people love, rather than chasing investors,” she explains. “When the time comes to engage investors, you will be meeting them from a position of strength. This makes all the difference.”

Eventbrite, the online ticketing service, became a unicorn in March. Co-founder Julia Hartz echoes Tatarko’s sentiment. When she started the company with her husband Kevin in 2006, the duo approached more than 20 venture capital firms with their plan and left each meeting empty-handed. Three years later, the Hartzes reapproached VC firms with a list of accomplishments. It was “a very different conversation,” Hartz says, one that allowed them to choose their backer: Sequoia Capital. “Once you show traction and results, it’s much easier to get people to dream about the future with you.”

Not everyone can afford to be as patient (or clever) as Tatarko and Hartz. For women looking to raise money now, it’s all about the pitch. Lee says women “tend to do best when they present themselves as Type-A leaders on the more aggressive, confident side.” They should also be very on top of their numbers, concise, and high energy. “Male founders who come across as Type B are more likely to get the benefit of the doubt” than women with similar personality traits, Lee says. They’ll be perceived as “creative geniuses.” The same reaction rarely happens with women.

One of the reasons that fake-it-till-you-make-it, Type-A approach may work is because it exudes confidence—an elusive trait for some women. Hartz recently spoke as part of a course at Stanford University called “Entrepreneurship from the Perspective of a Woman.” She says she snuck in early to the all-female class and when the professor asked questions, there was a 20 to 30 second pause before the first hand went up. “Without a guy jumping in, there was silence,” Hartz says, “We were all raised in a society where females are getting signals to have a confidence gap. We have to build that muscle.”

That confidence starts with a great product or service. “Focus on doing something you are truly passionate about, and on building a product or service that people need, want and use,” Tatarko says. Hartz says she and her husband’s focus has always been on gross ticket sales. “We were talking about a billion in gross ticket sales well before we talked valuation,” she says. “That hasn’t changed much.” Kirsten Green, founder of Forerunner Ventures, says companies that are working to turn services that people are excited about into products also get investors excited. “Somewhere along the lines, it becomes a fulfilling prophecy,” she says. “[Entrepreneurs] justify more money to get more growth.”

As the company gains traction, hiring talented people who create more value—and more investor interest—also help support a sense of self-assurance. “There’s no greater lever for excellence than hiring and growing and retaining the best team,” Hartz says. Lee says many successful unicorns elevated the quality of their strategy and execution when they hired more experienced executives. Facebook FB , for instance, made key hires such as COO Sheryl Sandberg, former CFO Gideon Yu, and former sales chief Mike Murphy as its growth took off. “There are a lot of benefits to having a team of young people, but there are many benefits to having people who’ve made a lot of mistakes,” says Lee. “Making those decisions to bring in talent can have huge impact.”

The number of female role models in the Unicorn Club will continue to grow, Lee says. Female-founded companies such as Rent the Runway, Minted, One Kings Lane, and Stella & Dot all have the potential to reach billion-dollar valuations in the near future.

Hartz agrees. “There’s definitely a shift in the air,” she says. In Eventbrite’s early days, she was the only female founder in their building in San Francisco’s Potrero Hill neighborhood. (It also housed TripIt, Zynga, and Trulia.) Today Hartz knows many more female entrepreneurs. “It’s like watching a glacier,” she says, “but you have to have patience. The makeup will shift over time.”

Summary: Billion-dollar startups led by women are rare. The solution? Same as always: Bootstrap, create a great product, be confident, and hire well.


02/17/2015 AT 12:35 PM EST

Just when you thought your faves were safe, author

is there to pull the rug out from under

"People are going to die [in

] who don't die in the books," Martin revealed to

at the Writers Guild West Awards on Saturday.

Right, because there's not nearly enough bloodshed in HBO's award-winning series.

"So, even the book readers will be unhappy. Everybody better be on their toes," the author warned. "David [Benioff] and D.B. [Weiss, both co-creators of the TV series] are even bloodier than I am."

A grim thought to consider, to be sure.

premieres April 12 on HBO.

Summary: There will actually be some surprises in store for fans of the Song of Ice and Fire series


[ Intro | 1-25 | 26-50 | 51-75 | 75-100 ]

1. Opportunity We live in the land of it. It’s knocking. And all the other adages — all true.

2. The Interstate Highway System. Road trip! Jack Kerouac, Hunter S. Thompson, Chevy Chase — and you.

3. The Sears Tower Naming rights are well and good, but the Willis Tower is still Sears SHLD to us — and still the nation’s tallest building.

4. Wal-Mart employees in Joplin, Mo. Store employees saved lives during the tornado. Now that’s service.

5. Navy Seals They get the big jobs done, and they don’t talk about it.

6. ESPN More than sports, it’s a cradle of pop culture, coming from an unlikely-ville: Bristol, Conn.

7. FedEx The iconic trucks with their orange-and-purple trim always come through.

8. Steve Jobs The brain behind the iPhone, iPad, and iEverything finally managed to get the Beatles onto iTunes. What can’t this guy do?

9. Whole Foods It’s a locavore market, it’s a scene — and if you bring your own reusable bag, most stores will knock a dime off the bill.

10. Microsoft Word RTF, PDF — these mean little to us. The doc is king.

11. Ford F-150 The bestselling pickup truck of all time.

12. The Rockefeller Family The towering bloodline is synonymous with oil, power, and New York City, but its legacy includes Colonial Williamsburg, MoMA, Acadia and Grand Teton National Parks — and much more.

13. Caterpillar When you stick your neck out to gawk at a construction site on the highway, notice it’s always Cat CAT machinery?

14. Detroit Motown’s rise, fall, and — we hope — rise again.

15. The Kindle Savior to trees and book publishing alike.

16. Duct tape Everyone’s first fix-it choice. Just ask MacGyver. Or MacGruber.

17. The Bill of Rights The big 10, baby. (We’re especially partial to freedom of the press.)

18. The Wall Street Bull The market may be struggling, but tourists keep coming to get a photo with its iconic symbol.

19. Carlos Santana If you didn’t already have “Oye Como Va” in your head, you will now.

20. Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon Kentucky-made, by one family, since 1893.

21. LinkedIn Facebook for grownups — and a hot IPO too.

22. Colin Powell Statesman, retired four-star general, and child of immigrants: an American story.

23. Bill and Melinda Gates Money getting money to pledge money.

24. GEICO commercials Always clever (though we prefer the gecko to the guy in the suit and the cavemen).

25. The Mississippi River Our country’s largest river system — and muse to Twain, Faulkner, Zeppelin, and Cash.

[The list: Intro | 1-25 | 26-50 | 51-75 | 75-100 ]

Summary: [ Intro | 1-25 | 26-50 | 51-75 | 75-100 ] 1. Opportunity We live in the land of it. It's knocking. And all the other adages -- all true. 2. The Interstate Highway System. Road trip! Jack Kerouac, Hunter S. Thompson, Chevy Chase -- and you. 3. The Sears Tower Naming rights are well…


Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko Wednesday fired one of the country’s most powerful oligarchs as governor of a key region in central Ukraine, in a power struggle that may become one of the defining moments in the country’s post-Soviet history.

Poroshenko said he had “granted a request by Ihor Kolomoysky” to be relieved as governor of Dnipropetrovsk, in what appeared to be a face-saving gesture after an explosive row between them over one of the country’s most important companies.

The row erupted after Poroshenko passed a new law allowing the state to take back its rights as majority owner of oil refiner Ukrnafta. State officials trying to enter Ukrnafta’s offices after the bill passed were blocked by Kolomoysky’s armed security guards, leading the president to warn that he wouldn’t tolerate any ‘pocket armies’.

The bill could redress a number of scandals where state-owned companies have been manipulated by well-connected tycoons over the years. Poroshenko’s supporters say it will tame the oligarchs and reduce corruption. Kolomoysky’s supporters say it will just be used to benefit other private interests.

Kolomoysky is a uniquely important and highly controversial figure in the fissile politics of Ukraine, being owner of the country’s largest bank, Privat, and of an influential TV channel. He lent crucial support first to the Orange Revolution in 2005 and then to Poroshenko in the aftermath of the ousting of Viktor Yanukovych last year.

Poroshenko parachuted him into the governorship of Dnipropetrovsk last year in order to stabilize the situation after Russia annexed Crimea and sponsored revolts by separatists in the country’s industrial heartland in the east. He is believed to have bankrolled at least one battalion of militia fighting the separatists and their Russian backers out of his personal fortune.

Facing defeat on the battlefield, and a severe economic crisis, Poroshenko has to strike a balance between keeping the most powerful tycoons loyal, and carrying out the kind of reforms that the International Monetary Fund and others are insisting on in return for bailing it out. Those reforms center on reducing corruption and improving the judicial system–two issues that have plagued Ukraine since its independence from the Soviet Union, and which were also the key demands of the protesters who ousted Yanukovych.

Lawmakers such as Mustafa Nayyem, who supported Poroshenko’s bill, say it could prove a watershed moment.

“In reality, after the dismissal of Ihor Kolomoysky, the president, government and parliament have no option but to declare war on all the remaining oligarchs,” Nayyem said in a blog post.

However, he warned that “it’s clear that the former governor’s team isn’t prepared to simply surrender,” saying that he expected Kolomoysky to undermine Poroshenko and press for new elections.

Any sign of division within Ukraine’s ranks may also encourage the Russian-backed rebels to abandon a shaky ceasefire that has held since last month, and launch more opportunistic attacks. Sergey Markov, head of a Kremlin-sponsored working group on international diplomacy, said on his Facebook account Monday that Novorossiya (the Russian term for the separatist regions) must have a plan for the contingency of a sharp weakening of the junta.”

“This plan has to include rapid attacks by the armies of Novorossiya” on territories that have so far stayed loyal to Kyiv, including the port city of Mariupol, Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv, and Odessa.

Pro-Russian sentiment in Odessa and Kharkov has tended to be strong in the past, but forces loyal to Kyiv kept the upper hand there last year in violent clashes that, at their worst, saw dozens of pro-Russian demonstrators killed. Kharkov, meanwhile, has been the site of a string of terrorist attacks recently that the authorities say are attempts to destabilize the situation there.

Summary: Intense power struggle could mark watershed moment in battle with corruption - or the start of a new phase of political instability for Russia to exploit.


While Stephon Marbury has been busy solidifying his status as the Michael Jordan of China, let's take a look at what's been going on back home:

So Steve Nash has retired while sort of employed as a Los Angeles Laker.

But posterity claims have been made in Phoenix, where the mold-shattering playmaker was a two-time league MVP while playing for the Suns.

In the days following his announcement, we've grappled to measure Nash's protean impact on basketball.

Most of the tributes focus on how — while performing in Mike D'Antoni's spread-the-court, pick-and-roll-heavy system — Nash altered game play at all levels. When looking at ball-screen frequency, the staggering jump over the last 10 years would not have occurred without Nash's capacity to read and exploit every permutation.

We're also reminded how Nash was one of the game's greatest marksmen, achieving career 180 status (90 percent on free throws, 50 overall from the field and 42 beyond the 3-point arc) when not using his passing skills to maximize the potential of teammates.

Beyond his off-the-court philanthropic record, perhaps the most important legacy left by Nash was his ability to broaden our perspective on athleticism.

That "athleticism" reference generally has conjured notions of explosive speed and vertical lift. Nash had neither.

But his balance, agility, biomechanically advanced talent to change speed and direction — combined with outrageous, personally-crafted dexterity — became a rallying point for anyone previously disposed to abandon their dreams.

And that's a tremendous footnote to any legacy.

Dwight Howard and Kevin Garnett are two of many who successfully navigated the preps-to-pros jump.

University of Louisville coach Rick Pitino provided a talking point last weekend by opining that players should have the option of going directly from high school to the NBA.

In the crosshairs of Pitino's assertion was the "sham" aspects of the system now referred to as "one and done."

While opponents of the preps-to-pros application claim all sorts of ridiculous fallout from prospects skipping college entirely, please take a look at some numbers.

Since 1995 — the year Kevin Garnett's academic issues inspired a leap to the NBA instead of investing a year in junior college — 39 prospects have declared for the draft over that 12-year period.

That's hardly an epidemic, and it seems like a grain of sand when compared with the number of high-school youngsters who forego a college education for far riskier pursuits, like in the entertainment field.

Of those 39 on the preps-to-pros roster, 32 can be considered successful; our qualification for this judgment is having played in the NBA for at least eight seasons. Although these players have experienced varying degrees of success, 10 of the 32 have been All-Stars. That's a pretty strong ratio.

In terms of on-court development, college coaches are limited by the NCAA in time allotted to help build skills. And since when has being on a college campus accelerated the off-court maturity process?

Admittedly, this space recently provided an update on Karl-Anthony Towns, the Kentucky freshman post player whose steady rise has inspired some NBA draft watchers — and league personnel guys — to rate him as a superior prospect to Duke's Jahlil Okafor.

Grant Halverson-Getty Images North America

One NBA scout calls Jahlil Okafor one of the best low-post prospects in years.

Well, we understand the reasons for such a long-term projection — Towns is a more versatile, committed defender and (for now) looks more comfortable turning, facing and sticking a jump shot.

But in terms of being an offensive threat on the post, he's not even close to Okafor.

For validation or condemnation, we contacted four NBA personnel sharpies and solicited their opinions.

Three were in agreement, while the fourth thought the difference in post play wasn't all that significant.

"As far as footwork overall and balance in general, recognition, hands and finishing skill, Okafor isn't just far ahead of Towns right now," one of our experts said. "He's one of the best low-post scoring prospects we've seen in years ... but the other guy's gonna be a pretty dang good basketball player, too."

In addition to the draft class of 2013, it's just nice to be witnessing the seeming rise of skilled players willing to work close to the basket.

Now that his Florida Gators have slogged through a rare losing season, Coach Billy Donovan finds his name among candidates to fill whatever NBA vacancies currently or will exist.

Florida's Billy Donovan turned the NBA down once, but he's back in the crosshairs of teams looking for a coach.

Donovan, who has coached Florida to back-to-back NCAA championships, flirted with coaching professionals when he agreed to join the Orlando Magic in 2007.

Even though he walked away from that opportunity, it reportedly could be presented to him eight years later.

And with Oklahoma City Thunder coach Scott Brooks riding the hot seat for a while, that potential opening also has been listed as possibility.

Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg has also once again been tagged for NBA consideration, with rumors of Tom Thibodeau's rift with the Chicago Bulls inspiring Hoiberg's name to reach the top in connection with his former team.

On the playing front, one name inspiring considerable chatter is restricted-free-agent-to-be Khris Middleton, who is averaging 19 points per game in March for the Milwaukee Bucks. Unfortunately, Middleton hasn't prevented the Bucks from losing all but 4 of 17 games — including six in a row through Sunday — since trading away Brandon Knight.

Despite their young talent on the wings, however, don't expect the Bucks to allow Middleton to walk away.

This week's most-compelling matchup actually brings two disparate basketball styles to Memphis on Friday night.

Friday brings us a stylistic Western Conference showdown between the frenetic Warriors and the grinding Grizzlies.

In the Grizzlies and the Golden State Warriors, we also have two polar opposites who happen to be atop the Western Conference standings.

As for those stylistic notions, Golden State is No. 1 in pace among NBA teams; Memphis rolls in at 26th. Based quite a bit on this difference in tempo, the Warriors lead the league in fast-break points, while the Grizzlies are 20th.

The Warriors are fifth in frequency of 3-point attempts; the Grizzlies are 29th.

Golden State — expecting a return from injury for deadeye Klay Thompson — is fourth in the league for percentage of points delivered via the 3-point shot. The Grizzlies, who prefer grinding with Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol, are 29th ... and first for percentage of points from inside the arc.

Will this be a prelude to the conference finals? Hey, the West is way too brutal for us to go there.

Follow Randy Hill on Twitter

Summary: This week's hot topics in the NBA begins with an examination of how Steve Nash redefined the NBA.


Since it launched in spring 2009, Localytics has been among the most successful alums of the Boston Techstars program. On Tuesday it notched another milestone, raising more investment money than any other TechStar grad after receiving $35 million in a new funding round.

The additional investment, provided by Sapphire Ventures and previous investors Foundation Capital and Polaris Partners, brings the company’s total take to more than $58 million.

Localytics creates a software service that does Web and mobile app marketing and analytics for more than 32,000 applications. It has worked with Disney/ESPN, NOOK, and MyFitnessPal, among others, to improve how marketers gear applications to users.

Founder and chief executive Raj Aggarwal said that the money will be used to expand what he calls “predictive app marketing.” The company wants to use machine learning to add predictive intelligence capabilities, to be able to engage customers with more personalized app experiences.

“We’ve been bullish on the mobile app space and we started with mobile apps analytics and marketing because it would give us a first chance to help grow with the mobile space,” Aggarwal said. “Now the entire focus is on what do we do next to fulfill the promise that we started with.

“There is a lot of truth that you can build a massive company here in Boston,” he added.

Localytics recently added executives from Constant Contact, LogMeIn, and other successful Boston-area companies to its staff, building what Sapphire partner Doug Higgins called “a Boston all-star team.”

Currently, the company employs 200 in Boston and in offices in London and San Francisco. Aggarwal said that, by the end of the year, he hopes to build the team to more than 300.

Summary: The $35 million Series D round brings the company’s total funds raised to more than $58 million, making it the most well-funded Techstars company, outpacing New York City-based ClassPass’s $54 million.


NEW YORK — As a crucial date approaches for Greece to make a major debt payment, the markets are again weighing the possibility the country could default on its loans.

Such an outcome — a decision by the Greek government not to pay its creditors — has generally been seen as remote, even since the left-wing Syriza government came to power in January.

But now, after months of bitter, inconclusive negotiations over the austerity measures Greece would have to impose in order to secure desperately needed cash from Europe, government officials are grappling with very limited options for handling their cash squeeze.

On April 9, Greece must pay 458 million euros ($503 million) to the International Monetary Fund, a date and sum that in recent weeks have come to loom large for investors, many of whom worry how the markets would absorb a messy Greek default.

Adding to these concerns was the abrupt decision by Greece’s finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, to fly to Washington and meet with the IMF’s managing director, Christine Lagarde, on Sunday.

In a statement, the IMF said Lagarde and Varoufakis were having an “informal discussion on the Greek government’s reform program.”

Greece has said it has the money to pay the IMF this week. Moreover, Varoufakis, from the moment he became finance minister, has gone out of his way to cultivate ties with Lagarde and has said that paying the fund was a priority for Greece.

Over the past month, however, the economic situation in Greece has worsened drastically. Deposits worth about 25 billion euros have been withdrawn from Greek banks, some of which are now on life support with help from the European Central Bank.

The government’s tax collections are also suffering as companies and consumers fret over the prospect that Greece might be forced to abandon the euro.

With Europe refusing to permit Greece access to temporary lines of liquidity — such as letting its banks issue more short-term treasury notes — Greece is running out of cash. That means if it were to pay the fund 458 million euros Thursday, there might not be enough to pay pensions and public sector wages the next week, some Greek officials say.

Varoufakis, whose party came to power on a platform of ending the policy of putting the needs of Greece’s creditors above its suffering citizens, was to make the case to Lagarde that his government would not be able to meet all of its commitments.

There is some wiggle room. Even if Greece does not pay up on Thursday, it will not be in technical default, as there is a 30-day grace period that could allow the government to pay its pension and wage obligations and strike a broader deal so that its creditors could disburse the needed funds.

Varoufakis is also planning to meet with US Treasury officials Monday in the hope that the United States, as the dominant voice at the IMF, might pressure fund officials, and Europe as well, to cut Greece some slack.

The United States has been quietly critical of Europe’s harsh stance toward Greece, warning of the consequences that a Greek default and exit from the euro would have on financial markets.

All told, Greece owes 320 billion euros, with close to 20 billion euros in payments coming due in the next six months.


04/11/2015 AT 12:55 PM EDT

was spotted enjoying himself on the New York City set of

with explosives in his vest on Friday.

The film, which is being directed by

, has brought Clooney to the Big Apple while his wife

The couple have been spotted on a

of sorts in the city, dining at Kappo Masa, Patsy's, Café Boulud and most recently

"He enjoyed, rightfully so, his own Casamigos tequila," a source told PEOPLE of the Cipriani sighting on Wednesday, adding that George, 53, and Amal "were very warm and friendly with everybody and spent a few hours at the restaurant."

Summary: The actor was spotted on set of the New York-based movie on Friday


For Charles Esten and Clare Bowen, starring on the ABC series “Nashville” has helped them both get closer to fulfilling a lifelong dream: not just playing working musicians, but actually being them.

Former “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” star Esten plays singer-songwriter Deacon Claybourne, one half of the tortured romance at the show’s heart, opposite Connie Britton’s Rayna Jaymes. Bowen plays Claybourne’s niece Scarlett O’Connor, a singer-songwriter and member of the aptly named Triple X’s with her two former flames, Gunnar (Sam Palladio) and Avery (Jonathan Jackson).

Alongside several of their costars — Chris Carmack (closeted singer Will Lexington), Aubrey Peeples (Lexington’s former beard, Layla Grant), and Lennon & Maisy Stella (the dynamic sister act who play Rayna Jaymes’s harmonizing daughters) — Bowen and Esten hit the stage at a sold-out Citi Wang Theatre on Saturday for “ABC’s ‘Nashville’ in Concert” tour.

“We’re lucky,” says Esten on the phone from Music City. “There’s a whole lot of shows that don’t get to go out and party with their fan bases. And that’s what we get to do with these diehard fans that love these characters and stories and songs.”

While both actors have plenty of experience making music on the stage and screen — among other credits, Esten had a long-running stint playing Buddy Holly in the West End at the start of his career, while Bowen appeared in “Spring Awakening” in her native Australia — it’s no coincidence that they play singer-songwriters on the nighttime soap about the lives and loves of country musicians. They have long written and sung personally, and, thanks to the launching pad that “Nashville” has provided — scoring them slots at last weekend’s Stagecoach festival and opening gigs for artists like Alan Jackson and Dierks Bentley — both hope to release albums of their original material soon.

“It’s nearly done,” says Bowen, also on the phone from Nashville — the real one — of the record that she worked on with former show consultant T Bone Burnett and members of the Nashville songwriting community. “It snuck up on me. The show brought me here so I have to devote most of my time to that, so all of my writing and collaborating and performing my own stuff is in between. I was just plugging away at it and had a look at everything, and it’s suddenly nearly there. I’ve got to put it all together. It’s real now, it’s pretty cool.”

“I’m always working on it, inasmuch as I’m always writing,” says Esten of his potential release, for which he also tapped the rich local songwriter scene. “But this summer, I’m going to focus down and get something out there. The great thing is even on this tour itself, we’re going to be playing some of our own songs. So that’s a lot of fun for us, and hopefully for the audiences as well.”

Charles Esten during the 2015 Stagecoach, California's Country Music Festival.

On how her songwriting voice might differ from her character’s, Bowen says with a laugh, “I’m a bit louder than Scarlett. She’s been allowed to let loose a bit over the past season which has been really nice. I don’t really know what kind of artist I am or what kind of music I make. I think I’ll just let other people decide.”

Esten says it can be difficult distinguishing between his voice and Deacon’s. “I don’t know if this sounds corny or not, but we share a heart in a way,” he says. “That’s even true with the acting. That line is very blurred if you’re doing it right. Certainly you have to have all the things that bring the character with it, but if you try to step too far away from your own heart and your own sensibilities that move you, it’s not going to resonate in the same way.”

Esten, Bowen, and their castmates will bring the whole kit and caboodle to the Wang stage — original songs, those they’ve performed on the show, and covers — in performances that will range from solo stints to duets, small groups, and likely an all-hands-on-deck finale.

Hopeful that the fans will enjoy it all, Bowen is heartened by an experience singing “Black Roses” in Chicago on a similar tour last year. Mid-song, she thought that she had an interference problem with her in-ear monitors, and feared that she was singing off-key.

“I realized that it was the crowd singing along to the song — that was the interference,” she says, laughing. “It was really scary, but also wonderful, going from being terrified to this amazing realization that all these people knew the words. And it was the first time it had ever happened to me, it was lovely.” (Given that her TV character had an onstage meltdown in the same city was a nice bit of symmetry.)

As the actors embark on the tour, they’re waiting to learn whether “Nashville” will be picked up for a fourth season, which will be announced on or before May 12. While both are cautiously optimistic, Esten admits to nerves.

“I won’t say I’m a jaded actor,” says Esten. “But I’ve been around almost 25 years, and I’ve seen things come and go. And I didn’t get taken on that ride, ever, because I knew if it was meant to be, it was meant to be. But this is not that — I don’t want to do anything other than continue to see what happens in the life of Deacon.”

Summary: “Nashville” stars Clare Bowen and Charles Esten are part of a live concert featuring stars from the ABC-TV series, which comes to the Citi Wang Theatre on Saturday.


Photo: Joe Robbins, Getty Images

33. Landon Collins, safety — New York Giants

Age: 21 | College: Alabama | Size: 6-foot-0, 228 pounds

Note: New York traded up from No. 40, swapping with the Tennessee Titans. In addition to the 40th pick, the Titans also received a 2015 fourth-round pick and 2015 seventh-round pick.

33. Landon Collins, safety — New York Giants

34. Donovan Smith, tackle — Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Age: 21 | College: Penn State | Size: 6-foot-6, 338 pounds

34. Donovan Smith, tackle — Tampa Bay Buccaneers

35. Mario Edwards, defensive end — Oakland Raiders

Age: 21 | College: Florida State | Size: 6-foot-3, 279 pounds

35. Mario Edwards, defensive end — Oakland Raiders

36. TJ Yeldon, running back — Jacksonville Jaguars

Age: 21 | College: Alabama | Size: 6-foot-1, 226 pounds

36. TJ Yeldon, running back — Jacksonville Jaguars

37. Devin Smith, wide receiver — New York Jets

College: Ohio State | Size: 6-foot, 196 pounds

37. Devin Smith, wide receiver — New York Jets

38. Preston Smith, defensive end — Washington Redskins

Age: 22 | College: Mississippi State | Size: 6-foot-5, 271 pounds

38. Preston Smith, defensive end — Washington Redskins

39. Eddie Goldman, defensive tackler — Chicago Bears

Age: 21 | College: Florida State | Size: 6-foot-4, 336 pounds

39. Eddie Goldman, defensive tackler — Chicago Bears

40. Dorial Green-Beckham, wide receiver — Tennessee Titans

Age: 22 | College: Oklahoma | Size: 6-foot-5, 237 pounds

Note: Tennessee traded down from No. 33, swapping with the New York Giants. In addition to the 40th pick, the Titans also received a 2015 fourth-round pick and 2015 seventh-round pick.

40. Dorial Green-Beckham, wide receiver — Tennessee Titans

41. Devin Funchess, wide receiver — Carolina Panthers

Age: 20 | College: Michigan | Size: 6-foot-4, 232 pounds

Note: Carolina traded up from No. 57, swapping with the St. Louis Rams. In addition to the 57th pick, the Rams also received a 2015 third-round pick and 2015 sixth-round pick.

41. Devin Funchess, wide receiver — Carolina Panthers

42. Jalen Collins, cornerback — Atlanta Falcons

Age: 22 | College: LSU | Size: 6-foot-1, 203 pounds

Note: Carolina traded up from No. 57, swapping with the St. Louis Rams. In addition to the 57th pick, the Rams also received a 2015 third-round pick and 2015 sixth-round pick.

42. Jalen Collins, cornerback — Atlanta Falcons

43. Benardrick McKinney, linebacker — Houston Texans

Age: 22 | College: Mississippi State | Size: 6-foot-4, 246 pounds

Note: Houston traded up from No. 51, swapping with the Cleveland Browns. In addition to the 51st pick, Cleveland also received a 2015 fourth-round pick and 2015 sixth-round pick, and Houston also received a 2015 seventh-round pick.

43. Benardrick McKinney, linebacker — Houston Texans

44. Hau’oli Kikaha, defensive end — New Orleans Saints

College: Washington | Size: 6-foot-2, 253 pounds

44. Hau’oli Kikaha, defensive end — New Orleans Saints

45. Eric Kendricks, linebacker — Minnesota Vikings

Age: 23 | College: UCLA | Size: 6-foot, 232 pounds

45. Eric Kendricks, linebacker — Minnesota Vikings

46. Jaquiski Tartt, safety — San Francisco 49ers

Age: 23 | College: Samford | Size: 6-foot-1, 221 pounds

46. Jaquiski Tartt, safety — San Francisco 49ers

47. Eric Rowe, cornerback — Philadelphia Eagles

Age: 22 | College: Utah | Size: 6-foot-1, 205 pounds

Note: Philadelphia traded up from No. 52, swapping with the Miami Dolphins. In addition to the 52nd pick, Miami also received two 2015 fifth-round picks, and the Eagles also received a 2015 sixth-round pick.

47. Eric Rowe, cornerback — Philadelphia Eagles

48. Denzel Perryman, linebacker — San Diego Chargers

Age: 21 | College: Miami (FL) | Size: 5-foot-11, 236 pounds

48. Denzel Perryman, linebacker — San Diego Chargers

49. Mitch Morse, tackle — Kansas City Chiefs

College: Missouri | Size: 6-foot-5, 305 pounds

49. Mitch Morse, tackle — Kansas City Chiefs

50. Ronald Darby, defensive back — Buffalo Bills

Age: 21 | College: Florida State | Size: 5-foot-11, 193 pounds

50. Ronald Darby, defensive back — Buffalo Bills

51. Nate Orchard, defensive end — Cleveland Browns

Age: 22 | College: Utah | Size: 6-foot-3, 250 pounds

Note: Cleveland traded up down No. 43, swapping with the Houston Texans. In addition to the 51st pick, Cleveland also received a 2015 fourth-round pick and 2015 sixth-round pick, and Houston also received a 2015 seventh-round pick.

51. Nate Orchard, defensive end — Cleveland Browns

52. Jordan Phillips, defensive tackle — Miami Dolphins

Age: 22 | College: Oklahoma | Size: 6-foot-5, 329 pounds

Note: Miami traded down from No. 47, swapping with the Philadelphia Eagles. In addition to the 52nd pick, Miami also received two 2015 fifth-round picks, and the Eagles also received a 2015 sixth-round pick.

52. Jordan Phillips, defensive tackle — Miami Dolphins

53. Jake Fisher, tackle — Cincinnati Bengals

Age: 21 | College: Oregon | Size: 6-foot-6, 306 pounds

53. Jake Fisher, tackle — Cincinnati Bengals

54. Ameer Abdullah, running back — Detroit Lions

Age: 21 | College: Nebraska | Size: 5-foot-9, 205 pounds

54. Ameer Abdullah, running back — Detroit Lions

55. Maxx Williams, tight end — Baltimore Ravens

Age: 21 | College: Minnesota | Size: 6-foot-4, 249 pounds

Note: Baltimore traded up from No. 58, swapping with the Arizona Cardinals. In addition to the 58th pick, Arizona also received a 2015 fifth-round pick.

55. Maxx Williams, tight end — Baltimore Ravens

56. Senquez Golson, cornerback — Pittsburgh Steelers

Age: 21 | College: Mississippi | Size: 5-foot-9,176 pounds

56. Senquez Golson, cornerback — Pittsburgh Steelers

57. Rob Havenstein, tackle — St. Louis Rams

College: Wisconsin | Size: 6-foot-7, 321 pounds

Note: St. Louis traded down from No. 41, swapping with the Carolina Panthers. In addition to the 58th pick, Arizona also received a 2015 fifth-round pick. In addition to the 57th pick, the Rams also received a 2015 third-round pick and 2015 sixth-round pick.

57. Rob Havenstein, tackle — St. Louis Rams

58. Markus Golden, defensive end — Arizona Cardinals

College: Missouri | Size: 6-foot-2, 260 pounds

Note: Arizona traded down from No. 55, swapping with the Baltimore Ravens. In addition to the 58th pick, Arizona also received a 2015 fifth-round pick.

58. Markus Golden, defensive end — Arizona Cardinals

59. Ty Sambrailo, tackle — Denver Broncos

Age: 23 | College: Colorado State | Size: 6-foot-6, 311 pounds

59. Ty Sambrailo, tackle — Denver Broncos

60. Randy Gregory, defensive end — Dallas Cowboys

Age: 22 | College: Nebraska | Size: 6-foot-5, 235 pounds

60. Randy Gregory, defensive end — Dallas Cowboys

61. Ali Marpet, tackle — Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Age: 21 | College: Hobart | Size: 6-foot-4, 307 pounds

Note: Tampa Bay traded up from No. 65, swapping with the Indianapolis Colts. In addition to the 61st pick, Tampa Bay also received a 2015 fourth-round pick, and Indianapolis also received a 2015 fourth-round pick.

61. Ali Marpet, tackle — Tampa Bay Buccaneers

62. Quinten Rollins, cornerback — Green Bay Packers

Age: 22 | College: Miami (OH) | Size: 5-foot-11, 195 pounds

62. Quinten Rollins, cornerback — Green Bay Packers

63. Frank Clark, defensive end — Seattle Seahawks

Age: 21 | College: Michigan | Size: 6-foot-3, 271 pounds

63. Frank Clark, defensive end — Seattle Seahawks

64. Jordan Richards, tackle — New England Patriots

College: Stanford | Size: 5-foot-11, 211 pounds

64. Jordan Richards, tackle — New England Patriots

65. D’Joun Smith, cornerback — Indianapolis Colts

Age: 22 | College: Florida Atlantic | Size: 5-foot-10, 187 pounds

Note: Indianapolis traded down from No. 61, swapping with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In addition to the 61st pick, Tampa Bay also received a 2015 fourth-round pick, and Indianapolis also received a 2015 fourth-round pick.

65. D’Joun Smith, cornerback — Indianapolis Colts

66. Jeremiah Poutasi, guard — Tennessee Titans

Age: 20 | College: Utah | Size: 6-foot-5, 335 pounds

66. Jeremiah Poutasi, guard — Tennessee Titans

67. A.J. Cann, guard — Jacksonville Jaguars

Age: 23 | College: South Carolina | Size: 6-foot-3, 313 pounds

67. A.J. Cann, guard — Jacksonville Jaguars

68. Clive Walford, tight end — Oakland Raiders

Age: 23 | College: Miami (FL) | Size: 6-foot-4, 251 pounds

68. Clive Walford, tight end — Oakland Raiders

69. Tyler Lockett, wide receiver — Seattle Seahawks

Age: 22 | College: Kansas State | Size: 5-foot-10, 182 pounds

Note: Seattle traded up from No. 95, swapping with the Washington Redskins. In addition to the 95th pick, Tampa Bay also received fourth-round, fifth-round, and sixth-round picks.

69. Tyler Lockett, wide receiver — Seattle Seahawks

70. Jaelen Strong, wide receiver — Houston Texans

Age: 21 | College: Arizona State | Size: 6-foot-2, 217 pounds

Note: Houston traded up from No. 82, swapping with the New York Jets. In addition to the 82nd pick, the Jets also received a 2015 fifth-round pick, a 2015 seventh-round pick and wide receiver DeVier Posey.

70. Jaelen Strong, wide receiver — Houston Texans

71. Hroniss Grasu, center — Chicago Bears

Age: 23 | College: Oregon | Size: 6-foot-3, 297 pounds

71. Hroniss Grasu, center — Chicago Bears

72. Jamon Brown, tackle — St. Louis Rams

College: Louisville | Size: 6-foot-4, 323 pounds

72. Jamon Brown, tackle — St. Louis Rams

73. Tevin Coleman, running back — Atlanta Falcons

Age: 22 | College: Indiana | Size: 5-foot-11, 206 pounds

73. Tevin Coleman, running back — Atlanta Falcons

74. Owamagbe Odighizuwa, defensive end — New York Giants

Age: 23 | College: UCLA | Size: 6-foot-3, 267 pounds

74. Owamagbe Odighizuwa, defensive end — New York Giants

75. Garrett Grayson, quarterback — New Orleans Saints

Age: 23 | College: Colorado State | Size: 6-foot-2, 213 pounds

75. Garrett Grayson, quarterback — New Orleans Saints

76. Chris Conley, wide receiver — Kansas City Chiefs

Age: 22 | College: Georgia | Size: 6-foot-2, 213 pounds

Note: Kansas City traded up from No. 80, swapping with the Minnesota Vikings. In addition to the 80th pick, the Vikings also received a 2015 sixth-round pick.

76. Chris Conley, wide receiver — Kansas City Chiefs

77. Duke Johnson, running back — Cleveland Browns

Age: 21 | College: Miami (FL) | Size: 5-foot-9, 207 pounds

77. Duke Johnson, running back — Cleveland Browns

78. P.J. Williams, cornerback — New Orleans Saints

Age: 21 | College: Florida State | Size: 6-foot, 194 pounds

Note: New Orleans acquired the No. 78 pick in a trade with the Miami Dolphins in March. The Saints acquired the pick along with linebacker Dannell Ellerbe in exchange for wide receiver Kenny Stills.

78. P.J. Williams, cornerback — New Orleans Saints

79. Eli Harold, linebacker — San Francisco 49ers

Age: 20-21 | College: Virginia | Size: 6-foot-3, 247 pounds

79. Eli Harold, linebacker — San Francisco 49ers

80. Alex Carter, cornerback — Detroit Lions

College: Stanford | Size: 6-foot, 196 pounds

Note: Detroit acquired the No. 80 pick from the Vikings after Minnesota had acquired it from Kansas City for the No. 76 pick. Minnesota acquired the No. 88 pick and a 2015 fifth-round selection.

80. Alex Carter, cornerback — Detroit Lions

81. John Miller, guard — Buffalo Bills

Age: 21 | College: Louisville | Size: 6-foot-2, 303 pounds

81. John Miller, guard — Buffalo Bills

82. Lorenzo Mauldin, linebacker — New York Jets

Age: 22 | College: Louisville | Size: 6-foot-4, 259 pounds

Note: New York traded down from No. 70, swapping with the Houston Texans. In addition to the 82nd pick, the Jets also received a 2015 fifth-round pick, a 2015 seventh-round pick and wide receiver DeVier Posey.

82. Lorenzo Mauldin, linebacker — New York Jets

83. Craig Mager, cornerback — San Diego Chargers

Age: 22 | College: Texas State | Size: 5-foot-11, 201 pounds

83. Craig Mager, cornerback — San Diego Chargers

84. Jordan Hicks, linebacker — Philadelphia Eagles

Age: 22-23 | College: Texas | Size: 6-foot-1, 236 pounds

84. Jordan Hicks, linebacker — Philadelphia Eagles

85. Tyler Kroft, tight end — Cincinnati Bengals

Age: 22 | College: Rutgers | Size: 6-foot-5, 246 pounds

85. Tyler Kroft, tight end — Cincinnati Bengals

86. David Johnson, running back — Arizona Cardinals

Age: 23 | College: Northern Iowa | Size: 6-foot-1, 224 pounds

86. David Johnson, running back — Arizona Cardinals

87. Sammie Coates, wide receiver — Pittsburgh Steelers

Age: 22 | College: Auburn | Size: 6-foot-1, 212 pounds

87. Sammie Coates, wide receiver — Pittsburgh Steelers

88. Danielle Hunter, defensive end — Minnesota Vikings

Age: 20 | College: LSU | Size: 6-foot-5, 252 pounds

Note: Minnesota acquired the No. 88 pick from the Detroit Lions in exchange for the No. 80 pick. Minnesota also acquired a 2015 fifth-round selection.

88. Danielle Hunter, defensive end — Minnesota Vikings

89. Sean Mannion, quarterback — St. Louis Rams

Age: 23 | College: Oregon State | Size: 6-foot-6, 229 pounds

Note: St. Louis acquired the No. 89 pick from the Carolina Panthers in a trade involving second-round picks. St. Louis moved down 16 spots in the second round and acquired the No. 89 pick and a 2015 fifth-round selection as well.

89. Sean Mannion, quarterback — St. Louis Rams

90. Carl Davis, defensive tackle — Baltimore Ravens

Age: 23 | College: Iowa | Size: 6-foot-5, 320 pounds

90. Carl Davis, defensive tackle — Baltimore Ravens

91. Chaz Green, tackle — Dallas Cowboys

College: Florida | Size: 6-foot-5, 314 pounds

91. Chaz Green, tackle — Dallas Cowboys

92. Jeff Heuerman, tight end — Denver Broncos

College: Ohio State | Size: 6-foot-5, 254 pounds

92. Jeff Heuerman, tight end — Denver Broncos

93. Henry Anderson, defensive end — Indianapolis Colts

Age: 23 | College: Stanford | Size: 6-foot-6, 294 pounds

93. Henry Anderson, defensive end — Indianapolis Colts

94. Ty Montgomery, wide receiver — Green Bay Packers

Age: 22 | College: Stanford | Size: 6-foot, 221 pounds

94. Ty Montgomery, wide receiver — Green Bay Packers

95. Matt Jones, running back — Washington Redskins

College: Florida | Size: 6-foot-2, 231 pounds

Note: Washington traded down from No. 69, swapping with the Seattle Seahawks. In addition to the 95th pick, Washington also received fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-round picks.

95. Matt Jones, running back — Washington Redskins

96. Xavier Cooper, defensive tackle — Cleveland Browns

Age: 23 | College: Washington State | Size: 6-foot-3, 293 pounds

Note: Cleveland traded up from No. 111, swapping with the New England Patriots. In addition to the 96th pick, Cleveland also received a seventh-round pick. In addition to the No. 111 pick, New England acquired fifth- and sixth-round picks from Cleveland.

96. Xavier Cooper, defensive tackle — Cleveland Browns

97. Geneo Grissom, defensive end — New England Patriots

College: Oklahoma | Size: 6-foot-3, 262 pounds

97. Geneo Grissom, defensive end — New England Patriots

98. Steven Nelson, cornerback — Kansas City Chiefs

Age: 22 | College: Oregon State | Size: 5-foot-10, 197 pounds

98. Steven Nelson, cornerback — Kansas City Chiefs

99. Paul Dawson, linebacker — Cincinnati Bengals

Age: 21-22 | College: Texas Christian | Size: 6-foot, 235 pounds

99. Paul Dawson, linebacker — Cincinnati Bengals

Summary: For starters, they used their second-round pick on a safety, a seemingly well-stocked position.  Next, despite ranking 25th in points scored en route to an 8-8 record last year, they continued to ignore their offense and took an outside linebacker in the third round.  The surprises started when the 49ers used a second-round pick on big-hitting Samford safety Jaquiski Tartt, a two-time finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award, given to the top defensive player in FCS.  Tartt said he expected to be a third- or fourth-round pick, but many analysts had him pegged in the second round based on his blend of size (6-foot-1, 218) and speed (4.55-second 40-yard dash).  Last year, they signed Antoine Bethea, a three-time Pro Bowler, and made cornerback/safety Jimmie Ward their first-round pick.  Tartt, who is best friends with Ward, his teammate at Davidson  High in Mobile, Ala., thought the 49ers wouldn’t be interested given their safety situation.  Reid, however, has had three concussions in his two-year career, Bethea will turn 31 in July and Ward’s rookie season ended prematurely after he re-broke his foot, an injury he initially sustained in his final year in college.  [...] we’re confident in both of those guys being able to stay healthy and play football for us. …  The 49ers, who selected Oregon defensive end Arik Armstead in the first round Thursday, followed by grabbing Virginia outside linebacker Eli Harold in the third round.  In his final two seasons, Harold, a defensive end in college, collected 105 tackles, 29.5 tackles for loss and 15.5 sacks.  Harold joins an outside linebacker corps headlined by Aldon Smith, Ahmad Brooks and Aaron Lynch, a 2014 fifth-round pick who had a team-high six sacks as a rookie.  Baalke insisted they wouldn’t stray from their draft board, even if it resulted in a glut of defensive players.  [...] round:  [...] round:  [...] round  Two-time finalist for award given to best defensive player in FCS. …  Sixth Samford player selected in NFL draft (first taken in the first four rounds). …  Was a first-team FCS All-American in 2014 when he had 62 tackles and one INT.  In his draft guide, analyst Nolan Nawrocki said: Big, strong, fast, physical FCS impact performer with a skill set that translates to the NFL.  [...] round  Ranks 10th in school history in tackles for losses (36.5) and 11th in sacks (17.5). …


NEW YORK— The first year of the Reagan era dawns bleakly, as the economic problems that helped Mr. Reagan gain the Presidency become his to solve.

The list is a formidable one, including double-digit inflation, double-digit interest rates, lagging savings and investment, sluggish productivity growth, chronic unemployment and a loss by some American industries, such as autos and steel, of the ability to compete in world markets.

The national mood is combative; conflicts have intensified among groups over shares of a real national income that has been stagnating.

These problems add up to a complex economic disorder known, for want of a better term, as stagflation. Mr. Reagan's campaign for the Presidency was based chiefly on his commitment to break the hold of stagflation on the American economy.

As an unconventional conservative, Mr. Reagan sees the challenge facing him as comparable to that which confronted the liberal Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933. This year will mark the start of an experiment to resolve a national economic crisis that is comparable to the program begun by the New Deal nearly half a century ago.

Now, as then, a new President senses that the nation is plagued by anxiety over its economic future and knows that a key part of the job of reconstruction will be psychological. Mr. Roosevelt's unforgettable rallying cry was, ''We have nothing to fear but fear itself,'' and Mr. Reagan has not hesitated to quote him.

But the real test will be whether Mr. Reagan can develop effective and coherent programs to break up a very different crisis from that which afflicted the United States and world economy during the Great Depression.

The present situation is not as grim and urgent as the one which Mr. Roosevelt sought to resolve almost 50 years ago, when one-fourth of the labor force was jobless. But, for the longer run, stagflation threatens to erode America's economic strength as seriously as did depression in the 1930's.

Stagflation is in many ways a more baffling problem than depression. The Depression posed an irresistible imperative to the New Deal, which was simply to get the nation back to work no matter how much conventional economists warned about future inflation, government interference in the price system and threats to the traditional capitalist order.

Although Mr. Roosevelt had campaigned on a platform of balancing the budget, his remedies for unemployment produced deeply unbalanced budgets. Fortuitously, these proved to be reasonably effective medicine against mass unemployment caused by an insufficiency of demand for what the economy was capable of producing. Indeed, the demand-increasing policies of the New Deal were validated in 1936, when John Maynard Keynes published his ''General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money.''

Mr. Reagan's problem is more complex than was Mr. Roosevelt's, since chronic inflation - partly a consequence of the Keynesian revolution - is combined with the problems of unemployment and slow or no growth.

The new Republican President sounds like his Democratic predecessors, Roosevelt and Kennedy, when he declares, ''We're going to put America back to work again.'' But he must achieve this objective in a way that will not worsen the now deeply ingrained inflation and inflationary expectations.

Mr. Reagan's fundamental stress has been on economic expansion as the answer to inflation. During the campaign, he accepted the ''supply side'' argument that tax cuts would prove counterinflationary by raising incentives, productivity and output and that, by generating additional tax revenues, the budget gap would be closed over time.

But his traditional conservative economic advisers have warned him against going too far with that line, lest excessive fiscal stimulus worsen inflation and sap the gains he is seeking. Still, Mr. Reagan refuses to scrap his proposals for big tax cuts, and he and his aides have continued to put heavy stress on increasing military expenditures.

Thus, his effort to effect a compromise between supply-siders and traditionalists has taken the form of proposals for deep cuts in nondefense expenditures, not including Social Security. However, there appears to be so little scope for cuts in the rest of the budget -and Congress, under the pressure of interest groups, seems unlikely to give him all the cuts he wants - that the compromise appears to have fallen on the inflationary side, promising to make fiscal policy highly stimulative in the coming years. And a heavy reliance on monetary policy to check inflation will only result in higher interest rates and possibly credit crunches.

As a result of forces already at work, the prospect is for sluggish growth in 1981, and possibly a resumption of the recession that marked the first half of 1980. The McGraw-Hill survey finds United States businesses planning to increase their capital outlays by 11.9 percent in 1981. But since business also expects plant and equipment prices to go up by 10.1 percent, the real gain in capital outlays would amount to only 1.8 percent. Rising mortgage interest rates are also putting additional strains on the recovery of housing, although the promised rise in defense spending will help buoy other sectors.

With real gross national product growing by no more than 1 percent in 1981, the unemployment rate, which averaged 7.3 percent in 1980, is likely to rise above 8 percent and stay there through most of 1981.

The economic slowdown, both in this country and abroad, is likely to keep inflation from worsening significantly during the coming year, although rising food and oil prices in world markets are likely to prevent much improvement in the inflation rate, which is expected to continue at around 10 percent.

If a breakout from the pattern of stagflation that has dogged the American economy for nearly a decade is about to happen this year, it will come as a surprise not only to most economists and businessmen but also to the Reagan administration. Talking to reporters after the election, Mr. Reagan said, quoting Abraham Lincoln: ''Well, boys, your troubles are over now; mine have just begun.''

But his hope is that the new conservative medicine of tax and spending cuts, defense increases and deregulation will gradually cure stagflation and get rid of it by the end of his four-year term.

Illustrations: drawing of Ronald Reagan (page 1) graph on 1981 economic forecasts (page 20)


Larry Brown's name has surfaced as a candidate to coach the Nets, but the team would not confirm that report yesterday.

Before last night's game against the Cleveland Cavaliers in Piscataway, N.J., the Nets said: ''We have interviewed, and will continue to interview, candidates for the head-coaching position through the end of the current season.

A final decision will not be made until the end of the season, and the Nets will not confirm nor deny speaking to any candidates until that time.''

Brown, coach at U.C.L.A., was en route to Berkeley for tonight's game against California and could not be reached for comment. His name came up in connection with the Net job in a published report yesterday. Robert A. Fisher, U.C.L.A. athletic director, reached by phone in Los Angeles, said: ''Hardly a week goes by without Larry Brown getting a job somewhere in the N.B.A., but this is the first time I heard about New Jersey.''


WASHINGTON, July 20— A running dispute between the Agriculture Secretary and the Secretary of State over who would negotiate with the Soviet Union on a new grain trading pact has been settled, and an invitation for new talks has been sent to Moscow, an Agriculture Department official said today.

In a compromise solution, the State Department announced that Bill Brock, the United States trade representative, would head the American negotiating team.

A State Department spokesman said that no date or place had been set as yet. But it was understood that a message suggesting further talks was sent by the State Department this morning.

During the 12 weeks since President Reagan ended the curtailment on grain sales to the Soviet Union, Agriculture Secretary John R. Block has been pushing for a new bilateral grain trade agreement with the Russians.

But Secretary of State Alexander M. Haig Jr. opposed any quick move to the bargaining table and had insisted that the State Department negotiators, rather than those from the Agriculture Department, should head the American team at any new talks with the Russians. 1980 Trade Bill

''He even talked about leading the negotiations himself,'' said an Agriculture Department official who did not want to be identified.

A compromise was reached by the White House over the weekend, and Mr. Brock was picked to lead the American side when, and if, the talks are resumed. The trade representative was supposed to do this under terms of a clause in a 1980 trade bill designating him as the President's chief negotiator for trade, including agriculture and commodity matters.

''The Agriculture Secretary was quite pleased with Mr. Brock's selection,'' the Agriculture Department official said. ''He did not think Mr. Haig should fill that role in farm commodity talks.''

Earlier this month, on the assumption that a message had gone to the Russians suggesting a new round of talks, Mr. Block said he expected Agriculture Department representatives to meet with Soviet grain officials late in July. But he apparently was not aware, at that time, that the invitation had not been sent.

In commenting on this today, a State Department spokesman said: ''The State Department does not hold up outgoing messages once interagency agreement has been reached.''

Mr. Block said yesterday during a CBS television appearance that he still believed Moscow wanted a new trade agreement to replace the five-year pact that expires Oct. 1.

''Right now the Administration is in agreement that we'll move forward with talks and discussions providing the Soviets would like to do this,'' he said. No New Russians Orders

Last month, during preliminary talks in London, the United States offered to sell to the Soviet Union an additional six million tons of wheat and corn from the 1980 crop. But so far the Russians have placed no order for this grain.

During the curtailment imposed by President Carter the Soviet Union found other sources for corn and wheat and succeeded in replacing the 17 million metric tons of wheat and corn that the President had blocked. Last week the Canadians announced the Russians were buying additional quantities of wheat from them. Earlier last month the Soviet Union announced it would continue to give priority to Argentina as a supplier of grain. This heightened the fears of American farmers that the United States had lost a major share of the Russian market.

Under terms of the current bilateral grain pact, the Russians had agreed to buy between six and eight metric tons of American wheat and feed grains annually. They had bought and received shipment of the final eight million tons earlier this year, before President Reagan ended the curtailment of further sales to them.

Mr. Block has also supported a proposal to provide Poland with $80 million in emergency food aid. The Polish Government had asked for this, Mr. Block said, to buy 400,000 tons of grain to sustain poultry production.

But before deciding on this request, the Administration was waiting to see what direction Poland would take following last week's special Communist Party congress in Warsaw, an Agriculture Department official said today.


Effects of recent state legislation on Connecticut businesses and industries will be assessed by the Manufacturers Association of Southern Connecticut Inc. in a symposium to be held from 2 to 4:15 P.M. Wednesday in the library of Sacred Heart University, Bridgeport.

Among those scheduled to speak are Donald A. Gray Jr., president and general counsel, Western Connecticut Industrial Council Inc.; Leon L. LeMaire, president of the Connecticut Small Business Federation and William H. Taft Jr., president of the Manufacturers Association. William B. Kennedy, vice president and professor of political science at Sacred Heart University in Bridgeport, will lead the discussion.

According to Mr. Taft, the most pressing concern is increases in unemployment compensation, which he said will cost employers $70 million over the next three years.

Benefits will rise from a current top of $146 a week to $180 and the waiting week has been deleted. Another item under contention is the establishment of offices to aid employees in filing workers' compensation claims. ''Employers will have to finance the service through a surtax on workers' compensation premiums,'' said Mr. Taft.

In a third legislated mandate, he said that employers must conduct training programs in the management of any of 400 toxic substances that may be used in their businesses.

Admission to the symposium is free. For more details, call 371-7751. A SHIP'S BIRTHDAY

The world's smallest square-rigger, the Joseph Conrad, is celebrating its 100th birthday at Mystic Seaport. Built in 1882 by the Burmeister and Wain Shipyard in Copenhagen, the Joseph Conrad was a training ship for 6,000 cadets of the Danish merchant service until 1934. For the following two years, the ship was taken on a 58,000 mile around-the-world cruise with a group of British cadets, setting sail from Harwich, England and landing in New York in 1936.

After serving for a time as a private yacht, the ship was given to the United States Government as a training ship. It was turned over to the Mystic Seaport in 1947, where it has been berthed every since as an educational and exhibition vessel.

From 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. Saturday and Sunday, visitors may stroll the teakwood decks, lend a hand at hoisting sail or raising the anchor and join in a chantey. Films made during the ship's world voyage, maritime demonstrations and an exhibition of the ship's history will be displayed. The public may also watch the construction of a 15-foot longboat similar to the original and made from plans supplied by a Danish museum.

Available for purchase will be scale models of the Joseph Conrad and kits for building them, T-shirts and commemorative items. To reach the Seaport take Exit 76 off the Connecticut Turnpike, go east on Route 95 to Exit 90. Admission is $8, children $4. For more details, call 1-800-243-1685. TRIP TO THE ISLANDS

Beginning next Sunday, the Saugatuck Valley Audubon Society will run weekend trips to the Norwalk Islands on its trimaran, The Conservator. The flat-decked boat holds 18 people in addition to the crew. Led by Audubon specialists, the participants will explore marine life, shore birds, wildflowers and the remains of previous habitation on foot and from the awning-covered boat, whose shallow draft permits it to travel close to the shoreline.

Each trip covers two or three of some 20 islands located between one and three miles off the Norwalk-Westport shore and ranging in size from one to 30 acres. The trips take six hours and do not run in inclement weather. A special $12 membership in the Audubon Society includes one trip, additional trips cost $5. Children through high school are charged half fare and a second child may travel free.

Special arrangements may be made for groups such as bird clubs, biology classes, photography clubs and scout troops. Lunches should be brought by participants. To make reservations or obtain more information, call 866-7830 or 866-8303. FLORAL COPYCATS

Flowers depicted in watercolors, oils, drawings and prints from the 17th to the 20th centuries will be rivalled by fresh flower arrangements in a springtime show at the New Canaan Library. Each week until June 5 two paintings will serve as models for two fresh floral arrangements prepared by members of the Garden Center of New Canaan, the New Canaan Garden Club or the New Canaan Men's Garden Club. The pictures are on loan from the Hunt Institute and Carnegie-Mellon University.

This week Patricia Vandewarker, president of the New Canaan Garden Club, will emulate a French 19th-century, color stipple engraving by Antoine Chazal. Leslie Greenwood's contemporary English watercolor will be interpreted by Mrs. William Pike and Mrs. William Crawford of the Garden Center.

For more information, call 966-1985. CRAFTS FAIR

Special orders for quilted or appliqued replicas of your home will be taken by members of the Ladies of the Evening Quilt Club, one of the exhibiting groups at the Wooster Crafts and Collectibles Fair from 9:30 A.M. to 4 P.M. Saturday at the Wooster School, Ridgebury Road, Danbury. A good photograph will suffice as a model.

Another artist will show baskets made from wild grapevines growing along Connecticut roads. Jewelry incorporating antique pieces from Asia and Europe, a collection of Ming Dynasty porcelain, paintings and sculpture, books, records, plants, baked goods and household items will also be on sale in this third annual event. Parking and admission are free. A refreshment stand will be open all day. Eleanor Charles


Executives at Vanguard Group, the No. 1 U.S. mutual fund company, said on Thursday deflation is a real risk for the global economy while downplaying inflation concerns for the United States.

"Most people say, 'Hey, deflation, falling prices, isn't that great!"' Vanguard Chief Investment Officer Tim Buckley said during a live webcast. But as he explained, falling prices are not something to be celebrated, especially in a developed economy that relies on consumption to fuel gross domestic product growth.

Read MoreRichard Parsons: Yes, bubbles could be forming

As consumers hold off buying things, GDP shrinks.

"Once you're in the cycle, it very difficult to get out," Vanguard Chairman William McNabb added.

McNabb said there are no data that support the presence of a lot of inflationary pressure, especially in the U.S. economy.

"When you look at what drives inflation, wages are the largest component. Most people focus on commodity prices, but wages actually are far more important," McNabb said. "And we have not seen much inflation there."

Read MoreFear Fed hasn't learned its lesson: Roach

Buckley, who helps oversee $3.1 trillion in assets under management at Vanguard, said stocks have had a nice run, but bond investors should temper their expectations for 2015 as yields reside at historical lows.

"You can't expect that much return from bonds going forward," Buckley said.

Summary: Executives at Vanguard Group warned that deflation is a real risk for the global economy while downplaying inflation concerns for the United States.


The list of women accusing

of sexual assault grew Thursday, with two new women publicly coming forward in New York City with their stories.

The two accusers join a group of more than

who allege they were drugged and sexually assaulted by the comedian.

Charlotte Fox and "Elizabeth" – who asked that her real name not be used – detailed their allegations against the 78-year-old comedian in a press conference held by civil rights attorney Gloria Allred, who is representing the alleged victims. The women were also joined in support by another alleged Cosby victim, Sarita Butterfield, who came forward with her story last November.

Elizabeth claimed she was barely 20 years old when she met Cosby while working as a flight attendant in the summer of 1976. Cosby allegedly invited her to the Playboy Mansion, but she declined. She said that a persistent Cosby later called her hotel and invited her once again. After an afternoon at the mansion, Elizabeth accepted the comedian's invitation to dinner since, she said, "Mr. Cosby had been a gentleman."

The two allegedly dined at Tokyo KaiKan, where Elizabeth revealed she did not drink or use drugs. Cosby, she claimed, insisted she drink sake to "loosen" her up. After drinking the sake, Elizabeth recalled feeling light-headed.

"I was completely in a trancelike state, like I was dreaming," she read in a statement. "I don't remember how we got to his hotel room. He went to the bathroom and undressed and came out in a robe."

Because of how sick she felt, Elizabeth said she could barely stand up. "He made me kneel down," she read from her statement before breaking down in tears. "All I know is that it was the most horrifying thing that could happen to an innocent woman."

Attorney Gloria Allred (center) is joined by a woman who identified herself as Elizabeth (left) and Charlotte Fox (right)

The second alleged victim, Charlotte Fox, said she was 23 years old when she met Cosby while working as an extra on the set of

in '70s. One day, the comedian invited Fox and a few others to a late-night jam session at a local jazz club. After dinner and drinks, Cosby purportedly invited the group to continue the night at the Playboy Mansion, where she allegedly fell ill after eating and drinking some more at the mansion.

"I vaguely remember coming back from the bathroom," Fox read in a statement. "The next thing I remember was that I was sort of awake, in a bed, with no clothes on and there was Mr. Cosby, in a robe, crawling from the bottom of the bed."

Fox added, "I was incapacitated and couldn't say no. He engaged in sexual activity with me. It was not consensual."

The two women's stories resemble those of the more than

actor of sexual assault. The comedian has repeatedly denied the allegations, but in a recently released 2005 deposition, admitted to having given a woman Quaaludes before having sex with her. The actor's attorney Marty Singer did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but has previously said that the claims "about alleged decades-old events are becoming increasingly ridiculous."

Cosby is scheduled to give his testimony on Oct. 9, after a

the actor to give a deposition in the civil suit filed by Allred's client Judy Huth – who claims the comedian molested her at the Playboy Mansion when she was 15 years old.

"We expect to take the deposition of Bill Cosby, not the friendly father figure of his television character, Dr. Huxtable," Allred said at the press conference. "We want the real Bill Cosby to show up, not Dr. Huxtable and we expect Mr. Cosby will answer our questions fully and completely."

The Oct. 9 deposition will mark the first time Cosby has spoken about a sexual-assault allegation against him since a separate case in 2005.

Summary: The list of women accusing Billy Cosby of sexual assault continues to grow with two new women coming forward with accusations


Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Jeremy Stein, a former governor of the Federal Reserve.

Another senior official from a policymaking body has signed up to be a paid advisor to a prominent hedge fund firm.

The latest to make the move is Jeremy Stein, a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve from 2012 to 2014. Stein will be a consultant to BlueMountain Capital Management, the $20.6 billion firm said in a statement Tuesday.

Stein, who remains a professor of economics at Harvard University, will advise BlueMountain on the investing implications of government economic policy, financial regulation, risk management and more, according to the firm.

"We're very lucky to have the opportunity to work with Jeremy," Andrew Feldstein, CEO of BlueMountain, said in a statement. "He has been widely recognized by leaders in government, academia and the private sector for his talent and impact. His experience, research interests and intellect will add real value to BlueMountain's investors."

Summary: Another former senior government official has signed up to be a paid advisor to a multibillion-dollar hedge fund firm.


The infant had no arms and no legs, but there was a brightness in his deep brown eyes that took Devon Toomey's breath away. She couldn't stop staring at the photo on

special-needs adoption website. She just knew, without question, that the boy was meant to be her son.

"I couldn't pull my eyes away – there was something special about him," Devon, 40, tells PEOPLE, relaxing at the sunny kitchen table in her Eagle, Idaho, home as her three boys wrestle and laugh on the carpet nearby. "I'd always felt that when the time was right, a child in need would find us. And here he was, waiting for us, thousands of miles away."

It's lunchtime on a lazy Sunday – more than five years since Devon, her husband, Jeremy, 38, and their two sons, Heath, 9, and Brooks, 6, flew to Serbia to adopt Bowen, then 18 months old, and place him at the heart of their family.

Devon has prepared 6-year-old Bowen's favorite steel-cut oatmeal, topped with bananas – a treat that he would eat three times a day if she would allow it.

"Thanks, Mom!" he says, rolling across the floor and then pulling himself up to his full height of 25 inches and hopping up to a bench at the table. He slides a Velcro cuff with a spoon onto his left upper arm – the only limb he has ever known. "Can I have a chocolate muffin, too?"

Happy and talkative, Bowen's radiant demeanor doesn't reveal a hint of his dreary past. Abandoned after birth, he spent the early months of his life in a crowded orphanage in Belgrade, seldom leaving his crib, never interacting with other children and rarely being spoken to by caregivers.

"When we first saw him in his crib at the orphanage, it was very emotional," Jeremy, an orthopedic surgeon, tells PEOPLE. "When Devon first told me about Bowen, I was shocked, thinking that we should wait a few years to adopt. But then I realized that there was no perfect time. Here was a little guy who needed a family."

When the Toomeys brought Bowen home in June 2010, they immediately realized that his missing limbs weren't the main challenge.

"The biggest issue was speech," says Devon, "because nobody had been talking to him. He also didn't know how to chew food, because he'd been on a liquid diet. And because he was stuck in a crib, he didn't know how to move."

Early on, a doctor told Devon that her son would never be able to sit up on his own or move across a room.

"I immediately walked out of his office," she says. "I knew he was wrong."

She and Jeremy were also told by several friends and family members that adopting Bowen would be a burden, "like a sack of potatoes."

"They didn't see what we saw," says Devon, "and that was painful. I'd always believed he could do whatever he put his mind to."

Encouraged by his parents and brothers, Bowen did just that. At first, he did barrel rolls to get around the house. Then, as he gained strength, he learned to scoot on his behind, propelled by his left elbow. Now in the first grade, he has a set of prosthetic limbs that he calls his "Spiderman legs," but he doesn't like to use them except for skiing.

"He's figured out the best way to do things on his own," says Jeremy. "It's been wonderful to see his independence grow."

A quick learner, Bowen loves to read at home and play games on his iPad, and he enjoys swimming, painting, drawing and roughhousing with his older brothers.

"He's not weird – he can do the same stuff that I can," says Heath. "We shouldn't judge people by what they look like. We should judge them by their heart. Judge them by their insides, not their outsides."

"My brother is amazing," adds Brooks, who is the same age as Bowen. "He jumps on a trampoline and he can use a spoon or can dip his head into the plate and eat anything that's on there."

Bowen laughs at his brothers and hops down from the table to chase after them. As his parents watch the boys wrestle, tears fill their eyes.

"Through trial and error, he's come a long way," says Jeremy. "We're so very grateful to have him in our lives."

Summary: "I'd always felt that when the time was right, a child in need would find us. And here he was, waiting for us, thousands of miles away," Devon Toomey tells PEOPLE


Another country loses it over Streetview data.

Korean Googlers today received an unexpected visit in the form of a raid by police this morning. The cops were after that Steetview data that Google had admitted to erroneously collecting many months ago and any information they could find related to its spying on Korean citizens.

“(The police) have been investigating Google GOOG Korea LLC on suspicion of unauthorized collection and storage of data on unspecified Internet users from Wi-Fi networks,” the Korean National Police Agency said in a statement.

Google has gone on record saying, “We will cooperate with the investigation and answer any questions they have.”

I understand what happened with Google’s Streetview cars and their collection of Wifi data. Google has been as transparent as I could expect following the incident.

The authorities in Hong Kong and the UK have already looked at the data collected and ruled that Google’s explanation was acceptable and more importantly, none of their citizen’s privacy had been breached. No formal investigations will be filed there. Austria, for the most part, has done the same, stipulating that Google has to inform the government about any big projects for the next three years.

From what I understand, a single engineer submitted code that told the Streetview cars to collect data. The data is actually just packets of information that were streaming across open Wifi access points as Google’s cars zipped by. Anyone could (and still can!) collect this data.

When Google found out, they voluntarily offered up this information and are cooperating with governments on how to distribute or destroy what they’ve found. They haven’t even seen the data in most, if not all cases.

I hate to say it, but I’d almost rather Google have the Streetview data than my government. And I (probably mistakenly) view the US Government as one of the more trustworthy governments out there.

So why the media frenzy? It is a good story that feeds the big brother paranoia. Google has a lot of information on all of us and we’re all worried that Google will use this in unscrupulous ways at some point. This isn’t it.

The US states, fueled by the media, seem to want to waste taxpayer money chasing after some demon that doesn’t exist.

I’m not playing along anymore. Sure, there will always be class action lawsuits sponsored by lawyers who want to get rich quick. But, where my money is concerned, stop wasting it on Streetview.

If you want to chase after Google, spend the money where it will do some good. This Verizon Net Neutrality deal has much broader implications on our future than some erroneous data collected by Steetview cars.

Summary: Another country loses it over Streetview data. Korean Googlers today received an unexpected visit in the form of a raid by police this morning.  The cops were after that Steetview data that Google had admitted to erroneously collecting many months ago and any information they could find related to its spying on Korean citizens. "(The police) have…


Jorge Cortes, M.D. of MD Anderson Cancer Center and Amy P. Sing, M.D. named inaugural members

HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Bio-Path Holdings, Inc., (NASDAQ: BPTH) (Bio-Path), a biotechnology company developing a liposomal delivery technology for nucleic acid cancer drugs, today announced the formation of its inaugural Scientific Advisory Board comprised of leading oncology experts. Jorge Cortes, M.D., renowned leukemia expert from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, will join as Chairman, where he will provide clinical and scientific guidance, and work with Bio-Path to identify and attract additional oncology thought leaders to join the Company’s growing Scientific Advisory Board. Amy P. Sing, M.D., a member of Bio-Path’s board of directors and Senior Director of Medical Affairs at Genomic Health, Inc., will also join as a founding member.

“We are honored to have attracted such esteemed oncology experts to join our Scientific Advisory Board,” said Peter Nielsen, President and Chief Executive Officer of Bio-Path. “The creation of this board is a testament to the level of confidence in Bio-Path’s pipeline of nucleic acid therapies and lipid-based delivery technology. Dr. Sing and Dr. Cortes’ vast expertise in oncology and the treatment of blood cancers will be invaluable as Bio-Path continues clinical development of our lead candidate, Liposomal Grb-2. We look forward to benefitting from their contributions and expanding our board in the future.”

Dr. Cortes joins Bio-Path’s Scientific Advisory Board as a well-established expert in oncology and hematology. He currently holds several positions at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, including Jane and John Justin Distinguished Chair in Leukemia Research, Chief of the AML (acute myeloid leukemia) and CML (chronic myelogenous leukemia) sections, and Deputy Chair of the Department of Leukemia.

Over the course of his 25-year career specializing in leukemia research, Dr. Cortes has held several prestigious academic appointments at the University of Texas, including associate professor in the Department of Leukemia at the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and Chair of the CML section at the MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Dr. Cortes has also lent his experience as a consultant to leading pharmaceutical companies such as AstraZeneca on the development of prenyltransferase inhibitors, GlaxoSmithKline on the use of topotecan in MDS (myelodysplastic syndromes) and CMML (chronic myelomonocytic leukemia), and Rhône-Poulenc Rorer on the use of PEG-Asparaginase in adult ALL (acute lymphoblastic leukemia).

Dr. Cortes earned his M.D. from la Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and a B.S. from el Centro Universitario México. He currently serves on the National CML Society’s Medical Advisory Board, as well as on numerous other executive committees and scientific advisory boards for organizations such as the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and the International CML Foundation.

“As a hematologist and clinical researcher, I have dedicated my career to improving cancer outcomes and discovering better therapies for blood cancers such as AML and CML,” said Dr. Cortes. “I have the utmost confidence in Bio-Path’s executive leadership and its novel liposomal Grb-2. I look forward to helping guide the Company as it makes meaningful strides in developing and strengthening its pipeline of products using liposomal delivery technology.”

Dr. Sing joins the Scientific Advisory Board as a member of Bio-Path’s board of directors, where she has served since November 2014. She is the Senior Director of Medical Affairs at Genomic Health, Inc., a global health company focused on improving the quality of cancer treatment through a genomic-based approach. Dr. Sing has more than 20 years of experience working in the oncology space in various roles. Earlier in her career, she served as Senior Medical Director at Genentech, Inc., where she played an integral role in the Avastin™ program. Earlier, Dr. Sing served as the Senior Director of Medical and Regulatory Affairs at Seattle Genetics, at which she managed clinical programs for the company’s various antibody drug conjugates for the treatment of cancers.

Dr. Sing earned an M.D. from the Stanford University School of Medicine, and conducted research at notable medical institutes, including the Dana Farber Cancer Institutes and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. She also holds a B.A. from Amherst College.

“Bio-Path has a unique and potentially best-in-class approach to treating cancer,” said Dr. Sing. “I am honored to join the Scientific Advisory Board and am eager to lend my expertise as the Company continues its mission.”

Bio-Path is a biotechnology company focused on developing therapeutic products utilizing its proprietary liposomal delivery technology designed to systemically distribute nucleic acid drugs throughout the human body with a simple intravenous transfusion. Bio-Path’s lead product candidate, Liposomal Grb-2, is in a Phase 2 study for blood cancers and in preclinical studies for triple negative and inflammatory breast cancers. Bio-Path’s second drug candidate, also a liposomal antisense drug, is ready for the clinic where it will be evaluated in lymphoma and solid tumors.

For more information, please visit the Company's website at http://www.biopathholdings.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150831005348/en/

Investors:Bio-Path Holdings, Inc.Kara Andress, 832-742-1357Investor RelationsorRx Communications Group, LLCSteve Silver, 917-322-2569ssilver@rxir.comorMedia:6 DegreesTony Plohoros, 908-591-2839tplohoros@6degreespr.com

Summary: HOUSTON---- Bio-Path Holdings, Inc.,, a biotechnology company developing a liposomal delivery technology for nucleic acid cancer drugs, today announced the formation of its inaugural Scientific Advisory Board comprised of leading oncology experts. Jorge Cortes, M.D., renowned leukemia expert from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, will join as...


"It's both supply and demand. it's basically the perfect storm that brought oil prices down," said Fadel Gheit, Oppenheimer senior energy analyst. "You have plenty of supply which you never thought possible, and all of a sudden, demand is shrinking, China's slowing down, Europe never recovered."

He said the fact that the Saudis are willing to play hardball with prices makes it difficult for other oil-based economies like Russia.

Saudi Aramco, the state-run oil company, surprised markets Wednesday when it announced it would cut official prices for Asian customers in November. The cuts come as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries was expected to be on course to cut back on production instead, to protect prices.

Read MoreCheap oil 'a mirage' and heading to $140: Dicker

Analysts say that Saudi Arabia, by instead cutting prices to defend market share, is reinforcing its role as the world's swing producer, capable of controlling the flow—and prices—better than any other single producer.

"It will not be a full-fledged price war," Gheit said. "There are always skirmishes but not a full-fledged war because OPEC really is held together by Scotch Tape," he said, adding that the organization is "incompetent" and members are "jealous" of each other. "They hate each other. At the end of the day, I think they are paying the price. They never really pay attention to any alternative for their own (oil) revenues."

He said Saudi Arabia could afford to produce at lower levels despite assumptions that it needs $100 a barrel to meet its required budget revenues.

But Commerzbank analysts said " OPEC appears to be gearing up for a price war."

In a note, they said Saudi prices are getting close to levels of the 2008-09 economic crisis. "Such measures give rise to doubts about OPEC's longstanding strategy of striving above all for price stability," they wrote. "We therefore do not expect prices to stabilize until this impression disappears and OPEC returns to coordinated production cuts."

Analyst John Kilduff of Again Capital said recent surveys show OPEC production at about 31 million barrels a day, and while the organization signaled it may cut production at its November meeting, an OPEC response would be needed to change the course for prices.

"I think we're going to see the low $80s fairly quickly from here if there's no supply response from OPEC," Kilduff said. "Peak winter demand season is upon us, and it could bail them out. Brent will likely head to the low $80s. If the winter cooperates even slightly I would look for the price action to bottom around January."

"The Saudis did cut production by about 400,000, which is token," he said.

Gene McGillian, analyst with Tradition Energy, said the next likely target for WTI is $85 a barrel, and then it's uncertain how much lower it will go. For Brent, it would be $90 a barrel. "Are these fears of slowing conditions and ample supplies going to continue to really depress the price, where we're going to have action taken on the supply side to get some supply price stability?" McGillian asked.

The U.S. reported that domestic oil production was at 8.8 million barrels a day last week, a near three-decade high. The growth in U.S. output has resulted in a displacement of African crude that had once gone to U.S. refineries and now goes to Asia.

McGillian said more speculative shorts have been moving into Brent in recent weeks. "That's one reason the spreads have come under pressure and Brent is so weak. At some point, the slide is overdone, and up until yesterday, there was a question of whether it's done. It's not done. It's still searching for a new level," he said.

Summary: Oil could continue its deep slide, under new pressure from Saudi Arabia's decision to cut its selling price rather than cut production.


Nordstrom shares popped about 5 percent after it beat on the top and bottom lines as comparable-store sales rose 3.8 percent. The apparel retailer handed in adjusted second-quarter earnings of 93 cents a share, topping estimates by 3 cents, on $3.7 billion in revenue.

Shares of restaurant operator El Pollo Loco tanked as much as 14 percent after it posted adjusted earnings of 19 cents a share on $90 million in revenue, compared with estimates of 18 cents a share on $93 million in sales. The company's same-store sales were also below estimates, rising just 1.3 percent, versus expectations of 3.1 percent.

Chip manufacturer Applied Materials posted earnings of 33 cents a share, which was in line with estimates, but revenue came in below expectations, at $2.49 billion. Wall Street was looking for sales of $2.54 billion. The stock inched down about 1 percent in after-hours trading.

Gamemaker King Digital, the company behind "Candy Crush Saga," beat on the top and bottom lines, but the stock tumbled about 8 percent on disappointing gross bookings figures, according to Dow Jones. The company said gross bookings fell to $529 million from $611 million a year ago.

In its first quarterly report since its IPO earlier this year, pet food producer Blue Buffalo said adjusted profit rose 13 percent year-over-year to 13 cents a share, while revenue increased 16 percent to $254 million. The company expects full-year earnings and revenue to come in above 58 cents a share and $1.02 billion, respectively. The stock fell about 6 percent in extended-hours trading. Comparable analysts' estimates were not available.

Darling Ingredients, which produces feed, food and fuel ingredients from bio-nutrients, saw its shares gain about 7 percent after it reported second-quarter earnings. The company also said it would repurchase as much as $100 million in common stock.

Summary: Check out the companies making headlines after the bell Thursday: Nordstrom, El Pollo Loco, AMAT & more.


Mega-mansion, art gallery or embassy?

The future for this nearly 27,000-square-foot residence is unclear, but rumor has it that everyone from high-net worth individuals to state embassies have stopped by to check out this once-in-a-lifetime property.

Originally built in 1914 as a residence, the mega-mansion was gradually converted into a home and gallery by its owner George Hewitt Myers, a rug and textile collector. Since Myer's passing in 1960, the two-mansion lot, which stretches the length of an entire city block, has been home to The Textile Museum.

And if you weren't already impressed by its history, the architect for this place? None other than John Russell Pope. If his name doesn't ring a bell, then perhaps some of his works may: the Jefferson Memorial, the National Archives' building and the National Gallery of Art.

Watch the video to see the most expensive house (we could get into) in Washington, D.C., that has us all thinking, mini-Downton Abbey?

Interested in the listing, find out more here.

Read MoreMost expensive house (we could get into): Long Beach Island, N.J.

Read MoreMost expensive house (we could get into): Princeton, N.J.

Read MoreMost expensive house (we could get into): Oyster Bay, N.Y.

Watch "Secret Lives of the Super Rich", Sat., July 5 at 8 p.m. ET/PT. http://superrich.cnbc.com.

Summary: Mega-mansion, art gallery or embassy? Rumor has it, the home is turning heads of everyone from state embassies to the super rich.


Among over-the-top devices, Apple TV saw huge market gains recently, jumping from 5 percent of views before Christmas to 10 percent in the first quarter of 2015. Overall, Apple devices drive 62 percent of all pay-TV video views, according to the Adobe Digital Index data. That was even before HBO Now was released exclusively for Apple devices and AppleTV prices dropped, which could lead to a second buying spree.

"A lot of AppleTVs were under the Christmas tree," said Gaffney. "Apple is in an amazing position to monetize television content in the future."

It remains to be seen whether Apple will take advantage of that opportunity—maybe we will see at the company's WWDC developer's conference next week. But the chance to dominate the market with attractive content will be short lived, said Gaffney.

"People are starting to decide right now which device they want to attach, and they only have so many ports," she said. "The land grab is on, and you're either going to get it right or not in the next six months. If Apple waits too long to develop the content side, it may be too late."

Summary: More consumers are choosing to watch their favorite shows through "TV Everywhere" on-demand options, and they don't choose Thursdays.


* Soybeans fall for 3rd session to one-week low

* Forecasts of favourable weather add pressure on beans

SINGAPORE, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Chicago soybean futures slid for a third consecutive session on Tuesday to a one-week low, with pressure from forecasts of near-perfect weather boosting crops across the U.S. Midwest.

Wheat rose from a six-week low touched in the previous session but prospects of ample supplies and worries about flagging Chinese growth are set to cap gains.

"Crop conditions have improved slightly which is one thing and generally the growing season is shaping up well," said Ole Houe, analyst at Sydney-based brokerage IKON Commodities.

"Weather forecast looks pretty good."

Chicago Board Of Trade August soybean fell as much as 0.7 percent to $9.71 a bushel, the lowest since July 28.

September wheat rose 0.7 percent to $5.02-1/2 a bushel after hitting a six-week low in the previous session, and corn added 0.5 percent to $3.68-1/4 a bushel.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture pegged 63 percent of the soybean crop good to excellent, up from 62 percent a week ago and 71 percent last year. The corn crop rating steadied at 70 percent good to excellent this week but remained below last year's 73 percent.

Corn is under pressure from forecasts for favourable weather in the Midwest, easing any lingering crop concerns.

Spring wheat was seen at 70 percent good to excellent, down 1 percent from market forecasts.

Wheat prices have edged higher but ample supplies are expected to keep a lid on the market.

Russian wheat prices declined further last week as the harvest picked up pace after delays caused by heavy rain, analysts said on Monday.

Ukraine expects to increase grain exports to 36 million tonnes in the 2015-16 season from the 34.9 million shipped in the previous season, Agriculture Minister Oleksiy Pavlenko said in a briefing on Monday.

(Reporting by Naveen Thukral; Editing by Richard Pullin)

Summary: SINGAPORE, Aug 4- Chicago soybean futures slid for a third consecutive session on Tuesday to a one-week low, with pressure from forecasts of near-perfect weather boosting crops across the U.S. Wheat rose from a six-week low touched in the previous session but prospects of ample supplies and worries about flagging Chinese growth are set to cap gains.