BC-Business News Digest

Business News at 1:30 p.m.

The supervisor is Skip Wollenberg (800-845-8450, ext. 1680). For photos, ext. 1900. For graphics and interactives, ext. 7636. Expanded AP content can be obtained from http://www.apexchange.com. For access to AP Exchange and other technical issues, contact customersupport@ap.org or call 877-836-9477.

If you have questions about transmission of financial market listings, please call 800-3AP-STOX.

A selection of top photos can be found at: http://bit.ly/APTopPhotos .

All times EDT.

TOP STORIES:

EBOLA-GEAR

BALTIMORE — Manufacturers and distributors of impermeable gowns and full-body suits meant to protect medical workers from Ebola are scrambling to keep up with a surge of new orders from U.S. hospitals, with at least one doubling its staff and still facing a weekslong backlog. Many hospitals say they already have the proper equipment in place but are ordering more supplies to prepare for a possible new case of Ebola. By Juliet Linderman and Matthew Perrone. SENT: 1,100 words, photos.

With:

— EBOLA — Tens of thousands of doses of experimental Ebola vaccines could be available for "real-world" testing in West Africa as soon as January as long as they are deemed safe, a top World Health Organization official says. SENT: 930 words, photo.

CVS HEALTH-TOBACCO

First, CVS Health pulled tobacco from its store shelves. Now, it plans to make some customers think twice about filling prescriptions at other stores that still sell smokes. The nation's second-largest drugstore chain is developing a new tobacco-free pharmacy network for clients of its Caremark pharmacy benefits management business. CVS national rivals Walgreen Co. and Rite Aid Corp. still sell tobacco. By Tom Murphy. SENT: 460 words, photo.

PROMOTING THE COMPETITION

NEW YORK — Please watch another channel. That encouragement is popping up more and more during sports broadcasts. Viewers tuning into the National League Championship Series on Fox Sports 1 saw an ad behind the batter promoting the ALCS on TBS, and vice versa. As Fox Sports President Eric Shanks puts it, "A rising tide lifts all ships." It all sounds so logical that the bigger question is why this wasn't common until recently. By Rachel Cohen. SENT: 790 words, photos.

EARNS-MCDONALD'S

OAK BROOK, Ill. — McDonald's CEO Don Thompson says the company hasn't been keeping up with the times and that changes are in store for its U.S. restaurants. Starting in January, Thompson said McDonald's will "simplify" its menu to make room for restaurants to offer options that are best-suited for their regions. The remarks came after McDonald's said its profit sank 30 percent in the third quarter. By Candice Choi. SENT: 500 words, photo.

With:

— MCDONALD'S-FIVE PROBLEMS — A look at five problems McDonald's is facing. SENT: 480 words.

CHINA-ECONOMY

BEIJING — China's economic growth waned to a five-year low of 7.3 percent last quarter, raising concerns of a spillover effect on the global economy but falling roughly in line with Chinese leaders' plans for a controlled slowdown. The third quarter figures put China on course for annual growth somewhat lower than the 7.5 percent targeted by leaders, though they have indicated there is wiggle-room in their plan. By Ian Mader. SENT: 840 words, photos.

ORGANIC-BEYOND FOOD

WASHINGTON — There's a strict set of standards for organic foods. But the rules are looser for household cleaners, textiles, cosmetics and the organic dry cleaners down the street. Wander through the grocery store and check out the shelves where some detergents, hand lotions and clothing proclaim organic bona fides. Absent an Agriculture Department seal or certification, there are few ways to tell if those organic claims are bogus. A shopper's only recourse is to do his or her own research. By Mary Clare Jalonick. SENT: 940 words, photos.

MARKETS & ECONOMY:

STICKING WITH STOCKS

NEW YORK — The biggest stock slump in more than two years is no reason to abandon the market, professional investors and strategists say. Worries about a slowdown in global growth have driven oil prices and global stock indices lower. Headlines about Ebola and conflict in the Middle East have also turned investors cautious. But investment strategists point out that many of the factors that boosted stocks during the current a five-year bull run market remain in place. The U.S. economy is still growing, and so are corporate earnings. Most strategists say investors should take advantage of the opportunities that come with a stock sell-off. By Steve Rothwell. SENT: 1,030 words, photo.

MORTGAGE RISK RULES

WASHINGTON — Banks will get a break in easier rules for packaging and selling mortgage securities and fewer borrowers will have to make hefty down payments under actions taken by federal regulators. The regulators have dropped a key requirement: a 20 percent down payment from the borrower if a bank didn't hold at least 5 percent of the mortgage securities tied to those loans on its books. The long-delayed final rules were unveiled Tuesday. By Marcy Gordon. SENT: 770 words.

Also:

SUBPRIME LENDING-RURAL IMPACT

Long seen as having devastated Sun Belt cities, the subprime mortgage crisis unleashed turmoil on close-knit towns of rural America. Now federal officials are pledging regulatory attention and financial help. Government data provided to The Associated Press by researchers at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Middlebury College show subprime loans were distributed in the rural U.S. at even higher rates on average than in metropolitan counties. By Hope Yen. SENT: 860 words, photos, graphic.

With:

— SUBPRIME LENDING-RURAL IMPACT-AFTERMATH — Many rural residents jumped to get subprime loans at initial affordable terms during the mid-2000s, only to have fortunes disappear as housing boom turned to bust. Signs of the aftermath. SENT: 160 words.

And:

— OCWEN-SUBPRIME MORTGAGES — The nation's largest servicer of subprime mortgages has engaged in abuses that could potentially harm hundreds of thousands of borrowers, according to the New York Superintendent of Financial Services. SENT: 150 words.

HOME SALES

WASHINGTON — U.S. homes sold in September at their fastest clip this year, yet the housing market has yet to fully shake off a slowdown that began in the middle of 2013. By Josh Boak. SENT: 710 words, photo.

STATE UNEMPLOYMENT

WASHINGTON — Unemployment rates fell in 31 U.S. states in September, including many currently embroiled in tough political campaigns. The report is the final data on state unemployment before the midterm elections Nov. 4. By Christopher S. Rugaber. SENT: 600 words, photo.

FINANCIAL MARKETS

NEW YORK — U.S. stock indexes rise, putting the market on track for a fourth gain in a row, following an encouraging report on the Chinese economy as well as strong quarterly results from Apple and other big companies. By Ken Sweet. SENT: 640 words, photos. UPCOMING: 700 words by 5 p.m., photos.

INDUSTRY:

TOTAL CEO KILLED

MOSCOW — Christophe de Margerie, the charismatic CEO of Total SA who helped establish the multinational oil company as one of the world's biggest, was killed at a Moscow airport when his private jet collided with a snowplow whose driver was reportedly drunk. By Lynn Berry and Lori Hinnant. SENT: 840 words, photos, video.

With:

— PLANE CRASHES-FAMOUS NAMES

TOBACCO FARMING-CHILDREN

WASHINGTON — Public health advocates and lawmakers are working anew to bar children from working on tobacco farms. The campaign comes two years after the Obama administration backed off a rule that would have banned children from dangerous agriculture jobs — including harvesting tobacco plants. By Frederic J. Frommer. SENT: 830 words, photo.

— STAPLES-POSSIBLE BREACH — Staples is looking into a potential credit card data breach and has been in touch with law enforcement officials about the issue. SENT: 170 words, photo.

— EU-REFRIGERANTS-ANTITRUST — Regulators in Europe say an agreement between DuPont and Honeywell to develop automobile refrigerant may be violating antitrust rules. SENT: 330 words.

— NAPROXEN-RECALL — A North Carolina company is recalling nearly 12,000 boxes of pain relief tablets sold at Dollar Tree stores because some cartons contain a different medication that could cause allergic reactions. SENT: 140 words.

— KIMBERLY-CLARK-JOB CUTS — Kimberly-Clark plans to eliminate up to 1,300 jobs as part of restructuring efforts aimed at reducing costs and making its business more efficient. SENT: 260 words.

— MEAT RECALL-CRIMINAL CHARGES — A second defendant pleads guilty in a case alleging that a Northern California slaughterhouse at the center of a massive recall processed and distributed tainted beef. SENT: 140 words.

— WYLY-BANKRUPTCY — Prominent Dallas businessman Samuel Wyly is filing for bankruptcy protection as he and the estate of his brother face up to $400 million in penalties after being found liable for hiding stock holdings overseas. SENT: 370 words.

— NEW ZEALAND-HOBBIT COSTS — The movie trilogy "The Hobbit" has so far cost nearly three-quarters of a billion dollars to make as the epic continues to set new benchmarks for studio spending. SENT: 380 words.

— GERMANY-LUFTHANSA STRIKE — A German court rejects a bid by Lufthansa to force a union representing the company's pilots to call off a strike, the latest in a string of walkouts over retirement benefits. SENT: 140 words, photos.

— DURANT-NEFF — NBA MVP Kevin Durant adds action sports accessory brand Neff to his rapidly growing list of endorsement deals. SENT: 490 words, photos.

EARNINGS:

EARNS-COKE

ATLANTA — Coca-Cola said it plans to slash costs by $3 billion a year after the world's biggest beverage maker reported disappointing sales on flat soda volume. SENT: 440 words, photo.

EARNS-YAHOO

Yahoo Inc. reports quarterly financial results after the market closes. UPCOMING: 130 words after release, 500 words by 5:30 p.m.

— EARNS-VERIZON — Verizon reports higher net income and revenue in its third quarter, helped by strong wireless subscriber growth and demand for its FiOS Internet services. SENT: 300 words, photo.

— EARNS-REYNOLDS AMERICAN — Higher cigarette prices helped Camel cigarette maker Reynolds American Inc.'s net income rise 2.2 percent in its third quarter. SENT: 430 words, photo.

— EARNS-HARLEY DAVIDSON — Harley-Davidson's third-quarter profit falls nearly 8 percent on a planned reduction of motorcycle shipments for the quarter. SENT: 280 words, photo.

— EARNS-DISCOVER FINANCIAL — Discover Financial Services reports quarterly financial results after the market closes. UPCOMING: 130 words after release.

TECHNOLOGY & MEDIA:

GOOGLE-MOOD MUSIC

SAN FRANCISCO — Google's music-subscription service will try to anticipate its listeners' mood swings as it amplifies its competition with Pandora, Spotify and other popular services that play tunes over the Internet. The $10-a-month All Access service will make music suggestions based on educated guesses about each subscriber's mood and likely activities at certain points in the day or week. By Michael Liedtke. SENT: 710 words, photos.

DIGITAL LIFE-REVIEW-APPLE PAY

NEW YORK — If there ever comes a day I can ditch my wallet and pay for everything through the phone, I'll look back to my first purchase through Apple Pay: a Big Mac and medium fries for $5.44. That wallet-free day won't be coming for a while, if ever, but Apple's new payments system brings us much closer. By Anick Jesdanun. SENT: 840 words, photos.

SKOREA-SAMSUNG-NOTE HOPES

SEOUL, South Korea — The latest version of Samsung's popular big-screen Galaxy Note has gone on sale at a crucial time for the South Korean company as it suffers a rapid decline in profit from its global smartphone business. With the Note 4 launch in the U.S. last week, Samsung introduced one of the biggest design changes to the Note series since it started sales three years ago, ditching plastic in favor of metal for its frame. By Youkyung Lee. SENT: 800 words, photo.

With:

— SKOREA-SAMSUNG-US GOVT — Samsung Electronics Co. says some of its Galaxy mobile devices were approved by the National Security Agency for use with classified U.S. government networks and data, a boost to the company's efforts to expand in the security-conscious business market. SENT: 180 words.

— TURNER NETWORKS-DISH NETWORK — Turner Networks pulls channels such as Cartoon Network and CNN from Dish's programming lineup as a deadline passed for renewing their distribution agreement. SENT: 180 words, photo.

INTERNATIONAL:

JAPAN-US-TRADE

TOKYO — U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker is urging Japan to be bolder in opening its markets to help reach a deal on a pan-Pacific trade agreement. Pritzker, who is leading the Commerce Department's first trade mission to Japan in two decades, says U.S. and Japanese negotiators are closing the gap on trade in farm goods and vehicles but that there were still "tough issues" to work on. By Elaine Kurtenbach. SENT: 550 words, photos.

— UKRAINE-RUSSIA-GAS — Ukraine asks the European Union for an additional loan of $2.5 billion as it struggles to cope with the implications of its standoff with Russia. SENT: 300 words, photo.

— CYPRUS-TURKEY-PEACE TALKS — Cyprus says it will block any progress in Turkey's ongoing talks to join the European Union in response to a Turkish gas search in waters where the EU member has already licensed companies to drill. SENT: 320 words.

— PORTUGAL-SUBWAY STRIKE — Lisbon subway workers stage their third walkout in two months as they try to halt government plans to turn the service into a private concession. UPCOMING: 130 words by 6 a.m.

— SLOVAKIA-WATER — The Slovak Parliament votes to approve a constitutional amendment that bans exports of water from Slovakia. SENT: 130 words.

A sampling of Money & Markets modules is below. The full digest for AP's Money & Markets service can be found at markets.ap.org. For questions about Money & Markets content, please contact Trevor Delaney (800-845-8450, ext. 1807). For technical support: Todd Balog (816-654-1096). After 6 p.m., contact the AP Business News desk (800-845-8450, ext. 1680) for content questions; 1-800-3AP-STOX for technical support and 212-621-1905 for graphics help.

CENTERPIECE

Taking flight

Shares of United Continental have rebounded from the 13 percent plunge they took following the first diagnosis of Ebola in the U.S. in late September. Other airline stocks have also reversed course. Here's a look at Wall Street's outlook for several major carriers. UPCOMING: Graphic expected by 6 p.m.

COMPANY SPOTLIGHT

HOG shares jump

Shares of Harley-Davidson rise sharply after the company reports earnings that surpassed analysts' expectations. UPCOMING: Graphic expected by 6 p.m.