Global stocks remain supported by US jobs data

SEOUL, South Korea — Global markets were mostly higher on Monday as investors continued to draw confidence from upbeat U.S. jobs data from last week.

KEEPING SCORE: Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.4 percent to 6,555.12 and Germany's DAX advanced 0.9 percent to 9,279.16. France's CAC 40 added 0.3 percent to 4,292.70. Futures augured another cheerful day for U.S. stocks, with futures for the Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard & Poor's 500 up 0.3 percent.

ASIA'S DAY: Japan and Hong Kong rose but the rest of Asia was subdued. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 rose 1.2 percent to 15,890.95 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index jumped 1.1 percent to 23,315.04. South Korea's Kospi dipped 0.4 percent to 1,968.39 and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.5 percent to 5,292.90. Markets in mainland China were closed for a holiday.

US HIRES MORE, PAY FLAT: Government data on Friday showed employers added 248,000 jobs in September, beating market expectations. Unemployment fell to a six-year low of 5.9 percent. The Labor Department said hiring in July and August also was stronger than initially estimated. But average hourly wages fell a penny last month. Lack of wage inflation might prompt the Fed to delay raising interest rates from near zero. Many economists expect the Fed to put off a rate hike until mid-2015.

LOWER GERMAN DATA: Trading sentiment in Europe was not affected by another weak economic report. German factory orders dropped 5.7 percent in August from the previous month, worse than the 2.5 percent drop forecast. Analysts blamed weak demand from eurozone markets and uncertainty over Ukraine and the Middle East. Investors, however, remain focused on the U.S. recovery and the stimulus being offered by the European Central Bank.

ANALYST'S TAKE: "On Friday, the U.S. once again showed that it is the best house on what seems to be a slowly deteriorating neighborhood," said Chris Weston, chief market strategist at IG Markets. "While Europe is sinking into a stagflation hole, money managers are seeing qualities in the U.S. that stand out by a country mile right now."

WEEK AHEAD: The Fed is due to release minutes on Wednesday of a meeting last month. Investors will be watching for clues about a timetable for rate hikes and discussion surrounding the decision to keep the "considerable time" phrase in its pledge to keep interest rates near zero. Markets will be particularly attentive to signs of "increased hawkishness," said Sebastien Barbe of Credit Agricole.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude fell $1.30 to $89.70. On Friday, the contract lost $1.26 to settle at an 18-month low of $89.74 per a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

CURRENCIES: The dollar fell to 109.35 yen from Friday's 109.80. The euro inched up to $1.2558 from $1.2520.

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Disney sets $1.25 billion bailout plan for Disneyland Paris

Disney has unveiled a $1.25 billion bailout plan for Disneyland Paris as attendance slumps at the park.

Disney confirmed late Sunday that it has set a 1 billion Euro recapitalization plan for the park that has had a rocky performance since it opened in 1992.

"This recapitalization plan would improve Euro Disney Group's financial position and enable it to continue investing in the guest experience," Disney said in a statement. "With this effort, we are demonstrating the Walt Disney Company's continued confidence in Disneyland Paris, which remains the number-one tourist destination in Europe."

The plan calls for Disney to deliver a $526 million cash infusion and convert some $754 million in debt to equity. Disney will also defer payment from Disneyland Paris of certain loans until 2024. The recapitalization plan will hack its debt ratio down to six times annual cash flow, compared to 15 times cash flow at present.

At present Disney owns 40% of Disneyland Paris. Saudi Prince Alwaleed owns 10% while the remainder is publicly held and traded on the Paris Euronext exchange.

Attendance at the park reached about 14.1 million-14.2 million visitors during the September 2013-September 2014 period, down 700,000-800,000 from the year-ago frame. Its room occupancy rate is projected to drop from 79.3% in the 2013 period to 75%-76%.

There have been persistent rumors that Disney intends to eventually buy up all the equity in Disneyland Paris and take it private.

Disneyland Paris just saw a management shuffle in August as Phillippe Gas, who headed the park for six years, was tapped to oversee the launch of the Shanghai Disney Resort. Tom Wolber, a Disney parks vet who helped launch the Paris park in 1992, was elevated to prexy of Euro Disney.

"The ongoing economic challenges in Europe and our debt burden have significantly decreased operating revenues and liquidity," said Wolber in a statement. "This proposal to recapitalize the Euro Disney Group is essential to improve our financial health and enable us to continue making investments in the Resort that enhance the guest experience."

The bailout effort for Disneyland Paris comes as Tom Staggs, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, has emerged as the front-runner to be named Disney chief operating officer under CEO Robert Iger next year. The launch of the Shanghai park and the stabilization of Disneyland Paris are seen as key tests for Staggs on the path to possibly taking the CEO reins from Iger, who last week extended his contract as Mouse House chairman-CEO to 2018.

© 2014 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

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Hewlett-Packard splits off PC, printer businesses

NEW YORK — Hewlett-Packard is splitting itself into two companies, one focused on its personal computer and printing business and another on technology services, such as data storage, servers and software, as it aims to drive profits higher.

Hewlett-Packard, like other PC makers, has been facing changing consumer tastes — moving away from desktops and laptops and toward smartphones and tablets. It has also faced revenue declines 11 of the past 12 quarters. The company laid off tens of thousands of people in recent years as sales crumbled.

The planned breakup follows other big companies that have spun off business units in order to drive growth. EBay Inc. this month said it would spin off its fastest growing segment, payment service PayPal, into a separate and publicly traded company.

The shared hope is that the two units will be worth more separately and be able to grow more quickly apart than they can together.

HP said Monday that the PC and printer business will use the name HP Inc. The services business will be called Hewlett-Packard Enterprise. HP CEO Meg Whitman will lead the Enterprise business. HP PC and printer chief Dion Weisler will be CEO of HP Inc.

"The decision to separate into two market-leading companies underscores our commitment to the turnaround plan," Whitman said. "It will provide each new company with the independence, focus, financial resources, and flexibility they need to adapt quickly to market and customer dynamics."

Cantor Fitzgerald's Brian White said that there are numerous reasons why HP would want to split the businesses, including the slowdown of the PC market since the iPad debuted in April 2010. While the PC market has shown some improving trends this year, White said in a client note that separating into two companies gives HP the option to sell off one or both businesses if an attractive offer is made.

The split, if approved by the company board, is expected to close by the end of fiscal 2015. Once complete, HP stockholders will own shares of both companies.

During its most recent quarter HP reported revenue of $27.6 billion, a 1 percent annual gain. It marked HP's first year-over-year increase in quarterly revenue since late 2011. Printers and computers contributed 51 percent of the company's quarterly revenue, with the rest coming from technology services like consulting, software and financial programs.

HP is expected to complete the latest round of layoffs, between 11,000 to 16,000 people, this month. That is on top of the 34,000 people it had already jettisoned from its payroll.

Jim Suva of Citi Investment Research said that HP's announcement may be coming now partly because the stock market has been supportive of spinoffs of late. The analyst also believes the company's stronger balance sheet, stable PC margins, improving services margins, better financials and completion of the more difficult parts of its restructuring efforts played a role in its decision to act now.

HP maintained its guidance for fiscal 2014 adjusted earnings between $3.70 and $3.74 per share. Analysts polled by FactSet predict earnings of $3.73 per share.

For fiscal 2015, the company anticipates adjusted earnings in a range of $3.83 to $4.03 per share. Wall Street is looking for $3.96 per share.

Shares of Hewlett-Packard Co., based in Palo Alto, California, rose $2.11, or 6 percent, to $37.31 in premarket trading 75 minutes before the market open.

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APNewsBreak: Trump name coming off closed casino

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — The Trump name will be coming off the shuttered Trump Plaza casino in Atlantic City.

Ivanka Trump tells The Associated Press that Trump Entertainment Resorts will begin removing letters spelling out the Trump name on the casino's exterior on Monday.

The action is part of a lawsuit Donald Trump and his daughter are pressing against Trump Entertainment — which they no longer control or are involved with — to have their name stripped from the Trump Taj Mahal casino, and the company itself. They claim the company let the two casinos fall into such disrepair that it violated quality standards agreed to by both sides. The company is in bankruptcy and threatening to shut its last casino — the Taj Mahal — next month.

"This is a very important step for us," Ivanka Trump said Monday morning. "It was pretty cut and dry: when we gave them a license to use our name, it was contingent on quality control and performance. They did not meet the high standards of luxury in every other asset in the Trump brand."

Trump Entertainment officials declined comment.

While simultaneously seeking to have the Trump name removed from the Taj Mahal, and from Trump Entertainment Resorts, Ivanka Trump said her father is still considering trying to acquire the Taj Mahal from bankruptcy court and save it.

In a statement, Donald Trump emphasized he has had nothing to do with the company other than licensing his name to it since 2009.

"I am saddened to see that the current managers and owners of the Trump Plaza and Trump Taj Mahal were unable to operate these properties to the highest standards of luxury and success as required under the license agreement and consistent with my name and reputation," he said. "Because of constant defaults of the standards stipulated in the license agreement, I had no choice but to terminate the license agreement and require TER to remove the Trump name from both buildings."

Trump Entertainment is in bankruptcy court in Delaware, seeking permission to terminate the pension plans of the 2,800 or so Taj Mahal employees. A judge last week refused to immediately let them do so, but scheduled additional hearings on that request and other cost-saving measures.

Trump Entertainment has said that without significant cost relief from the union, including the elimination of employees' pension and health care, and an injection of $100 million from billionaire investor Carl Icahn, it will close the Taj Mahal on or before Nov. 13.

Icahn holds most of the company's debt, and has said he will consider acquiring the Taj Mahal by converting its debt into ownership only if a series of governmental concessions are made. They include a request that Atlantic City drastically slash its tax assessment of the company's property — something Mayor Don Guardian has already ruled out.

Donald Trump retains a 9 percent stake in Trump Entertainment, which is virtually worthless with the firm in bankruptcy and threatening to close its last major asset. He and his daughter say the continued association of them with diminished or closed casinos harms their personal and professional brand.

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Wayne Parry can be reached at http://twitter.com/WayneParryAC

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Mipcom: CBS, Germany's ProSiebenSat.1 extend deal

In the run-up to next week's TV content market Mipcom, CBS Studios Intl. and Germany's ProSiebenSat.1 Group have inked a multi-year extension of their content licensing agreement that will bring CBS's programming to ProSiebenSat.1 channels throughout German-speaking Europe.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

ProSiebenSat.1 channels air CBS series such as "NCIS," "NCIS: Los Angelees," "Elementary," "Hawaii Five-0" and "Under the Dome." As part of the latest pact, ProSiebenSat.1 will also have rights to the event series "Extant," starring Halle Berry, as well as other CBS series such as "NCIS: New Orleans," the newest show in the "NCIS" franchise. "NCIS: New Orleans" recently debuted with 17.2 million viewers in the U.S., making it the most-watched new series during premiere week. Its second broadcast retained 95% of its premiere week audience.

"Germany is a key international market, and we are looking forward to continuing this long-standing, mutually beneficial relationship," said Armando Nunez, president and chief executive officer, CBS Global Distribution Group. "ProSieben is a terrific partner with quality channels that have been a great home for CBS programming in German-speaking Europe."

Ruediger Boess, executive VP group programming acquisitions, ProSiebenSat.1 Media, said, "This strengthens our position among the competition, as strong TV series are crucial for the success of a station."

© 2014 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

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Robots to learn from nurses

On the labor and delivery floor of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, about 20 so-called ninja nurses use their sixth sense to efficiently assign staff and resources to patients to make sure everyone gets the care and attention they need.

Now, a doctor and an Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor are teaming up to use their medical and robotics expertise to improve how machines work with humans, and make hospitals a bit better in the process.

"What we're aiming to do is learn from people who are outstanding at these resource allocation jobs and potentially teach a machine," said Julie Shah, the professor who leads the Interactive Robotics group at the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at MIT.

Shah and her husband Neel Shah, an obstetrician at Beth Israel, will spend the next two years learning from these "ninja" nurses — officially called resource nurses — to try to understand how they make certain choices to improve decision making in the hospital and in machines.

The Shahs will develop a simulation test for the resource nurses, with the goal of translating instinctive decisions into specific explanations for certain actions. The project is funded by the Harvard Risk Management Foundation.

"If we can learn what these rules are that the best people are using, we'll be able to train people better," Neel Shah said.

The Shahs said they hope to have a training tool that can help other nurses make better decisions within two years, but eventually hospital floors could have intelligent machines to help hospital staff make decisions.

"Any tools we can give clinicians on the front line and control as best we can are really helpful and (can) make care safer," said Carol Keohane of CRICO, which awarded the grant. "It will help to hone in, and help people identify what resources are needed and take care of this population as well as possible."

There is no intent to take jobs away from hospital staff, Julie Shah said. Instead, the research will be used to help nurses make decisions and train new nurses to have the same "ninja" prowess.

"This is an area where long term it's not practical to have machines doing the work," Julie Shah said. "We still need people doing it, the question is how do we support people doing it."

For Julie Shah, the research will also help with what she calls "re-planning," making decisions and adapting to new scenarios without explicit instructions.

Her research focuses on the decisions that machines — largely robots — make autonomously, without having to be explicitly told to complete a task or alter a plan as well as how machines work with humans.

But, if machines have a better understanding of the decisions that humans make, the machines could re-plan and adapt to changing scenarios better.

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Anchorage asks court to stop ride-sharing company

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Anchorage is taking court action to stop ride-sharing company Uber from operating in the city.

The city requested an injunction and a temporary restraining order against Uber Technologies Inc. in civil superior court on Friday, KTUU (http://bit.ly/1pPqb62) reported.

Uber provides a smartphone app that allows people to order rides in privately driven cars instead of taxis.

The entry into the transportation marketplace by companies like Uber and Lyft has left legislators and local officials struggling to catch up with emerging technology that competes with traditional taxis and limos, but with less overhead. The drivers of the new companies, for example, use their personal cars and often do it for extra cash to supplement their income at other jobs.

A handful of state legislatures this year have tried and failed to pass bills to provide oversight for the so-called ridesharing companies. Taxi and limo companies have objected, arguing the web-based businesses have an unfair advantage and light regulation. Several municipalities nationwide are also grappling with the issue.

The service launched in Anchorage just over two weeks ago.

Uber didn't immediately respond to a request for comment about Anchorage's action that was made through its website on Saturday.

The city declined to comment on the municipality's filing. But Alaska Yellow Dispatch CEO Sloane Unwin said the local cab company plans to add its name to the request for an injunction.

The city did exactly what it should do to uphold its laws, Unwin said.

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Information from: KTUU-TV, http://www.ktuu.com

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Artisan’s Asylum seeks to reinvent mission

The "bang, bang, bang!" in the background at Artisan's Asylum sounds startlingly like gunshots, but Ecco Pierce assures that it's only one of her compatriots at work.

"Your first impression when you walk in here is overstimulation," says Pierce, a 28-year-old multimedia artist. "The place is never quiet. It's never empty. It's a 24-hour establishment inhabited by daytime professionals, evening hobbyists and nighttime fanatics."

Strange, blinking robots hold court alongside fine artists, engineers, welders, woodworkers and other craftsmen, many of whom offer classes in their 150 studio spaces in the old Ames Envelope building in Somerville.

This rapidly growing amalgam of talent began in 2010, when a mechanical engineer and a costume designer were looking for a place where they could make things in their spare time.

The two rented 1,000 square feet in the Taza Chocolate factory and, to keep costs down, invited their friends on Facebook to share the space, expecting a dozen or so to take them up on the offer.

When 100 people showed up at their first meeting, they knew they were on to something.

"We've evolved from being a clubhouse for fun to being a real small-business incubator," said Molly Rubenstein, director of education and outreach. "And we feel like there's a lot of potential to do even more."

MassChallenge, the world's largest startup accelerator, selected Artisan's Asylum and 127 other finalists to compete for a share of more than $1.5 million in cash prizes.

"We're not trying to get to market; we're already here," Rubenstein said. "What we came to MassChallenge looking for was help planning our long-term evolution."

Artisan's Asylum is exploring working with local schools to teach youngsters real-world skills in science, technology, engineering, art and math, or STEAM.

And it wants to expand the training it offers in advanced manufacturing, an industry that will need to fill an estimated 100,000 jobs in the state over the next decade.

"Part of what we want to do is bring back the appeal of being a skilled tradesman," Rubenstein said. "We want to make sure that once you have a prototype, you don't send it over to China to be manufactured when it can be made right here."

Artisan's Asylum is "one of a very small number of pioneers in the maker space" qualified to provide that kind of training, and it's looking for potential partners who can help it scale nationally and internationally, said Mark Allio, a MassChallenge mentor and regional director of the Massachusetts Small Business Development Center at UMass Boston.

"I think they have a pretty clear vision of the value they add," Allio said, "and MassChallenge could help them expand to have an even bigger impact."

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Robots to learn from nurses

On the labor and delivery floor of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, about 20 so-called ninja nurses use their sixth sense to efficiently assign staff and resources to patients to make sure everyone gets the care and attention they need.

Now, a doctor and an Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor are teaming up to use their medical and robotics expertise to improve how machines work with humans, and make hospitals a bit better in the process.

"What we're aiming to do is learn from people who are outstanding at these resource allocation jobs and potentially teach a machine," said Julie Shah, the professor who leads the Interactive Robotics group at the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at MIT.

Shah and her husband Neel Shah, an obstetrician at Beth Israel, will spend the next two years learning from these "ninja" nurses — officially called resource nurses — to try to understand how they make certain choices to improve decision making in the hospital and in machines.

The Shahs will develop a simulation test for the resource nurses, with the goal of translating instinctive decisions into specific explanations for certain actions. The project is funded by the Harvard Risk Management Foundation.

"If we can learn what these rules are that the best people are using, we'll be able to train people better," Neel Shah said.

The Shahs said they hope to have a training tool that can help other nurses make better decisions within two years, but eventually hospital floors could have intelligent machines to help hospital staff make decisions.

"Any tools we can give clinicians on the front line and control as best we can are really helpful and (can) make care safer," said Carol Keohane of CRICO, which awarded the grant. "It will help to hone in, and help people identify what resources are needed and take care of this population as well as possible."

There is no intent to take jobs away from hospital staff, Julie Shah said. Instead, the research will be used to help nurses make decisions and train new nurses to have the same "ninja" prowess.

"This is an area where long term it's not practical to have machines doing the work," Julie Shah said. "We still need people doing it, the question is how do we support people doing it."

For Julie Shah, the research will also help with what she calls "re-planning," making decisions and adapting to new scenarios without explicit instructions.

Her research focuses on the decisions that machines — largely robots — make autonomously, without having to be explicitly told to complete a task or alter a plan as well as how machines work with humans.

But, if machines have a better understanding of the decisions that humans make, the machines could re-plan and adapt to changing scenarios better.

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Navy: Self-guided unmanned patrol boats make debut

NORFOLK, Va. — Self-guided unmanned patrol boats that can leave warships they're protecting and swarm and attack potential threats on the water could join the Navy's fleet within a year, defense officials say, adding the new technology could one day help stop attacks like the deadly 2000 bombing of the USS Cole off Yemen.

The Arlington-based Office of Naval Research demonstrated the autonomous swarm boat technology over two weeks in August on the James River near Fort Eustis in Virginia — not far from one of the Navy's largest fleet concentration areas. It said the Navy simulated a transit through a strait, just like the routine passage of U.S. warships through the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf.

In the demonstrations, as many as 13 small unmanned patrol boats were escorting a high-value Navy ship. Then as many as eight of the self-guided vessels broke off and swarmed around a threat when a ship playing the part of an enemy vessel was detected, the office said, calling the demonstrations a success.

Robert Brizzolara, program manager at the Office of Naval Research, said that the boats can decide for themselves what movements to make once they're alerted to a threat and work together to encircle or block the path of an opposing vessel, depending on that vessel's movements and those of other nearby vessels.

The rigid-hull inflatable patrol boats can also fire .50 caliber machine guns if called upon to do so. However, a human will always be the one to make the decision to use lethal force, officials said. A sailor on a command ship would be in charge of each of the unmanned boats and could take control over any of the boats at any moment. And if communication between the unmanned boats and the sailor overseeing them were ever broken, the boat would automatically shut down.

"I never want to see the USS Cole happen again," said Rear Adm. Matthew Klunder, chief of naval research, speaking about the attack by a small boat packed with explosives that killed 17 sailors and injured 39 on that warship. "I can tell you the systems we just put out on the water would've prevented the Cole."

Brizzolara said the technology is intended to allow sailors who would ordinarily be manning such boats to stay out of harm's way while the self-guided boats seek to "deter, damage or destroy" enemy vessels.

Officials said while the Cole bombing was not the sole inspiration for the program, it was a significant one. Researchers have been working on the technology for about a decade. The kit can be placed on any small vessel and includes sensors and radar that tells it what's happening in the area. Advanced algorithms help the boat plan its route and determine its course of action and speed.

Klunder said that manpower can sometimes be an issue as to why more patrol boats aren't escorting larger ships, and that potential enemies may try to outnumber those boats. He said such technology could put more protective boats in the water, freeing up sailors for key roles aboard ship.

"We've really put our sailors back where they need to be anyway, which is back manning our combat systems, manning our weapons systems, steering our ships," Klunder said.

Klunder said the technology should be rolled out to fleet commanders within a year. He said the parts for the small, transportable kit cost about $2,000 and can be applied to existing patrol boats present at Navy installations and aboard many large warships.

The Navy said some of the components were adapted for from technology originally developed by NASA for the Mars Rover spaceflight programs. What made the August demonstration so important is that it showed that numerous boats could coordinate with each other, Klunder noted.

He said it's the first time the technology has ever been employed with more than one or two boats. And he spoke of possibly wider applications in the future outside military use.

"This is something that you might find not only just on our naval vessels, we could certainly see this utilized to protect merchant vessels, to protect ports and harbors, used also to protect offshore oil rigs," Klunder said.

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Brock Vergakis can be reached at www.twitter.com/BrockVergakis

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