US stocks end a turbulent month at a record high

NEW YORK — For stock investors, there was no shortage of drama in October.

Stocks started the month modestly below a record high, only to cascade to their worst slump in two years. But after flirting with a correction, or a 10 percent drop, the U.S. market rebounded and closed at all-time highs on the last day of the month.

All told, U.S. stocks ended October solidly higher, up 2.3 percent. The Dow Jones industrial average capped the rally by rising 195.10 points, or 1.1 percent, to end at 17,390.52 on Friday. The Standard & Poor's 500 rose 23.40 points, or 1.2 percent, to 2,018.05 and the Nasdaq composite added 64.60 points, or 1.4 percent, to 4,630.74.

Both the Dow and the S&P 500 closed at record highs.

It's a remarkable turn given the month's volatility, which at times approached levels from the 2008 financial crisis. Then again, the month has an unfortunate history for unsettling moves, such as the stock market crashes of 1929 and 1987.

This October, the market's seesaw path was driven by fears that Europe's economy was slipping back into a recession, worries about plunging oil prices and concerns of possible weakness in the U.S. economy. Oh, and don't forget Ebola. Those anxieties sent the market, for the most part, straight down for two weeks.

The nadir came on Oct. 15, when the S&P 500 came with a hair's breadth of going into a correction. Investors had suspected such a drop. The last one occurred in late 2011, and historically corrections happen every 18 months or so.

But just after the market came close to going into a correction, it bounced right back. Strong U.S. corporate earnings were the primary driver of the rebound as well as signs that central banks in Japan and Europe were going to do all they could to stop their economies from dragging everyone else down with them.

"I don't think it's a surprise that we came close to a correction. We've been expecting one for a while. I think the bigger surprise has been how we rip-roared all the way back up," said Bob Doll, chief equity strategist at Nuveen Asset Management. "When you hit someone over their head with a hammer, you don't expect them to get up immediately."

U.S. companies have been, for the most part, reporting strong quarterly results the last two weeks. Corporate profits are up 7.3 percent from a year ago, according to FactSet, compared with the 4.5 percent investors had expected at the beginning of the month. And any worries about the U.S. economy earlier in the month evaporated as the data rolled in, mostly recently Thursday's data showing the U.S. economy grew at a 3.5 percent pace last quarter.

Friday's gains were driven by the Bank of Japan, which surprised investors by announcing it would increase its bond and asset purchases by 10 trillion yen to 20 trillion yen ($90.7 billion to $181.3 billion) to about 80 trillion yen ($725 billion) annually. The announcement came after data showed that the world's third-largest economy remains in the doldrums, with household spending dropping and unemployment ticking up.

Japan's move comes only two days after the U.S. Federal Reserve brought an end to its own bond-buying program. Investors have been hopeful that the European Central Bank might also start buying bonds to stimulate that region's economy by keeping interest rates low and injecting cash into the financial system. That form of stimulus is called quantitative easing, also known among investors as "QE."

"The Japanese central bank has taken the QE baton from the Fed, and equity traders couldn't be happier," said David Madden, market analyst at IG.

Japan's stock market rose 4.8 percent to the highest level since 2007.

The Japanese currency weakened dramatically following the Bank of Japan's announcement. The yen slumped 2.6 percent against the dollar to 112 yen. The yen is trading at the lowest level in more than five years. Japanese companies typically like a weak Japanese yen because it makes their exported goods cheaper abroad.

European stock markets rose broadly following the Bank of Japan's announcement on hopes that the ECB could be tempted to follow Japan's lead in stepping up stimulus measures. However, few think anything will be announced at the ECB's next policy meeting next Thursday.

"The willingness of the Bank of Japan to ease further in the fight against deflation will encourage those who think the ECB should be doing the same," said Julian Jessop, chief global economist at Capital Economics.

Britain's FTSE 100 rose 1.3 percent. France's CAC 40 jumped 2.2 percent and Germany's DAX climbed 2.3 percent.

In other markets, the price of U.S. benchmark crude oil fell 58 cents to $80.54 a barrel in New York as increasing production from OPEC members added to already high global supplies of oil.

Brent crude, used to price oil in international markets, dipped 38 cents to $85.86 in London. In other energy futures trading on the NYMEX, wholesale gasoline fell 2.6 cents to close at $2.169 a gallon, heating oil fell was flat at $2.515 a gallon and natural gas rose 4.6 cents to close at $3.873 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Bond prices fell. The yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.34 percent from 2.31 percent Thursday.

In metals trading, the price of gold fell $27 to $1,171.60 an ounce. Silver fell 31 cents to $16.11 an ounce and copper fell 2 cents to $3.05 a pound.

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Spacecraft for tourists breaks up on test flight

MOJAVE, Calif. — A winged spaceship designed to take tourists on excursions beyond Earth's atmosphere broke up during a test flight Friday over the Mojave Desert, killing a pilot in the second fiery setback for commercial space travel in less than a week.

Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo blew apart after being released from a carrier aircraft at high altitude, said Ken Brown, a photographer who witnessed the accident.

One pilot was found dead inside the spacecraft and another parachuted out and was flown by helicopter to a hospital, Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood said.

The crash area was about 120 miles north of downtown Los Angeles and 20 miles from the Mojave Air and Space Port, where the mid-morning flight originated.

British billionaire Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Galactic, has been the front-runner in the fledgling race to give large numbers of paying civilians a suborbital ride that would let them experience weightlessness and see the Earth from the edge of space. Branson was expected to arrive in Mojave on Saturday, as were investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board.

Branson released a statement Friday night saying it was "among the most difficult trips I have ever had to make" but that he wants to be "with the dedicated and hardworking people who are now in shock at this devastating loss."

"Space is hard — but worth it," Branson wrote. "We will persevere and move forward together."

The accident occurred just as it seemed commercial space flights were near, after a period of development that lasted far longer than hundreds of prospective passengers had expected.

When Virgin Group licensed the technology from Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who put $26 million into SpaceShipOne, Branson envisioned operating flights by 2007. In interviews last month, he talked about the first flight being next spring with his son.

"It's a real setback to the idea that lots of people are going to be taking joyrides into the fringes of outer space any time soon," said John Logsdon, retired space policy director at George Washington University. "There were a lot of people who believed that the technology to carry people is safely at hand."

Friday's flight marked the 55th for SpaceShipTwo, which was intended to be the first of a fleet of craft. This was only the fourth flight to include a brief rocket firing. The rockets fire after the spacecraft is released from the underside of a larger carrying plane. During other flights, the craft either was not released from its mothership or functioned as a glider after release.

At 60 feet long, SpaceShipTwo featured two large windows for each of up to six passengers, one on the side and one overhead.

The accident's cause was not immediately known, nor was the altitude at which the break-up occurred. The first rocket-powered test flight peaked at about 10 miles above Earth. Commercial flights would go 62 miles or higher.

One difference on this flight was the type of fuel.

In May, Virgin Galactic announced that SpaceShipTwo would switch to a polymide-based fuel — a type of thermoplastic. It had been fueled with a type of rubber called HTPB.

Scaled Composites, the company building the spaceship for Virgin Galactic, had extensively tested the new fuel formulation on the ground, President Kevin Mickey said. He characterized the new fuel as "a small nuance to the design."

Officials said they had not noticed anything wrong before the flight. The problem happened about 50 minutes after takeoff and within minutes of the spaceship's release from its mothership, said Stuart Witt, CEO of the Mojave Air and Space Port.

Virgin Galactic — owned by Branson's Virgin Group and Aabar Investments PJS of Abu Dhabi — sells seats on each prospective journey for $250,000. The company says that "future astronauts," as it calls customers, include Stephen Hawking, Justin Bieber, Ashton Kutcher and Russell Brand. The company reports receiving $90 million from about 700 prospective passengers.

Former NASA top space scientist Alan Stern has seats to fly on Virgin Galactic and isn't rethinking his plans.

"Let's not be Chicken Littles here," said Stern. "I want to be part of the opening of this future frontier."

Friday's accident was the second this week involving private space flight. On Tuesday, an unmanned commercial supply rocket bound for the International Space Station exploded moments after liftoff in Virginia.

Virgin Galactic plans to launch space tourism flights from the quarter-billion-dollar Spaceport America in southern New Mexico once it finished developing its rocket ship.

Taxpayers footed the bill to build the state-of-the-art hangar and runway in a remote stretch of desert in southern New Mexico as part of a plan devised by Branson and former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson. Critics have long challenged the state's investment, questioning whether flights would ever get off the ground.

SpaceShipTwo is based on aerospace design maverick Burt Rutan's award-winning SpaceShipOne prototype, which became the first privately financed manned rocket to reach space in 2004.

"It's an enormously sad day for a company," Burt Rutan told The Associated Press in a phone interview from his home in Idaho, where he lives since retiring.

Friday's death was not the first associated with the program.

During testing for the development of a rocket motor for SpaceShipTwo in July 2007, an explosion at the Mojave spaceport killed three workers and critically injured three others. A California Division of Occupational Safety and Health report said the blast occurred three seconds after the start of a cold-flow test of nitrous oxide, which is used in the propulsion system of SpaceShipTwo. The engine was not firing during that test.

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Pritchard reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press writers David Koenig in Dallas, Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Seth Borenstein in Washington, and John Antczak, Christopher Weber, Tami Abdollah and Robert Jablon in Los Angeles also contributed to this report.

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China manufacturing growth falls in October

BEIJING — China's manufacturing growth declined further in October amid a slowing economy and languishing global demand, according to surveys released Saturday.

The China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said its purchasing managers' index dropped by 0.3 percent from September to 50.8 percent. The index is a 100 point scale on which any number above 50 indicates an expansion of manufacturing.

The same figure was reported by the government's National Bureau of Statistics, which surveys 3,000 businesses of all sizes across the country.

The deceleration reflects a slowing of China's economic growth to a five-year low of 7.3 percent in the third quarter of the year.

"The small decline in the October PMI figure shows that economic growth still faces a certain amount of downward pressure," federation analyst Zhang Liqun said in a report.

Zhang said new government growth stabilizing policies unveiled in the third quarter were starting to have an effect in the real economy and would soon start to impact on PMI figures.

"According to this forecast, PMI figures won't go be trending downward in the long-term, nor will economic growth be trending downward in the long term," Zhang said.

Chinese leaders have said full-year economic growth may fall short of their 7.5 percent target, but say that's acceptable as long as inflation stays low and the economy continues to produce jobs.

The World Bank has warned that growth could decline to close to 7 percent next year, saying Beijing needs to promote competition and efficiency by reforming its labor and real estate markets along with its state-run financial system.

That warning gave new urgency to calls from reform advocates for the government of President Xi Jinping to move ahead with ambitious plans to give entrepreneurs and market forces a bigger role in the world's second-largest economy.

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Boston contest to combat rising sea levels

Boston is launching an international design competition to come up with solutions to combat rising sea levels after narrowly averting catastrophic flooding from Hurricane Sandy two years ago and two more recent powerful storms.

Mayor Martin J. Walsh yesterday announced "Living with Water" — a program that will solicit ideas to address three threats posed by encroaching sea levels to the city:

• How to safeguard the 97-year-old Prince Building in the North End.

• The best way to redevelop Fort Point, an area undergoing significant construction.

• Devising a plan to address the recurring flooding on Morrissey Boulevard in Dorchester.

"There's no issue more urgent in a lot of ways than climate action," Walsh said. "We need to do everything possible."

A jury of architects, civic planners and city officials will award $20,000 to the best submission, which is due by the end of January.

"We need to take this challenge and these lessons and really turn it into something real," said Keiros Shen, director of planning for the Boston Redevelopment Authority and a jury member.

Walsh also announced a climate change summit next spring when state and regional leaders will come up with potential solutions to climate change.

Any of the Boston area's three near-misses with major storms in recent years would have caused "100-year floods" if they had hit hours earlier or later, according to Brian Swett, the Hub's chief of environment, energy and open space.

Cambridge City Manager Richard Rossi said, "If we don't act regionally, we're not going to solve these problems."

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The Ticker

Federal Reserve ends bond-buying program

The Federal Reserve cited an improving economy yesterday as it ended its landmark bond-buying program and pointed to gains in the job market — a key condition for an eventual interest rate hike.

The Fed did reiterate its plan to maintain its benchmark short-term rate near zero "for a considerable time." Most economists predict it won't raise that rate, which affects many consumer and business loans, before mid-2015.

Planned Seaport 10-screen theater complex applies for liquor license

Chicago-based Kerasotes ShowPlace Theatres has applied for a liquor license for its upscale 10-screen ShowPlace ICON Theatre at the One Seaport Square development to be built in South Boston's Seaport District.

The movie theater is slated to include reserved seating and a lobby lounge serving alcoholic drinks.

A groundbreaking is scheduled for next month on the 1.1-million-square-foot One Seaport Square, which will include two 22-story apartment and retail towers. Kerasotes has a 20-year lease and will occupy about 41,375 square feet of third-floor space.

Boston Medical Center sells 3 buildings

Boston Medical Center announced yesterday it has reached an agreement to sell three buildings to Leggat McCall Properties: 660 Harrison Ave., 100 East Canton St. and 720 Harrison Ave. The agreement also includes an option for Leggat McCall to purchase 88 East Newton St. in three years. BMC will continue to occupy buildings included in the sale for varying amounts of time, consistent with clinical and administrative needs, while it completes its planned campus redesign.

Today

 Labor Department releases weekly jobless claims.

 Commerce Department releases third-quarter gross domestic product.

 Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, releases weekly mortgage rates.

TOMORROW

 Commerce Department releases personal income and spending for September.

 Labor Department releases the third-quarter employment cost index.

THE SHUFFLE

The Harpoon Brewery in Boston has announced the promotion of Charlie Storey to president. Since joining Harpoon in 1996, Storey has served as senior vice president of marketing. In his new role Storey will oversee the marketing function, Harpoon's retail and festival enterprises, and have general management responsibilities for the Harpoon Distributing Co.

 George Donnelly is stepping down as executive editor of the Boston Business Journal after 14 years in the role.

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Asia stocks meander after Fed ends stimulus

HONG KONG — Asian stock markets meandered Thursday while the dollar strengthened against other currencies after the Federal Reserve said it will end its stimulus program, as many had expected.

KEEPING SCORE: Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 0.5 percent to 15,636.60 while South Korea's Kospi lost 0.5 percent to 1,950.26. Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.3 percent to 23,738.79. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite Index was little changed at 2,372.46. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.4 percent to 5,468.30.

STIMULUS OVER: The Federal Reserve confirmed the end of its $4 trillion bond-buying program, known as quantitative easing, noting that the U.S. economy no longer needs as much assistance. It reiterated that "considerable time" was needed before short-term borrowing rates are raised from near zero. But it also noted the improving job market in the world's biggest economy, signaling that an eventual interest rate hike is on the cards.

THE QUOTE: "While 'considerable time' was kept, the Fed also inserted an escape clause, citing that it might raise rates sooner than anticipated if progress is faster than expected, and vice-versa. Thus, markets began to bring back pricing of the first rate hike back to June, and the U.S. dollar also rallied across the board," Mizuho Bank's Chang Wei Liang said in a research note.

WALL STREET: U.S. benchmarks ended slightly lower, with the Dow Jones industrial average dipping 0.2 percent to 16,974.31 while the Standard & Poor's 500 slipped 0.1 percent to 1,982.30. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.3 percent to 4,549.23.

CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 109.05 yen from 108.77 in late trading Thursday. The euro slipped to $1.2624 from $1.2639.

ENERGY: Benchmark crude oil slipped 28 cents to $81.92 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 78 cents to settle at $82.20 on Wednesday. Brent crude, used to price oil in international markets, slipped 10 cents to $87.02 in London.

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Mom heads to D.C. to tout MD drug

A Pembroke mother, whose 19-year-old son suffers from Duchenne muscular dystrophy, is headed to Washington, D.C., to ask lawmakers to urge federal regulators to speed up the approval process for a drug that has shown potential to stop the advance of the fatal genetic disease.

Christine McSherry's trip comes after the drug's maker, Cambridge-based Sarepta Therapeutics, revealed Monday that it does not expect to submit a new-drug application for eteplirsen until mid-2015, because the Food and Drug Administration has asked for more data.

"There hasn't been any adverse reactions in any of the patients taking this drug," said McSherry, who will be on Capitol Hill tomorrow. "The only thing that's changed in two years is boys like my son, Jett, who are not on the drug have continued to decline, while boys on the drug have continued to be stable."

Sandy Walsh, an FDA spokeswoman, said the agency "is fully committed to make safe and effective drugs available for patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy as soon as possible."

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Job fair draws hundreds

Hundreds of job-seekers descended on the Colonnade Hotel in Boston yesterday for the Boston Herald's Workplace Diversity Job Fair.

About 40 companies, including Mass Eye and Ear, East Boston Savings Bank and Amica Mutual Insurance, were on hand looking to recruit new employees for a diverse workforce.

Job-seekers had the opportunity to present their resumes and discuss positions with hiring managers.

Launched in 1992, the Herald's Workplace Diversity Job Fair is the longest running of its kind in Greater Boston. It is held twice a year, in April and October.

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LG Electronics profit surges on smartphone sales

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea's LG Electronics Inc. said Wednesday its third-quarter profit jumped 87 percent over a year earlier as smartphone sales set a record high.

LG Electronics said its July-September net income reached 202.6 billion won ($193 million) on sales of 14.9 trillion won. Operating income more than doubled from a year earlier to 461.3 billion won.

LG said the improved earnings stemmed from the recovery of its handset business. Its 167 billion won profit exceeded that from televisions, LG's other mainstay business.

The company's smartphone shipments increased 40 percent from a year earlier to a record 16.8 million units, as its flagship G3 smartphone and mid-tier L series smartphone drove sales. The company said it will continue its "two track" strategy, trying to lure consumers in advanced countries with the high-end G series and expand L series models for consumers in emerging markets.

LG's mobile communications business remained profitable for a second straight quarter after three quarters of losses.

The improvement in LG's smartphone business comes as its hometown rival Samsung Electronics Co. is suffering a rapid decline in profit from its mobile division. Samsung Electronics, which is scheduled to report third-quarter earnings on Thursday, will post around 2 trillion won in profit from its mobile communications business, less than one third of its profit a year earlier, according to analysts.

South Korean handset makers are facing a setback in the domestic market after the government this month put a ceiling on handset subsidies. The move is meant to offer buyers more certainty about prices but has dented sales. LG said demand for new smartphones in South Korea will stay subdued.

LG's Home Entertainment division, which sells televisions, recorded 131 billion won in operating income. The company said shipments of ultra-HD televisions, which pack four-times more pixels than standard HD TVs, increased in countries except in China and South America.

Shares of LG Electronics rose 4 percent in Seoul after earnings release.

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GM to move production of Volt part to US

DETROIT — General Motors is moving production of a critical component in the Chevrolet Volt from Mexico to Michigan.

GM CEO Mary Barra is expected to announce the plan later Tuesday in a speech to the Detroit Economic Club.

The automaker will build the electric drive unit for the second-generation Volt at its Warren Transmission Plant in suburban Detroit. An electric drive unit powers the Volt's wheels.

GM won't hire any new workers to make the part. The part had been made at a plant in Ramos Arzipe, in the northern Mexico state of Coahuila.

GM has been making the plug-in hybrid Volt in Detroit since it went on sale in 2010. The second generation of the Volt is expected to go on sale sometime next year.

Barra is also expected to announce $300 million in investments in Michigan between now and the end of this year.

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Apple CEO Tim Cook says Apple Pay a success

LAGUNA BEACH, Calif. — Apple CEO Tim Cook said Apple's new mobile payment system had over 1 million activations in the first three days after it became available, and is now more widely used than any competing payment system.

"We're already No. 1. We're more than the total of the other guys," Cook boasted Monday during a tech industry conference, "and we've only been at it a week." He said Visa and MasterCard officials have told Apple that the Apple Pay system is already seeing more use than similar "contactless" methods of paying for purchases.

While Apple has partnered with major banks and large retail chains including Macy's Inc., Walgreen Co. and McDonald's Corp., critics have noted that it's not accepted by a number of other large chains. Among them are the drugstore chains CVS Caremark Corp. and Rite Aid Corp., which belong to a retail coalition working on a rival system.

Cook also said he plans to talk with Jack Ma, executive chairman of the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, later this week about a possible partnership, although he offered no details. Ma told the same audience earlier Monday that he would be "very interested" in teaming with Apple to bring Apple Pay to China.

Ma and Cook spoke during separate appearances on an outdoor stage on the opening night of a three-day tech conference organized by The Wall Street Journal.

Responding to questions, Cook also said he expects Apple's iPhone will continue to be the company's biggest-selling product, contributing the majority of Apple's revenue and profit, for the next few years. But he boasted that sales of Apple's Mac computers are growing faster than the overall personal computer industry, which has struggled in recent years.

He also touted the upcoming release of an Apple smartwatch and dropped broad hints about Apple's work on a new television product, which has been rumored for years.

Today's televisions haven't advanced much technologically in the last 30 years, Cook said. "So I think there's a lot to be done here."

Cook didn't offer specifics, but he said, "It's an area where I'm optimistic that there is something great that can be done in the space."

Apple started operating its new digital payments service last week, offering it only in the United States to start, and only for users of its newest models of iPhones and iPads. The company has touted the privacy and security features of its service, which uses a sophisticated encryption system to let users charge purchases on credit card accounts without having to show their card or account number.

Repeating a favorite dig at competitors such as Google and Facebook, Cook said Apple doesn't collect user data or purchase information. "We don't want to know what you buy. We're not Big Brother; we'll leave that to other people."

Speaking earlier, Ma said he is looking for a variety of U.S. partners for Alibaba Group, the Chinese firm that held a record stock market debut on Wall Street earlier this year. Ma said he is visiting Hollywood film studios this week to discuss potential deals, because "China will be the largest movie market in the world" in the next 10 or 15 years.

Alibaba operates several Internet services, including retail sites, online payments and streaming video. Ma said Alibaba is also helping U.S. food producers, including cherry farmers from Washington state and fishermen from Alaska, sell their harvests in China.

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Honda profit rises on weak yen, lowers forecast

TOKYO — Honda's net profit for the July-September quarter surged nearly 18 percent but the Japanese automaker lowered its earnings forecast for the full year Tuesday, pointing to difficulties in China and its home Japan market.

Honda Motor Co. reported a 141.8 billion yen ($1.3 billion) profit for the fiscal second quarter, up from 120 billion yen a year earlier. Sales edged up 4 percent to 3.015 trillion yen ($27.9 billion), helped by a weak yen, which added 123 billion yen ($1.1 billion) to net sales and other operating revenue.

Like several other automakers, Honda's usually pristine image for quality is being clouded by a massive recall spanning 12 million vehicles worldwide related to faulty inflators in air bags made by Japanese supplier Takata Corp. Honda was among Takata's biggest customers.

Tokyo-based Honda lowered its profit forecast for the year ending March 2015 to 565 billion yen ($5.2 billion) from 600 billion yen, citing sales woes in Japan and China.

The maker of the Fit subcompact, Odyssey minivan and Asimo robot had earned 574 billion yen the previous fiscal year.

The dollar had cost about 100 yen the previous fiscal year, but Honda expects it to average about 104 yen this fiscal year. It stood at about 108 yen Tuesday.

A sales tax hike in Japan in April has crimped auto purchases here, although sales were inflated right before the rise.

Honda sold fewer vehicles in North America for the quarter, but its sales in Europe and Asia, outside Japan, improved year-on-year, where new models were popular.

Overall, Honda sold 1.07 million vehicles for the fiscal second quarter, up from 1.05 million the same period a year earlier.

Honda's motorcycle unit also did well for the quarter, boosting sales in India, Indonesia and Vietnam, while selling fewer units in Japan and North America compared with the previous year.

Honda expects to sell fewer vehicles for the fiscal year, at 4.6 million vehicles, down from the previous forecast for 4.8 million vehicles. But the new projection is still above the 4.3 million vehicles sold the last fiscal year.

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Follow Yuri Kageyama on Twitter at https://twitter.com/yurikageyama

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Beautiful stereo, but the price is not right

Tivoli Audio's Music System Three ($299, Tivoli
Audio.com)

This is the first Bluetooth-enabled portable music system made by the Herald's Seaport Center neighbors. With a rechargeable battery that powers the system for 20 hours and a splash-proof exterior meant for the beach, the question is whether this device justifies the price.

The good: At 3.75 pounds and with a handle that doubles as a place to store the phone that's playing the music, Tivoli has mastered its design with the Music System Three. A built-in radio tuner and alarm rounds out this offering.

The bad: The remote control had a disappointing lag, and high volumes did invite some distortion.

The bottom line: This is a gorgeous device that would be perfect for $75 less. But if you're itching for a super-attractive stereo, this won't disappoint.

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Governors stress home quarantine for Ebola workers

NEW YORK — The gulf between politicians and scientists over Ebola widened on Sunday as the nation's top infectious-disease expert warned that the mandatory, 21-day quarantining of medical workers returning from West Africa is unnecessary and could discourage volunteers from traveling to the danger zone.

Late Sunday night, the governors of New York and New Jersey stressed separately that the policies allowed for home confinement for medical workers who have had contact with Ebola patients if the workers show no symptoms. They will receive twice-daily monitoring from health officials.

The emphasis on home confinement was at odds with the widely criticized treatment of a nurse returning from Sierrra Leone who was forcibly quarantined is a New Jersey hospital isolation unit even though she said had no symptoms and tested negative for Ebola.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said such quarantines in medical facilities would only be used in some cases, such as if the health care workers were from states other than New York or New Jersey. For workers under home confinement, family members will be allowed to stay, and friends may visit with the approval of health officials. Workers displaying any symptoms will go straight to the hospital.

"My personal practice is to err on the side of caution," Cuomo said. "The old expression is, 'Hope for the best but prepare for the worst.'"

Under the protocols Cuomo detailed Sunday night, the state also will pay for any lost compensation if the quarantined workers are not paid by a volunteer organization.

Cuomo had criticized Dr. Craig Spencer, who tested positive for Ebola on Thursday, for not obeying a 21-day voluntary quarantine. But on Sunday, he called the health care workers "heroes" and said his administration would encourage more medical workers to volunteer to fight Ebola.

For much of the weekend, the governors had been under fire from members of the medical community and the White House.

"The best way to protect us is to stop the epidemic in Africa, and we need those health care workers, so we do not want to put them in a position where it makes it very, very uncomfortable for them to even volunteer to go," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Meanwhile, Kaci Hickox, the first nurse forcibly quarantined in New Jersey under the state's new policy, said in a telephone interview with CNN that her isolation at a hospital was "inhumane," adding: "We have to be very careful about letting politicians make health decisions."

Saying the federal health guidelines are inadequate, Cuomo and Christie announced a mandatory quarantine program Friday for medical workers and other arriving airline passengers who have had contact with Ebola victims in West Africa, either in their homes or in medical facilities, and Illinois soon followed suit. Twenty-one days is the incubation period for Ebola.

"We're staying one step ahead," Cuomo said Sunday night. "We're doing everything possible. Some people say we're being too cautious. I'll take that criticism."

The Obama administration considers the policy in New York and New Jersey "not grounded in science" and conveyed its concerns to Christie and Cuomo, a senior administration official told The Associated Press earlier Sunday. The official wasn't authorized to comment by name and insisted on anonymity.

Fauci made the rounds on five major Sunday morning talk shows to argue that policy should be driven by science — and that science says people with the virus are not contagious until symptoms appear. And even then, infection requires direct contact with bodily fluids.

He said that close monitoring of medical workers for symptoms is sufficient, and warned that forcibly separating them from others, or quarantining them, for three weeks could cripple the fight against the outbreak in West Africa — an argument that humanitarian medical organizations have also made.

"If we don't have our people volunteering to go over there, then you're going to have other countries that are not going to do it and then the epidemic will continue to roar," Fauci said.

Earlier this month, four members of a family in Texas that Ebola victim Thomas Eric Duncan stayed with before he died were confined to their home under armed guard after failing to comply with a request not to leave their apartment. Also, 75 Dallas hospital workers were asked to sign legally binding documents in which they agreed not go to public places or use mass transit.

The New York-area quarantine measures were announced after Spencer returned to New York City from treating Ebola victims in Guinea for Doctors Without Borders and was admitted to Bellevue Hospital Center Thursday to be treated for Ebola. In the week after his return, he rode the subway, went bowling and ate at a restaurant.

Hospital officials said Sunday that Spencer was in serious but stable condition, was looking better than he did the day before, and tolerated a plasma treatment well.

Hickox, the quarantined nurse who just returned from Sierra Leone, said she had no symptoms at all and tested negative for Ebola in a preliminary evaluation.

"It's just a slippery slope, not a sound public health decision," she said of the quarantine policy. "I want to be treated with compassion and humanity, and don't feel I've been treated that way."

Hickox has access to a computer, her cellphone, magazines and newspapers and has been allowed to have takeout food, New Jersey Health Department officials said.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio called Hickox a "returning hero" and charged that she was "treated with disrespect," as if she done something wrong, when she was put into quarantine. He said that she was interrogated repeatedly and things were not explained well to her.

Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations who is on a trip to West Africa, said returning U.S. health care workers should be "treated like conquering heroes and not stigmatized for the tremendous work that they have done."

In other developments, President Barack Obama met Sunday with his Ebola response team, including "Ebola czar" Ron Klain and other public health and national security officials. According to a statement released by the White House, Obama said any measures concerning returning health care workers "should be crafted so as not to unnecessarily discourage those workers from serving."

Florida Gov. Rick Scott ordered twice-daily monitoring for 21 days of anyone returning from the Ebola-stricken areas.

The World Health Organization said more than 10,000 people have been infected with Ebola in the outbreak that came to light last March, and nearly half of them have died, mostly in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

Fauci appeared on "Fox News Sunday," ABC's "This Week, NBC's "Meet the Press," CBS' "Face the Nation" and CNN's "State of the Union." Christie was interviewed on Fox and Power spoke to NBC.

___

Associated Press writers Bruce Shipkowski in Trenton, N.J., Josh Lederman and Thomas Strong in Washington, and Verena Dobnik in New York contributed to this report.

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World stocks mostly higher after ECB stress tests

TOKYO — Shares were mostly higher Monday after largely positive results from the European Central Bank's stress tests of financial institutions. Investors are also looking ahead to earnings and a meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve.

KEEPING SCORE: France's CAC 40 index gained 0.1 percent to 4,132.66 and Germany's DAX added 0.3 percent to 9,013.72. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.2 percent to 6,398.22. Futures augured muted trading on Wall Street. Dow futures were up 0.1 percent at 16,751 while S&P 500 futures shed 0.1 percent to 1,958.50.

EUROPEAN TESTS: The European Central Bank said that 13 of Europe's 130 biggest banks failed an in-depth review of their finances and need an extra 10 billion euros ($12.5 billion) to cushion themselves against any future crises. The landmark review showed most of Europe's banks will be purged of bad investments and ready to lend to businesses when the economy finally picks up, the ECB said.

THE QUOTE: "The positive results of a stress test in the European banking sector over the weekend saw to less volatile conditions in Asian markets," Desmond Chua, of CMC Markets, said in a commentary. "The stress tests showed healthy balance sheets in most major institutions while those found with capital gaps are mostly contained in periphery nations."

ASIA'S DAY: Shares were mixed in Asia. Japan's Nikkei 225 stock index climbed 0.6 percent to 15,382.12 and South Korea's Kospi rose 0.3 percent to 1,931.97. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.9 percent to 5,459.00. Elsewhere, Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.7 percent to 23,143.50. Shares also were lower in Singapore, India and Taiwan, but higher in New Zealand.

FED MEETING: Investors are focusing on this week's Federal Reserve policy meeting for confirmation the U.S. central bank is ending its bond buying program; the policy has kept interest rates low to support economic recovery but also boosted stock markets as investors sought higher returns. Recent mixed signals about the strength of the U.S. recovery prompted speculation the Fed might let the program continue for longer, but many analysts consider that outcome unlikely.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude was up 1 cent to $81.02 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It sank $1.08 on Friday to $81.01. Brent crude was down 24 cents at $85.89 a barrel on the ICE exchange.

CURRENCIES: The euro rose to $1.2693 from $1.2670 late Friday. The dollar fell to 107.82 yen from 108.16 yen.

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Robots may battle Ebola

An international effort is underway to stop the spread of the deadly Ebola virus with logistics and training, and health care companies are scrambling to produce promising treatments and vaccines, but a number of high tech solutions also have emerged as potential keys to addressing the outbreak.

In about two weeks, an elite group of robotics researchers from academia and the private sector will meet at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and two other universities around the country for a U.S. government-sanctioned event to try to develop ways robots can be used to help combat the disease that has killed nearly 5,000 people.

"I do believe that technology interventions at the right place, at the right time, robotics technologies or other technologies can be impactful," said Taskin Padir, a robotics professor at WPI.

One of the most useful jobs for robots could be decontamination, said Velin Dimitrov, a doctoral candidate at WPI. He said a robot called Aero could easily be modified to disinfect areas that have been contaminated with the Ebola virus.

Robots also could be used to bury those who have died from Ebola, as well as removing personal protective gear worn by health workers.

"If we can minimize the contact, we can minimize the risk," Padir said.

In the unlikely event that there is an outbreak in Massachusetts, state officials say they are well prepared thanks to an existing tool called MAVEN. Officially called the Massachusetts Virtual Epidemiologic Network, MAVEN is an early detection tool that allows state epidemiologists to track and get real-time alerts for suspected and confirmed cases.

"MAVEN has been set up to respond automatically to different pieces of information," said Gillian Haney, director of surveillance and informatics at the state Department of Public Health's bureau of infectious disease. "What it allows us to do is to have real time information sharing on reportable disease events."

One of these pieces of information is a confirmed test, notification of which is automatically pushed to state health officials thanks to the electronic testing procedures put in place by many health-care facilities.

Alerts for some diseases — including Ebola — are automatically sent to the state when there is a suspected case. Local health departments and other necessary personnel are then notified.

Haney said Massachusetts is better positioned than many other states to deal with an epidemic of any kind, in part because more than 90 percent of the state's lab tests are part of the state health information exchange, which feeds into MAVEN.

Technology giants also are getting involved in the Ebola fight. Microsoft last week said that it would give academics researching Ebola access to its Azure cloud computing platform to boost their storage and computing power.

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The Ticker

Groups question Entergy's finances

Nuclear watchdog groups in three states are questioning Entergy Corp.'s financial ability to operate plants in New York and Massachusetts.

The groups are focusing on the Fitzpatrick plant in upstate New York and the Pilgrim reactor in Massachusetts — as well as Vermont Yankee — citing USB Investment Services reports from earlier this year saying the Vermont and New York plants are facing negative cash flows by next year.

Entergy Corp. announced last year it would close Vermont Yankee by the end of this year due to poor economic performance.

Hub gets $25G
Agriculture grant

Mayor Martin J. Walsh and the city of Boston's Office of Food Initiatives announced the receipt of a $25,000 planning grant from the Department of Agriculture Local Food Promotion Program to support the hiring of an independent facilitator to develop a vision for food production in Boston as a whole.

TOMORROW

• National Association of Realtors releases pending home sales index for September.

TUESDAY

• Commerce Department releases durable goods for September.
• Standard & Poor's releases S&P/Case-Shiller index of home prices for August.
• The Conference Board releases the Consumer Confidence Index for October.
•  Federal Reserve policy makers begin a two-day meeting to set interest rates.

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Minivan loses fluid and dashboard lights up

We have 184,000 miles on our 2005 Chrysler Town & Country van with 3.8-liter engine. The other day my wife drove it down the block and didn't notice the red path of oil on the road. She came back immediately when she noticed the van would only "rev up and not go." The check engine light came on and she barely made it back. I found that one of the hoses from the transmission control solenoid to the radiator had burst. This was an easy fix and I added 2.5 quarts of transmission fluid. The van runs and shifts normally. However, the check engine light remained on and my scan tool showed four codes — PO732, PO700, PO734 and PO700. I understand the 732 and 734 codes are for gear ratio misalignment and the 700 code is merely an informational code. My scan tool wouldn't let me clear these codes, but later that day the check engine light went off after about 30 miles of driving. Can the check engine light reset itself? Is there anything else I should be concerned about?

No, the computer cannot erase those codes from its memory. But it can turn off the check engine light after a certain number of key on/off cycles if it does not see the problem again. This allows the system to illuminate the check engine light again if the same or some other failure occurs.

The total fluid capacity of the 41TE-AE transmission is 9.7 quarts, so the vehicle lost less than one-third of its fluid. Adding the fact that it has survived 184,000 miles, I wouldn't be particularly worried — I don't think any significant damage was done.

I have an annoying whine in my 2010 Chevy Impala steering wheel. I understand it is the clock spring and would be rather expensive to fix. Can you explain what the function of the clock spring is and are there any inexpensive fixes? Are there any potential problems just living with it?

Actually, the total cost to replace the clock spring, according to my ALLDATA labor guide, is roughly $300. The clock spring assembly provides electrical continuity to the driver air bag through the entire range of steering wheel movement. If there is an electrical issue with the clock spring, the restraint system warning light would be illuminated.

But I question whether the whine you're hearing is actually coming from the steering column/wheel. If it is originating from the front of the vehicle as you turn the wheel, the issue is more likely related to the power steering pump or fluid. A complete flush and refill with correct power steering is inexpensive and a good preventive maintenance procedure.

I hope you can answer questions concerning timing belts and timing chains. I own a 2004 2.4-liter four-cylinder Toyota Camry with 82,000 miles. My mechanic says it has a timing chain, but the maintenance schedule says to replace the timing belt at 90,000 miles, but only for those models with the six-cylinder engine. Toyota dealers advise replacing the timing belt at 60,000 miles. Does my vehicle have a timing belt or a timing chain and when should a belt or a chain be replaced? I get a bit apprehensive when I am on the highway going 65 mph.

Your mechanic is correct, as is the owner's manual. The camshafts in this engine are driven by a steel-link roller timing chain, not a rubber cogged belt. There is no routine replacement called for with timing chains, which is an advantage over timing belts. Coupled with the fact that this is a non-interference engine, meaning there would be no valve-to-piston contact should the chain fail, no worries. As you noted, the 3- and 3.3-liter V6 engines available in this vehicle featured timing belts that require replacement at 90,000 mile intervals.

Paul Brand, author of "How to Repair Your Car," is an automotive troubleshooter, driving instructor and former race-car driver. Readers may write to him at: Star Tribune, 425 Portland Ave. S., Minneapolis, Minn., 55488 or via email at paulbrandstartribune.com. Please explain the problem in detail and include a daytime phone number.

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