Business Top Stories from Associated Press (AP)

Greg Smith wrote the essay that echoed across Wall Street like a thunderclap. Smith was a vice president at Goldman Sachs until March. He announced his departure from the investment bank with a blistering editorial in The New York Times, accusing Goldman of routinely deceiving clients and relentlessly pursuing profit at the expense of morality.

TOKYO (AP) , Japan's trade deficit widened in September, the third straight month of shortfall, as exports plunged 10.3 percent from a year earlier, weighed down by Europe's debt crisis and a surge in antagonisms with China that have damaged close economic ties.

BANGKOK (AP) , Asian stock markets fell Monday, responding to disappointing corporate earnings out of the U.S. last week and a widening trade deficit in Japan. Disappointing results from Wall Street giants Microsoft, General Electric and McDonald's surprised traders and caused U.S. stocks to finish lower on Friday.

SAN DIEGO (AP) , The new media barons of America's eighth-largest city are upfront about wanting to use their newspaper to promote their agenda of downtown development and politically conservative causes , and they are making their points in a brash, bare-knuckle style.

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) , Chanting and waving signs to protest high electricity prices, thousands of unarmed indigenous demonstrators blockaded a highway in western Guatemala, forcing a standoff with police. Two truckloads of soldiers arrived and gunfire erupted, killing eight protesters and wounding 34.

BEIJING (AP) , China's economic model that delivered three decades of double-digit growth is running out of steam and the country's next leaders face tough choices to keep incomes rising. But they don't seem to have ambitious solutions. Even if they do, they will need to tackle entrenched interests with backing high in the Communist Party.

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. (AP) , In the bird world, they make endangered condors seem almost commonplace. The unique Great Gray Owls of Yosemite, left to evolve after glacial ice separated them from their plentiful Canadian brethren 30 millennia ago, are both a mystery and concern to the scientists charged with protecting them.

Scary movie fans are still into "Paranormal Activity," though the horror franchise looks as though it's starting to run out of steam at the box office. Paramount's "Paranormal Activity 4" debuted at No. 1 with $30.2 million, a big drop from the $40 million and $50 million opening weekends of the last two installments, according to studio estimates Sunday.

BOSTON (AP) , The Boston Red Sox are hoping that two big trades will help them get back to the playoffs after missing out three years in a row. The first was a genuine blockbuster that sent Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, Nick Punto and Josh Beckett to the Los Angeles Dodgers and freed up more than $250 million in future salaries.

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) , Palestinians voted for local councils in dozens of West Bank towns Saturday, but Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah movement didn't get the sweeping endorsement they hoped for , even as archrival Hamas boycotted the vote.

WILLOW BEACH, Ariz. (AP) , The bus was on a routine tour of the Grand Canyon, taking tourists from the lights and glamour of Las Vegas to the beauty of the natural wonder. On such trips, passengers get a glimpse of the Hoover Dam and the northern Arizona wilderness, maybe even see a deer or two.

NEW YORK (AP) , NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly and players' association special counsel Steve Fehr spoke to each other on Saturday, but the sides still have no plans to meet face-to-face as a deadline to preserve a full hockey season draws nearer.

SANAA, Yemen (AP) , Yemeni security forces have raided hospitals in Aden in search of suspected militants, threatening health care in the southern port city, an international rights group said Saturday.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) , In this tech-savvy city teeming with commuters and tourists, the cell phone has become a top target of robbers who use stealth, force and sometimes guns. Nearly half of all robberies in San Francisco this year are cell phone-related, police say, and most occur on bustling transit lines.

SAO PAULO (AP) , Officials say German automaker BMW AG will build a factory in southern Brazil. Santa Catarina state Gov. Raimundo Colombo says BMW will invest approximately 1 billion reals ($500 million) to build the plant. Colombo tells the state government's website he will meet with President Dilma Rousseff on Monday "to explain details of the investment."