Republican business executive Rory Smith announced Wednesday that he would run for Rhode Island governor and called for spending and tax cuts to help revive a tanking economy that’s pushed unemployment to 13 percent.

EBay Inc on Wednesday forecast a fourth-quarter profit at the low end of analysts’ estimates, disappointing investor hopes of a substantial turnaround at its main marketplaces division during the crucial holiday season.

The Obama administration plans to order that top earners at firms that received billions of dollars in government bailouts will see cash payouts cut by an average of about 90 percent from last year, a source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

U.S. stocks ended lower on Wednesday, hurt by a late-day sell-off in financial shares after an influential analyst recommended selling Wells Fargo .

Shares of major airlines fell hard Wednesday as oil prices continued to spike. Benchmark crude for December delivery rose $2.25 to settle at $81.37 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Shares of Gilead Sciences Inc. slipped Wednesday as investors expressed some disappointment over the company’s HIV drug sales, despite a 36 percent boost in profit that topped Wall Street expectations.

Shares of SLM Corp., the student lender known as Sallie Mae, rallied Wednesday after the company said it thinks charge-offs on student loans peaked in the third quarter and that improving credit markets may allow it to make more money on loans.

Supertex Inc. shares fell Wednesday after the chip maker’s fiscal second quarter profit missed Wall Street forecasts as its profit margin shrank.

Shares of Manpower Inc. fell sharply Wednesday after the staffing company reported a wider third-quarter loss on swooning labor markets.

Investors are finding encouragement about the direction of the economy from the latest batch of earnings reports. Stocks rose Wednesday after a handful of banks, including Morgan Stanley, US Bancorp and Wells Fargo, posted better results for the July-September quarter.