Economy
Hedge funds are cutting their long positions on cable, as the gap between "yes" and "no" votes for Scottish independence narrows. According to French asset management group Lyxor, investors on average have cut their positions from 5% of their net assets at the end of May to -1.3% in early September. Last week, the pound fell to $1.60, its weakest level in nearly a year, due to the uncertainty of Scotland's future.

President Barack Obama will announce an expansion of military and medical resources to fight the Ebola epidemic in West Africa later today. The new plan involves as many as 3,000 U.S. forces to help organize, train new health care workers and build treatment clinics. The Department of Defense will direct $500M for the effort. The World Health Organization's latest count estimates that 4,784 people have been infected with the virus, while 2,400 have died.

Stocks
Following its $2.5B purchase of Mojang, Microsoft has announced its Windows 9 event, which will take place in San Francisco on Sept. 30. People familiar with the company's plans say Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) will restore corporate users' confidence in the new version of Windows, after alienating some of the "office-worker" segment with the introduction of Windows 8. Corporate buyers say the operating system did not integrate well into the typical office setup.

Although a target as high as $70 had been rumored earlier, Bloomberg reports the new range for the Alibaba (Pending:BABA) IPO as $66-$68 (the previous range had been $60-$66). The new range pushes up the stock's sale potential to as much as $21.8B, increasing the chances that Alibaba could top Agricultural Bank of China’s (AGCBY) $22B sale in 2010 as the world’s biggest.

United Continental says it will pay eligible flight attendants up to $100,000 to leave the company through a voluntary buyout. The deal aims to end furloughs at the over-staffed airline, and will recall all 1,450 flight attendants on leave so they may request the severance payment or return to work. Problems of over-staffing at the airline increased after United (NYSE:UAL) retired some of its planes, leaving the company 2,000-plus flight attendants above capacity.

Based on recent signals from the Obama administration, it looks like Boeing (NYSE:BA) will win NASA's multibillion-dollar "space taxi" contract, WSJ reports. Boeing is competing with Elon Musk's SpaceX and Sierra Nevada for the funding, although a joint award is a possibility. The development of space taxis will also clear the way toward commercial space endeavors, which is likely to allow contractors to develop and operate space vehicles with limited federal supervision.

Toyota is reconsidering a move to open a new compact car assembly plant in Mexico after company President Akio Toyoda told planners searching for a site to pause and review its rationale. Toyota (NYSE:TM) already has a pickup truck plant in the Mexican state of Baja California, capable of producing 63K Tacoma vehicles a year, but does not yet have any production capacity for passenger cars in the country.

Blackstone has issued marketing documents and is looking to raise approximately $16B for its newest buyout fund, Blackstone Capital Partners VII. The new fund will replace Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Capital Partners VI, which raised just over $16B in investments, and closed in 2012 due to the global financial crisis.

TransCanada says the cost of the South Dakota portion of the Keystone XL pipeline has more than doubled to almost $2B in the last four years while the project awaits federal approval. Many factors have led to the increase, including the drawn-out regulatory process, inflation, currency changes, labor cost increases and materials storage. TransCanada's (NYSE:TRP) new estimate brings the total cost of the project to $5.4B, although it will be revised higher once regulatory approval is received.

Exxon Mobil and partner Petronas have kicked off operations at a massive enhanced oil recovery project off the shores of Malaysia after nearly three years of construction. Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) says the Tapis EOR project is one of the largest offshore enhanced oil recovery projects in Southeast Asia and represents a $2.6B investment by the company and its 50/50 partner.

ConocoPhillips is auctioning its 24% stake in the Clair oil field in the U.K. North Sea and hopes to bring in $2B-$3B. The project, which sits in Scottish territorial waters, is one of the U.K.’s most prized oilfields. The Financial Times suggests that ConocoPhillips's (NYSE:COP) interest in exiting the project is a sign of the challenges facing the North Sea oil industry.

Wal-Mart's Chief Spokesman David Tovar has resigned after the company discovered an almost two-decade-old falsehood on his resume. While conducting a due-diligence screening, the retailer discovered that Tovar never received a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Delaware in 1996. Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) has confirmed the claim with an academic-records official from the university.

Sears has secured a $400M short-term loan from chairman Eddie Lampert's hedge fund, giving the retailer a much needed boost for the upcoming holiday season. Sears (NASDAQ:SHLD) previously recorded a major loss of nearly $1B in the six months through Aug. 2.

After stating its intention in May to find a partner for its experimental Alzheimer's drug, AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN) has now agreed to team up with Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY). Under the terms of the agreement, Lilly will pay AstraZeneca up to $500M, depending on the progress of the drug, which is now set to enter late-stage Phase 3 development. The companies will share all costs associated with the "BACE inhibitor drug", as well as net global revenues after its launch.

Allergan has reached an agreement with Bill Ackman's Pershing Square and Valeant (NYSE:VRX) to hold a special shareholder meeting on the originally planned date, Dec. 18. After lining up investors who own a combined 35% of Allergan (NYSE:AGN) to support the meeting, Ackman is hoping to replace most of the company's board members with his own nominees, and win support for the takeover offer. Subsequently, Pershing Square and Valeant have dismissed their lawsuit against Allergan over the timing of the meeting.

Today's economic calendar:

FOMC meeting begins
7:45 ICSC Retail Store Sales
8:30 Producer Price Index
8:55 Redbook Chain Store Sales
9:00 Treasury International Capital

Notable earnings before today's open: FDS

Notable earnings after today's close: ADBE, APOG