i'm andrew stevens in hong kong. >> and i'm nina del santos in london.watching cnn, the world's news leader. if you've just signed up for medicare or will soon, there's no time like the present to consider all your health insurance options. does medicare alone meet your needs? would additional coverage be better for you? well, now is a good time to take a look at an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. get started by calling for your free information kit and guide to medicare. as you probably know, medicare only covers about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. a medicare supplement insurance plan helps cover some of it. that could save you up to thousands of dollars a year in out-of-pocket costs. and you can visit any doctor who accepts medicare patients. with medicare supplement insurance, you'll find a range of plans to choose from to fit your needs and budget. there are no networks. no referrals to see a specialist. and you could get a pretty good idea what your out-of-pocket c

. >>> good morning from cnn london, i'm nina del santos. >> i'm andrew stevens. welcome. the top stories this wednesday, october the 5th. >> a rally on wall street keeps the u.s. out of bear market territory. >>> shares sink in korea and japan while better than expected retail sales boost the aussie market. >>> and european investors are in a buying mood despite a downgrade of italian debt. >>> let's get straight to the european stock markets now. they've been trading for a touch over an hour. and investors appear to be shrugging off that italian downgrade by moody's late on tuesday. the ratings agency slashed the nation's credit ratings by three notches to a-2 and said it could cut further. but clearly it's not affecting the markets. they're following the markets stateside in yesterday's session. that is helping to lift european markets today when they start trading. >>> one of europe's 20 largest banks and belgium's biggest, dexia, faces being broken up. it's supposed to isolate its assets. assets could be sold off or nationalized afterwards. it's a familiar story for d