European companies haven’t beaten analyst estimates as well as U.S. firms in the latest round of quarterly earnings and share prices have also started to diverge slightly, potentially signalling a wider gap to come.

Reuters ZURICH - Authorities in Britain and Australia have requested information from UBS after the Swiss bank agreed in August to disclose some 4,450 client names to settle a US tax case, the bank confirmed. UBS said in a note to its third-quarter financial statement, published last week, that tax...

ZURICH (Reuters) - Authorities in Britain and Australia have requested information from UBS after the Swiss bank agreed in August to disclose some 4,450 client names to settle a U.S. tax case, the bank confirmed on Sunday.UBS said in a note to its third-quarter financial statement, published last week, that...

According to FT, UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) was fined by Financial Services Authority (FSA). FSA discovered that the senior staff at UBS used clients’ money to speculate in commodities and foreign exchange markets. This was supposed to have happened between 2006 and 2007.

Overlook some winners at your own expense.

BloggingStocks: Here are some highlights from last week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks: CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS) reported that Q3 revenue was flat while earnings and cash flow declined. Clorox Co. (NYSE: CLX) reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings, ... Read more

Retail Sales Slump; U.K. Government Fines UBS $13.3 Million; Exxon and Shell Sign Iraq Oil Contract; BOE Expands Quantitative Easing; FBI Arrests 14 in Galleon Probe; Petrobras Finds Gas in Peru; Shares of Ancestry.com Soar on IPO; Mortgage Rates Drop Below 5% More than half of U.S. retail chains posted October sales that ...

Lloyds are looking to avoid the embrace of government by going to existing shareholders to raise capital and sidestep the draconian break-up solution foisted upon RBS by Neelie Kroes. According to Bloomberg, this is the largest rights issue ever for a British company and equates to $34 billion.[More...]

Deal-making activity heated up with the mega-deal announcement from Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A) of its plans to acquire Burlington Northern (BNI) for $100 per share in a deal valued at approximately $44 billion, the largest in Berkshire history Stanley Works (SWK) announced plans to purchase Black & Decker (BDK) in a deal valued ...

• Deal-making activity heated up with the mega-deal announcement from Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.A) of its plans to acquire Burlington Northern (NYSE:BNI) for $100 per share in a deal valued at approximately $44 billion, the largest in Berkshire history

• Stanley Works (NYSE:SWK) announced plans to purchase Black & Decker (NYSE:BDK) in a deal valued at $4.5 billion

• Denbury Resources (NYSE:DNR) announced plans to acquire Encore Acquisition (NYSE:EAC) in a cash and stock deal valued at $3.2 billion

• Ford (NYSE:F) said it is planning to raise $2 billion through the sale of senior convertible notes due 2016, and $1 billion through common shares sold in private deals

• UBS (NYSE:UBS) noted "we do not expect an immediate recovery in client net new monthly flows," as it reported its fourth straight quarterly loss. The third quarter loss of $552.4 million was larger than anticipated

• Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) downgraded US semiconductor shares to "cautious" warning the industry is now in the final stages of the semiconductor cycle. Intel's (NASDAQ:INTC) rating was lowered to "equalweight" from "overweight," along with shares of Altera (NASDAQ:ALTR), Linear Tech (NASDAQ:LLTC), Xilinx (NASDAQ:XLNX) and Maxim (NASDAQ:MXIM)

• During yesterday's session Citigroup's (NYSE:C) analyst slashed its rating on Research in Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM) to "sell" from "buy," also downgrading Palm (NASDAQ:PALM) to "sell" from "hold." Meanwhile, the firm upgraded Motorola (NYSE:MOT) shares to "buy" from "hold," noting positive surprises likely from new phone offerings based on Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android operating system

• Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE:ADM-A) reported fiscal first quarter earnings of 77 cents per share on sales of $14.9 billion.  The company said, "Looking ahead, we see demand improving in some key markets, and we have the assets and acumen to capture value as the global economy resets"

• American Tower (NYSE:AMT) reported inline third quarter earnings of 17 cents a share on revenues of $444.10 million. The firm backed its 2009 guidance

Zacks Investment Research

Stacy Summary:  Let me get this straight.  The BIS warns that the derivatives still pose a systemic risk, and gold holders are urged by UBS, one of the biggest writers of derivatives of mass destruction, to take off your hedge against his bank’s toxic waste? BIS reports turnover of derivatives up 16pc, warns they still pose [...]

Stacy Summary:   As Max says, “this is a fraud crisis” Milan financial police seize €476 million from JPMorgan, UBS & Deutsche in alleged swaps fraud AIG’s fall:  Bad business or criminal acts?

Stacy Summary:   When the Queen announces how much she costs the taxpayer, the palace recently began qualifying that cost on a per person basis.  So, in 2004, she only cost 2 pints of milk per person.  I think our banking royalty (and that’s what they are until we decide to revolt against it, which we [...]

Stacy Summary:  More unemployed Swiss bankers unable to leave their country for fear of the long arm of the American law.  And Lehman collapse proving to be a huge financial stimulus for some people, maybe if we let more banks fail we would see a jobs bonanza in the US & UK? UBS cuts 7,500 more [...]

Companies featured in this segment: Petrobras (NYSE:PBR), Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG), Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (BSE:500109), Jacobs Engineering Group Incorporated (NYSE:JEC), The ABB Group (NYSE:ABB), International Coal Ventures Limited, Steel Authority of India Limited (BSE:500113), NMDC Limited (BSE:526371), NTPC Limited (BSE:532555), Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE:DB), Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY), Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc (NYSE:RBS), UBS AG (NYSE:UBS), JSW Steel Limited (BSE:500228), and National Aluminium Company Limited (BSE:532234).