UBS Swings To Profit (WSJ)
The bank swung to a profit of 2.01 billion Swiss francs ($1.92 billion) in the second quarter from a loss of 1.4 billion francs a year earlier. Last fall, UBS set out a medium-term target of 15 billion francs of annual pre-tax profit. In early afternoon trading in Zurich, the shares surged 9%. "The UBS franchise is solid. I believe their numbers will improve further into the year," said Marc Gabelli, president of the Gabelli Group, parent of $29 billion U.S. asset manager GAMCO. "The bleed is over and now they will begin to regain share."

Deutsche Bank raises quarterly profits despite crisis (AP)
Germany's biggest bank, Deutsche Bank, can still hit an important 2011 target despite a slump by its key profit generator, finance director Stefan Krause said on Tuesday. "We believe we are on track to achieve this goal," of pre-tax profit of 10 billion euros (13 billion dollars), Krause told media after the bank released second-quarter results. He did not give an outlook for this year, however. In the first half of 2010, the bank posted operating profit of 4.3 billion euros, of which just 1.5 billion came during the second quarter. "We remain very confident in investment banking for 2011" but also in other sources of profits, Krause said in reference to the group's top money maker.

Top 25 Highest Paid CEOs Of The Decade (WSJ)
Hey hey hey: "Four of the top 25 CEOs worked at financial companies, two on Wall Street: former Lehman Brothers CEO Richard S. Fuld, at No. 11 with $457 million, and former Citigroup Inc. CEO Sandy Weill, who ranked 19th at $361 million. The others were Mr. Fairbank and former Countrywide Financial Corp. CEO Angelo Mozilo."

Jailed Investment Banker Asks For $2 Million Bail (Bloomberg)
Kenneth Starr, 66, would be in the custody of his wife, Diane Passage, and remain at their Manhattan apartment with an electronic monitoring ankle bracelet under curfew from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m., according to a request filed in court Monday by his lawyer, Flora Edwards. Federal prosecutors objected to the request. In detention, Mr. Starr has not been able to help in his defense because he “lacks access to the multitude of files and records as well as the technology necessary to work effectively,” according to the filing.

CIT Reports Second Quarter 2010 Net Income of $142 Million; $0.71 Per Diluted Share (BusinessWire)
“During the second quarter we continued to advance our key corporate initiatives,” said John A. Thain, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “We improved our funding flexibility, repaid higher cost debt, streamlined our portfolio and largely completed the build-out of our senior management team. We remain committed to increasing the value of our commercial franchises and supporting the small business and middle market sectors that are vital to the U.S. economy.”

New Chief Pledges BP Will Be 'Good Corporate Citizen' (CNBC)
"It's in the fabric of the company. We want to be a good corporate citizen. We want to restore our reputation. It's going to take time," he said. "We've got to learn from this accident. We're going to change many things in BP."

http://online.wsj.com/video-center?mg=com-wsj">Down Came the Rain and Washed a Porsche Spyder Out (WSJ)
Apparently you don't want to buy this car.

U.S. Small-Business Aid May Create $300 Billion of `Junk' Loans (Bloomberg)
The U.S. Senate may vote this week on a bill to funnel $30 billion of capital to community banks. Banks could leverage the sum to make $300 billion in loans that create jobs, according to a Senate summary. That could more than double the commercial and industrial loans at eligible banks as of the first quarter, according to data compiled by KBW Inc.

Cast Of Jersey Shore Rings Opening Bell (YouTube)

Mark Haines is a huge fan.