 » Gold surged past $1,600 a troy ounce for the first time, as the euro-zone crisis and uncertainty over America's federal-debt ceiling sent investors piling into assets regarded as safe. The Swiss franc reached an all-time high against the euro and yields on ten-year German Bunds dropped to an eight-month low of 2.6%.
See article » The European Banking Authority released the results of stress tests on European banks. Eight of the 91 lenders it examined did not have enough capital to absorb hypothetical losses in the event of a downturn. The EBA put the combined shortfall for these banks at just €2.5 billion ($3.5 billion), stoking suspicions that the tests were too timid. A ninth bank, Germany's Helaba, withdrew from the test and declined to disclose its result. Another 15 lenders only just scraped through. Spain's BBVA fared best among big banks, followed by Italy's Intesa Sanpaolo, despite their home countries' sovereign-debt woes. See article » The stress tests did not stop investors offloading shares in Europe's big banks, even those with the thickest capital cushions. Banks dragged the Stoxx Europe 600 index of European equities down to its lowest level this year. » Apple had a bumper second quarter of 2011. Its net income more than doubled to $7.31 billion compared with the same period last year on the back of strong demand for its iPad 2 tablet and the iPhone. The figures calmed investors who had fretted that the lack of a new iPhone, not due until September, would hobble sales. Apple's share price rose by 2.7% on the news and is up 20% since the start of the year. » A trade tribunal in America issued a preliminary ruling that HTC, which produces smartphones based on Google's Android operating system, had infringed two patents owned by Apple. If upheld, the ruling might lead to a ban on American imports of HTC devices. The Taiwanese firm said it would appeal. See article
Hale and hearty » IBM's revenue went up by 12% in the second quarter. Net earnings jumped by 8%, to $3.7 billion, beating expectations and spurring the IT giant to raise its profit forecast for the whole year. The robust performance owes much to strong sales of its hardware products, just as IBM is shifting focus from manufacturing machines to selling software and business services. » Cisco Systems announced plans to lay off 6,500 workers, or 9% of its global workforce, in an effort to cut costs by $1 billion in the next fiscal year. The maker of networking equipment had earlier shed 550 employees when it closed its Flip video-camera unit in May. It will also sell a plant in Mexico, though it expects none of the 5,000 workers there to lose their jobs.
Not so masterful » After posting disappointing second-quarter results Goldman Sachs said it would cut around 1,000 jobs. Its income from shifting debt, currencies and commodities fell by 63% from the previous quarter, double the drop experienced by its rivals, as clients hung back and the bank cut its value at risk, a gauge of how much it can lose in a single day of trading. This fell for the eighth consecutive quarter and was the lowest since late 2006.  » Barack Obama picked Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The former Ohio attorney-general, who runs the CFPB's enforcement division, pipped Elizabeth Warren, a Harvard professor who pushed for the agency's creation in the wake of the financial crisis and has acted as special adviser to it. A vocal critic of the financial-services industry, Ms Warren was passed over for a less polarising figure who stands a better chance of winning confirmation in Congress. » American Airlines is to buy 460 new single-aisle planes. The order—200 Boeing 737s and 260 Airbus A320s—was described as the largest in the industry's history and represents a shift for American, which has for decades bought only Boeings. The world's third-biggest carrier by passenger numbers desperately needs more fuel-efficient planes to overhaul its ageing fleet. The deal, valued at $38.5 billion, is a significant outlay for the company, whose share price has fallen by about 80% in the past five years as it has slid into loss.
It all ends here » In its opening weekend "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows—Part 2" earned $169m, a North American record. Worldwide, the eighth and last film based on novels about the adventures of a boy wizard by J.K. Rowling raked in $475m; 3D ticket sales accounted for 43% of the box-office receipts. The previous seven instalments in the saga had grossed $6.3 billion over ten years. Warner Bros., the studio which produced the whole series, called the end of the franchise "bittersweet". See article | 
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