Afternoon Roundup: Today's Top Stories

Michelle Zayed, The Motley Fool
Updated

AtThe Motley Fool, we know our readers like to be informed. We have scouted out today's most relevant news items and brought them to you all on one page. We hope you find this midday edition informative and useful.

(NYS: UBS) CEO Oswald Gruebel is looking for support from the company's board to overhaul the investing bank sector after illegal trading caused a $2.3 billion loss. Gruebel will propose the overhaul Wednesday at a meeting in Singapore. UBS' largest shareholder, Singapore-based sovereign wealth fund GIC, is pressuring the bank to tighten controls after it has lost about 77% of its 11 billion Swiss franc investment in the bank. Gruebel said he would bear the blame for the illegal trade but does not have any plans to quit. The bank is also feeling pressured to scale down, split, or spin off its risky investment bank to protect its private customers, but executives have said they will continue business as usual until a decision can be better thought-out. Read more atReuters.

American carmaker Ford (NYS: F) is looking to expand its operations in Indonesia by offering eight new models over the next five years. The company hopes to take advantage of rising car sales in the country. Ford also plans to add four dealerships by the end of the year, for a total of 40. The company's car sales in Indonesia have gone up by 107% over the first eight months compared with the same period as last year. Its bestseller was the Fiesta subcompact, which accounted for around 40% of all sales. Ford's move follows General Motors (NYS: GM) intention to spend $150 million to introduce a new model in its West Java plant and Toyota's plan to spend $344 million on a new factory in Indonesia. Read more atBloomberg.

Price is an issue in deal talks between United Technologies (NYS: UTX) and Goodrich (NYS: GR) . Despite the issue, insiders have said both companies will continue with talks but that United Technologies has other targets on its company list including Rockwell Collins (NYS: COL) , which makes electronics for the aircraft industry. Goodrich's shares traded around $114 in after-hours trading on Friday after the deal was announced. United Technologies' price closed at $75.55 on Monday. United Technologies has been looking for deals since Bill Brown was appointed head of corporate strategy. In the decade to 2010, the company spent around $18 billion in acquisitions. Read more atThe Wall Street Journal.

After Netflix (NAS: NFLX) announced it would spin off its DVD-by-mail service, many of its customers flooded the company's website to let off their anger. The once passionate fans criticized CEO Reed Hastings for not only dividing the business but increasing the price without explanation over the summer. Users let Hastings know they were disgruntled that they would now have to pay and manage two different accounts, with some predicting the demise of the company. Some experts said the online outrage should be taken with a grain of salt since it seems Netflix has a satisfied user base overall. But the risk can still be felt, with the company's stock consistently falling since the price hikes. The stock closed at $143.75 on Monday after the announcement, down 7.37%. Read more atThe New York Times.

So there you have it, the top financial stories for this afternoon. If you are interested in getting all the news and commentary on these stocks, sign up for My Watchlisthere - it's free!

At the time thisarticle was published Michelle Zayed doesn't own any stocks mentioned.The Motley Fool owns shares of Ford Motor.Motley Fool newsletter serviceshave recommended buying shares of General Motors, Netflix, and Ford Motor.Motley Fool newsletter serviceshave recommended creating a bear put spread position in Netflix. Try any of our Foolish newsletter servicesfree for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe thatconsidering a diverse range of insightsmakes us better investors. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy.

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