UBS Posts Worse-than-Expected Profit: Hot Trends

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Popular searches on the Internt include UBS (UBS) as the Swiss bank posted a worse-than-expected second-quarter profit due to losses it incurred from the Facebook (FB) initial public offering.

UBS posted a net profit of 425 million francs ($434.16 million) for the quarter, compared to analysts' estimates of more than 1 billion francs. UBS was hit with a loss of 349 million francs from the day of the Facebook IPO in May when the company had problems executing electronic trades. UBS' investment banking unit also posted a pretax loss of 130 million francs for the quarter.

UBS currently plans to boost capital by 15.3 billion francs this year, after being urged to do so by the Swiss central bank. It said it has already cut costs that should help improve results by the end of 2013, but its outlook remained cautious.

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Novartis (NVS) is trending as the company reached a revised relationship agreement with Idenix Pharmaceuticals (KMI).

Under the new agreement, Novartis no longer has the option right to license Idenix's current and future development-stage drugs. Now, Idenix will pay Novartis a royalty based on sales of its future hepatitis C virus drugs. Idenix will no longer receive royalties from Novartis on sales of Tyzeka/Sebivo, the hepatitis B treatment the two drugmakers developed together.

As long as Novartis continues to own at least a 15% stake in Idenix, Novartis will also have the right to assign one member to Idenix's board. Novartis, which previously was allowed to designate two members to Idenix's board, currently has a 31% stake in the company.

The original deal between the two companies was signed in May 2003.

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Spotify is another popular search. The music streaming service is hitting Android phones.

Spotify just announced that Android users can now use its app to create stations and listen to music. Users can also further customize their playlists by clicking a thumbs-up or thumbs-down button when a song is on or saving a song they enjoy.

The move to Android phones comes after Spotify hit iOS last month. The free app is now available in the Google Play store.

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The chatter on Main Street (a.k.a. Google, Yahoo! and other search sites) is always of interest to investors on Wall Street. Thus, each day, TheStreet compiles the stories that are trending on the Web, and highlights the news that could make stocks move.

-- Written by Brittany Umar.

Brittany joined TheStreet.com TV in November 2006 after completing a degree in Journalism and Media Studies at Rutgers College. Previously, Brittany interned at the local ABC affiliate in New York City WABC-TV 7 where she helped research and produce On Your Side, a popular consumer advocacy segment.