More problems: Barclays underlying profit before tax, which strips away the firm's $451 million settlement with U.S. and U.K. regulators, increased 13 percent in the first half of the year. The bank revealed that it is under investigation by British regulators over disclosures it made during a 2008 capital raise.

Tax haven? When Eddie Lambert said he was moving $10.5 billion hedge fund ESL Investments to Florida from Connecticut last month, he really meant that he was moving. Mr. Lambert's staff stayed behind in Connecticut, The New York Post reports, where they now work for a company run by ESL's former chief financial officer—and continue to provide research to ESL. Mr. Lambert, meanwhile, is avoiding partnership and other taxes.

Whither Europe: Caixabank, Spain's third-largest lender, and two smaller banks reported lower earnings today as more real-estate loans went bad.

Faceplant: Facebook shares dropped more than 10 percent in trading after the close of markets after the company released quarterly results for the first time since its May IPO. The stock fell even thought the company hit analyst estimates for revenue and earnings-per-share; daily and mobile use of the social networking site continued their downward trends.

Who needs profit? Amazon reported profit fell 96 percent in the second-quarter, and investors didn't seem to mind.

Mirror, mirror: Goldman's vaunted new P.R. strategy continues to pay off with stories about Goldman's vaunted new P.R. strategy.

Dealbreaker...has an app for bank employees whose firm's have blocked access to the site.