Gold futures hit a new record high on Tuesday, lifted by dollar weakness after Australia hiked interest rates and after a report that Gulf oil producers, along with China, Russia, Japan and France, are planning to eventually end dollar-based oil pricing. Gold for December delivery rose as high $1,038.00 an ounce in electronic trade, topping the previous record of $1,033.90 reached in March 2008. –Marketwatch

St Jude Medical Inc (NYSE: STJ) warned on Tuesday that quarterly profit would miss its previous forecasts as hospitals bought fewer of its medical devices, sending its shares down nearly 14 percent. The maker of pacemakers, defibrillators and other products pointed to pressures from the economy and healthcare reform leading to a slowdown in hospital buying. Shares of rival heart device makers Medtronic Inc (NYSE: MDT) and Boston Scientific Corp (NYSE: BSX) slumped about 4 percent after the announcement. –Reuters

UBS AG has recruited a team of oil-and-gas bankers from Dutch-based lender Fortis Bank AV, as the Swiss bank tries to rebuild its investment bank after a series of departures. UBS will add eight senior bankers from Fortis in Dallas, giving UBS its first investment-banking office there. Heading up the group move is Darrell Holley, who had been Fortis’s global head of oil and gas banking. –The Wall Street Journal

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) and Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC)  may this quarter lead companies worldwide to the first profit increases in more than two years, ending the longest earnings recession on record. The fourth-quarter may be an “inflection point” that signals a turn in profit, said Creatura, who is based in Rochester, New York. JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and Intel’s fourth-quarter gains will be marked by easy comparisons to last year, when credit markets seized and banks choking on billions of dollars in real- estate losses stopped lending. U.S. gross domestic product shrank 5.4 percent a year ago and consumer spending stalled. Morgan Stanley is expected to post the first gain from continuing operations in a year, while Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) operating loss is expected to shrink, according to analysts. –Bloomberg

Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) will take a $1 billion pre-tax charge against third-quarter financial results to reflect increased production costs and difficult market conditions affecting its 747-8 program, the aerospace giant said Tuesday. Further, the Chicago-based company delayed the maiden flight of its 747-8 Freighter jet. It will now occur by early next year, once more tarnishing its credibility among investors and customers. First deliveries are now expected in the fourth quarter of 2010. -Marketwatch

-Jutia Group