Wall St. Brief: Apple Bites the Bullet, But Best Buy is Still a Fan

On Wednesday, former Barclays (NYSE:BCS) CEO Bob Diamond testified that he only learned about the Libor accusations recently; this contradicts reports that the bank had been part of a investigation beginning in March 2011, reported the Wall Street Journal. In his testimony to U.K. legislators, Diamond added that he did not think that the Bank of England’s Paul Tucker gave permission to cut rates.

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Limited Brands Inc. (NYSE:LTD) reported that June sales in stores open at least a year increased seven percent, exceeding the 2.4 percent estimates by analysts. The company, which operates Victoria’s Secret, Pink, Bath and Body Works, La Senza, C.O. Bigelow, White Barn Candle Co. and Henri Bendel saw its total June sales stay flat at around $1.1 billion, reported MarketWatch.

In June, Asian motor companies saw record-breaking U.S. sales figures. Honda Motor Co.’s (NYSE:HMC) U.S. vehicle sales rose 49 percent thanks to record gains from its Accord, CR-V and Civic models but the numbers came in below estimates from the car-shopping website Edmunds.com. Hyundai Motor Co.’s (HYMLY) saw a 7.8 percent rise last month; this represented a record for June sales record while Nissan Motor Co. (NSANY) reported a 28 percent jump, exceeding estimates with the company’s namesake and Infiniti divisions incurring double-digit sales rises.

A U.K. judge has ruled that HTC phones don’t infringe on four Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) patents from touchscreen technology but three of them are invalid. The patents in question included a slide-to-unlock feature and functionality to touch the screen in two simultaneous spots. Meanwhile on a positive note for Apple, it gained a pretrial victory against Samsung (SSNLF.PK) on Tuesday as a judge rejected a pre-trial injunction against Galaxy Nexus phone sales.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) is turning some of its stores into Apple-inspired (NASDAQ:AAPL) retail outlets as part of its new recovery strategy to increase sales. Concerns are lingering that the change won’t stop shoppers from looking around first in stores but then making purchases online through less expensive e-tailers.

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