You may have heard with some surprise that Google’s stock (NASDAQ: GOOG) price dropped a whopping 9% today—and that this drop came in response to what looked like a 20% decrease in quarterly income. Anybody heard news of Google struggling to make money when “paid clicks surged by 1/3 from a year ago, and 6% from the previous quarter”? What happened?

Here’s a hint: the company’s quarterly earnings report began with the phrase “PENDING LARRY QUOTE”. That’s Google CEO Larry Page; he was supposed to give a quote before the report went out–after the day’s final trading bell. Unfortunately, the unofficial statement appeared on the SEC website just after noon, inspiring what The Wall Street Journal’s Steve Russolillo describes as “mayhem”. We’ll call it a “premature release.”

Google quickly issued a follow-up statement blaming RR Donnelley, the company that prints its reports, for filing the earnings without authorization because, as mentioned above, the company wasn’t supposed to release the data until after the day’s trading ended. Whoops!

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The card that pays you back…after screwing you over.

Nothing hurts a brand’s public relations image more than charges of dishonesty, greed and manipulative behavior. This is exactly the PR mess American Express finds itself mired in today after agreeing to pay $85 million to customers it exploited–in addition to $27.5 million in civil fines.

Yep, that’s a $112.5 million penalty for treating its own customers like dupes. Richard Cordray, the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, explains in this Washington Post article that American Express violated laws designed to protect consumers “at all stages of the game — from the moment a consumer shopped for a card to the moment the consumer got a phone call about long overdue debt.”

As PR professionals, all we can do upon hearing this type of news is to throw up our hands and bang our heads on our desks. This is beyond inexcusable; it’s inexplicable. American Express, an iconic and trusted brand, must know better than this. The American people are fed up with corruption, particularly in financial institutions, and this type of news can eradicate decades of good will earned by consistency, diligence and hard work. American Express has come too far to act so recklessly toward the very people who allow it to be profitable.

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JP Morgan Chase‘s team was supposed to represent the good guys—the Jamie Dimon-led superbank was one of the few financial institutions to emerge from 2008’s economic collapse relatively unscathed in the court of public opinion. But the news hasn’t been good for Dimon lately, and it might get much worse very soon.

This week, Bloomberg Businessweek reported that Chase was among seven big banks subpoenaed by the Attorney Generals of New York and Connecticut to testify regarding the ongoing Libor rate-fixing scandal. One thing has become very clear over the past few weeks: The worst offenders in this case are not all based in London. This subpoena strongly implies that the AG’s suspect that top traders at America’s biggest banks were actively involved in the conspiracy.

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In terms of value, Brunswick Group topped the latest mergermarket League Table for PR advisors working on global M&A projects with deals worth $122.6 billion for the first half of the year. That’s an increase of more than 26 percent over last year. In terms of volume, the top spot goes to FTI Consulting with 97 deals.

However, the overall M&A market was a sluggish one, with global M&A down more than 18 percent to $968.5 billion for the first half of the year. It was the lowest half year total in the U.S. since 2003.

In the U.S., Sard Verbinnen & Co. took the top spot for value; it worked on deals worth nearly $79 billion. For volume, Kekst & Company was the most active with 62 deals. In Europe, RLM Finsbury worked on deals valued at $95.6 billion, taking the top spot. That firm worked on the biggest deal of the first half — Glencore International and Xstrata — worth about $53.5 billion.

For more on the latest mergermarket League Table, click here.

With the third day on the books, Facebook’s stock is down even further than yesterday, to $31.12, well below the $38 IPO price. Friday’s glitches caused massive confusion and has even led to a lawsuit against the Nasdaq, which has seen its reputation tarnished. Now Morgan Stanley is also getting the side-eye because the financial firm, the lead underwriter on the initial public offering, unexpectedly cut Facebook’s revenue forecast.

The way the change was made — so close to the IPO and during the “road show” — is strange, say those in the know.  If that information wasn’t disclosed properly to Morgan Stanley, there could be violations. Now the Securities Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) are nosing around, seeking a review.

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While Facebook’s stock continues to slip on its third trading day (more on that in a bit), Nasdaq’s reputation is taking a header after mistakes during Friday’s IPO. First there was a delay, then there were problems with the orders. Basically, it looks like the Nasdaq system became overwhelmed by the trading activity in those first hours.

“It took staff approximately 20 minutes to resolve the matter and open the stock, during which time millions of shares worth of trades fell into limbo. Brokers and traders didn’t learn the results of trades made in Facebook shares until nearly two and a half hours later, and some individual investors remained uncertain of their position in the social network’s stock Monday,” Dow Jones reports. Yikes and double yikes.

As a result the company’s chairman, H. Furlong Baldwin (who was destined to become the Monopoly man with a name like that) has had to come out in support of the CEO Bob Greifeld during this morning’s investor call, who openly spoke over the weekend about his desire to stay in his job despite the mishap.

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After lots, and lots, and lots of talk the Facebook IPO happened today!! Do you feel any different? Yes, no, maybe? We understand… you’re still counting your money. We’ll come back to you.

Just like so many things that get tremendous media build-up, as soon as the story reaches its apex, there’s the huge fall off. Facebook officially went public at 11a.m. and by this afternoon, there’s the “IPO fizzle” video, a roundup of jokes, and the disappointment over the fact that the company is only valued at the $38 per share, or $115 billion, that had been previously discussed. (Apparently, the company got a little help?)

Even Bono couldn’t catch a break: one minute he was a billionaire, the next minute, he wasn’t. Thankfully, he doesn’t seem too bothered by any of it.

Even when the media is hyped up on something, the key for companies, brands, and other people is to remain sane.

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In the face of changing consumer habits and shifts in mobile technology, two business giants — Best Buy and Research in Motion — have announced changes in their business strategies.

After a weak earnings report, Best Buy says it’s going to close 50 stores and cut 400 jobs. The news comes just a couple of months after a Forbes article ran with a headline “Why Best Buy is Going Out of Business… Gradually.” The article pointed to poor and annoying customer service along with some product flops (like 3D TV) and retail’s move online as reasons for Best Buy’s slow demise.

More recently, CNET called Best Buy a showroom for Amazon. Ouch.

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Q4 Web Systems, the social media service company for corporations, has partnered with StockTwits, the comms platform for the financial world to offer a new set of services to help public companies reach their target audiences online.

“IR professionals at public companies are increasingly facing challenges in reaching all their key audiences in the most effective way, with limited resources,” said Howard Lindzon, co-founder and CEO of StockTwits, in a press release statement.

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Not unexpected news came down today: Eastman Kodak has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company was unable to sell more than 1,000 digital imaging patents to raise cash, but says it has financing to continue normal operation.

The Kodak website is filled with the usual Chapter 11 information — press release, FAQs, and links to court documents. According to the Associated Press, FTI Consulting is among the advisors helping during the process.

There’s also a video with the company’s CEO Antonio Perez talking about the reorganization. In it, his message is clear. This is a move towards Kodak’s future, not its demise.

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