Two months ago, a U.S. District Court judge in Miami, Florida, authorized the U.S. Internal Revenue Service to go after information from Switzerland’s largest bank, UBS (NYSE:UBS). The Sovereign Society’s Bob Bauman says that, alhtough UBS may have hung its clients out to dry, the Swiss government is still prepared to stand up to U.S. lawmakers to protect private banks’ clients…

Although consumers and businesses have gotten a bit of a reprieve at the gas pump as of late, says William Patalon in Money Morning, the escalation in oil prices we’ve seen over the past year has led to some major changes in overall consumer behavior. Many car-owners have dumped their gas-guzzling pickup trucks and SUVs at the nearest used-car lot and used the proceeds to buy some gas-sipping rides.

Last week, a few economic reports surprised to the positive side. And this week is potentially very important for the market, says Christian Hill in Investor’s Daily Edge. Last week saw Factory Orders more than double expectations, and the ISM Services Index wasn’t nearly as low as was expected. Add this to the Fed standing pat and there could be some momentum heading into this week. This from Christian…

The precious metals suffered mixed fates on Friday as gold and platinum posted gains, while silver prices tumbled. Gold rose steadily throughout early trading, but dropped to an intraday low below $920/oz. during the NYMEX session. Prices for the metal recovered, however, to finish the day at $928.40/oz., up $1.70 on the day. For the week, gold was down 2.7%.

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