At The Motley Fool we like to keep our readers informed. We have scouted out what we believe are the most important financial stories. We hope you find this presentation of midday Wednesday news informative.

News Corp. deal falls apart
After being caught in the middle of a phone-hacking scandal, News Corp. (Nasdaq: NWSA) announced it was dropping its bid to acquire the 60.1% of British Sky Broadcasting Group that it doesn't already own. Amid an investigation into allegedly unethical reporting tactics at the now closed News of the World, the media conglomerate was caught in political crossfire, includ ing pressure from Prime Minister David Cameron.

BSkyB shares fell about 3% after the news came out as reported by The Wall Street Journal. News Corp. announced it would continue to be a BSkyB shareholder and said the decision to drop the bid was based on the difficult climate in both companies. Read more at The Wall Street Journal.

Irish credit now rated as junk
A week after slashing Portugal's bonds to junk status, Moody's ratings agency lowered Ireland's bonds to junk status. The agency warned that the country may need a second bailout. Moody's said that any further assistance to European countries would have to share responsibility with the private sector. This could put the Bank of Ireland (NYSE: IRE) and Allied Irish Banks (NYSE: AIB) in a difficult position. Both banks' stock has consistently dropped over the past three days with continuing news of the widespread debt crisis in Europe. Read more at Reuters.

JPMorgan and Citigroup may not reach the mark
With earning releases due this week, JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) and Citigroup (NYSE: C) may not be able to boost their revenue, Bloomberg reported. Second-quarter revenue could have declined for many reasons. Though fewer borrowers are defaulting, the European crisis and continuously lower prices in the housing market may be dragging down profits. Overall trading revenue at the five biggest banks on Wall Street, including Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, and Morgan Stanley, could have dropped 4.4% to $21.7 billion, analysts said.

Disappointing news from the banks would only increase uncertainty among investors who are looking for strong revenues as a sign of overall economic recovery. However, banks could continue to have a sluggish performance for the next six months to a year, according to analysts. Read more at Bloomberg.

Bernanke gives hopes to the market
After announcing that the Federal Reserve may consider further economic stimulus, investors saw hope in more U.S stocks. After three days of closing with a decrease, stocks saw a modest rise with news that China had higher-than-expected growth, and gave a big leap with Chairman Ben Bernanke's remarks that the Fed was ready to respond if stimulus is needed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 both surged by 1.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite advanced by 1.5%. Energy stocks led the rise with General Electric (NYSE: GE) adding 2.1%, followed by materials and industrial with Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) rising by 2.9% and Alcoa increasing 1.8%. Read more at The Wall Street Journal.

That is all for today's midday roundup of news affecting the financial world. Check Fool.com throughout the day for commentary on these and other stories. Also, follow us on Twitter, on Facebook, or through our email digests.