BUSINESS

Hedge fund manager J.C. Parets of Eagle Bay Capital compares Apple Inc. (AAPL) stock performance with BlackBerry Ltd (BBRY)

Officials from the U.S. Department of Energy continued to maintain the nuclear leak that came out from a nuclear waste plant in New Mexico poses no hazards to the health of nearby residents, even as levels of airborne radioactivity had been found to be "slightly elevated."

A few months ago, BlackBerry's board changed its mind and said the embattled Canadian company would no longer be sold. However, this week, BlackBerry CEO John Chen that for $19 billion, he would be willing to sell the company to any corporate giant. He made the statement during an interview with CNBC at the MWC, obviously referring to the amount that Facebook shelled out for WhatsApp.

Water samples collected off the coast of Canada had revealed traces of radionuclides linked with the radiation leak at the crippled Japanese nuclear plant Fukushima.

The Australian sharemarket has been shooting the lights out in recent weeks; with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) up 4.67 per cent since the start of February. This makes it the best month since July 2013. The XAO is largely flat at lunch.

With the smog enveloping Beijing already on its sixth consecutive day, the World Health Organisation said the current levels of air pollution in China has reached a crisis.

Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) stocks continue to stay within the $490 and $550 range with analysts saying the company may not be doing so well since the last time it announced its earnings report. Several analysts have predicted that Apple shares will continue to move within a certain range. OCBC Investment Research analysts said that Apple Inc stocks could decline as low as $490 and will not go beyond $550 in for some time in the foreseeable future.

Some interesting developments are starting to take place in China at the moment, as we witnessed its central currency tumble yesterday.

In US economic data, the S&P/Case Shiller home price index rose by 0.8% in December to be up 13.4% on a year ago. The FHFA home price index was up by 7.7% on a year ago. Consumer confidence eased from 79.4 to 78.1, short of forecasts centred around 80.0. And the Richmond Fed composite index eased from +12 to minus 6 in February.

After shaking up Apple's stocks, billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn has shifted his attention to eBay. He released on Tuesday an open shareholder letter to the popular ecommerce site, hitting its corporate governance and pushing that it separate from PayPal.

The skyline of Melbourne's central business district will soon change with the addition of five residential towers with over 2,000 apartments worth $557 million.

The Australian federal government would provide embattled flag carrier Qantas with a debt guarantee. It would be part of the Abbott government's plan to permit larger foreign ownership of Qantas to have access to international capital and compete with Virgin Australia.

Despite hitting fresh five and a half year highs earlier today, the Australian sharemarket has fallen for the first time since 13th February this afternoon. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) lost 0.2 per cent; however is still up by 4.5 per cent so far in February. This makes it the best month for local stocks since July 2013.

The Australian share market is tracking higher for the eighth consecutive session, following a positive session on Wall Street and generally upbeat company forecasts.

Rich Chinese affected by Canada’s dumping of its investor programme turn to Australia to invest

For the first time in 25 years, Pope Francis has led the overhauling of the Vatican's financial system. On Monday, he announced the creation of an economics secretariat to control all economic, administrative, personnel and procurement functions of the Holy See. Australian Cardinal George Pell will man the post and report directly to the pope.

Australians planning to travel anytime soon to the Philippines were reminded to take necessary precautions before proceeding to the Southeast Asian country. Western Australia has reported a growing number of measles cases from those who just recently came from the Philippines.

Overnight the S&P made a record intraday high and closed in the black (year-to-date) for the first time in 2014. It's a very rare thing to see the US markets underperforming the rest of the world, and this does provide market upside.

In US economic data, the Markit ´´flash´´ services index fell from 56.7 to 52.7 in February. The Dallas Federal Reserve manufacturing business index eased from +3.8 to +0.3 in February. And the national activity index eased from minus 0.03 to minus 0.39 in January.

Is the result of the 2014 Superbrands study an indicator of the continuous decline of the Apple brand? If the Cupertino-based tech giant's place on the roster is the basis, it would appear so, at least among the stiff upper-lipped Brits, because Apple tumbled down to14th place from 2nd. To make it worse, toilet paper maker Andrex is ranked higher than the manufacturer of the iconic iPhone and iPad at 12th place.

Apple Inc. SSL/TLS Bug could be what U.S. intelligence agents were boasting about

It was always going to be a tall order for stocks to stay in positive territory today. US markets ended lower on Friday, albeit by a modest margin. Additionally there were several large stocks going ex-dividend, including Telstra (TLS), Woodside Petroleum (WPL), Suncorp (SUN) and Wesfarmers (WES). Given these influences the market acquitted itself reasonably well to finish largely unchanged on the session.

The percentage of jobless youth reaches a disaster point according to the Brotherhood of St Laurence.

The Australian share market is moving higher for the seventh session in a row, despite falls on global markets on Friday.

Global growth remains below trend as seen in the projections for the US, Japan and Australia; this has been the first G-20 meeting since the GFC that has seen growth as the key theme rather than austerity and blame for the GFC over the past six years. All nations want to see global growth around 5% rather than the current 3% level.

In US economic data, existing home sales fell 5.1% to a 4.62 million annualised pace in January. Economists had tipped a 4.3% decline.

The buzz is strong in Qantas halls that the financially troubled Australian air carrier could axe up to 3,000 jobs which will be revealed next week as the company seeks to reduce costs by $2 billion.

To boost trade between the two nations and help reduce currency fluctuations, Australia and South Korea signed on Sunday a 3-year currency swap agreement worth $4.5 billion.

Australia is one of the favourite destinations of rich Asians who have an investment property overseas. A report by global bank HSBC said that over one-third of affluent Asians have purchased properties abroad.