BUSINESS

In the Land Down Under, Westpac, Australia New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) and the National Bank of Australia (NAB) are collectively known as the Big 4 because they dominate the country's banking system. But side-by-side with global banks, the 4 lenders are just the Small 4.

Apple Inc shares declined 8.24 per cent after the opening bell on Feb 2 as investors continue to be disappointed of the company's smaller than expected iPhone sales last Q1 FY 2014. Apple's Q2 guidance also did not meet investor and analyst expectations.

Maleny Dairies has issued a recall of its three milk products due to a possible contamination with E.coli bacteria in Queensland, Australia. According to Queensland Health, Maleny Dairies will be pulling out three of its products from Coles, Woolworths, IGA and other stores.

Optus, a telecommunications company in Australia won a five-year satellite and broadband contract with NBN Co., a corporation owned by the Australian government who is assigned to design, build and operate the National Broadband Network (NBN) in Australia. The said deal between the two Australian companies was announced by NBN Co. on Monday, Feb. 3, 2014. Optus reportedly won the NBN Co. contract after a competitive tender process.

Locals stocks finished largely unchanged, with holidays across the region keeping a cap on trading volumes. This week, the highlight locally is likely to be the Reserve Bank's statement tomorrow and a monthly jobs report in the U.S. on Friday.

A team of nuclear experts from the United Kingdom is currently being lined up to help in the decommissioning of the crippled Fukushima power plant in Japan. They are engineers from Sellafield, where one of Britain's worst nuclear accident, occurred.

Royal Dutch Shell announceed that its 900 Australian petrol station will be put out in the market

Australia and New Zealand remain dream migration destination according to Gallup’s Potential Net Migration Index

The February reporting season has started and is set to showcase how Australian companies have fared over the first half of the financial year.

With Chinese Luna New Year well underway and the year of the horse being welcomed in, some may have missed the official China PMI print for December on Saturday which came in a tick under estimates at 50.5.

In US economic news, personal income was flat in December (forecast +0.2%) while spending rose 0.4% (forecast +0.2%). The Chicago purchasing managers index eased from 60.8 to 59.6 in January (forecast 59.0). US consumer sentiment rose from a preliminary reading of 80.4 in January to a final reading of 81.2 but was down from 82.5 in December. The employment cost index rose 0.5% in the December quarter.

While the Auckland Police and the Auckland Medical Office of Health has not objected to the application by the Chow brothers for the renewal of the licence of their Penthouse Club and adjoining brothel Galaxy Club and application for a new licence of strip bar Mermaids and brothel Splash Club, a rival company tried to block the applications.

Neighbours Down Under Australia and New Zealand are currently studies in contrast, insofar as their economies are concerned.

Apple Inc has paid $36.4 million in tax for 2013 fiscal year despite declaring revenues of over $6 billion in Australia. The Cupertino-based tech giant generated $52 million after paying $88.5 million. The company had acquired a net profit after tax from $58.5 million in 2012 to $40.1 million when Apple paid taxes in Australia.

The Australian share market finished slightly higher today, but still lost ground over the week as investors around the globe remained concerned about emerging markets.

The last 12 hours have seen volatility subside relative to the previous day. European and US stock indices finished higher and the atmosphere in currency markets, particularly for emerging markets was stabilising. Notwithstanding the improved general tone sellers has the edge at the open of the local session, although the losses were contained to a modest size.

Toyota is poised to recall six model units in North America over concerns the fabrics in those models' heated seats doesn't comply with safe flammability standards.

With emerging market currencies beginning to calm, we are finally seeing the moves we would have expected to see on the back of the tapering decision. The US dollar index bounced back above 81 while equities advanced despite some mixed US economic data. This suggests that focus was perhaps on a recovery in emerging market bourses particularly for Turkey and Mexico. The earnings season in the US continued to progress favourably and this also encouraged investors to bid equities higher. Facebook p...

In US economic news, the advance reading of economic growth (GDP) for the December quarter was at 3.2% - in line with forecasts. New claims for unemployment insurance rose by 18,000 to 348,000 in the latest week - above forecasts for a result near 330,000. And the pending home sales index fell 8.7% to 92.4 in December.

The latest edition of Forbes Magazine's Australia Rich List has 30 billionaires with iron ore magnate continue to leading them as she added another $804 million to her wealth for a total fortune of $20.3 billion in 2013.

After Apple Inc investors expressed disappointment over lower than expected iPhone sales last holiday quarter, a 10 per cent sell off in Apple's stocks could happen which will reset earnings back for Exxon Mobil to even surpass the company in market value. Apple Inc's market cap was at $550 billion before a drop is predicted to happen. A drop of 10 per cent will push shares to just below the critical $500 billion mark at $495 million.

One of the main questions vexing investors in the early part of 2014 has been resolved in the last day. The decision by the US Federal Reserve to taper their monthly asset purchase by an additional $10 billion dollars saw brisk selling in regional equity markets on Thursday. The ASX200 showed little inclination to recover from its initial selloff for much of the day. The final 2 hours of trade saw some support emerge for the market, although it remained well in the red at the close.

Australian exporters are profiting from the sudden huge demand for rock lobsters in China, like those caught in the video, due to the Chinese New Year celebration on Friday.

Weather forecasters from Australia and the U.S. have warned an El Niño weather pattern may likely hit the country and parts of Asia this year. If this occurs, chances are farm growers will experience deficient rains this year.

The Australian share market is giving back yesterday's gains following triple digit losses on Wall Street overnight.

Risk unwound through European and US trade as the overwhelmingly positive reaction to Turkey's aggressive hike proved to be short lived. The central bank theme continued with the Fed meeting in focus where it decided to taper by a further $10 billion, taking monthly purchases down to $65 billion as expected. Once again the $10 billion will be equally split between treasuries and mortgage-backed securities (MBS). The commentary didn't change much with the Fed noting an improvement in the la...

The US Federal Reserve has decided to reduce (´taper´) bond purchases by another $10 billion to $65 billion a month. The Fed noted ´´growth in economic activity picked up in recent quarters. Labor market indicators were mixed but on balance showed further improvement.´´

ANZ Bank's image as a bully lender to some customers may be softened since the bank is now refunding 235,000 home loan customers a total of $70 million which represents overcharge for interest repayments. That would average about $300 per customers.

Apple Inc shares fell 7.2 per cent in trading on Jan 28 after investors were disappointed with iPhone sales for Q1 FY 2014 despite record-breaking figures for the tech giant. The stock price slightly dipped following Carl Icahn's tweet about buying another $500 million Apple shares. The billionaire activist told CNBC he continues to benefit and made a "great deal of money" when he buys Apple shares that went down.