Despite a slightly weaker start this morning, the Australian sharmarket is managing to maintain some modest gains at lunch. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is up 0.4 per cent and has cracked through 5250.0pts.Our second largest trading partner; Japan is closed today for a holiday1.
Carl Icahn backed out from the Apple Inc $50 billion stock, but what’s the real deal?
A social media campaign for the benefit of SPC ARDMONA reaches 14.6 million for the benefit of SPC ARDMONA
North Korea's been reported to be potentially holding the world's largest deposit of rare earth minerals at 216 million tonnes, which if properly managed and funneled could make the world's most isolated regime and its people rich and powerful.
Two vending machines selling crack pipes, the first of its kind, have been launched in Vancouver. The Drug Users' Resource Centre for the Portland Hotel Society, the non-profit group that help pave its launch, said it will help curb the spread of HIV and other communicable diseases among its users.
Early this morning Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew announced he will have to take extraordinary measures to avoid hitting the debt ceiling as the February 12 deadline approaches.
European shares were mixed on Monday. The new head of the US Federal Reserve, Janet Yellen, is to deliver her first testimony to the House of Representatives on Tuesday and the Senate on Thursday. The FTSEurofirst 300 index rose by 0.1% with the UK FTSE up by 0.3% while the German Dax was lower by 0.1%. Mining shares were also mixed in London trade with BHP Billiton shares up by 0.6% while Rio Tinto lost 0.7%.
Large bricks-and-mortar retail shops in Australia would likely be both happy and sad with more foreign fashion brands opening stores in the Land Down Under.
Australia's car manufacturing would die by 2017, while about 50,000 workers from the supporting industry would become jobless. That would be on top of 2,500 Toyota employees also joining the ranks of the unemployed in less than four years from now.
The Australian share market had a solid start to the trading week, on the back of solid gains on Wall Street on Friday night.
Apple Inc has bought back $14 billion of its stocks in the past two weeks. The recent move has increased Apple's total stock buyback to $40 billion shares in a span of 12 months. Apple's CEO, Tim Cook, remarked in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that it was a record-breaking buyback for a company in a similar period. He said Apple will reveal more updates on its stock buyback by March or April 2014.
"The Vampire Diaries" (TVD) star Ian Somerhalder tweeted about fashion retailer Lands' End banning the sale of items with Angora fur after seeing a PETA video of Angora fur farm cruelty. Somerhalder is a certified animal lover and the co-founder of the Ian Somerhalder Foundation (ISF) which was started to help animals, the environment and people as well as educate and empower mankind to make compassionate and sustainable choices for the planet earth and its inhabitants.
The Australian sharemarket is improving for the third straight day, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) up by 0.7 per cent. The miners are the best performers while weakness from the property trusts, utilities and consumer staple businesses are keeping a cap on the gains.
Headline data has once again blocked out the true underlying state of play.
In US economic news, non-farm payrolls rose by 113,000 in January, short of forecasts for a gain of 185,000. But private payrolls rose by 142,000 and the unemployment rate fell to a five-year low of 6.6%. Average earnings rose by 0.2% as expected. Consumer credit rose by US$18.76 billion in December, above forecasts for a gain of US$12 billion.
Apple Inc.'s CEO Tim Cook has revealed Apple will introduce products in new categories in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. Like in any interview, he avoided getting into the specifics but only hinted that Apple is working on "really great stuff."
The Australian share market rallied for a second session today, adding 0.7 per cent by close after a better than expected jobless claims report released in the US overnight.
The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), the UN's weather agency, has confirmed that the year 2013 had indeed been the world's sixth hottest year since record keeping began in 1850.
Apple removes Bitcoin programme Blockchain from App Store, while Malwarebytes accepts Bitcoin as virtual currency.
A small telecommunications company in New Zealand is now accepting Bitcoin as an alternative mode of payment. Auckland-based 2Talk announced it will be the first company in the local telecommunications industry to allow the digital currency as payment.
Authorities from the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee has warned all international airlines to take necessary precautions, following reports that terrorist groups have concocted explosives disguised as toothpaste bombs on flights bound for Russia.
In his paper titled, "2014 Innovative Displays and Display technologies, Smartphones, Tablets, TVs and Wearable Displays," Dr. Raymond Soneira has warned Apple may suffer the risk of falling behind Samsung and Amazon in display technologies.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ AAPL) is still a good buy even if it reaches $700
A report issued on Thursday by Canada's budget watchdog has shown that the government and taxpayers have spent paying $871 million to sickly public servants in 2011-2012. The Public Service Alliance (PSAC) of Canada, meantime, said it will thwart attempts to cut full-time workers' allowable paid sick leaves of 15 days a year.
After a volatile start to the week markets have found something resembling equilibrium as the week draws to a close. In the face of what has at times been a challenging week, one of the consolations has been the consolidation of the ASX 200 around the 5100 level. On Friday morning investors have been content to take the market higher, albeit in unspectacular fashion.
Immigrants to Canada seeking to make the country their second home have to spend more time and should master one official language before becoming legitimate Canadian citizens, based on a set of new stricter rules proposed by Immigration Minister Chris Alexander on Thursday.
A week after Delta Airlines has launched its 1980s-themed inflight safety video, Air New Zealand announced a new similar material that will surely send temperatures inside its cabins soaring with the wind.
Sony has decided to shut down its PC products as it is expected to slash 5,000 jobs.
The Dow and S&P saw a strong bounce overnight, which started from the opening bell and carried through to the close, registering their strongest gain for the year.
In US economic news, the trade deficit widened by 12% to $38.7 billion in December. The deterioration was driven by a 1.8% drop in exports - the biggest decline in over a year. Imports lifted by 0.3%. Jobless claims fell by 20,000 to 331,000 last week. US productivity rose at a 3.2% pace in the December quarter after an even brisker 3.6% pace in the September quarter.
