BUSINESS

Thousands of investors are considering filing a $200-million class action suit against Financial Wisdom, owned by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) because of alleged bad financial advice that cost them to lose their life savings.

Carl Icahn increases stakes on shares of Apple Inc. by 2.8 million shares

The future of bendable smartphones may come sooner than expected as Samsung and Apple race for patents

The worst trading session in five weeks on Wall Street overnight has given the local sharemarket a negative lead this morning. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is down 0.5 per cent, with only the defensive utilities managing to remain modestly firmer.

General Motors has recalled 2.7 million vehicles for safety issues like faulty brake lights.

After three years on the pending list of patent application, Apple Inc. (AAPL) is finally granted a new patent by the USPTO. If the patented sidewall display will be integrated by Apple in its iPhone 6, this is surely a “new” for the device’s line that can make the model more interesting.

With the rumoured bigger-screened iPhones to be released soon within the year, Apple Inc may soon overtake Samsung as the world leader in smartphone market share. According to recent data released regarding smartphone sales during the first quarter of 2014, about 279.4 million smartphones were shipped worldwide.

The much-awaited Windows Phone 8.1 for mobile devices will be released in June and the support for this OS will be provided for the next three years, says Microsoft.

Equities extended their losses overnight with sentiment remaining subdued as European concerns resurfaced. Peripheral bond yields spiked in Europe with investors going defensive and favouring German bunds. US 10-year treasuries rallied to 2.5% as investors continued to flee risk. The carnage in the small cap space also continued with the Russell index extending its losses to contractionary territory. Even a drop below 300,000 for the first time since mid-2007 in unemployment claims to 297,000 wa...

n US economic data, consumer prices rose by 0.3% in May. Food prices lifted for the fourth consecutive months, coupled with a lift in gasoline prices. Prices were up 2% over the year. Excluding volatile food and energy, cosnumer prices increased by 0.2% in April to be up 1.8% over the year. US initial jobless claims fell by 24,000 to 297,000 - a seven year low. US industrial production fell 0.6% after lifting by 0.9% in March.

Despite a $30-billion forecast budget deficit for 2014-15, rating agency Moody's kept Australia's AAA credit rating this week. It also said that compared to other nations with the same tripe A rating, Canberra's growth outlook is still favourable.

The ASX 200 saw a day of consolidation on Thursday ending the session higher by 14 points having seen a 25 point deficit at the lows of the day. There is little on the calendar that is likely to have a lasting impact on the markets until Fed Chair Yellen speaks later tonight local time. Ms Yellen is expected to stick to the recent script which has described, the ongoing slack in the labour market that will require monetary policy to remain accommodative even as the US economic recovery gathers m...

The search for the missing MH370 might be forgotten soon as companies are now more interested to market new plane tracking services and MAS now focusing in winning customers back in flying with them again

Flappy Bird Developer Dong Nguyen has announced plans of relaunching a sequel to the game on Apple's iOS App Store in August.

Beer drinkers have another drink to toast with the revelation of the fan-selected "Game of Thrones" inspired beer named Valar Morghullis. Meaning "all men must die" in the fictional language of Valyrian, the beer will come in 25.4 ounces draft and corked bottles come fall at the price of $8.50.

Android fans may not have to wait too long for the much awaited update, Android 4.4.3 KitKat. The OS update seems imminent after the new evidence emerged, hinting at the possibility of its release in near future. Google is now dropping slight hints and some keen observers and enthusiasts have been quick in picking up those clues. Recently released promo video of a new Motorola device, Moto E cites a reference of the Android upgrade.

The Australian sharemarket is a touch softer at lunch, with the mining and energy sectors helping minimise losses. Weakness in U.S. markets for the first time in six sessions and a pullback from six-year highs in Europe have given us a negative lead locally.

Apple Inc's rumoured $3.2 billion deal with Beats Electronics has analysts speculating about what it would mean for the Cupertino-based company's future products. Although nothing has been confirmed yet, reports have surfaced that Apple is wooing Beats to add to both of the companies' retail and streaming music services.

US equities finally pulled back from record highs, while bonds gained resulting in US treasury yields dropping around seven basis points to their lowest level in six months. Losses in the US were mainly pinned on renewed weakness in the small caps, which encouraged some profit taking across equities. When equities are at record highs, any source of concern generally triggers profit-taking.

In US economic data, producer prices rose by 0.6% in April, the largest increase in 18 months. Prices were up 2.1% over the year to April. Food prices surged by 2.7% in April pushed up by higher meat prices, which recorded their largest increase in 11 years. Producer prices excluding volatile food and energy costs increased by 0.5% in April to be up 1.9% over the year.

The Android app for Gmail has recently crossed a whopping one billion downloads on Google Play.

A transformer explosion that caused a fire in a coal mine in western Turkey on Wednesday killed at least 201 workers. The accident is considered one of the worst mining disasters in the country's history.

The Australian share market closed flat a day after Treasurer Joe Hockey delivered the Federal Budget. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) moved just 0.5 of a point higher to finish at 5475.9 points.

Lex Machina study lists Apple Inc. as number one most sued company

BlackBerry Ltd launches Z3 in Indonesia in its effort to reclaim dominance in the emerging markets

AT&T Inc. is at the forefront of acquiring satellite TV provider DirecTV for $50 billion possibly in the next two weeks.

Despite the service blocks, social networking giant Facebook is getting ready to take a dip into the mainland China.

The Australian sharemarket is down modestly after yesterday's impressive surge. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is down 0.3 per cent at lunch; however this has less to do with last night's Federal Budget and more to do with weakness from the banks.

Last night was always going to be interesting as the 'new fiscal drag' was unveiled. The budget is a great big political beast, and putting the political issues to one side and looking at the budget from a purely market perspective, the ASX as a whole is likely to be breathing easier this morning.