BUSINESS

By Greg PeelAs to whether last week saw some light at the end of the long, dark uranium tunnel last week is yet to be determined.

By Greg PeelThe Dow rose 21 points or 0.1% while the S&P gained a point to 1771 and the Nasdaq was flat.

Despite a close to 0.5 per cent improvement in very early trade, the Australian sharemarket steadily eased from around 10.30am (AEDT) onwards and slid into negative territory from around lunchtime. The banks were the worst performers, with ANZ slumping by 1.74 per cent.

Canalys Research Director Nicole Peng reported Apple Inc has ranked fifth place in China's smartphone market in the second half of 2013. In the latest figures, Apple surpassed local corporations, Xiaomi and ZTE, since Apple has decided to include China as one of the first countries where iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C are released.

Apple Inc. is rumoured to be designing its iPhone 2014 models with curved glass screen and enhanced sensors

Yay, Butterbeer is here! Thanks to Starbucks, Harry Potter fans need not go to the Three Broomsticks Inn anymore to have a taste of this famous drink favoured by our beloved HP characters.

Motorola of Google continues to pioneer in the field of electronic tattoo that would do away with passwords. This time, the tech firm applied for a patent in May 2012 with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for an electronic skin tattoo, called electronic tattoo 110, located on the neck that would double as a mobile communication device.

I would like readers to consider carefully the fundamental difference between a 'real economy' and a 'financial economy'. In a real economy, the debt and equity markets as a percentage of GDP are small and are principally designed to channel savings intoinvestments.

The Australian sharemarket kicked off the week almost 0.5 per cent higher, helped by better than expected US jobs growth on Friday and solid Chinese economic news on Saturday. The market however is now barely managing to hang onto a few points of gains. The All Ordinaries Index is up by 4 pts or just shy of 0.1 per cent.

Richard (Rick) MillsAhead of the HerdAs a general rule, the most successful man in life is the man who has the best information.

Eastern Japan, where the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant is located, has been shaken anew by a 5.5 magnitude earthquake on Sunday morning. Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco), operator of the embattled power plant, said the facility has suffered no abnormalities so far.

Macro excitement is back making front page news as the US, China and Europe produce varying arrays of macro data.

It's the newest device available on the market, and Richard Ryan of the Web site RatedRR decided to give Apple's iPad Air a torture test made up of four parts. First, he dropped it on soft ground then on concrete, followed by dunking it in a container of water and finally hitting it with the Airsoft MP7.

In US economic news, non-farm payrolls (employment) rose by 204,000 in October, well ahead of forecasts tipping a 125,000 gain. Jobs were revised up by 60,000 in the two previous months. The unemployment rate rose from 7.2pct to 7.3pct.

While prestigious model competitions such as America Next Top Model has opened its doors to plus-size models, fashion label Abercrombie & Fitch has just realised its folly in shutting its doors to clothes for bigger shoppers.

By Ashley JessenASX Top Gainers & Losers plus Market Snapshot - 11 November 2013Positive US jobs data suggesting 205,000 new jobs were added versus an expectation of 120,000, provided a handy boost of 167 points to the Dow Jones, to cap off 5 straight weeks of gains but with Gold down under $1,300 a...

The weekly closed last week on an uptrend. The market has lacked direction for the past fortnight and rallies have been quick and short lived with a lack of volume at the peaks indicating the market is being bid up as sellers remain patient.

Reform of Riot Act could see government compensation pot restricted to SMEs with turnover under £2m.

FNArena Editor Rudi Filapek-Vandyck participated in Sky Business' Your Money, Your Call - Bonds versus Equities on Friday two weeks ago.

The Australian share market closed lower on Friday, after Wall Street recorded its worst session since August a day after the US Dow Jones Index closed at record highs. Despite the successful debut of social media site Twitter, which soared 73% from its listing price, Wall Street closed lower.

Underneath Canada is a very large reserve of natural gas, estimated at 449 trillion cubic feet, that could provide the energy needs of the country for 145 years, according to a report by the National Energy Board. The bulk of the reserves are in the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia.

The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is down by 0.4 per cent at lunch; however is only down mostly this week thanks to a 0.75 per cent surge on Tuesday. The miners are the biggest losers, with heavy losses from Westpac (WBC) also a big contributor to the weakness.

China has lifted its regulations concerning air fare pricing, effectively allowing its airline players to sell cheap tickets to passengers.

NBA Legend Michael Jordan is selling his 56,000 square foot mansion.

Avalon Rare Metals has been granted by the Canadian federal government the green light to push through with its Nechalacho rare earth elements project.

By Rudi Filapek-Vandyck, Editor FNArenaI joined Twitter. Not because I am curious what this celebrity has to say about her kids, or to read that another one is waiting for a connecting flight, impatiently.

It was a volatile night for global markets with some key releases resulting in some sharp moves in equities and currencies.

In US economic news, the advance reading of economic growth in the September quarter was 2.8pct, above forecasts for 2.0pct annualised growth. New claims for unemployment insurance (jobless claims) fell in the latest week by 9,000 to 336,000, close to forecasts.

By Greg PeelThe Dow fell 152 points or 1.0% while the S&P lost 1.3% to 1747 and the Nasdaq dropped 1.9%.