BUSINESS

In US economic news, industrial production rose by 0.6pct in September, above expectations for a gain of 0.4pct. But the pending home index fell by 5.6pct to 101.6, weaker than the 0.1pct expected gain.

By Greg PeelA month ago there appeared to be some building interest from buyers in the short-term uranium market, and sellers were thus encouraged to hang back rather than let product go at low prices.

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed down 1 point while the S&P gained two points to 1762 and the Nasdaq lost one point.

By Greg PeelProperty has become the investment buzzword for 2013. Stock markets continue to rally on central bank stimulus yet the bulk of investors remain on the sidelines, still fearful of the volatility that has been a feature since the GFC.

Local participants showed few signs of doubt on Monday ahead of a busy week for market moving events. The ASX 200 has risen more than 4% this month, notwithstanding that result buyers continued to keep the upper hand over most on the session.

Apple Inc.’s stock is under radar as FY 13 Q4 iPhones and iPad results can make or break AAPL’s stock

Apple's newest iPhone models, the 5S and the 5C, became available in Russian store shelves on Friday, Oct 25. However, Bloomberg notes that because of its high price tag, there is slim chance that it would be a hit among Russian consumers.

The gains are continuing, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) up by 60pts or 1.1 per cent at lunch. With nine of the past ten sessions being up days, this makes it the second best winning streak for local shares of 2013. The gains are partly being fuelled by greater political certainty in the US (for now), Chinese manufacturing figures out last week and a better finish to the week for US equities on Friday.

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and his wife, supermodel Gisele Bundchen, are now reportedly living the high life -- literally -- as they reportedly bought a condominium unit at one of New York's poshest addresses.

Pope Francis' fan base on online social networking and microblogging service Twitter has reached 10 million.

Areva, the French nuclear energy giant, inked an agreement with Mon-Atom, a state-owned company in Mongolia, to develop to uranium mines in the Gobi desert.

Fastfood giant McDonald's has reportedly cut its ties with Heinz after 4 decades due to a change of management in the company. A statement from McDonald's released Friday resulted to speculations that ending of the relationship may be brought by the former CEO of rival Burger King.

As we head into the last four trading days of October there are a few statistics that are starting to make me see a crest at the top of the hill for the ASX.

Over 40 major donor organisations, including government and private agencies, received "Poor" or "Very Poor" scores in the latest Aid Transparency Index (ATI), bringing into question how and where foreign aid money is being spent, contrary to prior pledges towards more openness.

"We now need the US and EU to quickly implement their own extractive industries transparency laws, and for Canada to get its law in place," said Oxfam Chief Executive Mark Goldring. "Mining giants Australia and South Africa have an important opportunity to lead G20 nations by example on this issue too."

Europe's car market flattened in early eight months to the lowest level since 1990. September merchant rebates or abatement in Germany rose to moderate 12 percent off the price tag from 11.6 percent in August, the topmost level in view of June. The outstanding transactions are accessible on Peugeot and Renault cars, with connected moderate discounts of 14.9 percent. Fiat presents enticement in proportion to 13.7 percent off the list price.

In US economic news, orders for durable goods (goods with a life more than three years) rose by 3.7pct in September, ahead of expectations. But non-defence goods excluding planes fell by 1.1pct. Consumer sentiment fell from 77.5 to a 10-month low of 73.2 in October, below expectations for a result near 75.0. And wholesale inventories rose by 0.5pct in September with sales up 0.6pct - both above expectations.

By Ashley JessenASX Top Gainers & Losers plus Market Snapshot - 28 October 2013Strong leads across US and European markets provided the necessary inspiration for our local market to close at their highest level since June 2008 with several of our banks closing at all time record highs and match that...

- Wesfarmers sales growth reasonable on a net basis- Yield is attractive- Coles appears to be slowing- Analysts question a high PEBy Greg PeelWesfarmers ((WES)) reported its quarterly retail and coal sales last week and the story was mixed.

Apple claims to have shipped a total of 170 million units of iPad to date, implying it shipped about 15 million tablets in Q3. However, like the Cupertino-based tech giant's previous claim of selling 9 million units of the newly launched iPhone 5S and 5C on the first three days it appeared in stores, there are doubters.

The Triple J network in Australia currently manages Dig Music digital station targeting listeners over 30. It will be re-launched in April 2014 after 6 months of consultation from the audience and music industry insiders how to improve it better than before.

The weekly uptrend has ended and a new downtrend has started with a close below 5424.The market is at the upper end of the short term range and the RSI is at elevated levels.

Analysts have doubted the high number of glowing reviews for BlackBerry's newly released BBM app for iOS and Android because of the sheer number of almost identical wording and content of the reviews.

While all tech eyes are on the newly launched iPad Air and iPad Mini tablet of Apple, reality is there would be Apple fans and non-fans. The bigger number of tablet users, because of the sheer number of available models, are those run by Android OS. In the Android world, Google Nexus devices reign, based on the recently listing of two tech Web site wherein the Google Nexus 10 and Nexus 7 topped the list of best tablets.

Local stocks went against the regional trend today which saw most of the leading indices lose ground. The improvement on Friday has meant that over the last 5 days the index has gained about 1.2%.

Carl Icahn predicted that Apple Inc. (AAPL) Stock can be at an all-time high at $1,250 in three years time

While many had written off BlackBerry when it admitted substantial losses due to its large inventory of unsold smartphones, the Waterloo, Ontario-based phonemaker appears to have made a successful comeback this week when it rolled out the BlackBerry Messaging app for Android and iOS phones.

A three-year-old toddler who contracted the deadly HIV virus while still inside her mother's womb continue to remain health and scot free of the infection even if it has been 18 months since she last received her treatment. Doctors hope the AIDS virus will go into permanent remission so the child can really live normally.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) stock returns to highs with cheap buybacks possibly closing