BUSINESS

The Australian sharemarket is losing ground despite a stronger open. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is down by 0.8 per cent, with just the energy players managing to remain slightly firmer.

With 21 trading days remaining in the calendar year, 2013 is looking like being the strongest year in terms of fund inflows since 2006, and could be the biggest market gain since 2009. With dividend returns hitting the books in ten days, it is highly possible that the ASX will finish the year positively.

In US economic news, foreign central bank holdings of US debt rose by $11.763 billion to $3.35 trillion in the latest week.

The prolonged legal battle among the Rineharts, Australia's richest family, took an uglier turn as Ginia, the youngest daughter who is the only child of billionaire and mining magnate Gina Rinehart, dug up and exposed her older sister's previous eating disorder.

The weekly closed last week on a downtrend for a second week. The market failed to regain 5400 and the weekly stop at 5387 held strong despite a number of tests.

Investors in Australia remain cautiously optimistic on prospects for investment returns via the Australian share market but they also show little intention of allocating more cash from the sidelines into Australian or global equities.

Pokemon X and Y, the popular role-playing video games that have been developed by Japanese video game developer Game Freak and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS, have other online features for Pokemon players such as the Player Search System (PSS), Play! Pokemon, Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection® (WFC) and the Pokemon Trading Card Game (TCG) Online. Now, Pokemon fans can choose from cool Pokemon games in the Internet.

Here comes Cyber Monday 2013! Watch out for various online sales after Black Friday 2013 which officially start on Monday (hence, the name), Dec. 2, 2013. Black Friday 2013 has just ushered the 2013 Holiday shopping season and it has reached the weekend up to Cyber Monday 2013 where most people who weren't able to shop during the Black Friday weekend go online to look for sweet deals for the items that they are eyeing.

Apple and Google continue to battle it out for mobile OS supremacy. As Google steadily gains more users over the years, Android seemingly has surpassed the iOS. Google has achieved that in terms of downloads and better integration over the years but Apple has not been a tech leader for nothing. The strong user base and reliable ecosystem are major selling points of the iOS. Surprisingly, reports now suggest that iOS developers are making more money than Android developers. How is that possible?

Google may soon offer an assistant that will help those too busy to manage their social network accounts. The internet giant has reportedly patented a technology that can analyze how a user reacts or responds to feeds and messages on social media. Once the technology finishes analyzing, it can also post personalized responses for the user. Is this something worth looking out for?

Whenever a new Android comes up, users will need to go to Google Play or check with Nexus and the works. However, for many advanced users, particularly those who do not have the option to go to Nexus, the best option would be custom ROMs. Many developers tinker and explore Google devices and interfaces. A new set of nightly builds for Android 4.4 KitKat from OmniROM can be rolled to a range of Nexus devices – not just a few devices but 15 Android devices.

Despite a modest improvement from the lows hit at midday, the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) still finished in the red by 0.25 per cent. The miners struggled this week; however a modest 0.5 per cent rise within the sector helped minimise the broader losses somewhat. The Aussie market slumped by 2% in November (only month of losses since June)

There are just so many perks with being a celebrity.

Apple's Black Friday Deals are extended to buyers in Australia. However, Australians should not expect a price discount on Apple products like the iPhone 5S, iPhone 5C, iPad Air and the iPad Mini with retina display on the Apple Store. What Apple Inc can offer consumers are Apple Store Gift Cards worth AU$150.

The Walmart Black Friday 2013 has started with a bang at 6pm on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 28, 2013. I hope you guys didn't miss the Walmart 1 hour sale (In-Stock Guarantee)! Don't forget about the second Walmart sale event at 8pm on the same day (Thursday, Nov. 28)! And, of course don't miss the actual Walmart Black Friday 2013 Sale on Friday, Nov. 29. It will extend over the weekend on Saturday, Nov. 30, starting at 8 am up to Sunday, Dec.1.

A professor from University of Waterloo observed Canada's anti-smoking campaign has been slipping, all because the government has not curbed the low selling prices of cigarettes in the country.

First, there was the smartphone then the smartglass and smartwatch. Now, Sony is developing a smartwig that could help the wearer navigate roads, monitor blood pressure or flip through slides in a presentation.

The Australian sharemarket is slipping for just the second time this week in light trade due to the Thanksgiving holiday in the US last night. The miners have been underperformers this week (down 1 per cent while the broader market is down by around 0.5 per cent) however are the sole improvers at lunch.

The A$2.8 billion ($2.6 billion) takeover bid submitted by US foods giant Archer Daniels Midland to acquire Australian grains handling company GrainCorp has been rejected.

Michael Jordan's $29 Million 56,000 square foot mansion auction was reportedly rescheduled on Dec. 16, 2013. According to Concierge Auctions, the company responsible for putting up "Air" Jordan's house, the demand for the said mansion has increased so much in the last few days, with a lot of inquiries from potential buyers asking about it that they decided to postpone the previously scheduled Nov. 22, 2013 auction to Dec. 16, 2013.

With the US markets closing early for Thanksgiving and another indifferent night in Europe (except for the DAX which made another all-time high) leads in the Asian region are few and far between.

In European economic news, German flash CPI inflation jumped from 1.2pct to 1.6pct in November. The numbers suggest that Eurozone CPI inflation will also bounce significantly tomorrow. Eurozone confidence surveys improved further in November. The economic confidence reading rose to 98.5, the business climate indicator, services and industrial confidence readings all improved. All are indicative of ongoing gradual recovery in the economy.

Apple Inc's shares has closed at $545.96 Nov. 27, up by $12 from the previous day's close of $533.40. This was the first time that Apple's share price has been in the positive range since January 2013 when stocks closed at $542.17.

As J.Crew arrives in British shores, Bloomberg Businessweek imagines the United Kingdom's most loved royals wearing America's unofficial uniform.

LinkedIn, the popular business networking site, has announced it has one million users in New Zealand and 259 million users worldwide. According to Nielsen’s Market Intelligence Survey, LinkedIn had 63,525 average daily users from New Zealand browsing the site in October.

Along with the close of the year 2013 is the end of the age of crisis, Japanese investment bank Nomura said in its yearend report and forecast for the global economy for 2014.

Local stocks are trading higher at lunchtime in the East, following yet another record high on Wall Street overnight. The US Dow Jones Index rose by 0.2 per cent to a new record, while the NASDAQ closed at a fresh 13 year high.

Nokia New Zealand has apologised to clients and its followers on Twitter for its offensive tweet. The abusive tweet caused a retweeting frenzy in Twitter with images of the Nokia NZ's tweet being reposted around the Internet.

Stores and sellers like Best Buy, Walmart, Target as well as Apple Store have got something in store for customers this Black Friday 2013. For those who cannot go to their official Apple Store, there are a range of online and physical store offerings for Apple products. Soon as Black Friday drops, people can expect a range of incredible Apple iPhone Black Friday deals and other offerings.