BUSINESS

Japan's being advised to brace for Category 5 super typhoon VongFong, dubbed 2014's strongest cyclone.

In times like the present, with volatility ramping and the intraday trading moving through the 100+ point range, I must remind myself that equities are at the top of the risk curve. They're therefore the first to see selling when nervousness is exposed.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) left on Tuesday the overnight cash rate unchanged at its record-low rate of 2.5 per cent, set in August 2013. However, the RBA decision did not deter lenders from revising some of their mortgage rates by offering season promotions such as cash-back deals and waived fees for new home loans.

In US economic data, the JOLTS index of job openings rose from 4.67 million to a 13-year high of 4.835 million in August. The IBD economic optimism index was unchanged at 45.2 in October. And chain store sales in the latest week were up 5.4% on a year ago, up from the 4.3% annual gain in the previous week.

Air Canada will be having a 10-year labour contract with its pilots, pending ratification of the latter.

Mining giant Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) rejected an offer to merge with Glencore that would have created a $160 billion mining and trading firm in August. Rio disclosed the offer made in July on Tuesday, but after thumbing down the proposed merger, there has been no contact about the deal between the two miners.

Canada has sent out a second mobile lab team to Ebola-stricken nation Sierra Leone.

Australian shares are trading at their weakest levels in eight months, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) down 1.3 per cent at lunch. This follows slight falls on Monday in what was a quiet start to a holiday interrupted week. Global markets lost a little ground overnight with the DOW slipping by just 0.1 per cent.

A vegetable garden doesn't always require a yard.

Some indicators from the U.S point to some resilience in the economy but the possibility of a global recession remains.

A survey made by finder.com.au, one of the biggest comparison Web sites in Australia, found that an increase in the overnight cash rate by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) would likely come at the earliest by the third quarter of 2015.

Amid talks that unbeaten American boxer Floyd Mayweather is finally considering fighting Filipino eight-division title holder Manny Pacquiao if the congressman beats Chris Algieri on Nov 22, there is another boxing coup in the offing besides the higher chances of the Dream Match finally taking place.

The furor over the bending iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus units has barely died down, yet, Apple is faced with another public relations crisis as #Hairgate threatens to be another headache for the Cupertino-based tech giant that was supposed to be enjoying brisk sales of its new flagship devices.

Members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will comprise the ASEAN Economic Community by 2015 in which it aims to act as a single market and production base.

Apple claimed that there were only 9 complaints of bending iPhone 6s, but it seems there are more than 9 based on recent postings in Instagram. There were seven recent postings complete with pictures in the photo sharing site.

Pope Francis is heavily favoured by bookmakers to win this year's Nobel Peace Prize.

The ECB meeting was the highlight of overnight trade but investors had to wait until President Mario Draghi's press conference for some real direction. After sounding very aggressive and showing willingness to do whatever it takes to spur the economy in past weeks, investors interpreted Mario Draghi's language as less dovish - he failed to say that the committee is ready to adjust the size and composition of purchases. Analysts feel this was a step back from what Draghi's recent comment...

The recovery that stirred the spirits of optimists this morning was fading at lunchtime and not long afterwards the ASX 200 had made a new low for the session. There were no developments in particular that saw the mood shift, and one factor that united the 2 halves of the day was the fact that the majority of sectors remained in the red over the entire session, The ASX200 ending down by 0.7 per cent at 5,298.5 points.

Canadian higher education institutions isnt faring well, according to a 2014-2015 World University Rankings.

Over 1,000 new jobs are up for grabs at the Ford Motors Oakville Assembly plant in Ontario.

A fat finger caused $617 billion bad orders on Wednesday at the Japanese stock exchange. Fortunately, the amount was cancelled before it was matched, otherwise, it could have caused a disaster in the financial markets because of the huge amount involved.

Saudi Arabia is expecting three million pilgrims for the annual Hajj 2014.

Germany may not be in the top 10 ranking of the just released Times Higher Education world university rankings, but insofar as students from other countries as concerned, German universities are number 1 if only because the country is 100 per cent tuition-free.

The small cap space in the US finally breached the 10% correction level overnight as the Russell 2000 extended its slide.

A renowned Israeli psychic who was famous in the 1970s for bending spoons using only his mind may be the bane of Apple, not teens who just walk into a device store and attempt to bend the iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus using their bare hands.

In US economic data, the ADP national employment index showed that 213,000 private sector jobs were created in September, just above forecasts. Construction spending fell by 0.8% in August, short of forecasts for a 0.5% gain. And the ISM manufacturing index eased from 59.0 to 56.6 in September, short of forecasts for a reading near 58.5.

Apple and PayPal had been in talks regarding Apple Pay.

Local investors have had little opportunity to savour the gains of the pre-ceding session. The 0.5 per cent gain for the ASX 200 on Tuesday was erased in short order at the open today. Buyers were invisible at the open and the ASX 200 shed 48 points at the low point of the morning. The selling pressure eased over following hours and in the hour leading up to lunch a good portion of the losses were neutralised. The signals sent from US and European markets overnight were mixed. On the one hand a ...

Global equities have just capped the worst quarter of trade since 2012. However, the US market has just logged its seventh consecutive quarterly gain. That is a concern for me.