BUSINESS

Apologies to Chris Leithner for using and abusing the title of his excellent book in our headline. But The Evil Princes of Martin Place are at it again - they're fixing the interest rate and creating inflation. We're calling it the evil pincers of Martin Place, which is where the Reserve Bank of Australia is based.

As the release date of iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C is drawing near, retail outlets are slashing the prices of the devices in their inventory. The latest in this line is Wal-Mart which has started to carry the iPhone 5 and third-generation iPad at a steep discount, at least for Apple products.

There were mixed reactions from employees of Nokia when reports came out on Tuesday that the Finnish phone maker is selling the company to American firm Microsoft. However, in the case of the stock market, the reaction was negative, resulting to a 4.5 per cent decline in share prices of Microsoft.

The Australian sharemarket edged higher, with the ASX200 Index (XJO) cracking through 5200pt mark for the first time since the middle of May. The closure of US markets overnight due to the Labor Day holiday kept investors a little quieter than usual however.

Mining giant Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) revised on Monday its production forecast for iron ore over the next five years amid lower volume of orders for the key steel-making ingredient from China.

It was like Christmas in September for 10,000 workers of Chinese technology giant Lenovo over the weekend as they received about $325 each because their boss, Chief Executive Officer Yang Yuanqing, distributed his $3 million bonus to his employees.

Vodafone has sold its Verizon Wireless stakes to Verizon Communications.

Reports of a strong manufacturing sector emanating from China lifted market spirits and held out some hope for the Australian and New Zealand currency on Monday. Along with the upbeat news from China was U.S. President Barack Obama's decision to seek congressional approval for possible action against Syria.

Leading scientists and researchers from Australia and India will receive funding, as part of a joint multi-million programme to undertaken cutting-edge research in a wide range of fields, including information and communication technology, vaccines and marine science. The funding under the Australia- India Strategic Research Fund (AISRF), the governments of Australia and India will support 15 new collaborative projects and eight joint workshops.

The Australian share market is slightly firmer at lunchtime following solid gains on European markets on the back of positive manufacturing data there. Wall Street was closed for Labor Day.

Apple Inc. announces updates on trade-in programs

Johnson & Johnson added a new warning label on Tylenol bottles informing users of potential fatal risks of taking too much of the pain reliever. Overdose of drugs with paracetamol, such as Tylenol, can cause liver failure and, in rare cases, death from 3 to 5 days after being overdosed.

Yahoo! has finally shut down and folded up its operations in China, in what is to be an expected scenario since the company began its gradual phase out beginning with the closure of its e-mail service in August.

By Greg PeelThe spot market for uranium was never of much interest until the big surge took prices up well over US$100/lb in 2006.

About 2,000 Romanians took over the streets of Bucharest on Sunday to protest the government plan to allow Rosia Montana Gold Corp, a Canadian miner, to dig for gold and silver in the country.

Australia is looking to strengthen collaboration with food and food-processing companies in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. This was announced by Michael Carter, trade commissioner, Australian Trade Commission in India, on Friday. Carter was speaking at the 3-day 10th Indian Food Processing and Food Technology Fair, 'Foodpro 2013' in the state capital, Chennai.

Beside their regular cabin duties, flight attendants of Etihad will perform also nanny duties on long-haul flights.

By Greg PeelSo much for expecting a quiet session on Bridge Street yesterday with Wall Street closed last night.

The Australian share market had a solid start to the trading week, on the back of strong Chinese manufacturing data released on the weekend.

The departure of Alex Macgillivray, Twitter’s top legal executive and staunch defender of free speech on the Internet, has led industry analysts to ask how the reshuffling of Twitter’s legal team will affect the microblogging site’s stance on data privacy.

Facebook’s move to give government agencies and, soon, advertisers, free rein over the personal information of network users has reignited the debate on privacy in the social media sphere.

The Australian market has shrugged off the weakness from global markets on Friday, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) up 0.7 per cent. Some better than expected signs for China's manufacturing sector on Sunday are helping lift equities at lunch. The XAO remains well above 5100.0pts.

The Fast and the Furious franchise have delivered some of the best car selections around. As the movie series continues to bring successful returns, makers of the film announced a seventh installment is coming underway. With the announcement of the Fast and the Furious 7, there are several cars which many think can transform the movie into one of the best car showcases of all time.

Pope Francis, pontiff of the Roman Catholic church, has called on all people of faith, regardless of religious sect or affiliations, to observe Sept 7 as a global day of prayer and fasting for Syria as he condoned the use of chemical weapons as a means to settle any domestic or international conflict.

More leaks about the specifications of the Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch are coming out in media ahead of its Sept 4 official unboxing in Berlin, Germany as a pre-IFA event.

For the third consecutive year, the Australian city of Melbourne topped The Economist Intelligence Unit Survey's of the best cities to live in. The list is based on a review of 140 cities.

Google confirmed over the weekend that it bought WIMM Labs during summer of 2012. The buy-out involved WIMM Labs entering into an exclusive, confidential relationship for its technology and stop of sales of its Developer Preview Kit.

The mainstream view is that China can smoothly transition its economy from construction to consumption. This is a dangerous illusion.

Microsoft just made permanent it price-cut promotion for its Surface tablets. On Thursday, Aug 29, the Surface Pro had a new starting price of $799 or $100 less.