BUSINESS

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

There have been a number of encouraging signs for the bulls in the last 24 hours. The weak close on Wednesday as rising interest rates in China saw buyers retreat from stocks across the region has faded from memory and buyers have maintained the grind higher for the ASX200 this week, which has risen by 1.3% with several hours of trade remaining.

According to a study published in medical journal, The Lancet, there has been an increase of 25 percent in the last 20 years in the 20- to 64-year-old age bracket either affected or dying due to stroke.

Saudi Arabia has signified it will slap appropriate sanctions to protesters once they push through their planned Oct 26 mass action objecting to the ban against women drivers in the oil-rich kingdom.

In today's Daily Reckoning we're going to discuss the possible impact on Australia of a changing global monetary system. We say possible because no one really knows where this rabbit hole we're heading down leads, so it's all guesswork.

Money Printing: Everything Old is New Again

The Spanish economy grew by 0.1 percent between July and September this year on the back of stronger exports, according to estimates from Spain's central bank on Wednesday, though unemployment remains stubbornly high at around the 26 percent mark.

It has been a very interesting week on the markets; the unusual event of seeing major US data in the third week of the month certainly didn't spook the markets as it reconfirmed what most already believe; taper will not happen in 2013.

Microblogging site Twitter is aiming to raise up to $1.6 billion in its initial public offering. It set on Thursday the price range of $17 to $20 a share.

By Greg PeelThe Dow rose 95 points or 0.6% while the S&P gained 0.3% to 1752 and the Nasdaq added 0.5%.

The US trade deficit came in at $38.8 billion in August, roughly in line with that recorded in July. The underlying trend remains of very gradual narrowing of the deficit. Initial jobless claims dipped further down by 12,000 to 350,000 last week. Flash US manufacturing fell from 52.8 to 51.1 in October. Output declined for the first time in four years, with the subindex dipping to 49.5.

No one wants to be on a waiting list, especially if millions of other names are ahead of yours. Android and iOS users who want to sign up for a BlackBerry Messaging account but are on the waiting list have relief on the way soon. They can jump the queue by following these tips suggested by tech Web site CNET

The Australian sharemarket benefited from a better than expected reading on Chinese manufacturing sector activity, only to give back part of the gains late in the session. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) finished 0.3 per cent or 16.9pts higher.

The Australian sharemarket is trading around a five-year high, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) up by 0.3 per cent. This is quite a positive outcome considering that global markets lost ground overnight as short-term Chinese interest rates rose. This following the Chinese central bank's (PBoC) decision to remove some excess liquidity from financial markets.

Coca-Cola, its name, logo and taste, is one of the best brands in the world. For those thinking to invest in the beverage giant should first take a look at the following facts.

The New Zealand government approved a NZ$3.2 billion initial public offering (IPO) of power generator Meridian Energy. It is the largest IPO in New Zealand's history.

Carl Icahn Tweets again saying he just sent letter to Tim Cook, insisting on Apple Inc. (AAPL) buyback programme

Apple Inc. (AAPL) is no longer the number one favourite stock among U.S. and Canadian millionaires, Tiger 21 survey says