BUSINESS

Local stocks saw their best gains in 19 months on Tuesday. That improvement was a distant memory on Wednesday with the index handing back the lion's share of yesterday's gains. It would be convenient to invoke weaker economic news locally and selling for regional markets as some of the factors informing todays selling, although the case would struggle to hold water on that basis alone. What is clear is that the neck wrenching volatility that has characterised recent days has left investors...

Intel's (INTC) Haswell chips have changed the standards for portable computing. They offered incredible improvements, especially in speed and battery efficiency of laptops. The processors doubled their peak floating point throughout but Intel has a knack for bringing for surprising the industry. Their latest Skylake offering is a monster than will blow up standards once more.

Sony is getting serious with its mobile offerings giving the likes of Samsung and Apple a run for their money. Consumer reports from the UK indicate the Sony’s position in the market is improving, and Samsung is paying for that cost.

Retail Shares were down in early trading on Wednesday after reports confirmed a lacklustre 0.1 per cent growth in the sector. In another report indicating the strength of the economy, sales of new homes were up 1.6 percent in May adding to a cumulative increase in the last four months.

The Australian dollar weakens further despite rallying slightly after the nation has posted a fourth consecutive month of trade surplus. On Wednesday, the Australian dollar traded at 91.62 U.S. cents, lower than Tuesday's exchange rate of 91.83 cents. Official data indicates Australia's trade balance last May maintained its positive streak for four months in a row with a surplus worth $670 million.

In early Wednesday trading, Australian shares have suffered losses after the decline of Aussie currency. That combined with a decline in commodity prices has had a negative impact on shares linked to resources. Other global indexes also point to the red.

Japan has rejected Australia's position on whaling, calling it "mistaken." The Asian country told the International Court of Justice in The Hague that "alarmist" Australia is blinded by its "no-compromise, zero-tolerance" anti-whaling views, which it wants to impose on other nations.

Tiger Airways was renamed to Tigerair, signaling a beginning of new era for the budget carrier

The Australian market continues on its bumpy ride this week, with investors not keen to back up yesterday's stellar rise. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is down 1.8 per cent, with all sectors trading in the red. Despite the big falls, keep in mind that Tuesday was the best day for local shares since October 2011. The miners were the standout performers yesterday, but are slumping most at lunch. Last night, most markets eased despite FOMC President Dudley reaffirming his previous comments that...

The Housing Industry Association (HIA) is disappointed with Reserve Bank of Australia's decision to keep interest rates steady for at least another month. The RBA has recently announced on Tuesday that it can possibly keep cash rates for another month as a weak Australian dollar reduces the need to cut rates.

Emerging news reports say that Chinese authorities have begun an investigation into price fixing deals by manufacturers of imported baby formula.

Microsoft is working on a revolutionary smartphone that is not about speed and better HD display rather; it is focusing on a mobile device that can tell a person’s mood. The smartphone technology not only senses individual moods, but it can also automatically share it over different social networking sites.

Apple Inc has been accused of tax avoidance in the U.S. and other countries and this time, alleged reports have surfaced regarding the company's non-payment of UK taxes during the 2012 fiscal year. According to reports, Apple even had tax credit which can be used in the coming years.

Smartphones running on the Firefox OS are now on sale. Here's a quick assessment of what these phones can do.

The Australian Dollar has remained reasonably steady overnight following some more US Dollar strength for a variety of reasons.

Once more choppy trade is defining the start of the new financial year.The US and Europe both suffered from low volume trading and sporadic price action last night, as both sides of the Atlantic slip into the red for the first time this week.

In US economic news, factory orders rose by 2.1pct in May following a 1.3pct gain in April. The US economic news flow remains pretty decent.

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed down 42 points, or 0.3%, while the S&P fell less than a point to 1614 and the Nasdaq fell one point.

Strong turnaround as RBA leaves rates at historic lows. The Australian share market has made a solid turnaround today, spurred by positive offshore gains and the Reserve Bank of Australia's decision to leave interest rates on hold at 2.75 per cent.

Screenshots of an alleged Asus Live Chat support emerged online, hinting the upcoming Nexus 7 2 which will be launched by the end of July 2013. An Asus employee leaked information regarding some technical specifications of the Android tablet.

After a dismal start to the new financial year, the Australian share market is rebounding today on the back of positive offshore moves and ahead of the RBA's rate announcement this afternoon.

The Ford Focus has been one of the best small cars to drive ever since it reached Australian shores in 2002.

This week, Croatia officially joins the European Union while the North Korean nuclear and missile threat is the subject of an ASEAN security forum.

Volvo's new Animal Detection safety system won't be able to help drivers avoid hitting kangaroos when it first launches within three years, but the Swedish manufacturer says future iterations will be tested in Australia to achieve that goal.

BMW has announced it will reveal the long-awaited BMW i3 on July 29.

BMW has revealed patent sketches of its new i3 model this week, originally publicised by French Automotive magazine L'Automobile.

A new meme is spreading in financial markets: The US Federal Reserve is about to turn off the monetary spigot. US Printmaster General Ben Bernanke announced that he might start reducing the monthly debt monetisation program called 'quantitative easing' (QE) as early as autumn 2013, and maybe stop it entirely by the middle of next year.

In his speech on May 22nd, Chairman Bernanke did the equivalent of playing an ace, standing up and turning around. He gave you a massive hint at one of his rules. But what does that hint mean?

Gold dropped another -$18 an ounce... Mr. Market is working his devious magic... scaring away the Johnny-come-latelies... putting the fear of God into the rest of us.