BUSINESS

By Peter Switzer, Switzer Super ReportThe other week I suggested it was getting close to the time when we get back in, which, not surprisingly, led some subscribers to ask the question: "When did Peter get out and why didn't he tell us?".

By Andrew NelsonLast week was another slow one on the uranium spot market. There were just three transactions concluded, reports industry analyst TradeTech, who noted 350, 000 pounds of stock changed hands.

After beating Apple in sales and recently in a destruction test conducted by CNET, Samsung's Galaxy S4 won more trounced the competition by winning over the iPhone 5 in a speed test made by Which?, a consumer watchdog.

Intel has been making waves since it released the 4th generation processor Haswell. Nearly every ultrabook and portable computer out on the market is running on Haswell. As the chip giant continues to emphasize its dominance over processors and computing devices, Intel is not stopping. The company intends to release more upgrades and new products throughout the coming period. This September, two new processors will hit the market.

News of Apple cutting its iPhone order for the third and fourth quarters of 2013 sent the shares of the Cupertino-based tech giant plummeting to below $400. Business Insider quoted NASDAQ's real time price as of 11:20 a.m. that Apple (AAPL) share prices had gone down to $398.44 from the Friday closing price of $413.50.

Samsung is trying their luck outside their Galaxy Tablet line. With the release of the Asus Transformer Pad Infinity, the pressure is on the tech giant to come up with a Windows-Android hybrid. An ultrabook that runs on both Windows and Android operating systems caters to more users and joins the new generation of laptops transforming computing.

By Greg PeelYesterday the People's Bank of China issued a statement suggesting "that overall banking conditions are at a reasonable level," and that "banks should prudently manage liquidity risks that have resulted from rapid credit expansion".

Sellers returned from the weekend energised and keen to add to their work of recent weeks. Any sense that a new week might bring with it some consolidation after the falls of recent weeks was quickly dismissed. The fall for the market on Monday was its worst in 2 months taking the index back to levels seen at the start of the year.

Apple's infamous assistant went through an upgrade and it’s an update that may mean the life and death for a person. Siri can now respond to suicidal statements providing preventive statements and measures that can just save a person’s life.

Pegatron CEO T.H. Tung said that the rumored low cost iPhone is not cheap after all

Mining giant Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) will no longer push through with the planned sale of its $1.3-billion diamond business because of cautiousness among buyers.

In April, Asus released their Padfone 2 series. It is a 4.7 inch phone that can double as a 10.1 inch tablet. This month, Asus comes up with the other side of the story – the Asus Fonepad. The device is basically a 7-inch Android table featuring a cellular connection. It is a one big smartphone.

Are Australians ready for the latest in wearable technology – the Glove Phone?

iPhone sales is getting more common nowadays and seeing a rare permanent price drop is surprising. Walmart has dropped the price of iPhone 4s and iPhone 5 permanently to $39 and $129 per unit respectively.

An independent comparison of banks in developed countries shows four of Australia's big banks generating big profits than other banks. National Australia Bank, Commonwealth Bank, ANZ and Westpac are hailed most profitable banks in the developed world.

Driverless cars are commonly featured in futuristic sci-fi films, but despite being prophesised for decades they have so far not looked close to becoming reality. However, all of this looks set to change with eight major global motoring players all working on driverless technologies.

The new Asus K009 has been creating a lot of buzz particularly because the rumor mill says it is 4G LTE version of the next generation Nexus 7 tablet. While there are no confirmations yet from Google, a Bluetooth Special Interest Group filing for the device has also been spotted.

Rivers, Coles, Target, Kmart guilty of Bangladesh factory worker abuse

Local shares are down 1.4 per cent at lunch, exceeding all of last week's losses in just two hours of trade. The defensive healthcare sector is bucking the trend, while all other industries are slumping significantly.

It was reported in the Wall Street Journal that Microsoft is investing on a new project to overthrow Amazon in e-commerce supremacy. Sources say Microsoft is working on “Project Brazil” in hopes of competing with Amazon and eBay in the near future. The project, however, may not come to materialize anymore.

Moto X Phone was spotted again with FCC filings which marks the upcoming launching of the device to all major United States network carriers at the same time. But latest reports claim that Moto X Phone is only an underwhelming, mid-range smartphone.

- Japan must restart nuclear fleet to keep recovery on track- US$80+ needed to incentivise new supply- RBC sees US$65/lb in 2014- US$80/lb by 2017By Andrew NelsonCommodities analysts at RBC Capital Markets expect uranium demand to increase at a rate of 4.

Apple’s iPad mini 2 is not released yet but it is already facing some stiff competition. Several tech manufacturers like Acer, Lenovo, Asus and Dell are gearing up to release 8-inch Android-powered tablets. Apple will have to deal with more Android competitors in the third quarter.

The LG Optimus F7 will be available at U.S. Cellular beginning June 27. If customers would opt for a two-year contract, they would only shell out $99.99, while off contract, the device would have a price tag of $299.99.

Over the weekend, another phone war was launched by Nokia Lumia 925, but it pitted the phone against Apple's iPhone 5.

Besides a salary of $100,000 a year, which they will actually work only between August and December 2013, six mates from the U.S., Canada, France, Brazil, UK and Ireland were declared on Friday winners of Tourism Australia's Best Jobs in the World promo.

Despite the market making an effort to sneak into the black this afternoon, Australian shares still slipped modestly to make it two straight sessions of losses. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) slipped by just 0.4 per cent; a huge improvement from the close to 1.5 per cent falls 30 minutes into the day. The XAO fell 1.1 per cent this week.

Singapore's air-pollution index has breached 400 on Friday after five full days of non-stop smoke billowing from neighbor Indonesia due to the latter's forest fires. And with the smog expected to last through for the next two weeks, citizens have been forced to improvise safety nets to protect themselves in the face of dwindling stock of surgical and gas masks.

Samsung has stayed silent for quite some time as competitors release ultrabooks here and there. Today, the company has announced the follow up for their Series 9 Ultrabooks. Not just one follow up but two – Samsung unveiled their ATIV Book 9 Plus and the ATIV Book 9 Lite series.