BUSINESS

Australian Stock Market Report – Afternoon 5/20/13

The afternoon session saw the local index retreat from its best levels of the session when it was seeing gains of more than 1%. The main event of the week sees the US Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke delivering a testimony to the Joint Economic Committee in Washington on Wednesday night local time. Whilst the purpose of the Mr Bernanke's chat is to update the politicians on the state of the economy, the key focus will be on Quantitative Easing.
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Google and Amazon under PAC Scanner for Low Tax Payment

Until recently, it was only Amazon, one of the most profitable online stores in world, that was in the public eye for irregularities in its UK tax payments. May 15 saw another tech major - Google Inc. - added to the list of high-profile companies with business operations in the UK, which despite earning huge profits continue to circumvent local tax guidelines and get away with paying low tax.

Google Glass to Have Prescription Edition

Google will release a prescription version of its newly launched Google Glasses. The confirmation of the prescription edition came at the tech firm's I/O conference last week when several employees of the company were spotted wearing a pair of the trial specs.

Australian Stock Market Report – Afternoon 5/17/13

The Australian market not only held onto its gains but extended them further this afternoon. The ASX200 Index jumped by 0.3 per cent, making it three stronger sessions this week. Despite the rise, local shares slipped by 0.5 per cent over the past five sessions. This makes it the first week of losses in a month.

Australian Stock Market Report – Midday 5/17/13

Finally, after two straight days of losses the Aussie market is creeping higher. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is up 0.2 per cent or 8.8pts to 5,153.3. The gains are being recorded despite weakness in US markets, which slipped by 0.3 per cent however are still around all-time highs.

Your Editor On Twitter

By Rudi Filapek-Vandyck, Editor FNArenaI joined Twitter. Not because I am curious what this celebrity has to say about her kids, or to read that another one is waiting for a connecting flight, impatiently.

Australian Stock Market Report – Midday 5/16/13

Despite record highs on Wall Street overnight and a positive start to the day's trade, local stocks are back in the red at lunchtime in the East, weighed down by mining players and weakness in the healthcare stocks.

Milk Prices Looms with 10-15% Price Increase

Dairy Australia said on Thursday that there would likely be a 10 to 15 per cent increase in milk prices in 2013. The announcement spells good news for Australian farmers, but represents bad news for consumers.

How to Go From Zero to a Million Overnight with Crowdfunding

When I hear news reports about consumer spending being soft and businesses struggling, frankly I think it's all rubbish. From my perspective, no other time in history has been so promising for people with a great idea (some call them entrepreneurs) to go from zero dollars to a million overnight.

Australian Stock Market Report – Afternoon 5/15/13

Sellers got the upper hand in the post Federal Budget session on Wednesday. The weaker tone was primarily derived from big picture matters driving global markets at present, rather than a response to the budget. Some have associated the drop in the Aussie dollar in the last day to the larger than expected deficit in the budget.

Bird Flu Drags Down Badminton Apparel, Food Sales

China now has at least two subtypes of the Influenza A viruses lurking and circulating around its perimeters. And as more members of the poultry and fowls industry get culled, not only food sales get affected but also sales of badminton's shuttlecocks and apparel's down jackets.

New Australian Home Buyers Aren’t Convinced

The key to blowing up a successful asset bubble is that you must constantly attract new money into the asset class you're trying to inflate. By that standard, yesterday's Australia's housing finance figures were better than expected but worse than required. The numbers were up. But new home buyers have not yet been bullied into the market by lower rates.

What Happens When Everyone in the World has Zero Interest Rates?

If you can't remember the definition of stupidity, events this week will refresh your memory. One popular definition of stupidity is repeating the same behaviour but expecting a different result, like pushing on a door that opens by pulling. A more current and topical one would be cutting interest rates 511 times in six years in order to raise growth and/or lower the unemployment rate.

Australian Stock Market Report – Midday 5/15/13

Despite a stronger start to the session, the Australian market is slipping for the first time in six sessions. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is down 0.8 per cent or 44.1 pts to 5,158.4. Investors initially reacted to healthy gains from global sharemarkets overnight rather than Tuesday's federal budget, however the rise was short lived with most sectors turning negative about one hour into the session.

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