BUSINESS

Your editor returns to his Daily Reckoning post finding that nothing and everything has changed in the markets. Our last day in the office was Friday, June 14th. The S&P ASX/200 closed at 4791 on that day. As we fire up our lazy neurons today, the market is trading at 4810, down on the day but up over the last three weeks.

China's key financial centre Shanghai has received State Council approval to establish a trial free-trade zone within its surrounding area, serving as a test for some of the government's financial overhauls, including interest rate liberalisation and full convertibility of the renminbi, reported the China Daily on Thursday.

A report by The Economist's Intelligence Unit called the "Worldwide cost of living index 2013" has named two of Australia's major cities in the top five most expensive cities in the world to live in. Sydney ranked third behind Japan's Tokyo and Osaka, while Melbourne took fifth spot after the Norway's capital, Oslo.

An international study has confirmed the all too obvious - that the air pollution wrought by the excessive coal burning in China's north has affected the life expectancy of the people there, reducing it by as much as five years.

The shared gaming moments of 23-year-old Swedish gamer Felix Kjellberg through his PewDiePie channel are the most viewed videos the past week, garnering almost 50 million hits.

- Slim volumes reported- No changes to prices- US DOE adds more uncertainty- Macquarie sceptical about Japan restart bumpBy Andrew NelsonLast week was slow and quiet in the uranium market.

Australian bonds are lower on speculation that a job rise in the U.S. will lead to an easing of bond buying by the Federal Reserve. According to a report by the U.S. that claimed 195,000 new jobs emerged in June.

It is often hard to trust what manufacturers say about their product’s battery life. Usually, the hype is created to boost sales. Before, when a company claims their laptop can last up to six hours, the actual performance is lower than that – the common reason is that battery life depends on a case to case basis and on what the user is trying to execute. Haswell changed all of that.

The worse has not yet come for the gold market. Commodities expert Jim Rogers warned that the price of the yellow metal could fall to $900 an ounce.

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed up 88 points, or 0.6%, while the S&P gained 0.5% to 1640 and the Nasdaq added 0.

Better than expected employment numbers in the US at week's end and gains for US stocks failed to translate to gains for the local market on Monday. There was a fillip at the outset of trade with some modest gains, although the gains were short lived and the index spent most of the day in the red.

The newest Macbook Air from Apple runs on Intel’s Haswell microprocessor. Despite the decade-long partnership between Intel and Apple, the newest ultrabook also signals the end of this marriage. Intel and Apple are set to part ways soon after iPad maker bypassed the chip giant.

The number of job advertisements has declined for the fourth consecutive month. Western Australia takes a toll as the mining industry slows down due to falling gold prices leading to job cuts.

The demand for easy money is a powerful one. Europe's austerity drive (also known as living within one's means) has hit a few road blocks - again. Portugal has had enough and the political situation there looks shaky. As a result, government bond yields shot up to 8% yesterday.

The Australian market seems to want to ignore looming risks, like China's credit-crunch induced slowdown. Yesterday, the Reserve Bank of Australia kept rates on hold but basically said they stand ready to cut further if the economy continues to weaken. The market liked the sound of that and had its strongest day in 18 months.

Today's market action is brought to you by - once again - central bankers. In what has apparently come as a shock to the market, overnight the European Central Bank (ECB) and The Bank of England (BOE) have come out and said they will keep rates on hold for a long time. Can you believe it?

Bookmaker Offers Odds on Volkswagen Australia Sales

Google is poised to release the Moto X phone sometime this week. There is much interest and hype building over the phone for two reasons: it is another Android phone and Google will be releasing it. With HTC and Samsung announcing their U.S. sales have come up short for the past quarter, the timing for Google’s phone is almost impeccable.

Australian shares kicked off the week in the red, only to rise by around 0.3 per cent in early trade, trade flat at one point and then shoot lower by lunch. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is now down by 0.8 per cent, after a 1 per cent improvement recorded over the previous week.

Acer just rolled out in the U.S. and other global markets the Acer Iconia W3, the first 8.1-inch Windows 8 tablet. This makes the gadget the smallest PC, bringing the full PC and entertainment features in a small device.

Samsung Electronics is currently the leading phone and TV maker. However, even with their leading position, the company posted weaker profits than forecasts. Samsung is not selling as expected for April to June quarter.

Traditional personal computers are starting to fade while laptops, ultrabooks and tablets are becoming more prevalent on the market. Along with these changes comes a new operating system from Microsoft. The company has run majority of the computers in the world and the operating system giant is looking into dominating the other side of the coin – running slimmer and portable devices.

Processors are one of the most complex tech products on the market. They are launched differently and production takes longer than computers. There are stringent quality controls and standards to follow before any chip powers up a computer. When Intel launched their Haswell processors, it seemed every company is featuring it but in reality, the percentage of systems or devices running on them is relatively small.

By Tim Price, PFP Wealth"Investment based on genuine long-term expectation is so difficult today as to be scarcely practicable.

The latest PS4 has been receiving much hype and attention. Following the release of its competitor, Xbox One, all eyes are on Sony to see what the company will bring on the table. Reports indicate that Sony is trying its hardest to deliver possibly the best gaming console on the market yet.

Sales for Dell’s computers are sliding and the company is looking into wearable devices to boost earnings. It was not a secret that Dell is struggling with their computer offerings. In order to save their sales and improve company position, the computer maker is refocusing their investments on wearable technology.

By Stephen Hogan, Senior Private Client Adviser, Equities/DerivativesAustralian MarketThe Australian market (XJO) closed down -32.

- Chinese PMIs weaker- Trend steady nevertheless- Asia still the growth driverBy Greg PeelIn last month's round of manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) data, China's result fell slightly to 50.

An eight-year-old Sydney boy was accidentally exposed to a hardcore porno image while viewing the Lions ticket promotion of flag carrier Qantas on its Facebook page on Friday.