BUSINESS

Mining giant BHP Billiton (ASX: BHP) will no longer be a part of the expansion of the Abbot Point coal terminal project after it announced on Monday its withdrawal of a $3-billion port proposal.

The Australian share market is reporting solid gains at lunchtime in the East, ahead of this afternoon's interest rate decision where the Reserve Bank of Australia is expected to leave the official cash rate on hold at 2.5 per cent.

Consumption of the precious safe haven yellow metal gold in the world's second-largest economy has been forecast to hit above 1,000 tonnes in 2013. However, the same could not be said for the year 2014.

Despite a sharp rise in food inflation, U.K. families are spending 8.5 percent less on food today than what they did before the financial crisis; but the savings had been mostly due to a switch in consumption to cheaper, less healthy choices, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) on Monday.

Swiss banks could be forced to raise their minimum leverage ratios to as much as 10 percent, reported the Wall Street Journal on Sunday, in a move aimed at improving industry stability - yet could see banks have to cut down on their service offerings.

Johnson & Johnson agrees to pay $2.2 billion to settle illegal drug marketing case against the company

With some of the most useful rare earths feared to be depleted within the next 50 years, scientists are racing against time to develop technologies to maximise their full potential as well as what could remain of them. Scientists are now specifically trying to establish a method to recycle rare earths from wastewater.

Is BlackBerry interim Chief Executive John Chen the Waterloo, Ontario-based company's knight in shining armour? Will he save the embattled phone maker from the fate that has fallen previous number one phone manufacturers Nokia and Motorola the way he did for software maker Sybase in the 1990s?

Current and former staff at Google reveal the worst things about working for Google

In US economic news, factory orders rose by 1.7pct in September, in line with forecasts. Durable goods orders were revised to show a 3.8pct increase in September or a decline of 1.3pct if defence orders and aircraft are excluded.

Canadian pop star Justin Bieber may no longer need to hide under a bedsheet the next time Paparazzis Spot Him Leaving a Brothel if he takes the offer of a U.S. whorehouse owner to be a business partner and perhaps even be a pimp trainee.

By Greg PeelFor a short while it appeared as if the month of October would see some renewed strength in the price of spot uranium.

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed up 23 points or 0.2% while the S&P gained 0.4% to 1767 and the Nasdaq rose 0.

Troubled Canadian phonemaker BlackBerry would no longer sell the company. Instead it will raise $1 billion in fresh financing and at the same time replaced Chief Executive Thorsten Heins, BlackBerry announced on Monday.

A music video made by two nurses in the University of Minnesota Amplatz Children's Hospital’s Cancer Unit featuring the patients singing and dancing to the song “Brave” by Sara Bareilles has reportedly gone viral with 949,243 clicks and 7,3222 likes on YouTube.

A new GTA Online update (Title Update 1.05) on character progress loss and the release of the stimulus package will reportedly happen on the 2nd week of November 2013.

Despite a positive start, the Australian share market ended the trading day on the red, dragged down by a fall in Westpac's (WBC) share price and weakness from the energy and industrial sectors. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) finished the day's trade at 5384pts, down 22.3pts or 0.4 per cent.

Environment Minister Greg Hunt gave the green light over the weekend for the largest coal mining project in Australia to push through. Kevin's Corner covers an area of 37,380 hectares.

The Australian sharemarket is modestly higher for the first time in three trading sessions. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is 4pts or 0.1 per cent firmer at lunch. Weakness from the energy, consumer staple, healthcare and telco sectors is holding back the gains, while the miners and financials are both supportive.

Japan's financial regulator, the Financial Services Agency (FSA), is set to investigate the nation's three largest banks for transactions with the Yakuza, according to Reuters on Tuesday.

Germany's persistently high trade surplus and export-led growth model is preventing the eurozone from recovering quickly, harming the wider global economy in the process, said a U.S. Treasury report on Wednesday.

Nearly 40,000 Chinese couples living in Bejing have filed for during the first nine months of this year, according to the China Daily on Tuesday, a year-on-year increase of close to 41 percent - with experts speculating that couples had been deliberately avoiding a property tax imposed earlier this year.

The U.S. government saw a budget deficit of $680.3 billion for fiscal year 2013, showed Treasury Department data on Wednesday, a 37 percent drop from the fiscal 2012 deficit and marking the first time in five years that the figure has been below $1 trillion.

Retail Giants are now determined to embrace the environment. Levi's has come out with designer jeans manufactured out of used plastic bottles. Nike has unveiled knitted sneakers that reduce manufacturing waste by 88 percent.

PDF file attached.Corporate bonds offer an alternative to equity investment in providing a fixed "coupon", or interest payment, unlike equities which pay (or not) non-fixed dividend payments, and a maturity date, unlike equities which are open-ended.

The fifty million dollar jackpot was won by a couple of players from Western Canada in the massive draw on Friday, according to Loto-Quebec.

The US dollar continues to enjoy a steady recovery with some positive readings on Friday helping it extend its gains. Driving the greenback was a strong ISM report (56.4 versus 55 expected) which saw the US dollar index rise to 80.72. Tapering is the main topic at the moment and every time we receive positive economic readings, expectations of tapering by the end of the year gain momentum. Fed speakers were also a key theme in Friday's trade; with one of the well documented doves, James Bulla...

In US economic news, the ISM manufacturing gauge rose from 56.2 to 2½-year high of 56.4 in October, ahead of forecasts for a result near 55.0. But vehicle sales rose from 15.21 million to 15.23m in October, short of forecasts near 15.4m due to weaker truck sales.

By Chris Weston, IG MarketsMarkets opened on a modestly positive footing, with US futures opening an hour later for Asia-based traders and heading a touch higher.