BUSINESS

Scientists reckon that catastrophic climate change was responsible for a huge number of extinctions at the end of the Pleistocene epoch, around twelve thousand years ago. Mega-fauna - very large animals - didn't adapt well to the rapidly changing climate.

Be thankful for the bottomless gluttony of man today. It's probably going to help Australian stocks! The US markets came out of their Turkey Coma to rally higher on Friday. Both the S&P 500 and the Dow finished more than one per cent higher. That should be good enough for a positive start to the week in Australia.

Virgin Mobile opened on Monday nominations for individuals who want to be part of the Virgin Mobile Testing Team. Successful team participants who are nominated through a Facebook-dedicated page will be sent a latest handset to test drive and asked for reviews that must include pros and cons in a two-minute video.

As 2012 winds up, ZTE and Samsung are now planning to have the next generation of smartphones in 2013 with octo-core or eight core processors inside their mobile devices.

Thanks to the Windows OS, Swedish telecom firm Nokia is experiencing a second wind. Reports said that Nokia has received more than 2.5 million orders for the Lumia 920 unit worldwide. This volume of orders is more than the entire line up of Lumia family sold in the third quarter of 2012.

By Andrew NelsonIt was a quiet week in the uranium market last week. In fact, it was so quiet that industry consultant and spot price tracker TradeTech didn't even put out a weekly report, instead heading out to Grandma's house to catch up with the rest of the US investment market.

A day after Gina Rinehart, Australia's richest woman, warned of the country losing its competitiveness in the global market due to wrong policies, Chevron's top man in Australia waved a similar red flag.

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed down 42 points, or 0.3%, while the S&P fell 0.2% to 1406, but the Nasdaq rallied 0.

The new trading week has begun the way the previous one finished. Investors are maintaining their vigil in relation to economic readings out of Europe and the US, wary of any negative impact that political inertia is having on real economy outcomes on either side of the Atlantic.

Amazon is practically giving out a gadget steal for consumers willing to be tied up for a 2-year contract with U.S. telco AT&T and all they need to do is make a one-off payment of $US0.01, a package that is reserved for new subscribers of the company.

If you are mulling for a gadget purchase this holiday season and wanting to try out a different smartphone system, the best bet you can get is Nokia’s Lumia 920 and Lumia 820, according to tech experts.

The year 2012 could prove the biggest for South Korean tech giant Samsung so far as reports suggested that the Galaxy device maker is well on its way to keep the global smartphone leadership by shipping at least 60 million phones at the close of December.

Local stocks are underperforming Wall Street in the early session, with investor apathy appearing to be at play. Despite predictions our market would rise by around 0.7pct today, at lunchtime in the East the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is firmer by just 6.3pts or 0.1pct to 4437.8.

HTC has another leak of an upcoming mobile device called HTC Deluxe which is expected to arrive January 2013. Other latest HTC Android smartphones released recently have powerful processors which are all in quad-core, providing efficiency and speed to the user.

Wal-Mart Indian Employees Suspended over Bribery Allegations

Major book chain Barnes & Noble has joined the technology battle by releasing the Nook HD. The popular bookstore's decision to include more electronic items that actually are also considered rivals of its traditional books is an indicator that bricks and mortar stores need to accept and take part in the technology battle to survive financially.

Yesterday HSBC released its 'flash' PMI estimate of manufacturing activity in China's economy. It rose to 50.4 in November, up from 49.5 in October. For the first time in 12 months, China's manufacturing sector expanded!

Revolt is in the air, Fellow Reckoner! You can smell the gunpowder...taste the whiskey...feel the virtual ink blotting dot.gov petition forms.

Qantas Domestic Chief Executive Lyell Strambi blamed on Sunday the excess capacity in the country’s domestic routes as the reason behind the air carrier’s financial woes. He said the situation benefits passengers, but not the airlines.

Success or failure? The Click Frenzy on Nov 20 in Australia was met with mixed reviews with a major retailer calling the event a runaway success, while critics who bit the hype that it was the sale that would stop the nation were disappointed not only because of the Web site's crash but also the flimsy deals made available.

Due to perceived bad policies put in place by the Gillard government, Australia's richest woman Gina Rinehart warned on Thursday that the country may risk following the model of financially challenged European nations.

By Tatiana Didier, Roberto Rigobon and Sergio SchmuklerInvestment through global funds increases year on year.

Quietly, Samsung has refreshed its Galaxy Tab line, which is the South Korean tech giant’s answer to Apple’s iPad, earlier this year, giving it some bump up to fit prevailing tablet lovers’ demands and trimming some excesses at the same time.

Few months into its scheduled February 2013 launch for new generation of handsets and a revised mobile platform, BlackBerry maker Research in Motion (RIM) saw considerable boosts on shares value, reports said.

There is a third smartphone system outside the dominant Android and iOS world and it’s called the Windows Phone 8. Of course we know that already in the same way that we equate WP8 to Nokia’s Lumia handsets.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has denied reports she was aware of a Melbourne property that was bought on money allegedly pilfered from union coffers, insisting that her role as lawyer for the Australian Workers Union (AWU) was strictly on setting up its ‘slush fund’.

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.

By Richard (Rick) MillsAhead of the HerdAs a general rule, the most successful man in life is the man who has the best informationNickel is present in over 3000 different alloys that are used in over 300,000 products for consumer, industrial, military, transport/aerospace, marine and architectural a...

FNArena is surveying investor sentiment in Australia in an effort to generate, over time, a guage similar to the AAII Investor Sentiment Survey in the US.