BUSINESS

A report released by the federal government on Thursday estimated that Australia would need to import 100 million tonnes of carbon abatement to meet the country's greenhouse gas reduction targets.

Apple’s iPad Mini will reign supreme in the 7-plus inch tablet class but it will not kill competitors like Amazon’s Kindle Fire and Google’s Nexus 7 – the smaller iPad is way too pricey to do that.

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed down 10 points, or 0.1%, while the S&P was up a point to 1412 and the Nasdaq lost 0.

With Windows 8 launched late this October and several famous brands such as Lenovo, ASUS, Dell, and Microsoft itself releasing new devices that will run on the new OS, Samsung has made a new line of devices exclusively using Windows 8, which make this set of devices sync to each other. Samsung will tap in this new generation of Windows together with its features and amazing power.

Microsoft has officially launched the new version of Windows Operating System - the Windows 8, and many users of Windows have experienced and still more are experiencing the feeling of the OS.

Local stocks enjoyed a strong rally during Wednesday's trade, thanks to positive momentum out of Europe. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) rose by 29.7pts or 0.7pct to 4535.4.

Last week we mentioned that Germany's audit office wanted the Bundesbank to make sure German gold held in foreign vaults is...you know...actually there...and has not been leased into oblivion, never to back sound money again. Well the story gets better.

The government finally published its Asian Century white paper this weekend. It sure sounds impressive. With the kind of timing this government has, a giant meteor will strike the Asian continent and destroy it sometime next week.

Here's a question: if the machines and bots have largely taken over the share market, why did the New York Stock Exchange close for weather-related reasons two days in a row? It's the first time the NYSE has done that since the 1880s, way back in the 19th century. Maybe this will be a dry run for markets that operate without physical trading floors.

Despite yesterday's blowout $6 billion or so profit from ANZ, it turns out all is not entirely well in Australia's financial services industry. For the last five years, the pattern in the markets has been the same. A crisis starts at the margin, with a peripheral player, and then moves its way up the food chain.

Chip technology firm ARM spilled out on Tuesday its new line of processors that were aimed to capture more tech market segments apart from its present dominance in the mobile device sector.

Food Production: Feed the World and Make Money From Agriculture

Today, Fairfax announced that The Stayz Group has acquired YesBookit, the leading holiday rental booking system for property managers. Developed by Midac Technologies, YesBookit integrates with Stayz, Rentahome, HomeAway and Wotif to simplify the holiday booking process for Australian and New Zealand property managers.

The Star Wars saga continues, thanks largely to Disney and if future plans roll out just fine global viewers will be regaled by Episode 7 on 2015, capping the multi-billion dollar deal that would extend the Star Wars franchise for new generations to see.

The earth shook in the Apple board room this week and the disruption claimed two senior executives deemed by the Board of Directors to leave the company.

The Australian sharemarket is improving for the third straight session, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) up 0.8 per cent or 34.3 pts to 4540. All sectors are rising with the mining, healthcare and telecommunication industries the standouts. This is despite the closure of U.S markets last night for the second consecutive day due to bad weather. This was the first time in 124 years the American markets closed due to bad weather for two sessions in a row.

By David Eller, Investment U ResearchCan you get an edge over the analysts on Wall Street?Peter Lynch thinks so.

National Australia Bank's (NAB) weak UK business caused the company's yearly profit to go down 22 per cent by $1.1 billion to $4.1 billion in the year to Sept 30, NAB reported on Wednesday.

The Australia Post announced on Tuesday the launch of its digital mailbox, which would serve as a digital storage vault for Australians and would connect consumers with banks, utility companies and government agencies.

By Greg PeelThe good news is that despite reports to the contrary, the NYSE was not under four feet of water yesterday, and all stock and bond markets will reopen for normal service, including floor trading, tonight.

The Australian sharemarket improved for the second consecutive session, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) edging higher by an unimpressive 0.1 per cent or 6.3 pts to 4505.7. Almost all sectors gained at least some ground, with the exception of energy stocks and the industrials.

New smartphone and similar devices had been released recently by familiar names in the technology business such as Samsung, Apple, ASUS and Microsoft, bearing different flagships from three operating systems - Android, iOS and Windows. But they are not the only ones competing in the tech war, Sony, LG, and Motorola have their own devices with Android OS to join the fray for enthusiasts and users, the Xperia SL, Optimus G and RAZR I, respectively.

Heading into the last quarter of 2012, the smartphone industry remains largely a duopoly by Apple and Samsung, with the two giants gobbling 108 per cent shares of profits as of September 2012.

Australians are now looking for more jobs, and are getting hired, in health care and social services sector more than any sector in the country.

Investors must have been wondering how long the good weather would last...how long it could last. Stocks have been on the up and up since March of 2008, the nadir of the crisis. They've doubled from then 'till now.

According to the Australian government, Australia's economic future lies overseas. An economic boom in Asia is going to define Australian prosperity. Government publications, slide shows and statistics all show how important foreign growth is.

And it doesn't make any difference who wins the White House... either. What the economy needs is real stimulus, not the phoney stimulus offered by Obama and Romney. Not the measly spending cuts. Not the timid tax increases.

Stocks managed small gains on Wall Street another lackluster Wall Street trading session on the 25th of October, with doubts surrounding weak business ventures keeping most investors cautious.

How is Windows 8 faring so far? If Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer is to be believed, products running the cross-platform operating system are getting their shares of ‘wow’ compliments from admirers.