BUSINESS

The local share market closed higher today, boosted by company news and a lift in energy and banking stocks. By close, the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) was up 22.4pts or 0.5pct to 4173.8.

Hybrids without batteries, remote Honda EV apps and personal car-sharing hitches a ride with GM's OnStar.

Again, Apple created the same amount of market buzz that normally accompanies its quarterly results but this time around, apprehensions ruled investors’ sentiments instead of the usual excitement that had marked the tech titan’s previous financial reports.

The Australian Financial Review's front page recently featured a headline that is either delusional or pure genius.

It would appear not. There's just not that much that bothers investors these days. Central bankers have it all under control. After waiting for months for another round of quantitative easing, Ben Bernanke reckons there's no pressing need to do anything. Or so he said on day one of his two-day testimony to the US Congress.

The local share market is tracking higher in the early session, boosted by company news and a lift in blue chip US shares overnight. At lunchtime in the East, the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is up 10.8pts or 0.3pct to 4162.2.

Coles gained the upper hand in its battle for the number position with Woolworths as the number one supermarket by reporting on Thursday a yearly sales growth of 6.1 per cent to $33.7 billion.

'Falling export prices a risk to surplus' says today's front page headline in the Financial Review. The article draws on a recent report by Chris Richardson at Deloitte Access Economics. The crux of the argument is that the mining investment boom is about to peak. Given China's slowdown, there are no new big projects on the horizon. So Richardson reckons the mining boom has two years left, max.

Recently a BRW Cover had the title "Secrets of the Real Estate Industry" in big bold type with a sub heading stamp, "What they won't tell you", written by Nassim Khadem and heavily featuring Andrew Blanchut from PropertyNow. The article really takes a dive in the deep end and have some pretty strong words for real estate agents, just look at this quote from Andrew!

The iPhone first released in 2007 was based on a personal digital assistant units produced by Sony in the prior years, according to a new court filing by Samsung in reply to Apple’s allegations that Samsung’s Galaxy smartphones designs were made to look and feel like the million-selling Apple mobile phone.

Caltex announced on Thursday that after a review, it has decided to shutter its Kurnell refinery in Sydney. The closure of the 57-year-old facility by mid-2014 would cause the loss of over 300 jobs.

The Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) and Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX) will jointly host a data centre beginning September to boost the flow of futures activity between the two major bourses.

Due to the high liquefied natural gas (LNG) cost base in Australia, which Royal Dutch Shell has described as the highest in the world, new investments in the LNG sector may be under threat. LNG is considered a sunshine industry for Australia and experts have forecast the country would be the world's largest LNG exporter by 2020.

By Greg PeelWe know that Beijing's numbers are spurious ? at least one government official has already admitted that in the past.

Prices of goods and services in Australia has risen at a much slower pace that the country registered on Wednesday a 13-year low inflation rate of 1.2 per cent.

By Greg PeelThe Dow rose 53 points or 0.4% while the S&P lost 0.1% to 1337 as the Nasdaq fell 0.4%.Why the disparity between indices last night? The answer is Apple.

Local stocks ended slightly lower today, recovering from heavy losses earlier in the day on the back of a tame inflation report. The core inflation data (CPI) was released today, showing a 0.5pct rise in the June quarter, for an annual increase of 1.2pct, showing inflation in Australia is well and truly contained. By close, the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) was down 9.8pts or 0.2pct to 4151.4, off its earlier lows of 4114pts.

The South Australian police busted the illegal operation of a group believed to be responsible for the $2 million theft of car parts owned by GM Holden, which were pilfered from the carmaker’s Salisbury East assembly facilities in Elizabeth.

The Australian share market opened lower this morning after overseas markets continued to fall overnight. The concerns over European debt, growth and miss management continue to rock market. Weaker than expected European manufacturing data and more drama in Greece also added to the pain.

The notion of a business on wheels is not exactly a fresh one but, by adding an unexpected element to the deal, it takes the concept of innovative marketing to a completely new level making it more mainstream.

According to some critical reports from the US Senate released on Monday, the Britain based bank HSBC has been handling drug money from some of the most secretive and notorious corners of the world including Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Mexico and the Cayman Islands.

By Greg PeelAugust is statistically one of the worst months of the year for natural gas prices, which makes sense given August represents high summer for the bulk of the world's gas consumers.

According to the reports released by a popular Business Magazine on Monday, the economy of Japan led by the robust reconstruction and spending of the consumers is still recovering after the country was hit by an earthquake only last year.

Among the four buyers who have potentially moved on to the second stage in the bid for the insurance business of Aviva in Malaysia are companies like Manulife and Prudential Plc. According to reports from the sources the deal is worth nearly about 500 million dollars.

Adhering to the popular adage that the only things permanent in life are death, taxes and change, a recruitment firm listed the top qualities that employers look for in workers amid high unemployment rates in different parts of the world.

Apple practically confirmed Samsung’s stature as currently the biggest smartphone maker in the world but that reputation was tarnished, the tech giant insisted, when the South Korean firm “chose to compete by copying Apple.”

National Australia Bank (NAB) announced on Tuesday that it will increase on July 30 its interest rates on business loans by 20 basis points. The bank explained it had to hike rates because of strong competition for deposits and higher funding costs.

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed down 104 points or 0.8% while the S&P lost 0.9% to 1338 and the Nasdaq fell 0.

Local stocks managed to finish in positive territory today, as investors embraced better than expected Chinese economic data and as merger and acquisition activity boosted retail players. By close the All Ordinaries Index added 2pts to finish at 4161, a pretty positive outcome given the weak offshore lead and fact the market was trading down to the tune of half a percent at one stage during the day. The benchmark ASX 200 Index (XJO) added 4pts or 0.1pct to 4133.2.