BUSINESS

What is it like working with Google? Benefits abound that employees not only enjoy work site freebies such as free foods and health services but also assurances that life after death for Googlers’ family members will not be too difficult.

Following government measures to slow speculation, Hong Kong residential property prices rose only 6.7% (2.39% in real terms) during the year to May 2012, according to the Ratings and Valuation Department (RVD). In June 2012, home sales volumes were 34.9% down on the same period last year.

If official facts and figures are to be believed, the U.S. economy was able to add an additional 163,000 employment opportunities during the month of July, noticeably exceeding the numbers speculated upon by the analysts.

The local share market is trading lower at lunchtime in the East, following a mixed finish on Wall Street and weakness in financial stocks. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is down 14.1pts or 0.3pct to 4316 at midday in the East.

Square, the mobile payments start-up, would create an alliance with the Starbucks Coffee Company. The partnership will enable mobile payments at the company's 7000 U.S. stores. Starbucks will invest $25 million as a part of Square's Series D financing round. Moreover Howard Schultz, the Starbucks' CEO, will join Square's board of directors.

The tug-of-war over the control for Tiger Brewer which is a group of 24 brewery units in Asia and a profitable soft drinks company should finally come to a head as Fraser and Neave have been brought in to consider a takeover bid by Heineken.

Coca-Cola Co. has announced a reorganization of its operating structure around main units. The remodeling is necessary to better address the changing demands of Coca-Cola's marketplace.

In response to criticisms that Gina Rinehart's Roy Hill project is favouring foreign labour over Australian workers, the firm has initiated measures to hire locals for the construction phase of the iron ore venture.

Google's operating system Android dominates the world, while Apple's iOS maintained its dominance in the U.S. market.

The eurozone's second largest economy, France, is headed for another recession by the third quarter of the year, said the nation's central bank on Wednesday, with the newly-elected Hollande government expected to be forced into deep spending cuts in order to balance the country's books.

Dubai is an international and regional trading hub in the UAE and despite financial woes over the last few years, economic growth looks set to be strong for this glittering desert jewel in 2012.

After a week of continuous heavy downpour which flooded Metro Manila and nearby provinces, the sun finally shone on the Philippines on Thursday.

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed down 10 points or 0.1% while the S&P was flat at 1402 and the Nasdaq rose 0.

The Australian share market was on track to post a fourth consecutive session of gains today, however those gains evaporated late in trade after Chinese industrial output and retail trade figures for July came in lower than expected. By close the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) was lower by 2.8pts or 0.1pct to 4330.1, after reaching an intra-day high of 4350.

Honda has unveiled, at least in photos, the 2013 version of the hugely popular Honda Accord mid-sized sedan, which the Australian branch of the Japanese carmaker said will hit Aussie roads by the second half of the following year.

In spite posting a favourable revenue performance from its diamond business, global mining giant Rio Tinto Group is still resolute to sell off its assets from that particular business arm.

Due to more incidents of workplace bullying as Australia's economic condition weakens, national workers' compensation claims for harassment almost doubled in three years.

The small Australian town of Wandoan, located near Chinchilla, is seeking $100 million from mining giant Xstrata as a condition for the town to open its doors to the firm's coal mining venture.

It was a bad day for Qantas workers on Wednesday as Chief Executive Alan Joyce announced the loss of 2,800 jobs and Fair Work Australia (FWA) ruled in favour of the air carrier in its long-standing labour row with the Transport Workers Union (TWU).

Why do people love competition so much in the field and in the pool, but fear and hate it in the business world? The analogies between Olympic fare and life in a free market are very close, closer than people realize. Yet we celebrate competition in one sector and try to ban the other.

This message is one of a series. It began when Mario Draghi, former Goldman man and now head of the European Central Bank, promised to do "whatever it takes" to save euroland.

Mining giant Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) announced on Wednesday that it will push through with its $15-billion expansion plans despite a 22 per cent dip in its half-year profit and weak commodity prices.

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed up 7 points while the S&P gained one point to 1402 and the Nasdaq slipped 0.

Greg PeelA check of FNArena's Broker Call archive shows that on the 1st of September, 2010, BA-Merrill Lynch upgraded Rio Tinto ((RIO)) to Buy.

Qantas Airways has implemented flight manual and software updates that govern standard operational procedures on its real-time cockpit environment, which the national carrier said were moves meant to eliminate “process errors.”

Local stocks closed higher for the third consecutive session today, boosted by hopes the European Central Bank will soon engage in government bond buying, delivering stimulus to the global economy. European shares rose to fresh four month highs overnight, while US shares also rose in thin trade. By close on the Australian share market, the broader All Ordinaries Index (XAO) had risen by 21.5pts or 0.5pct to 4332.9.

Samsung has officially rolled out the Galaxy Note 10.1 but Australia may have wait a little bit more on the device as the Asian tech giant said only consumers in Germany and the United Arab Emirates will get their hands on the new product.

While Australian mining firms and the political Opposition have been crapping about the mining tax, Barrick Gold Corporation backed the Gillard government's mineral resources rent tax (MRRT) and carbon tax.

Overnight European and the US markets continued to mount solid gains as expectations increase over new central bank intervention in the markets. Concerns over global oil supply pushed oil prices higher and US banking stocks lifted. Shares in UK banking group Standard Chartered fell over 23% after New York banking regulators accused Standard of helping Iran avoid sanctions by concealing US$250 billion worth of transactions over the last 10 years. Standard management said the allegations were inco...