BUSINESS

By Greg PeelEither something has to give shortly or perhaps the spot uranium market will fade in importance once more as a price indicator, as was the case before the big uranium bubble of the mid noughties.

The American markets finished higher on Friday and last week, thanks to better than expected earnings and despite weaker than expected first quarter economic growth.

We can expect to see more earnings downgrades this week with two of the major banks, the ANZ and Westpac, centre stage.

Mark Zuckerberg remains the only Facebook originals involve in the day-to-day operations of the social networking giant - all the others have gone setting up their own tech babies following the attachment of numerous zeroes on their names.

FNArena has added another video to its Investors Education section on the website. In this latest video, Jerry Simmons explains why copper may well be showing the way forward for other risk assets.

By Greg PeelThe Dow fell 14 points or 0.1% while the S&P lost 0.4% to 1397 and the Nasdaq dropped 0.7%.

By Greg PeelWell I stand corrected, given I was in the "only 25" school. My thinking was that a one-hit 50 basis point cut in the RBA cash rate would tend to suggest an "emergency" situation and risked the RBA board looking foolish for not having delivered incremental cuts earlier.

Samsung finally confirmed some of the rumored specifications about the highly-anticipated Samsung Galaxy S III. So far, the company has remained silent regarding the countless number of rumors about this smartphone but for the past weeks, Samsung has taken time to confirm some of the details about the Samsung Galaxy S III.

Outside of the vast Apple universe, an Asian tech firm known as Samsung Electronics continue to make significant headways, reporting on Friday that it made more than $US5 billion in operating profit for the first three months of 2012.

An Australian Federal Court of Appeal, ruling en banc, found on Friday Optus liable in violating the exclusive rights of Telstra Corporation in broadcasting the near-live games of Australia's premier football and rugby leagues.

Macquarie Group reported on Friday profit shortfalls of 24 percent in fiscal 2012, underscoring cost-cutting measures that have so far resulted in the separation of more than a thousand workers from the company.

Despite positive moves on US and European markets overnight, the Australian share market is showing no great signs of momentum at lunchtime in the East. Profit downgrades and a fall in earnings from Macquarie Group (MQG) has weighed on investor sentiment, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) flat at 4444.1.

Swedish house prices have fallen slightly since the peak in Q1 2010. During 2011 they fell by 2.7% (4.89% in real terms) to an average price of SEK 1,969,000 (€221,316), according to Statistics Sweden.

The strike of West Australian farmers against Coles' pricing policy of a $1 reduction per litre of milk was averted by a meeting of the producers with the supermarket giant this week.

Retirement was something you were supposed to have sorted out by now. Superannuation was something that was going to help you do it. And the age you tell your boss, or your employees, 'I quit' was something you were supposed to have your eye on.

The Reserve Bank at its last meeting seemed to be finally coming around to this view, but preferred to wait for the release of March quarter inflation data.

There's still a lot of growth left in Apple, despite the break out results for the company's second quarter reported this week.

Despite Europe's woes, world steel production has recovered and hit an all time monthly high in March of 132.2 million tonnes.

The Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) expressed on Friday its opposition to plans for the relaxation of fatigue standards for train drivers in New South Wales from the current 12-hour maximum.

By Peter Switzer, Switzer Super ReportWe had a potential financial planning client who only had $6 million to invest around August last year and while many of us would have loved to be him, he once had $20 million!That's why he came to see us, but because he was so pessimistic after reading a w...

We love the kids, don’t we? But Harli Jordean, the 8 year old kid, soon to be 9, is just too cute. Harli Jordean was born in Stoke Newington, London in spring 2003.

Media stocks will to come under renewed downward pressure today after surprise earnings downgrades from Seven West Media and PMP late Tuesday.

Interest rates will fall next week after the lowest inflation figures for some time in the March quarter took the market by surprise.

The US Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting overnight won't alter the way the US economy completes 2012.

Although the influx of foreign visitors to Australia could slow down in financial year 2012, the tourism industry's value would climb by $100 billion by year-end, the Tourism Forecasting Committee said.

By Greg PeelThe Dow rose 113 points or 0.9% while the S&P gained 0.7% to 1400 and the Nasdaq added 0.7%.

St George Bank assured on Friday its employees that no one would lose their jobs amid reports that the subsidiary of Westpac is planning to outsource 200 IT jobs to IBM.

Australian beef exports may benefit from reports of a mad-cow disease in the U.S., according to the Australian Beef Association. The reported case of mad-cow disease in the U.S. may prompt Japan and South Korea to increase its demand from Australia, said the industry group.

Rio Tinto and Chinalco's listed subsidiary, Chalco, have completed the formation of their joint venture (JV) to develop and operate the Simandou iron ore project in Guinea, following the completion of all Chinese regulatory approvals. As a result, a consortium led by Chalco has made an earn-in payment of US$1.35 billion, in line with an agreement reached with Rio Tinto in March 2010.