BUSINESS

The thought of battling out a lawsuit from Australia's richest woman has apparently struck fear in the hearts of Fairfax Media directors. Before they would allow Georgina Rinehart, the largest stakeholder in the company, a board seat, the directors are said to be seeking immunity from a Rinehart lawsuit, The Australian reports.

Microsoft finally unveiled the reason behind the "secret event" that they revealed a few days ago as the company revealed a new Windows 8 tablet in the market. This is Microsoft's first forray in the tablet market.

Microsoft has just released Windows 8 beta version to the public which has been getting mixed reviews. Microsoft is also reported to release their own Windows 8 tablet which would rival Apple's iPad. Is this the latest effort of Microsoft to redeem its place in the technological market?

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed up 95 points or 0.8% while the S&P rose 1.0% to 1357 and the Nasdaq gained 1.

Foreign currency trading can be confusing and nerve-wracking as you go about checking your investments on a daily basis.

"Travel - its very motion - ought to suggest hope. Despair is the armchair; it is indifference and glazed, incurious eyes. I think travelers are essentially optimists, or else they would never go anywhere."

The Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) created to look into the safety of the highly disputed $200-million rare earths processing plant of Lynas Corp. in Malaysia has concluded that the facility is safe and has strongly urged for the immediate release of the temporary operating license (TOL) to finally start the plant's delayed operations.

Upon formally assuming office Monday this week, new Samsung Chief Executive Kwon Oh-hyun immediately disclosed that he intends to pour a great deal of time and resources for the giant South Korean tech firm to further develop its software division.

Chevron sold on Tuesday its 10 per cent stake in the Wheatstone liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Western Australia to Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) of Japan for $4 billion.

Cyprus property prices continue to decline, the house price boom having halted in late 2008. At end-2011, Cyprus house prices were 14.5% down on their Q3 2008 peak (-20.5% in real terms), according to the Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC). This year the housing market is expected to suffer yet more, due to the recession.

46-year old Milanese tax attorney Salvatore Rossi, his wife Giulia, and their three-year old daughter Alessandra are travelling up the A9 on the Italian Autostrada from Milan to Switzerland at 110km. The speed excites little Alessandra who whoops with glee. But it makes Giulia nervous and she tells Salvatore to slow down.

Local stocks are reversing some of yesterday's spectacular gains, pulled back by weakness in offshore markets overnight. European markets ended mixed despite Greece's pro-bailout New Democracy party claiming victory in the weekend poll, as Spanish borrowing costs jumped pressuring markets. A rally on US Markets was limited as investors feared the Euro debt crisis would continue to worsen. At lunchtime in the East, the broader All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is down 17.8pts or 0.4pct to 4166.1.

By Andrew NelsonIt was another slow week on the spot uranium market last week despite news of the restart of two Japanese reactors that were idled in the aftermath of last year's Fukushima meltdown.

Australians' strong concerns about animal welfare put us at odds with Asian live export markets; but sharing our food production technologies gives us a potential advantage.

Victorian Ports Minister Dennis Napthine said on Monday that the state government would keep the Port of Melbourne in public hands and would even invest $400 million at Webb Dock.

Once upon a time, Spanish Banks, on account of its meticulous banking practices, were credited as one of the most reliable pillars of the Western Economies to withhold the pressure of global liquidity crisis.

Even if Australia's richest woman Gina Rinehart invested $86 million into Fairfax Media last week after she upped her stake to 19 per cent, the company still needs to wield its axe and chop off some jobs and costs.

One of the things that was noticeable during the recently concluded WWDC 2012 was the lack of iMac details. Before the big event, there were a lot of speculations regarding Apple's iMac but all of these speculations were halted when there was no mention or even a hint of iMac during the said event.

Microsoft has stayed silent regarding the release date and specs of Xbox 720. Microsoft has not even mentioned even a whisper of Xbox 720 at this year's E3. All that is about to change as a new leaked document revealed details about the all-elusive Xbox 720 from Microsoft.

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed down 25 points or 0.2%, but the S&P rose 0.1% and the Nasdaq jumped 0.8%.The world's central banks stood ready.

While the yearly gathering last week of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) in Beijing, China drew delegates from different airlines around the world, in the next 12 months attendees in the next summit could be down.

Just how popular are smartphones and tablet computers these days? Popular enough that according to a new study, print books could soon tread into the same decline road that CDs and other physical audio form had taken in the past years.

A comparison website noted the growing gap of rates between small business loans and residential mortgages. When banks pass on Tuesday the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) overnight cash rate cut to small businesses, the average rates for secured loans would have gone down by 100 basis points to 7.53 per cent.

The local share market has staged a relief rally on news Greece appears set to remain in the Eurozone. The pro-bailout New Democracy party claimed victory this morning and appears likely to form a government, sparking a buying frenzy across Asia as investors pick up assets which have been heavily battered over the past month. At lunchtime in the East, the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is up 55.9pts or 1.4pct to 4162.9.

Thank you to readers for their feedback to Monday's Daily Reckoning. We were expecting some outraged hate mail at our scepticism. Instead it was only thoughtful and often sad stories from people who had to personally experience the issues we raved about.

Australian consumers should anticipate another round of marketing war between the country's supermarket giants as Woolworths (ASX: WOW) disclosed plans to boosts its market share of fresh food to 36 per cent from the current 28 per cent.

Microsoft just unveiled its preview for the upcoming Windows 8 release. Majority of the response regarding Windows 8 has been positive and Microsoft is hoping that this positive thoughts would help in coming up with a tablet worthy of being an "iPad killer".

The Porsche Boxster remains the cheapest way into the German car maker’s sports car range – and may well continue to do so as the company continues to dither and deliberate over a new, smaller entry-level sports car.

The release of Apple's iOS 6 during the recently concluded WWDC 2012 have prompted new hints of a possible release date for the highly anticipated iPhone 5. Aside from that, there are also rumors about the new possible features that could be included in Apple's iPhone 5.