BUSINESS

New claims for unemployment insurance in the US rose by 8,000 to 362,000 in the latest week, ahead of forecasts near 351,000.

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed up 70 points or 0.6% while the S&P gained 1.0% to 1365 and the Nasdaq added 1.

By Rudi Filapek-Vandyck, Editor FNArenaYour Editor had the pleasure to host this week's Friday Afternoon Round Table and thus the formalities on screen were a little bit different than usual.

There were already countless number of news reports and rumors circulating the Internet even before the official release of Apple's 3rd generation iPad. This news frenzy generated a bigger hype regarding the release of the new iPad but was the hype worth it?

The new iPad which was finally revealed last March 7, 2012 during an official Apple event changed the whole tablet war once again because of the specifications in the new iPad. Instead of calling it "iPad 3", Apple decided to just call name it as the "new iPad" and its improved specifications and features mean that Android tablets have to step up their game in order to compete with the new iPad.

Apple recently released the new iPad last March 7, 2012 during Apple’s official event in San Francisco. Many people all over the world were anticipating the official information for this new iPad and Australia was no exception regarding this matter.

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) and Optus were fined for their misleading advertisements. It is the second violation for CBA with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) in two months.

Virgin Australia could soon open its doors for foreign investors to come in, with reports that the Richard Branson-controlled airline is nearing completion on efforts to remove ownership caps.

The Spanish bank Santander, which is also the largest lender in Europe, announced on Thursday that it opened its first branch in Sydney. The opening of its first Australian unit is seen as the bank's way of boosting its presence in the Asia-Pacific region.

Expect tougher competition in the Australian skies as two airline companies initiate changes in a bid to capture a larger cut of the country's travel market.

Both the Chevrolet Volt and its cousin, the Opel Ampera, have been named the 2012 European Car of the Year.

Australia's unemployment rate returned to 5.2 per cent in February, the Australian Statistics Bureau (ABS) reported on Thursday. The rise was expected by analysts as banks, manufacturing companies, construction firms and other Australian companies announced axing of jobs by the hundreds last month.

By Greg PeelOh God, when will it ever end!?That has perhaps been the catch-cry of global investors over the past two years.

Despite an initial dip when the February jobs numbers were released, the local share market is trading higher at lunchtime in the East, following positive offshore leads. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is firmer by 21.3pts or 0.5pct to 4255.7.

Tech giant Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) unveiled its latest generation of iPad yesterday, which is the first tablet that is able to connect to 4G network. However, this feature will not work yet in Australia.

The Reserve Bank has made clear that it sees no reason to cut interest rates or force the value of the Australian dollar lower simply to help sections of the economy that are doing it tough at the moment.

Usually everyone looks forward to define success and achieve outstanding results in their businesses with using Email marketing as one of the key tools. Email Marketing is one of the most powerful promotion tools, or rather to be very precise, the most powerful 'selling' tool that businesses of all types and sizes have as their wild card.

The Australian economy slowed in the 4th quarter of 2012, but we still ended up doing better than many other leading economies.

Insurance giant QBE and packing multi national yesterday announced expansion deals valued at more than $600 million in Australia, Asia and South America.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) pulled back the curtain on its next generation iPad, which features a higher-resolution display, a new processor, and support for high-speed 4G LTE data networks.

The US ADP National Employment index showed that 216,000 new private sector jobs were created in February, close to market forecasts.

Stocks rose ahead of a U.S. consumer-credit report and on news of progress toward Greece's debt restructuring and consideration by the Federal Reserve of further measures to aid the economy.

By Greg PeelThe Dow rose 78 points or 0.6% while the S&P gained 0.7% to 1352 and the Nasdaq added 0.9%.

There are many news reports stating that Apple will call their new iPad model as the iPad HD instead of iPad 3. The said name is based on its new standout feature which is its higher-resolution Retina display.

The growing hype and frenzy towards Apple's iPad 3 have speculated countless number of arguments regarding Apple's dominance in the market against the declining popularity of traditional PCs and laptops.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) will be hosting a media event in San Francisco, California, on Wednesday, March 7, starting 10 a.m. Pacific time, to unveil the iPad 3 or iPad HD.

Australia's construction activity further weakened in February, notwithstanding the rate cuts introduced late last year by the country's central bank, which failed to boost housing and commercial building projects in the past few months.

Australia and Asia's richest woman, Gina Rinehart, reportedly asked for a seat on the board of Fairfax Media when she met with the company's chairman, Roger Corbett, and chief executive, Greg Hywood, on Tuesday.

The 2011 natural disasters, such as the twin earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan, was by far the costliest, with the United Nations disaster risk reduction agency UNISDR estimating the economic cost to be at least $380 billion.