by Peter Switzer, Switzer Super ReportWith the market having the biggest down day for some time, it is timely to ask what the year ahead looks like.
Another large company in Australia may axe hundreds of jobs. Employees of the two Caltex refineries at Kurnell in Sydney and Lytton in Brisbane have expressed fear of losing work after the oil firm wrote down $1.5 billion value of its refining assets as it continues to conduct a review of refining future in Australia.
Mining activities on seven Queensland coal mine sites owned and operated by BHP Billiton virtually ground to a halt on Wednesday as workers stopped toiling to commence what could become the nation's biggest industrial disruption in years.
A busy day for retail-related companies yesterday with Westfield Group leading the way in revealing a US joint venture and asset sales, with asset sales in the UK as well, plus reasonable 12 month results.
Dairy Australia's latest forecast, released today, shows that Australia's milk production is continuing to climb, with total output for 2011-12 forecast to be between 9.4 and 9.5 billion litres, up on last season's total of 9.1 billion litres.
One of the world's largest fast food chains, McDonald's Corporation, has announced that it will require its U.S. pork suppliers to outline their plans to phase out the use of sow gestation stalls.
Despite hundreds of jobs axed since the start of 2012 as large Australian firm reported lower profits, the country's unemployment rate actually went down to 5.1 per cent in January from 5.2 per cent in December 2011.
A chronicle news reporter recently featured a behind-the-scenes look in MetalDetector.com, the first online retailer of Metal Detectors. MetalDetector.com is located at Southborough, Massachusetts and has been around for 30 years. It is currently being managed by brothers Michael and Daniel Berznweig.
Networking specialist Cisco has decided to mount a challenge on Microsoft's takeover of Skype, lodging an appeal before the European Commission earlier this week.
Westpac reported on Thursday unaudited quarterly profit of $1.5 billion, which is 3 per cent lower compared to the same quarter a year ago of $1.55 billion.
Australian reaps more benefits from the ongoing resources boom despite its two-speed effect on the domestic economy.
The Commonwealth Bank says it won't be joining rivals Westpac and ANZ, in cutting jobs as it met guidance yesterday with a cash net profit of $3.567 billion for the six months to December 31, up 7% on the same period of 2010-11.
Initial assessment by the chief of the independent labour group reviewing Apple contractors' factories in China portrayed a serene and sane working environment for thousands of Chinese workers tasked to assemble Apple gadgets.
The labor dispute that has plagued Qantas for months has taken its toll on the air carrier's bottomline. The flag carrier reported on Thursday an 83 per cent decline on its half year net profit which plummeted to $42 million compared to a year ago.
Global mining giant Xstrata reportedly plans to offer part of its stakes on the Australian coal mining project in Wandoan, Queensland, which the Swiss company co-owns with Japanese firms Itochu and Sumitomo.
Facebook users have another reason to celebrate as one of the most-loved games in the world; Angry Birds is now available in the social networking site.
The research firm, Gartner, Inc. recently disclosed that the Australian Business Intelligence (BI) software revenue will grow to at least 11.7% thus reaching an estimated amount of AU$496.4 million in the year 2012. The predicted revenue includes all BI platforms, analytic applications, and corporate performance management (CPM) software.
By Kathleen Brooks, Research Director UK EMEA, FOREX.comThere are two forces working on the markets right now: 1, central banks in simulative mode and 2, fragile recoveries and tail risk from Europe.
Apple, Inc.’s (NYSE:AAPL) latest tablet could face customs ban from Chinese authorities after a local firm filed for trademark dispute in the country to stop the exportation and importation of the said device.
By Greg PeelThe Dow fell 97 points or 0.8% while the S&P fell 0.5% to 1343 and the Nasdaq lost 0.6%.The US Federal Reserve has been adopting a new model of transparency under chairman Ben Bernanke's reign which, aside from Mr Bernanke's four-a-year press conferences, now includes disclosur...
U.S. stocks were on pace for their steepest fall of the year, as questions about the latest Greek bailout added to concerns about industrial stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 111 points, or 0.9%, to 12768, in late Wednesday afternoon, after rising for five out of the past six days.
There's no stopping the Apple Inc. express. Apple, the world's top tech company by market value, passed by nemesis and supplier Samsung Electronics to become the world's biggest smartphone vendor in the fourth quarter of 2011.
A recent report done by Janus Corporate Solutions revealed that Singapore was placed first as the "easiest place to do business in the world". This is in contrary to the results published by Forbes Magazine in their "2011 Best Countries for Business" feature. Despite the difference in results, Janus Corporate Solutions stands firm in their report stating that Singapore is much more superior as compared to Denmark in terms of doing business.
Demand among Australian businesses for credit has plummeted to a four-year low, a survey by the National Australia Bank (NAB) showed. Enterprises that required no credit went up to 67 per cent from 64 per cent.
Fresh from the hold on cash rate implemented by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) last week, consumer confidence appeared to have gained in the past two months, according to the latest Westpac-Melbourne Institute consumer sentiment index.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) ordered on Tuesday giant telco Telstra Corporation to reduce the wholesale pricing of its asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) service.
The Adani Group, an Indian conglomerate, is planning to build a new open-cut and underground mine in Queensland. The Carmichael Coal Mine, touted to be the largest in the Australian state, would be mostly on the Moray Downs cattle station about 100 kilometres north of Emerald.
Australian cities are some of the most expensive places in the world, according to the latest Economist Intelligence Unit's (EIU) Worldwide Cost of Living 2012 report. The roster, released on Wednesday, ranked Sydney as the 7th and Melbourne the 8 th most expensive global cities.
The Australian share market is trading flat at midday in the East, following a steady finish on US share markets overnight. European stocks slumped in response to ratings downgrades from agency Moody's and while US stocks had been lower in early trade, they rallied into the close to finish relatively unchanged. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is down 2.3pts to 4316.6 at lunchtime.
After hiking its interest rate by 10 basis points on Monday, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) reported on Wednesday a 19 per cent increase in profit compared to a year ago. CBA registered a record profit of $3.624 billion for the December half.
