BUSINESS

Five days out from the RBA's next cash rate decision, Australian banks are again flagging that they may stay put on rates.

In Australia, retail trade, the monthly inflation gauge and data on job ads are released. NZ markets are closed for a holiday. In the US, the monthly employment trends report is released.

The optimism generated by the better-than-expected US jobs is seen to redound to the stock market.Analysts are bullish that Monday's trading will record some gains benefitting from the major averages posted by the Dow Jones Industrial Average, up 1.2% to close at 12862; the S&P climbed 1.5% at 1345; and the NASDAQ advanced 1.6% to end at 2906.

One of Australia's leading consumer product surveys, Product of the Year, today released its third annual survey results for innovative new products in the Australian supermarket retail industry. Product of the Year was established 25 years ago in France and currently operates in 28 countries worldwide.

What do business leaders expect from their Human Resources function? We constantly hear the phrase, "strong business acumen required" for senior HR appointments but this is also increasingly the case for roles within the early HR career market. What does this mean for early HR career professionals is the main subject of this month's Instep.

A wave of borrowers could be seeking out brokers should the banks choose to sit on their hands after any RBA rate cuts.

For a third year in a row, world markets have had a strong start to the year, but so far 2012 is the best of the three.

Central bank meetings in Australia, the UK and Europe will dominate the coming week.

The good jobs figures for the US in January, and then those late doubts about Greece, ended up confusing traders and gold slumped the most in five weeks on Friday.

Stocks rose Friday after the U.S. economy added more jobs than expected last month, driving the Nasdaq Composite to an 11-year high and pushing the Dow to its highest close in nearly four years. The earnings parade continues this week, with the latest results due from a handful of companies in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and from media giants and tobacco companies. In addition, seven companies across a range of industries are expected to go public this week, coming off a week that has seen ...

By Greg PeelIt was arguably the Big News story in the resources sector last week. Rare earth hopeful Lynas ((LYC)) had been waiting in frustration for a seemingly interminable period to learn whether or not the Malaysian government would approve its proposed Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (LAMP) for...

By Rudi Filapek-VandyckThe first broadcast of the Friday Afternoon Round Table on the freshly rebranded BRR Media turned out an entertaining event and not just because I was (initially) given the dud seat around the table.

A French commercial court upheld an unfair competition complaint against search giant Google Inc. and has ordered it to pay a fine and damages to a French mapping company.

Xstrata, one of the biggest mining operators in Australia, is reportedly negotiating with giant commodities trading firm Glencore for a likely blockbuster merger that analysts said could easily reach $US79 billion.

After popular file-sharing website Megaupload was shut down last week by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, the next site in danger could be the aptly named The Pirate Bay.

Facebook Inc. filed documents for an initial public offering that could help the social network gain one of the biggest U.S. stock-market debuts of all time.

While New Zealand has not felt the brunt of recession, the Treasury has slashed its forecast for economic growth for 2013 in view of volatile and weaker global economy.

Optimism rose as New Zealand shares climbed, and hope springs that global economic growth is possible. Exporting manufacturers Fisher & Paykel Appliances and Methven topped the list of gainers even as the kiwi dollar rose as well, consistent to a five-month high against the greenback.

January marked the significant growth of Australia's service industries, pushing up by 2.9 to 51.9 points in the month, according to the new survey jointly conducted by the Australian Industry Group (AIG) and Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA).

After encountering turbulence in 2011 due to a prolonged labor dispute with three labor unions, flag carrier Qantas Airways is set to soar in 2012.

The fruit and vegetable price war between Australian supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths may be a boon to consumers, but a bane to farmers.

Australia's trade surplus further expanded in December, adding up $366 million in the month to reach $1.709 billion, creating a wide margin that according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) was mostly delivered by commodity shipments.

Media attention to Australia's richest woman, Gina Rinehart, has shifted back to her family feud from her recent foray into Fairfax Media.

By Peter Switzer, Switzer Super ReportLast year the economy grew at a 2.6% pace, well below the 3%-plus rate expected by Treasury and the Reserve Bank.

Who would have thought the US could get to a position where it could even think of getting investors to pay the government to lend it money.

Its 25 years since the turnaround at Woolworths was kicked off by retailing legend Paul Simons who decided to use the phrase: 'The fresh food people" to tag the struggling retailer to make it different from the then dominant Coles Myer.It worked, kick starting a comeback from Woolies that is part of Australian corporate lore as Simons' successors, especially Roger Corbett revamped not only the retailer, but the entire supermarkets business by chasing gains from suppliers to stores. ...

Trade data out yesterday for December, the second quarter and the first six months of the 2011-12 financial year put the lie to suggestions that our minerals boom has been derailed or is sagging as a result of the drop in iron ore and coal prices late last year.

More Australian workers would likely lose their jobs in the coming weeks amid fears of another round of global financial crisis. A day after major Australian firms such as BHP Billiton, Holden, Manildra and Reckitt Benckiser announced layoffs, more companies made similar announcements.

In part two of our feature on Goldman Sachs, we look at Goldman's networks of power in Europe and consider the ways in which Goldman is using the same dangerous financial products, which caused the 2007 crisis, to bet against Europe's floundering economies whilst governing, or advising those countries. Finally, we ask what can be done to reduce Goldman's power.