BUSINESS

Once again European market rallied higher overnight, ahead of the outcome of The European Central Bank (EBC) meeting on Thursday. Then the market is expecting the ECB will announce new stimulus measures for the European economy. The US markets lost a little ground by the close as investors held back from buying ahead of the outcome of the US Federal Reserve´s 2 day meeting that kicks off later tonight.

By Greg PeelIn early 2008, world grain prices spiked as a variety of weather issues combined across the globe, from drought in Australia to floods and droughts elsewhere across the world's major grain growing areas.

He would have made a fine Yahoo ship captain but Ross Levinsohn, who twice missed the chance of becoming CEO of the Internet firm, is finally leaving the company that he served for close to two years.

There appears to be some truth to warnings from industry experts that the mining boom is headed for a slowdown. One evidence is that a new report released on Tuesday found that only one-fourth of Australian mining firms plan to invest in major projects in .the next 12 months.

Exxonmobil announced on Monday that it has started to drill for natural gas in Papua New Guinea (PNG) as part of its $15.7-billion PNG LNG venture. The drilling is at the Hides natural gas field at PNG's highlands.

By Andrew NelsonWhile spot prices continue to falter, many in the market are growing increasingly upbeat about the prospect for uranium prices and the share prices of producers.

By Greg PeelThe Dow fell 2 points while the S&P was flat at 1365 and the Nasdaq lost 0.4%.And then suddenly, nothing happened.

The Australian sharemarket improved for the third consecutive trading session today, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) up 0.8 pct or 32.5 pts to 4266.9. Almost all sectors ended the day higher, with the exception of the energy players which ended largely flat.

That Ford Australia recently slashed ­production to about 33,000 cars a year and laid off 440 employees are by means already telltale signs it will soon be padlocking the doors of its plants permanently in Australia.

Ford Australia has pledged to locally assemble vehicles in the country until 2016 and that’s it, according to an automotive industry expert, who added the exit of the global carmaker has been a foregone conclusion.

The smartphone market will continue to grow, analysts said, but at a slower pace compared to previous years when the gadget’s introduction reaped billions of revenue to key global players.

Once again global market rallied higher on Friday, boosted by renewed expectations that The European European Central Bank (EBC) will announce a new form of stimulus for the European markets when it meets on Thursday. On Friday night the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti all agreed more needs to be down to help stabilise the markets and the Euro. The market is now expecting this will mean that the ECB could resume its bonds...

While American households suffered a 30 per cent decline in their wealth for the six-year period 2004 to 2010, Australian households enjoyed a 20 per cent increase for the same time frame.

Due to soaring energy prices because of gas shortage caused by the export of coal seam gas (CSG) to Asia, Queensland residents are clamoring to reserve 15 per cent of the state's gas reserves for domestic use.

Asian Markets rallied on Friday due to reassurance made by European Central Bank President Mario Draghi that "the ECB is willing to do whatever it takes to preserve the euro," whilst Samsung Electronics noted record profit.

Japan based company; Toshiba Corp has made plans to cut down their production of flash memory chips by about 30% after facing problems of tumbling prices and oversupply of their chips. Toshiba is one standout performer among the battered chipmakers in the country of Japan.

After over a year of the scandal with the Murdoch's media empire in United Kingdom, Rupert Murdoch, aged 81, has decided to resign from a string of directorship controlling News Corporation' U.K. newspapers behind The Sun, The Times and The Sunday Times.

Thanks to a strong session, the Australian market finished the week a touch higher. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) gained by 1.5 pct or 60.6 pts to 4234.4. The mining, energy and financial sectors all ended significantly higher, with some of the country's largest miners leading the way.

Telstra Corporation said on Friday that upward adjustments on its home and mobile communication will be implemented effective at the start of October 2012, according to a blog post by the country’s premier telco.

Samsung disclosed on Friday that its overall operations in the three months leading to end of June netted $US5.9 billion, 70 per cent of which contributed by its Galaxy smartphone product lines.

WOW! What a turnaround. The European markets rallied higher overnight on uplifting comments from the European Central Bank (EBC) President Mario Draghi. ECB´s Draghi said that the bank is ready to do ´´whatever it takes´´ to help support the euro. Now the next big item that the markets will be waiting out for is the ECB interest rate meeting on Thursday.

In anticipation of businesses ripping off motorists due to the Thursday announcement of the closure of the Caltex Kurnell refinery in New South Wales, the Automobile Association of Australia (AAA) warned of deceptive practices similar to what happened to the carbon tax.

Earlier this week we asked whether Australia had blown the mining boom. It's a question we'll attempt to answer today. In doing so, we'll also take a look at a recent speech by Reserve Bank of Australia governor Glenn Stevens. He called it 'The Lucky Country'. Hmmm...

A report by Fairfax Media claims that Thalidomide, the drug which caused thousands of babies to be born with congenital defects, was initially tested on pregnant Australian women.

By Rudi Filapek-Vandyck, Editor FNArenaI joined Twitter. Not because I am curious what this celebrity has to say about her kids, or to read that another one is waiting for a connecting flight, impatiently.

By Guillermo Calvo, Fabrizio Coricelli and Pablo OttonelloEconomic output in the US seems to have recovered since the Great Recession ? but jobs have not.

By Greg PeelThe Dow rose 211 points or 1.7% while the S&P jumped 1.7% to 1360 and the Nasdaq added 1.4%.

The local share market closed higher today, boosted by company news and a lift in energy and banking stocks. By close, the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) was up 22.4pts or 0.5pct to 4173.8.

Hybrids without batteries, remote Honda EV apps and personal car-sharing hitches a ride with GM's OnStar.