BUSINESS

Australian Fishermen Blame Queensland Harbour Dredging for Fish Kills

Australian fishermen are blaming the ongoing dredging at Queensland Harbour for the fish kills that have affected their livelihood. The dredging of 46 million tons of sediments at Gladstone Harbour is part of the $30-billion project to expand the port to accommodate more coal-seam gas export to Asia.

Benchmark ASX 200 Ends 2011 Down by 14.5%

Analysts and investors are divided on how the Australian stock market would fare in 2012. The division is because while dealers forecast that shares would rise 17 per cent in 2011, the year ended with the benchmark Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) 200 down 14.5 per cent at 4,140.4 at the last trading day of the year.
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China Slows Significantly, House Prices Vulnerable

How much further will the slide in Chinese house prices go? National house prices had their third monthly decline in November, a fall of 0.3%, according to the China Real Estate Index System (CREIS).

Chopper Drone To Spy With 1.8-Gigapixel Camera

The U.S. Army is developing a helicopter drone equipped with a 1.8 gigapixel camera that can provide high resolution ground images or video from an altitude of 20,000 feet and over an area of 65 square miles.

Boeing Forecasts Consolidation of Global Aviation Industry

Boeing forecasts more consolidation in the global aviation industry in the next 10 years. Boeing Chief Executive Officer Jim McNerney said that restructuring of air carrier companies would be one of the biggest challenges that airlines would face in the coming decade.

Aussies Prefer to Save Money Than Shop

Since the 2008 global financial crisis, Australians have been saving at a record-high rate, to the detriment of the country's retail industry. For the September quarter, Aussies' ratio of net household savings to disposable income went up to 10 per cent from 9 per cent in the June quarter.

Fall in Price of Steel Ingredient Delays $700M Molybdenum Mine Project

Moly Mines (ASX: MOL) is again postponing its $700-million molybdenum and copper mine projects at Spinifex Ridge in Western Australia. The company explained the move to falling prices of molybdenum, a key ingredient in the manufacture of steel, and the strong Australian currency.

Windows 8 Tablets to Surprise Everyone in 2012?

2012 could be a banner year for Microsoft. The software giant is set to release the next generation Windows software, Windows 8 which is slated to run on both tablets and desktops. It's a huge gamble for Microsoft, one that could very well spell the difference between success and failure for Microsoft in this post-PC era.

HP Touchpad Making Final Run?

Hewlett Packard finally made the leap to join the growing tablet market by releasing the HP TouchPad, but the response for this tablet was poor. Will this be the end for the HP TouchPad? If the reports true, the probable answer is a big "YES".

Global Markets Overview 12/30/2011

U.S. stocks gained in the second-to-last trading session of 2011, boosted by data that showed a modest improvement in the U.S. housing and employment sectors and a drop in borrowing costs for heavily indebted Italy.

Australian Stock Market -Morning Report 12/30/2011

Italy successfully sold 7 billion euros of bonds at an auction on Thursday with the yield on the benchmark 10-year bonds at 6.98pct, well off the highs of 7.56pct set a month ago. Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti was cautious: ´´Auctions held yesterday and today went rather well, this is encouraging but the financial turbulence absolutely isn´t over.´´

WebOS Undead: New Device Coming?

Google could have a potential enemy now that HP (Hewlett Packard) revealed that they are planning to pursue their WebOS project which is incidentally, also an open source project.

Sharp, Samsung Settle Anti-Trust Case for $553 Million

Seven LCD manufacturers in Asia including Sharp Corp. and Samsung Electronics Co. agreed to pay $553 million to settle anti-trust claims for illegally fixing liquid crystal display prices in televisions, notebook computers and monitors.

Are Carriers Limiting the Chances of Windows Phone?

Microsoft Corp's Windows Phone Marketplace now has more than 50,000 apps available which makes the Windows Phone the second fastest growing app store after Apple. That is good news for Microsoft which took a year to reach 40,000 apps on Windows Phone but only 40 days to reach the 50,000 milestone. On any given standard, the fast growing app store, the good reviews for its Windows Phone; one would expect Microsoft to have a better slice of the smartphone market but it only managed to grab just...

Oldest U.S. Coal-Fired Plant Converts to Gas

Stricter U.S. regulations on pollution control, together with higher costs incurred in burning coal, have prompted Sunbury Generation LP, owner of one of the nation's oldest coal-fired power plants, to switch to natural gas by 2015.

WA Invites China to Invest in Oakajee Port and Rail Project

The West Australian government invited China to be an investor in its $5.94-billion Oakajee port and rail project. The venture seeks to open up a new iron ore mine site in the state's Mid-West and make it WA's second major iron ore output behind Pilbara.

YouTube Starts Video Clip Voting Game

YouTube launched Tuesday a new game wherein viewers and visitors can vote to pick which of two video clips pitted against each other weekly is more impressive, funnier, cuter or weirder.

Australia Markets (Opening Calls) 29 December 2011

The S&P 500 fell 1.3% on a forex related move, after EUR/USD traded down to an eleven-month low.Among the major averages, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.1% to 12151. The S&P pulled back 1.3% to 1249, below its 200-day moving average, while the NASDAQ dropped 1.1% to 2267.

Will Electronic Devices Interfere with Airplanes?

Anyone who's ever flown knows the drill before take-off. Seatbelts on and turn off all electronic devices. However according to a study conducted by U.S.A Today more people are refusing to turn off their electronic devices even during take-off, flight and landing. What are the effects of these electronic devices to a plane? Will they really cause a plane to drop out of the sky?

ACTU Criticises Australia’s Renewal of Trade Agreement With Fiji

The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) criticised the Australian government on Tuesday for renewing a textile, clothing and footwear scheme with the Fiji government. The scheme is part of a multilateral trade agreement, which ACTU President Ged Kearney insisted would not improve the lives of textile workers in Fiji who are paid low wages.

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