BUSINESS

Tablets have evolved from being an optional device to being a must-have device in a person's life either in business or personal dealings. Many companies have noticed this sudden shift as various tablet models are being manufactured and marketed in the market.

The Australian share market posted another solid session of gains today, to finish the trading week virtually unchanged. Yesterday and today's gains managed to negate losses in the earlier part of the week and it was clear investors were not spooked by the curse of Friday the 13th, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) up 42.5pts by close or 1pct to 4404.2.

Emerging economies have ramped up their campaign to finally secure the World Bank (WB) top post, possibly strengthening their efforts by fielding a single candidate.

A higher financial firewall may not be necessary for now, according to International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director Christine Lagarde, reversing her earlier calls of putting up a deep war chest to combat threats of global recession.

Finance Minister Penny Wong said on Friday that the Wednesday announcement by BHP Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA) that it would close its Norwich Park coking coal mine in Queensland is not an indicator of the state of the mining industry in Australia.

by Peter Switzer, Switzer Super ReportMy view on the stock market this year is more cautiously positive than last year.

Strong gains in global equities just overnight have made the Asian shares shoot up, especially after hard manufacturing data from the United States, and as leading Asian exporters offset signs of mild recession in Europe.

Yukio Edano, Japan’s Economy and Industry Minister said Monday that two nuclear reactors tentatively met government safety standards although completing the improvements might take several years. But, Japan’s Nuclear reactors are in process of paving the way for final approval for their startup soon.

The two large Australian mining firms, BHP Billiton (ASX: BHP) and Rio Tinto (ASX: Rio) are expected to report next week 4 per cent lower of total estimated iron ore output for the March quarter.

Over the next 5 to 10 years the real estate industry across the country is going to undergo massive changes as we shift from a collection of state based industry's to a true national real estate industry. As we prepare to evolve into true national industry it makes sense that we ask ourselves just what role state based real estate institutes can play in that future.

Rare earths neodymium and dysprosium, critical components needed to create high-performance permanent magnets to support certain technologies, have been found in the brink of supply in the coming years, according to a research by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Materials Systems Laboratory.

By Greg PeelThe Dow rose 181 points or 1.4% while the S&P gained 1.4% to 1387 and the Nasdaq added 1.3%.

Local stocks snapped a four day losing streak today, thanks to better than expected jobs numbers and a strong lead from US and European share markets. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) gained 34.3pts or 0.8pct by close to 4361.6.

Thousands of jobs were created last month, leaving a steady pace so far for Australia's jobless rate but economists remain anxious of underlying weaknesses, the existence of which could be confirmed by the soon-to-be relased inflation figures.

Boeing revealed on Wednesday the imminent release of the final engineering blueprint for its highly-touted 737 MAX, an upgrade of the plane manufacturer's bestselling 737 commercial aircraft.

Home loan approvals in February declined anew, according to the new data issued on Wednesday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), highlighting a slump in housing sector that started in the first month of 2012.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) surprised the nation on Thursday by releasing unemployment statistics contrary to analysts' expectations. Instead of a 5.3 per cent joblessness rate, Australia's unemployment rate was steady at 5.2 per cent in March.

Nokia, the Finland-based phone manufacturer recently launched their newest Windows Phone in the market which is Nokia Lumia 900. Barely reaching a week after it was launched last Easter Sunday; users are now facing issues with their new Windows Phone.

Choice, a consumer watchdog, took the cudgels for plus-size women on Thursday by asking retailers to widen the range of clothes available to large females. The group said because of limited choices, these kinds of women have to buy online or at chain stores.

After two years of house price falls, property prices in Qatar have been stable during 2011, according to property consultant, Asteco.

The Rise Of The Machine: Does High Frequency Trading Alter Prices?By David Bicchetti and Nicolas MaystreTrade in commodity derivatives ? such as oil futures ? has grown tremendously over the last few decades.

Consumer sentiment fell to its lowest level in 8 months in March, in contrast to the small, but noticeable rise in business confidence in the NAB survey on Tuesday.

Lying in the shadows of China, bordering bustling Thailand, and next to emerging Cambodia, Vietnam occupies the sweetest spot in the region.

The pace of growth in China's passenger vehicles market has slowed after sales growth in March eased.

U.S. stocks bounced back Wednesday after a five-day slide, bolstered by a strong start to the corporate-earnings season and a drop in Spanish and Italian government borrowing rates.

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed up 89 points or 0.7% while the S&P gained 0.7% to 1368 and the Nasdaq added 0.

BHP Billiton (ASX: BHP) announced on Wednesday that it would close its Norwich Park coking coal mine in Queensland due to flooding, strikes, higher costs and falling prices that caused production cut to all the firm's mines.

The supposed news and rumors regarding Apple's new iPhone is taking the world by storm as more and more "leaked" specifications have been appearing in different news sources. The latest one came from the website, 9to5Mac which states that the new iPhone prototypes will be having 1GB of RAM and "A5X" chip which was utilized in the new iPad for the Retina Display features.

There was only one direction for the Australian share market today: down. More falls on Wall Street and weaker commodity prices saw the local share market lose ground for the fourth session in a row, its longest losing streak in four months. Disappointing economic data added to the gloom, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) closing down 46.1pts or 1.1pct to 4327.6.