BUSINESS

Australia's Reserve Bank cut rates this week, but NZ's Reserve Bank resisted the temptation to follow and sat pat yesterday, leaving its key rate at 2.5%, despite warning that the economy is slowing.

At the end of a big week for the Australian economy, there are definite signs the jobs market is going sour.

A report by the IT Industry Innovation Council released on Friday said that Australia has the potential to become a global cloud computing hub.

The Australia-New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) has indicated on Friday its plan to shatter the 'nexus' that exists between banks' mortgage rates and the country's policy rates, as dictated by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA).

Google is fast catching up with Apple as the tech giant marked this week the 10 billionth download form its Android Market, signalling the dwindling gap between the current dominant App Store and its closest rival.

A federal judge imposed on Friday a $1.25 million fine on Australian online retailer Harvey Norman (ASX: HVN) for its misleading advertisement. The fine was initiated by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

Emerging markets are again at the forefront of investment portfolios in 2012 as the dangers of inflation and stagnation had all been washed off by the tight monetary policies this year, a senior investment manager said.

Woodside Petroleum (ASX: WPL) announced on Friday that it got on Thursday the go signal from its joint venture partner to proceed with the $2.5-billion natural gas fields project.

By Greg PeelIt's been an eventful year in the global uranium market.The year began with the globally significant Ranger mine in the Northern Territory shutting down due to flooding, and there is still no guarantee operator Energy Resources of Australia ((ERA)) will decide the veteran mine can b...

by Peter Switzer, Switzer Super ReportAt a time when both industry and retail super funds are losing some of their best customers to self-managed super funds (SMSFs), it was interesting to hear what the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) thinks of us as a group of investors.

But with the BlackBerry 10 not even being released until 2012 can RIM still generate enough consumer interest or should it jump sides?

Google's Ice Cream Sandwich, the latest generation of Android software will debut with the Samsung Galaxy Nexus but other smartphone owners are clamoring for their upgrade to Android 4.0.

RIM's woes continue as it loses a trademark case that resulted in a name change for its BBX operating system to BlackBerry 10.

Microsoft Corp. released an update on Tuesday for its Xbox 360 console that will allow users to interact with their televisions in a completely new way. Now users with Kinect can tell their televisions to play movies or switch channels with a simple voice command.

A letter that arrived at the Deutsche Bank headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany Wednesday was found to contain an explosive device after it passed through a mail room security X-ray.

From Morrison Securities: U.S. stocks fell in afternoon trading as investor focus shifted from disappointment over the European Central Bank to the closely watched summit on Europe's sovereign-debt crisis. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 171 points, or 1.4%, to 12026 in recent action. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index shed 23 points, or 1.8%, to 1238 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 42 points, or 1.6%, to 2607.

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed down 198 points or 1.6% while the S&P lost 2.1% to 1234 and the Nasdaq fell 2.

The Android Market has reached 10 billion downloads and still counting as of this past weekend. To celebrate and reward Android customers, Google selected paid apps to be available for only 10 cents each and new set of apps for promotion each day for the next 10 days. Here are some of the applications and a mini review if these apps are at least your effort and time.

If Aussie children would have their way, most of the gifts they want to receive this Christmas would be techie gadgets and toys from popular cartoon or movie characters.

Mining firm Atlantic (ASX: ATI), based in Perth, has admitted on Thursday there are delays in reviving its Windimurra vanadium mine in Western Australia. To address the delay, the firm will resume trading after a self-imposed trading halt.

The Maria's Farm Vegetables in New South Wales will use coal seam gas (CSG) to power a $65-million glasshouse it would build near Fullerton Cover.

European Union antitrust regulators are looking into allegations that Apple Inc. and five other e-book publishers have planned to fix the price of e-books in Europe.

South Australia Premier Jay Weatherill arrived in Mount Gambier Thursday to meet local mayors and protesters opposed to his plan to sell rights to harvest timbers from the area's forests.

More cash awaits app developers who intend to gear their products towards Microsoft's upcoming platform, the Windows 8, which the company said will be deployed to personal computers, tablets and smartphones.

Australia's unemployment rate rose to 5.3 per cent in November, according to data released on Thursday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates said on Wednesday that he is in the process of developing of a new generation of nuclear reactors with China, with emphasis on safety, waste reduction and reasonable funding.

BHP Billiton Ltd reiterated its concern on growing unrests in the country's labour sector, which according to BHP Chief Executive Marius Kloppers have been prompted by the provisions of the Fair Work Act.

By Kathleen Brooks, Research Director UK EMEA, FOREX.comThere are two major events in the next two days In Europe: the ECB meeting and the EU summit.

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed up 46 points or 0.4% while the S&P gained 0.2% to 1261 and the Nasdaq was flat.