BUSINESS

With more and more foreign businesses wanting to invest and partake in Australia's huge and abundant mining industry, federal authorities are disturbed resources might all be consumed by foreign partners and none will be left for the locals to use.

MIDDAY REPORT (12pm AEST)The Australian sharemarket has wiped out yesterday's gains, with concerns that the European leaders remain divided on a potential debt crisis solution. Investors are extremely sensitive to both positive and negative news out of the Eurozone. The Americans have been quick to judge and criticize the Euro leaders, with President Barack Obama saying that governments have been too slow to agree on a resolution.

Myer Melbourne was named this week as the world's best new department store in the 2011 Oracle World Retail Awards.

China needs to re-work its economic policies and growth strategies if it wants to continue enjoying a more than 9 percent annual growth, which catapulted it to become the world's second-largest economy now, otherwise it is also doomed to suffer what the U.S. and Europe are presently experiencing.

Diesel oil spilled into the Brisbane River near the commercial business district. The spill, near Eagle St Pier, was reported at 5:30 a.m. and is estimated to have spread 150 to 200 metres along the river's northern bank.

By Richard (Rick) MillsAs a general rule, the most successful man in life is the man who has the best informationThe Fed has been dumping billions of dollars into the US markets each and every trading day since late 2010.

By Greg PeelThe Dow fell 179 points or 1.6% while the S&P dropped 2.1% to 1151 and the Nadaq lost 2.2%.

Australia is the 7th best country in the world to mine, a global survey released on Thursday said. It was a big jump from Australia's 26th place in 2010 in ResourceStocks magazine's annual World Risk Survey.

US durable goods orders fell by 0.1pct in August after rising by 4.1pct in July. Economists had expected a flat result. Non-defense orders excluding aircraft rose by 1.1pct

The Australian dollar has opened weaker this morning currently trading around USD 0.9740, after reversing gains which saw it trade to a high of USD0.9950 during the European session.

It's now clear that gold and silver have emerged as the major casualties of the current sell-off, only 10 days after gold dealers and several leading forecasters predicted the price would top $US2,000 an ounce by the end of the year.

As we pointed out in Air Weekly last Friday, the Asian region is a beacon of economic growth and stability, despite the shockwaves from the eurozone and the stuttering US economy rolling over the area.

According to an advance copy of the Woolworths's annual report, the about to retire CEO Michael Luscombe took a $2.6 million pay cut in the 2011 financial year, but still managed to sound confident about the retailer's outlook, despite its toughest year for more than a decade.

Agricultural chemicals group, Nufarm says it's aiming to boost earnings in 2012 after another difficult year in 2011.

While the headline in the latest National Australian Bank Residential Property Index was gloomy with a 14 point drop reported for the September quarter (and for the second quarterly fall in a row), the detail of the report revealed a case for a bit more optimism.

All good things have to come to an end and unfortunately the S&P 500 could not make it four out of four successive gains. US equities saw selling right up until the close, with the bears easily winning the session. The NASDAQ was the worst performer, losing 2.2% while the S&P fell 2.1% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 1.6%.

The Australian sharemarket rose almost one per cent in the second day of gains, as markets recovered from last week's massive losses on hopes of a solution to Europe's debt crisis. However, the market investors remained unsure whether a solution to the crisis could be found amid conflicting media reports. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index had risen 34.9 points, or 0.87 per cent, to close at 4,039.5, while the broader All Ordinaries index rose 34.2 points, or 0.84 per cent, to 4,097.7.

US durable goods orders fell by 0.1pct in August after rising by 4.1pct in July. Economists had expected a flat result. Non-defense orders excluding aircraft rose by 1.1pct. And applications for US mortgages rose by 9.3pct last week as refinancing demand rose in response to lower mortgage rates. The index of refinancing applications rose by 11.2pct while loans to purchase new homes rose by 2.6pct.

In the recently published 2011 IT Industry Competitive Index report, South Korea ranks 19th place with 60.8 points.

(4.30pm AEST)Investor confidence remained strong today, with the local market managing to hold onto and add to yesterday's 3.5pct gain. Markets around the Asian region were generally firmer, after the Greek parliament approved a contentious property tax law which is crucial to its austerity plan and its commitments to secure bail-out funds. The local share market lost a little steam in afternoon trade but closed higher by 0.8pct, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) adding 34.2pts to 4097....

South Korea's ruling Grand National Party seeks to ameliorate relations with neighbor North Korea through economic cooperation and humanitarian assistance, The Korea Times reported.

Japanese Finance Minister Jun Azumi announced on Tuesday that his government is willing to shoulder a portion of the burden in connection with the rescue proposal for Greece if the EU can put together a logical plan to reduce market worries.

Energy giant BP on Wednesday has called on the NSW government to reconsider its decision to extend its policy on mandating both biodiesel and ethanol-blended petrol in NSW.

The Australian and New Zealand dollars dropped against their Japanese and U.S. counterparts as fears that the global economy woes may worsen.

The European Commission (EC) announced on Wednesday that the European Union has proposed a financial transactions tax that is set to take effect in 2014.

Facebook has denied it monitors users who have logged out of the service. Australian hacker Nik Cubrilovic this week accused Facebook of using to cookies to track users even after they've logged out of the site.

Signing the largest leasing deal in the history of the Ipswich CBD, the Queensland Government has secured the entire commercial component of the new nine-story office tower being developed as part of the $1 billon Ipswich City Heart development.

Just in time for the Christmas buying and spending season, Toshiba announced on Tuesday plans to offer a whole new range of affordable laptops and netbooks in October. A Toshiba laptop will be readily available to suit anybody's needs and budget. Prices range from $300 to $630.

A controversial group buying campaign conducted by a consumer group will not undermine brokers, one of its non-bank participants has claimed.