BUSINESS

Where Are The Politicians When You Need Them?The outlook for the Australian share market is bleak and politicians are to blame.

US StocksU.S. stocks fell Friday and posted the biggest weekly decline in a year, as a blur of debt-ceiling developments left the market uncertain over the course of Washington's deadlocked negotiations. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 96.87 points, or 0.79%, at 12143.24, in a volatile session that extended the index's losing streak to six straight sessions. All but two of the 30 Dow components finished in the red.

MORNING REPORT (7am AEST)The US economy grew at a 1.3pct annual pace in the June quarter, weaker than forecasts centred on a gain of 1.8pct. In addition March quarter GDP growth was revised down from 1.9pct to 0.4pct.

Now Stanford researcher Elie Bursztein is demonstrating at the Black Hat USA 2011 security conference that Microsoft is making available online the locations of Wi-Fi devices without taking privacy precautions. He says that Microsoft's Live.com makes public the precise geographical location of wi-fi enabled gadgets.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., announced during the week that Samsung GALAXY S II (Model: GT-I9100) has passed the 5 million global sales milestone.

Dell Inc. on Thursday launched the Dell Streak 10 Pro tablet, its first 10-inch Android Honeycomb 3.1 tablet.

Nintendo, which released the 3DS only in February, will lower the 3DS to $169.99 starting Aug. 12, down 32 percent from $249.99.

E-Bay Australia will start charging its users double on some auction listings to push sellers away from second-hand auctions to list new items.

Australia’s second mainland National Broadband Network (NBN) site has been switched on this morning, with residents in the Kiama Downs and Minnamurra, south of Sydney, set to experience superfast fibre broadband.

British police officials revealed on Wednesday the arrest of an 18-yea-old teenager that authorities tagged as the mouthpiece of a hacking group identified as responsible for breaching the security protocols of Sony Pictures and a host of other websites.

There are only three days left to enter MPA’s prestigious Top Commercial Brokers list, recognising the top-performing advisers in the non-residential space.

Australian employers are missing out on an entire sector of the workforce, with limited pathways currently available to skilled migrants entering the professional workplace, according to a new report.

Now that the economy is stronger, increased business confidence is driving investment in new projects, which is increasing the workloads of current employees, according to the latest Financial Employment Report from Robert Half.

A lack of industrial relations knowledge has compounded the number of industrial disputes currently underway, a HR expert from Macquarie University has said.

The cost of living in Manila makes the city one of the cheaper major cities of the world to live in for expatriates. In fact, most international cost of living surveys rank Manila in the middle of the pack globally and much lower than other major Asian cities such as Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo.

The Philippines has long been one of the more overlooked real estate investment markets in Asia. After all, the Philippines has not been known for having both political and economic stability as well as clear rule of law - like in Singapore.

MIDDAY REPORT (11.45am AEST)The local share market is slightly weaker at lunchtime in the East, as the stalemate over the US debt crisis continues. A vote on the Republican plan to raise the US debt ceiling in the House of Representatives has been delayed. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is down 7.6pts or 0.2pct to 4531.6.

By Greg PeelThe economists at ANZ now expect the RBA will raise the cash rate from 4.75% to 5.00% next Tuesday.

Westpac-owned St.George Bank now has one of the most competitive rates in the market for two-year fixed home loans, following an interest rate decrease of 0.10 per cent pa to 6.89 per cent pa for Advantage Package customers.

Singapore-owned budget carrier Tiger Airways will have to refund money to passengers booked to fly until next Thursday.

As people move from rural to urban settings in search of economic opportunities, urban agriculture is becoming an important provider of both food and employment, according to researchers with the Worldwatch Institute.

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed down 62 points or 0.5% and the S&P lost 0.3% to 1300 while the Nasdaq managed a 0.

The Reserve Bank (at least until recently) has also been signalling that further monetary tightening is likely to be needed at some point, and the higher than expected June quarter inflation outcome is consistent with this.

Wesfarmers' shares partly recovered from a sharp and irrational sell-off yesterday after it released its 4th quarter financial year 2011 sales figures for its Coles and Bunnings retail chains.

Tonight we get the first estimate of US second quarter economic growth and the news is not expected to be convincing. Growth estimates from confused American economists range from around 1.3% to 2.5%, with consensus at around 1.9% (all annual rates), or unchanged from the weak first quarter.

It is not strange to hear about cars, jewelry or money being stolen. These days, desperate thieves are choosing bizarre targets: copper wires, air conditioning units, storm drain covers, grapes, ambulances, pain killers and even bees.

Computer-aided detection (CAD) technology, which analyzes mammography images and marks suspicious areas for radiologists to review, has been widely hyped and pushed on women as a way to insure invasive breast cancer is spotted on mammograms.

US jobless claims (new claims for unemployment insurance) fell from 422,000 to 398,000 in the latest week, well below expectations for a result near 415,000. The pending home sales index rose from 88.8 to 90.9 in June. But the Kansas City Fed manufacturing index eased from +22 to +2 in July.

- Aston continues to develop Maules Creek project- Recent share price gains see UBS downgrade on valuation grounds- Macquarie retains Outperform, see Aston as a ripe takeover targetBy Chris ShawAston Resources ((AZT)) is developing the Maules Creek coal project in the Gunnedah Basin in New South Wal...