BUSINESS

By Greg PeelThe Dow rose 93 points or 0.7% while the S&P gained a more impressive 1.1% to 1353 and the Nasdaq added 1.

Brokers who choose to add risk insurance and financial planning into their business may be stretching themselves too thin, according to aggregator Australian Loan Company (ALCo).

Prospective home buyers are borrowing more today compared to 12 months ago, according to independent mortgage comparison website Yourmortgage.com.au.

As industry gets set to embark on a new financial year, business information research firm IBISWorld has released its annual list nominating the top 10 industries set to soar in 2011-12 and the top 5 worst-performing.

A banking reform bill to be introduced today by the Greens will include measures to make LMI portable.

The Winklevoss Twins are set to continue their endless legal fight with Facebook. Why do you think they persist with court action after court action? Because Facebook has only just got started and they know that.

The MFAA has claimed refinancing is still alive in spite of a flat mortgage market.

For many years the recruitment industry specifically requested a resume to be submitted when applying for a position.

The company building the national broadband network has put a call out for providers to train workers needed for the $35.9bn project.

COMMSEC MORNING REPORT (7am AEST)US same store sales rose by 6.5pct in June - well ahead of expectations for a 4.9pct rise. Of the 23 chain stores tracked by Thomson Reuters all but four of the chains reported an increase. The ICSC expects sales to rise by 4.5-5.5pct in July.

Australian stocks ended flat as gains in the retail sector were offset by losses caused by uncertainty over the government's carbon price plans.

US same store sales rose by 6.5pct in June - well ahead of expectations for a 4.9pct rise. Of the 23 chain stores tracked by Thomson Reuters all but four of the chains reported an increase. The ICSC expects sales to rise by 4.5-5.5pct in July.

Beach Energy says it and its 30% partner, Cooper Energy, plans to spend $24 million on nine exploration wells in the Cooper Basin region of Central Australia.

China has lifted interest rates a third time this year and for a 5th time in the last eight months.

The US ISM services index eased from 54.6 to 53.3 in June, below forecasts centred on a result near 54.0. While employment rose slightly and prices paid eased, the new orders sub-component also fell.

MARKET CLOSE - CommSec Report (4.30pm AEST)The Australian sharemarket has managed to end higher by the most modest of margins for the third time this week despite being around 0.4 pct lower at one point this morning.

China has expressed concern on the planned carbon tax by the Australia government, which the Chinese government said might be a step back for the country's mining boom.

(This story was originally published on 28th June 2011. It has now been re-published to make it available to non-paying members at FNArena and to readers elsewhere).

Home owners are still refinancing their mortgages, even as the property market remains flat, the latest Bankwest/MFAA* Home Finance Index has shown. The Home Finance Index, which surveyed more than 1,139 respondents, revealed that one in four (24.7%) had refinanced their loan in the past two years and 14.2 per cent had refinanced in the previous year, an increase on the previous HFI.

National jobs figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics today revealed a significant rebound in the employment market, confirming the underlying strength of the Australian economy.

The Australian sharemarket is improving after a slow start to trade, following a solid employment report this morning. The All Ordinaries index (XAO) is currently flat. Almost all sectors are trading slightly lower at lunch however.

The Australian government has mellowed down its carbon tax policy that would not be too much of a burden to small and medium enterprises. Industries affected by the carbon price had been reduced to 500 from the previous 1000, the government said.

Consumers may finally get their hands on a new iPhone soon as Apple is reportedly working for fourth quarter release of the hit smartphone, according to a Wednesday report by The Wall Street Journal.

Virgin Australia has extended its offer to disrupted Tiger Airways customers with a limited range of discounted fares on selected Australian domestic city pair destinations.

Former CNN chair and Time managing editor Walter Isaacson has been successful in profiling the lives of heavyweight figures such as Albert Einstein, Benjamin Franklin and Henry Kissinger that he realized he could not risk bungling his new project, the authorized biography of Apple head Steve Jobs.

By Greg PeelThe Dow rose 56 points or 0.5% but the S&P added only 0.1% to 1339 and the Nasdaq gained 0.

Overnight, The Peoples Bank of China raised interest rates by 25 basis points, taking the one year lending rate to 6.56% and the one year deposit rate to 3.5%.

- Theme park operators starting to lift prices- First easing in competitive pressures since 2009- Move should be positive for earnings- Buy ratings dominate for both Ardent Leisure and Village RoadshowBy Chris ShawOn the Gold Coast, the two dominant theme park operators continue to push value bundle...

The multi-billion-dollar listings of QR National and Westfield Retail Trust on the Australian share market should be ignored in looking what was a weak financial year for public floats.