BUSINESS

From IG Markets Analyst Ben Potter:On Wall Street overnight, stock finished the quarter and end of the first half in bullish fashion, logging its fourth consecutive gain as Greece passed a second crucial vote on the implementation of the latest austerity package and a much stronger-than-expected Chicago PMI number.

The MPA Brokers on Non-Banks survey, proudly sponsored by Advantedge Financial Services, closes next Monday 4th July and this year's prize could provide a welcome fillip to your business.

U.S. stocks advanced, as investors cheered a Greek austerity package and financial stocks jumped following a major settlement on mortgage backed securities.

The Greek parliament has approved an austerity package that opens the door for an injection of emergency bail-out funds from the European Union and International Monetary Fund.

After a slow start to the month, the Australian sharemarket is gaining for the third straight day with the All Ordinaries index (XAO) up 1.4 pct or 63.6 pts to 4643.4.

A review of more than 17,000 health insurance policies by consumer group Choice has found families could save more than $1500 by switching to a better value fund.

In Choice’s annual review of health insurance policies, undertaken to find the best value cover on the market, each of the major health funds and many of the smaller providers were assessed. When choosing Health Insurance, consumer group Choice advises to:

- Valuation only one variable for airline stocks- Moelis suggests a number of other factors are also important- Stockbroker initiates coverage on both Qantas and Virgin Blue with Hold ratingsBy Chris ShawFor some time both Qantas ((QAN)) and Virgin Blue ((VBA)) have received favourable ratings from ...

Nokia has signalled its intent to catch up with the exploding smartphone industry and in achieving that, the giant phone maker tapped Microsoft Corporation to provide the Windows Phone 7 OS to the new breed of handsets that the company will start issuing next year.

By Tony D'Altorio, Investment U ResearchWednesday, June 29, 2011Surely, many American investors are bewildered by what's going on in Europe.

The proposed mining tax will successfully pass the parliamentary scrutiny and keep its present form, according to Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who believes that firm backings from independent MPs will seal the measures’ good fortunes.

From the more than half-a-billion money it poured in 2005 to snatch the then hotshot social networking site MySpace, Rupert Murdoch-owned News Corp. has decided to jettison the website from its portfolio and sell the company to advertising firm Specific Media for a measly $35 million.

Unilever CEO Paul Polman last week outlined the manufacturer's strategic shift towards emerging markets to take advantage of their rapidly-growing populations.

The legal war between American giant tech firm Apple and South Korea’s Samsung Electronics reached another level as Samsung filed a patents infringement suit against its competitor and business partner on Thursday.

Transpacific Industries justified its ranking as one of the worst performing big stocks of the June half yesterday with a huge and surprising write-down that could reach a quarter of a billion dollars.

Small business support for the Australian Government has fallen to a 15-year low, according to the Sensis Business Index released today. SMEs have become much less supportive of the Federal Government’s policies, with the indicator declining sharply during the quarter to be the lowest level since February 1996.

Good and bad news for Japan's recovery in the industrial production and retail sales data for May, released this week.

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed up 72 points or 0.6% while the S&P gained 0.8% to 1307 and the Nasdaq added 0.

Amid rising public protest and violence in the streets of Athens, Greece's parliament overnight approved a deeply unpopular 28 billion euro austerity package that will, for the time being see the country avoid default.

Australian First Mortgage has appointed a former PLAN Australia state manager as its national head of sales.

Blue-chip stocks posted their biggest gain in more than two months, as signs of progress in Greece's debt crisis sparked a broad market rally.

According to the Case-Shiller series, US home prices fell 0.1pct in seasonally adjusted terms to be down 4.0pct lower than a year ago. Prices rose by 0.7pct in unadjusted terms.

Nokia's ten year reign on top of the Australian phone market is now over thanks to Apple and Android phones.

Speculations of his imminent departure from the giant telco proved true today as Telstra Corporation chief financial officer, John Stanhope, revealed on Wednesday that he is retiring after more than four decades of service to the company.

Financial comparison website RateCity is warning Australian borrowers to carefully review enticing home loan interest rate promotions, following several new promotions and home loans hitting the market this month.

Despite the nuclear meltdown scare spawned by Japan’s near-uranium leak, Rio Tinto said on Wednesday that it remains committed to stay in the uranium mining operations even as the global resource giant has admitted that growth in the sector could some snag over the next 10 years.

Small businesses in Australia should brace for more pain this coming financial year, the ANZ warns in its latest report released on Wednesday as the power of a stronger dollar and the lure of the Internet marketing on Australian consumers will continue to weigh down on sales.

Mobile phone calls to Lifeline made from anywhere in Australia will no-longer be charged starting 1 July under a new deal made between the three major phone carriers.

Australia's small, non-bank lenders have begun applying small increases in its upfront home loan fees and discharge fees in response to the loan exit fee ban.