BUSINESS

The prohibition of marijuana in the US has led to an "underground" cannabis industry in Mexico run primarily by violent gangster cartels like the ones wreaking havoc at the southern borders of Texas, Arizona, and California.

The $4.7 billion takeover proposal dangled on Macarthur Coal by Peabody Energy and ArcelorMittal meets the minimal expectations of the world’s largest coking coal miner but the firm maintains that considering more options is the best path so far in attracting its desire bid.

Organisations are misfiring when attempting to drum up employee loyalty and performance, by using increasingly elaborate company perks to retain staff.

Research released this week has revealed that the demand for 10,000 skilled workers has closed to just 1,000 since March this year.

Spreading rumours at work is indeed a sackable offence, with the decision to sack a Global Cranes worker who spread “salacious” rumours being upheld by the workplace watchdog.

Harvey Fresh has been awarded the contract to supply Coles brand milk in Western Australia for the next three years.

Australians will have to wait for quite a while before they could get their hands on the new Samsung Galaxy tablet computer as the South Korean consumer electronics manufacturer decided to suspend its local sale, at least until the company’s legal dispute with Apple has been resolved.

The pea and thimble trick in Washington to resolve the debt ceiling problem, or the two surveys of Chinese manufacturing that clearly confirm the most important economy for Australia isn't tanking?

So there's an agreement on the US debt ceiling and spending cuts?

The US ISM manufacturing index slumped to a 2-year low of 50.9 in July, down from 55.3 in June. All major components of the index were weaker expect exports. But US construction spending hit a six month high in June, rising 0.2pct.

U.S. stocks fell but finished above session lows, as weak manufacturing data and worries of potential downgrades to the U.S. credit rating overpowered investor relief over the weekend's debt-ceiling deal.

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed down 10 points or 0.1% while the S&P lost 0.4% to 1287 and the Nasdaq dropped 0.

U.S. Treasury debt prices rallied on Monday as a troubled outlook for the U.S. and global economies whetted appetite for safe-haven government debt, sending yields to their lowest in more than eight months.

Commonwealth Bank today announced a new online game that will help gamers invest money without risking real life money to do so.

Nokia's woes continue to grow as it was dislodged from the top of the smartphone market for the first time in fifteen years. Apple and Samsung Electronics vaulted over Nokia to gain the first and second rankings respectively at the smartphone sales rankings, according to Strategy Analytics this Friday.

Australia’s new home sales in June 2011 saw their biggest monthly decline in five years, amidst weakening confidence in the economy and concerns about higher interest rates.

Dairy Farmers are worried changes in Woolworths’ milk supply arrangements will negatively affect farmgate prices. Parmalat recently won the contract to supply Woolworths’ house brand milk products in NSW. This contract was previously held by Lion (formerly National Foods), which sourced around 100 million litres of milk from Dairy Farmers Milk Co-operative (DFMC) members in NSW to supply Woolworths.

Leighton Contractors said Monday it had been selected by Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) to deliver the final stage of the Southern Sydney Freight Line (SSFL) in an Alliance contract worth $150 million.

Tiger Airways remain grounded as a scheduled Federal Court directions hearing of the Civil Aviation Safety Authority's application to continue the suspension of the Singapore budget carrier has been adjourned for a third time. A Federal Court directions hearing had been scheduled for Monday 1 August 2011, but the matter has now been adjourned to Wednesday 3 August 2011.

(This story was originally published on Wednesday, July 27, 2011. It has now been re-published to make it available to non-paying members at FNArena and to readers elsewhere).

The dramas on raising the US debt ceiling continue to dominate the financial news but the poorer than expected USD GDP for Q2 released on Friday does not bode well for the immediate prospects of the US economy.

The Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC) has announced it is continuing its proceedings against diet spray company Sensaslim Australia Pty Ltd.

A report released this month in the US has found that retailers are not adequately responding to the rising trend of consumers using mobile phone technology while shopping in supermarkets and other retail stores.

Self-managing your investment property can help you save a pretty penny in management fees - but dealing with tenants, coordinating repairs, conducting property inspections and chasing up rent can cause a few headaches.

Australia's property markets are continuing on a sideways trajectory, but the bottom of the market is approaching, according to new data released today.

The US debt debacle, central bank meetings in Australia, Japan, Europe and the UK, manufacturing surveys in all major economies starting later today with China and more corporate profits in Australia, the US, Europe and Asia.

If it's resolved, expect a sympathy rally that sees markets rally strongly in relief, but the rebound will peter out when investors realise that it's only a reprieve, not a solution for the most pressing problem, the lack of growth in the US economy.

There's no way to hide the unpalatable fact: the US economy, the world's biggest, has stalled and prospects of a slide into recession can't be dismissed, especially if the debt ceiling remains unresolved.

Charlie Gunningham is in San Francisco for Real Estate Connect and hopefully he will be able to write a great post on what is happening over there when he gets back.