BUSINESS

Australia’s financial advice and wealth management industry accounts a friendly merger between the Snowball Group and the Shadforth Financial Group.

Alice Springs Airport or ASA is delegated to be the first aircraft "boneyard" outside the United States after a deal for the construction and operation of the facility was concluded with a storage company this week.

Forget the US markets and wonder about China's and the very nasty 5%-plus fall in the Shanghai Composite last week, a fall that seems to have gone unnoticed outside the country.

The Australian stock market recovered from early softness on Friday to end the week higher, as bargain hunters moved in to recover value in a heavily sold-down bourse.

US personal income rose by 0.4pct in April, in line with consensus. Personal spending was also up 0.4pct, slightly below the expected 0.5pct increase. The final reading for consumer sentiment in May was 74.3, up from 72.4 in April. But pending home sales slumped by 11.6pct, well short of forecasts of a 1.4pct fall.

The Australian sharemarket is holding onto modest gains, with the All Ordinaries index (XAO) up 0.4 pct or 17.8 pts to 4752.9. All sectors are trading higher, with the healthcare sector leading the way in percentage terms.

Xcel Energy announced today it has launched its first-ever iPhone application called "Bulb Blasters," a game with a mission to conquer energy inefficiency.

Qantas pilots have reiterated that their dispute with current Qantas (ASX: QAN) management has nothing to do with pay and conditions.

Choice, an advocate of consumer rights in Australia, submitted a report to the Productivity Commission's retail inquiry and demanded that Australian retailers should explain and justify the astounding mark-ups of a minimum of 50 percent over the international internet companies' prices.

Mercer Investment Consulting, Inc. (Mercer) announced that it has signed a definitive agreement with Milliman, Inc., to acquire portions of its wholly-owned investment consulting subsidiary, Evaluation Associates LLC. In a related transaction, Callan Associates Inc. will acquire from Evaluation Associates its public sector investment consulting business.

Google finally unveiled its long-awaited mobile payment application the Google Wallet this Thursday. After months of hinting at the application, customers were at last introduced to the mobile application that will allow users to "tap, pay and save" for goods and services.

Year-to-date cash contributions through April 2011 to equity and mixed funds globally surpassed fixed income for the first time since the financial crisis, according to Strategic Insight's monthly global flow review.

The Aussie pushed higher overnight and is now approaching the top of the bullish descending wedge. From here, traders will be looking for a move back to the lower end of the wedge and therefore will be looking for signs of a reversal around the 1.0640/60 level. Any break above 1.0660 is likely to be seen as buyable.

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed up 8 points or 0.1% while the S&P rose 0.4% to 1325 and the Nasdaq jumped 0.

Baby boomers are the most unpopular demographic in the workplace, according to the latest Leadership, Employment and Direction Survey.

For the first time in 45 years, Qantas pilots are preparing for industrial action. A ballot of up to 1,700 long-haul pilots will be carried out to determine the type of industrial action the pilots are to take.

Unilever has confirmed the French launch of a version of its Magnum ice cream that contains alcohol.

Do you want the bad news, or the good news about the latest private investment figures? Well, the good news is that the boom is alive and will be bigger than forecast in 2011-12.

Although dock side workers at the chief ports in Sydney, Brisbane and Fremantle are expected to resume with their duties today, a new arrangement on their pay and work conditions is still far from being given them.

Sony Ericsson's security troubles continue as hackers breached Sony Ericsson's eShop website this Wednesday. This time the attack was aimed at Canadian users of the website with potentially 2,000 user names, e-mail addresses and passwords taken.

A senior Reserve Bank official has once again reminded us that Australian banks are not the vulnerable things that some recent comments have suggested.

There's a strong message for Australia and investors from the latest half yearly review of the world economy from the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD).

The AMP's chief economist, Dr Shane Oliver wonders if we are back in 2010.

Vodafone announced today their new prepaid recharge plan; the Vodafone All-Time prepaid which brings unlimited calling and messaging to its prepaid customers. The prepaid option also allows access to bonus bank- a loyalty program that gives users rewards for every recharge.

The introduction of the legislation to create Infrastructure NSW, a new body to help get infrastructure going again in the state, makes a strong signal the NSW is back in business.

Australian consumers in regional areas will soon be able to enjoy access to new digital subscription channels, as long as regulators approve a new proposal to merge FOXTEL, Australia's largest pay-TV operator, with Austar United Communications Ltd. (AUN)

Perpetual, the wealth management company, has cut jobs and considered outsourcing platform administration services. This is part of a new strategy to revitalize performance disclosed by Chief Executive Chris Ryan who succeeded David Deverall on February 14 as CEO.

The property industry is calling on Queensland’s 73 local governments to support jobs in their communities by adopting infrastructure charges well below the capped rates set by the State Government.

Facebook and Spotify are joining in a collaborative effort to provide a streaming music service to Facebook users. Business magazine Forbes reported that in the next two weeks, Facebook users will be able to see a Spotify icon on their news feed. Clicking on the icon will allow the service to install on the user's computer.