BUSINESS

Ash clouds that erupted from Indonesia's Sangeang Api volcano have dissipated to safe levels, enabling Australian airliners to resume flights to Bali on Monday.

Activist Carl Icahn denies being investigated on insider trading with Phil Mickelson and William Walters

Despite a weaker start the Australian sharemarket is creeping higher at lunch. Better than expected Chinese data out yesterday together with a firmer end to the week in the U.S. are helping local stocks. The market is being held back most by the miners, with continued weakness in the iron ore price pushing the sector lower.

Health Canada is currently groping with a pile of applications for licences to grow medical marijuana in the country. Even junior mining firms have joined the fray.

Over 12,000 requests have poured out within 24 hours after Google launched the "right to be forgotten" campaign.

Canadian commuters of GO transit buses have been advised to brace for public transport chaos as the passenger line mulls pushing through its strike threat this midnight. Nearly 53,000 people are believed to be affected by the travel mayhem.

Google, in compliance to a ruling by the European Union Court of Justice (ECJ) that allows the Europeans' right to be forgotten on the Internet, has created a Web site that will specifically handle such removal requests. On the very first day it was launched, the world's No. 1 Internet search company received a whopping 12,000 removal requests.

US equities extended their gains on Friday, with the S&P printing yet another record high of 1924. Once again the S&P closed at the highs of the session and this is a positive sign heading into the new week. There are plenty of key events on the economic calendar this week that could really set up equities for solid gains. Firstly, we've already seen positive signs from China's manufacturing PMI reading. We also have the ECB policy decision, which is widely tipped to deliver stimulus. Whil...

In US economic data, personal income rose by 0.3% in April, in line with forecasts. But consumption fell by 0.1%, short of forecasts tipping a 0.2% increase. The Chicago purchasing managers index rose from 63.0 to 65.5 in May, above the median forecast of 61.0. Consumer sentiment rose from 81.8 to 81.9 in May, short of the 82.5 median forecast.

For the second time, Fairfax Media closed its board room door to majority shareholder and mining billionaire Gina Rinehart. The media company opted to replace retiring director Sam Morgan with advertising executive and TV personality Todd Sampson.

A global gold-trading platform is being planned in the pilot Shanghai free-trade zone, and ANZ Bank wants to play a role in it. The trading platform is seen as a potential challenger to the London and New York exchanges.

The Australian share market was sold off today, meaning that the gains for the month were virtually wiped out. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) closed lower by 25.4 points or 0.5 per cent today to 5473.8.

The U.S.' Centers for Disease Control has reneged on its earlier observations that the Illinois man believed to have been the country's third MERS-CoV case contracted the disease from human-to-human transmission from the Indiana man. The latter is the U.S.' second confirmed case.

Google has recently released its "self-driving car" to some people and went for a test drive.

Canada's Athabasca Glacier, the most visited glacier in North America, is losing five metres (16 feet) of ice per year that scientists forecast the immediate next generation of Canadians and tourists won't be able to see and enjoy them anymore.

The Cupertino-based tech giant Apple confirmed that it is buying 'Beats' for a whopping US$3 billion. For those unfamiliar with 'Beats', it is an American audio products and equipment producing company, founded by the famous rapper Andre 'Dr. Dre' Young.

Apple Senior Vice President told Re/code Apple’s products of 2014 are the best in 25 years.

The Australian sharemarket is losing ground for the second straight day but for just the second time in a fortnight at lunch. Continued weakness in the iron ore price (Australia's biggest export) is placing the miners under pressure. U.S. markets managed to rise overnight despite recording its first quarterly economic contraction in three years overnight. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is down 0.2 per cent.

A middle-aged US couple from California is now several millions richer after deciding to auction off the 1,427 rare gold coins they unearthed in their backyard discovered while having a leisure stroll with their dog.

The S&P rallied to yet another record high, despite US Q1 GDP being revised lower to a 1% contraction. Not only did the S&P print a record high, it also closed at a record high of 1,920. This is a very encouraging sign heading into the weekend as it shows the momentum finished firmly to the upside. Unemployment claims for the week dropped sharply to 300,000, which was much better than the expected 321,000. This essentially took the four-week average down to 311,000 and sets next week's non-fa...

In US economic data, March quarter GDP was revised lower from +0.1% to a -1% annual contraction. It was expected to decline by -0.5%. The result was affected by the adverse weather conditions earlier in the year. US pending home sales increased by 0.9% to 97.8 in April, mildly below expectations of 1% increase. Sales are down 9.2% on a year ago. US jobless claims fell by 27,000 to 300,000 last week.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel retained her most powerful woman status Forbes magazine's list released on Thursday. It is the fourth straight year that she was recognised for wielding power, but she has been number 1 on the list nine times.

Apple Inc. has finally confirmed it was buying out Beats Electronics for $3 billion after deal rumors began circulating in recent weeks.

Sellers returned to the ASX on Thursday having been absent in any meaningful fashion for 7 sessions. Bulk miners were the weak spot after the price of iron ore continued to fall in the last day to the lowest levels seen in 2 years;around $US 97.00 per tonne levels. Telecoms were the best improved group in a falling market. Telstra shares rose by four cents or 0.25 per cent, although recent commentary from the telco which included talk of offshore expansion plans was met with not great cheer by i...

German telecom Deutsche Telekom hinted on a September 19 release date of iPhone 6

The State Assembly of New York on Tuesday has passed a legislation legalising medical marijuana in the area. But will it also sail through the Senate this time? This is the fifth time, in a span of 7 years, the assembly has passed a medical marijuana bill.

The Australian sharemarket is slipping for the first time since last Monday, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) down 0.3 per cent. A weak lead from Wall Street overnight and softer commodity prices are both drags.

The Apple and Beats Audio Electronics acquisition is confirmed. Dr. Dre is going to be a billionaire with the biggest deal investment Apple has ever made in its company's history.

The S&P pulled back from its record close, with investors exercising some caution and on mild profit taking. There was nothing on the US economic calendar to really drive sentiment and as result investors looked ahead to the GDP reading, which is due out later today. US GDP is expected to be revised to a negative print, with most analysts feeling this is consistent with a handover into Q2, which is then expected to show a bounce-back. Some Fed members anticipate growth of nearly 3% for Q2. Shoul...