BUSINESS

It's been 109 trading days since the S&P futures has had a pull-back of 5% or more and on current trend, is it unlikely abate anytime soon.

In US economic data, the Employment Trends index rose from 119.03 to 119.62 in June. In European economic data, German production fell by 1.8% in May, the biggest reduction in two years and well below market expectations.

It was an uneventful start to the trading week, with the Australian market closing largely flat. The All Ordinaries index (XAO) eased by just 0.1 per cent or 5.5pts while still remaining above the key 5500pt level. The Independence Day holiday in the U.S. on Friday and the subsequent closure of American markets provided local stocks no lead today.

New real estate social marketing site Nestbuilder.com has surpassed Zillow's total number of listings within half a year of its launch.

German airline Lufthansa will be entering into a joint venture with Air China that will see the two airlines share revenue on certain routes in Asia by selling each other's flight tickets. The routes are situated between China and Europe.

The Australian sharemarket is off to a quiet start following a holiday in the U.S on Friday. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is down by just a few points with weakness from the miners, energy stocks, industrials and healthcare sector the biggest drags.

Many shock jocks probably think their listeners have grown immune to their strong language and talk teetering on verbal abuse.

The rumoured iWatch is set for October release date as hinted by supplier Quanta; Apple Hires TAG Heuer Executive for iWatch to be “Swiss Made”

Crews of power supply utility firms on Monday are racing to restore electricity to more than 250,000 homes and businesses groping in the dark in Atlantic Canada after tropical storm Arthur lashed through the area on Saturday morning.

Apple Inc is expected to release its FY Q3 earnings report on July 22 and investors are moving their sights away from the company's future product releases to its current ones out in the market.

With US markets having been closed on Friday, there are very limited leads for the region to work off this morning. Risk currencies have gotten off to a relatively flat start to the week, which is a firm indicator that nothing much has changed sentiment-wise as of Friday. Perhaps something to focus on is the weakness we saw in European trade after a disappointing German factory orders reading. This saw the major European bourses lose ground, apart from the FTSE which was relatively flat for the ...

US financial markets were closed on Friday for Independence Day.

Mining giant BHP Billiton (ASX: BHP) said the 31 per cent drop in the price of iron ore in the international market may not be the last. It anticipated further declines in the price of the key steel-making ingredient in the coming months, said BHP Billiton President of Marketing Mike Henry.

The local sharemarket has just had its best week in four and a half months, with the All Ordinaries index (XAO) rising by approximately 1.5 per cent over the past five days. Better than expected employment growth in the U.S. gave local investors an additional push forward today.

The Manhattan spring market posted very activities and generated more sales compared to the same period last year, brokerage firms reported. Douglas Ellman Real Estate said although inventory has been rising since reaching an unprecedented low at the end of 2013, the supply of apartments for sale still remains unusually low.

The Australian sharemarket is rising for the third straight day thanks to better than expected economic news last night. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is up 0.6 per cent, is trading above 5500pts for the first time in a month and almost all sectors are higher. If the market can hold onto the gains for the remainder of the session, this is set to be the best week in 4.5 month for local shares.

Problems in the brake lines of its cars and SUV lines have forced Subaru to recall more than 660,000 vehicles, majority of which are in the U.S. About 100,000 are in Canada.

NASA is usually associated with fascinating jobs like that of astronauts, rocket ship engineers and scientists. A job, classified as weird, which joins this list of fascinating jobs is that of a staff sniffer.

US equities extended gains on the back of a monster jobs report which essentially reassured investors that the US economy is on track for a Q2 bounce. This saw the S&P close at an all-time high for the 25th time this year. The non-farm employment change reading for June showed a whopping 288,000 jobs added while the unemployment rate dropped to 6.1%. Both readings smashed expectations and this helped push the US dollar higher across the board. Additionally there were also upward revisions for Ap...

In US economic data, non-farm payrolls lifted by 288,000 in June. The unemployment rate fell from 6.3% to 6.1% - the lowest level since September 2008. Data for April and May was revised to show a total of 29,000 more jobs than previously reported. The service sector drove the job gains while manufacturing and construction jobs also recorded a healthy lift. Over the first half of 2014 jobs growth has now averaged 231,000 jobs per month, the best start to a calendar year since 2006.

The Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia has developed a new breed of apple, dubbed as "black apple" that can rival the Pink Lady as world's most popular apple.

The Australian sharemarket continued to improve this afternoon, with local shares rising by close to 0.75 per cent. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) jumped by 0.7 per cent with all sectors finishing higher.

Institutions or individuals fond of sending spam mail to Canadian electronic mailboxes should ought to think twice sending those missives or otherwise risk getting sued in court for millions of dollars. Canada's new anti-spam law (CASL) already took effect on Tuesday.

Residents in the U.S.' North Carolina coast as well as Canada's Nova Scotia area have been advised to take necessary precautions as tropical storm Arthur continued to gain strength, potentially hitting hurricane level by Thursday.

When it comes to fast food restaurants, quality of the food and convenience of location have become more important factors in the people's dining decisions according to the recent release of Consumer Reports on best and worst fast food restaurants in the United States.

The Australian sharemarket is having its best week in two months with shares rising for the second day. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is up 0.7 per cent or 37pts to 5477.8. U.S markets ended modestly higher overnight with a better than expected report on private sector employment in North America helping.

Netizens have reacted on the social media Twitter over Facebook's social experiment testing whether emotional contagion occurs outside of in-person interaction between individuals by reducing the amount of emotional content in the News Feed.

Canada could be seeing soon on its many runways its first ultra low-cost air carrier as Canada Jetlines Ltd. announced plans of raising $10-million to be able to enlist on the TSX Venture Exchange.

American publishers have earned more from online sale of books than from physical stores in 2013.