RETAIL/CONSUMER GOODS

Web developers will get the most benefit with Microsoft's Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) launched early this week.

The Australian Bankers' Association (ABA) said the new MoneySmart website will be a helpful resource for consumers who access financial literacy information online.

The Australian Bankers' Association (ABA) said the new MoneySmart website will be a helpful resource for consumers who access financial literacy information online.

The merger of the Australian Retirement Fund (ARF) and the Superannuation Trust of Australia (STA) has created an industry behemoth that seeks to serve all of Australia's working class. AustralianSuper is still working hard to keep step with the demands of its members that encompasses all industries in the country.

Hunting for bargains, discounts, and or major freebies on the Internet, opens a lot of doors to Australian consumers looking forward to discounts and even freebies in their favourite restaurants and supermarket chains all over the country.

Gearing to expand its niche and establish a multi-brand strategy this year, Westpac Banking Corp has announced plans to revive the Bank of Melbourne in Victoria and spending some $90 million for this undertaking.

Australia's second largest bank Westpac Banking Corp Ltd (ASX:WBC) has estimated interest rates can go up by 5 percent in the third quarter.

The Australian Bankers' Association (ABA) has consolidated efforts with the consumers group to protect the public against fraud and other cyber crimes.

Australian commuters' daily stress maybe prolonged as production of the commuter trains set to be launched in a month is still hounded by setbacks left and right.

The Australian stock market has indefinitely been derailed by its new system, prompting officers to close the market earlier today.

Is the US economy really on the rise? Are American consumers becoming more gung-hoed and spending on lattes and other luxuries given up during the downturn?

Australian businesses and households are urged to prepare for escalating electricity and gas prices beginning next year as the country struggles for environmental concerns.

Passengers of Virgin Blue Airlines were distraught yesterday as about 150 flights were significantly delayed in key cities of Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane, as a power outage caused its data centre to breakdown.

TELSTRA has announced it will shift its focus on online marketing and plans to open a new bath of 100 retail stores adding to the existing 300 allover the country.

Top global miner BHP Billiton is still keen on new mergers and acquisitions in the near term as changes tend to unwind in the world mining industry.

The Australian Parliament is implored to veer away from its "populist approach on economic and other business policies especially on taxation that have been discouraging to both local businesses and foreign investors alike.

Wesfarmers' (ASX:WES) Coles has acquired National Australia Bank’s (ASX: NAB) 50 per cent interest in FlyBuys, Australia’s first and largest shopping rewards program. NAB remains a major participant in the program.

JB Hi-Fi Ltd (ASX:JBH) has booked a record half-year net profit of $87.9 million, up 15.6 per cent on the first-half of 2009/10.

Myer Holdings Ltd (ASX:MYR) says it will acquire a 65 percent stake in Australia’s women’s fashion brand sass & bide for $42.25 million.

Department store David Jones Ltd (ASX:DJS) will end its supply arrangement with Australian brand sass & bide following its decision not to acquire a stake in the brand.

Australia's sugarcane crop has suffered devastation as farmers venture out to survey their properties in the wake of category five Cyclone Yasi, whose destructive eye broke land at Mission Beach and passed over Tully, inland bound, last night.Crops have been devastated in Yasi’s wake, the hardest hit being sugarcane – with initial loss estimates at around $500 million for the industry alone. A sugar-growing heartland, sugarcane growers in north Queensland will again bear the brunt of losses,...

The Australian Banana Grower's Council today warned consumers that the Australian banana industry, which escaped flood damage, had suffered devastation as a result of tropical cyclone Yasi.Banana growers across Far North Queensland, in particular Innisfail and Tully, have been the worst affected by the cyclone, according to ABGC Chairman Cameron MacKay.

Wesfarmers released its second-quarter figures for Coles yesterday, reporting comparable food and liquor store sales growth of 6.6% in Q2, and food and liquor sales of $7 billion - a 6.7% increase on Q2 last year.The company's Q2 results for last year included sales figures for the 22 Coles supermarkets which have now been transferred to Foodworks,

Leading Japanese and Chinese electronics firms NEC Corporation and Lenovo on Thursday announced a strategic partnership to create the largest PC group in Japan. The agreement aligns NEC, Japan's number one PC company, with Lenovo, the fastest growing top-five PC maker in the world. The new joint venture gives both Lenovo and NEC a unique opportunity to grow their commercial and consumer PC businesses in Japan, the third largest PC market in the world, through a stronger market position, enhan...

Outdoor clothing and equipment company Kathmandu Holdings Ltd says its performance for the six months to January 31 is expected to be significantly ahead of the same period last year.

Woolworths Ltd (ASX:WOW) and supplier Cenvil Ltd are recalling packets of Homebrand frozen lemon flavoured crumbed fish in New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory and Queensland following a potential product safety issue.

Discount variety store, the Reject Shop, has confirmed that its profit may be lower than forecast due to waters in Ipswich flooding their main distribution center.

Retailers will be pleased to see an increase in retail figures in November, but this will not be enough to save the year, according to the Australian National Retailers Association (ANRA).

Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE: STZ), the world's largest wine company, has signed an agreement to sell its Australian and UK business, to Champ Private Equity of Sydney, Australia in a transaction valued at approximately A$290 million.