COMPANIES

EFTPOS Payments Australia Limited (ePAL), the company that manages one of Australia’s largest popular debit system, reiterated that its new interchange fees will not be passed directly on to the consumer or retailers.

Insurance Australia Group will acquire a 20 percent strategic interest in China-based general insurer, Bohai Property Insurance Pty Ltd (Bohai Insurance), for an estimated price of A$100 million or RMB687.5 million.

Virgin Australia launched on Monday its Capital Connect daily shuttle services between Canberra and Sydney, which offer up to 10 return services each day between the cities with guests receiving complimentary in-flight snacks and drinks.

Leighton Holdings Ltd (ASX: LEI) posted an after tax loss of $409m for the 2010/11 financial year, but targets to bounce back with its string of new projects on hand.

Australia's manufacturing firm Manassen Foods has been reported negotiating a deal with China's second largest food company Bright Food Group Co.

Newcrest Mining, Australia's biggest gold producer, has posted a 63 percent jump in its annual profit, driven by higher gold prices and the acquisition of Lihir Gold last year.

While Washington was busy holding the global markets hostage and placing billions in badly needed R&D funding on the chopping block, a new report from REN21

In spite of industrywide speculation that Apple will announce the next-generation iPhone on September, new reports have moved the launch back to October.

There are more iPads rival tablets sitting in warehouses and stores than current demand for those products. What can rivals learn to advance? Perhaps a review of Economics 101 would give more than just clues to the iPad's success.

Prime Minister David Cameron said on Thursday that government was considering blocking the use of social media services like FaceBook, Twitter, BlackBerry Messenger to prevent riots.

Virgin Australia pilots have secured pay rises of up to 28 percent. The Australian and International Pilots Association, which represent Qantas long-haul pilots, has today congratulated VIPA - the union representing Virgin Australia and V Australia pilots - and Virgin Australia CEO John Borghetti for successfully negotiating the airline’s first enterprise agreement.

Australia's securities watchdog released on Friday a new guidance that demands more disclosure on some investment instruments that lures a lot of investors because of the promise of high returns.

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch gave his most explicit statement yet on who will succeed him as News Corporation chief and it is not James.

New Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) laws are set to be rolled out on 1 January 2012, and contain fundamental shifts from what has been mandated in the past.

GS1 Recallnet, a new national product recall service to remove potentially harmful grocery, food, liquor and other products from the supply chain, was launched Australia-wide August 10, 2011.

Suddenly the same analysts and 'experts' who have been negative on Telstra, are fans after the company reported a smaller than expected fall in earnings for the year to June 30; a result that included rising revenues and profits from mobile phones and telecoms.

Web-based file storage and content sharing service Box.net on Thursday unveiled three new apps for the tablet world: one for Android Honeycomb, one for BlackBerry PlayBook, and one for HTML5-compatible browsers.

It was another interesting session on the Australian share market, as investors reacted to fresh sovereign debt worries out of Europe and a surprise rise in the local unemployment rate. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) fell 1.5pct on open, outperforming near 5pct losses witnessed on Wall Street overnight.

Supermarket chain Woolworths is taking grocery shopping to another level by launching an iPhone App that aims to make it easier to navigate through Woolies with an aisle ordered shopping list.

Australians campaigning for animal rights will rally across the country on Sunday, August 14, in support of legislation that will determine the future of the live export trade. This comes after the first shipment of cattle since the lifting of the live export ban to Indonesia left the Port of Darwin on Wednesday and the government announcing a new package of subsidised loans and grants to cattle producers affected by the suspension of trade.

Well, looking at yesterday's Commonwealth Bank full year result, several points stand out.

Australia's economy generated more part-time jobs in the month of July rising 22,100 to 3.40 million, emphasizing the state of local firms that are not woven within the industries of the mining sector.

St. George and ING Direct have joined the wave of fixed rate cuts, and an MPA Top 100 Broker has predicted an RBA cut may not be far behind.

Ratings agencies usually do not give a company a rating higher than its home country's sovereign rating. Are the tech giants then suffering the domino effect of the U.S. downgrade?

MARKET CLOSE (4.30pm AEST)Well after the strangest of days for the Australian market yesterday, shares locally improved strongly for the second consecutive day. The ASX 200 index (XJO) rose 2.6 pct or 106.5 pts to 4141.3 while the broader All Ordinaries index (XAO) jumped 2.7 pct or 110.7 pts to 4207.4. This takes the gains for the week to just under 1 pct so far.

MIDDAY REPORT (12.30pm AEST)The Australian sharemarket is gaining for the second straight day, with the All Ordinaries index up 2.9 pct or 117.1 pts to 4213.8. Almost all sectors are higher with the exception of the property trusts, which are slightly lower at lunch.

The hacker collective Anonymous has vowed to "destroy" Facebook on Nov. 5, according to the group's official YouTube channel announced on Tuesday.

Finally, Singaporean budget airline Tiger Airways has been given the clearance by Australia's aviation authorities to fly again.

In the wake of this week's share market meltdown, a new report from Ernst & Young reveals that the threat of higher taxes to be slapped on the the resources sector could weaken the Australian economy, which narrowly escaped the contagion of the financial crises two years ago.