MARKETS

Thanksgiving traditions have been evolving, adding to the list of usual activities one more thing namely Thanksgiving shopping. Retailers know how to take use of the needs and trends therefore they decided to open the holiday shopping season on Thanksgiving.

Despite a flat start, local stocks are rallying at lunchtime in the East on reports Eurozone Finance Ministers have agreed to a voluntary buyback of Greek debt. Sources familiar with the situation say it would involve private equity investors taking a haircut, to receive 35c for every Euro of Greek bonds they hold.

Aston Martin, the luxury car brand, is entangled in the middle of a global Indian-Italian Aston Martin bidding war regarding the takeover of Aston Martin Company, after Mahindra, the motors group from India, trumped a major bid from Italy for almost half of the luxury car manufacturer based in Britain.

Scientists reckon that catastrophic climate change was responsible for a huge number of extinctions at the end of the Pleistocene epoch, around twelve thousand years ago. Mega-fauna - very large animals - didn't adapt well to the rapidly changing climate.

Be thankful for the bottomless gluttony of man today. It's probably going to help Australian stocks! The US markets came out of their Turkey Coma to rally higher on Friday. Both the S&P 500 and the Dow finished more than one per cent higher. That should be good enough for a positive start to the week in Australia.

By Andrew NelsonIt was a quiet week in the uranium market last week. In fact, it was so quiet that industry consultant and spot price tracker TradeTech didn't even put out a weekly report, instead heading out to Grandma's house to catch up with the rest of the US investment market.

A day after Gina Rinehart, Australia's richest woman, warned of the country losing its competitiveness in the global market due to wrong policies, Chevron's top man in Australia waved a similar red flag.

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed down 42 points, or 0.3%, while the S&P fell 0.2% to 1406, but the Nasdaq rallied 0.

The new trading week has begun the way the previous one finished. Investors are maintaining their vigil in relation to economic readings out of Europe and the US, wary of any negative impact that political inertia is having on real economy outcomes on either side of the Atlantic.

Local stocks are underperforming Wall Street in the early session, with investor apathy appearing to be at play. Despite predictions our market would rise by around 0.7pct today, at lunchtime in the East the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is firmer by just 6.3pts or 0.1pct to 4437.8.

Revolt is in the air, Fellow Reckoner! You can smell the gunpowder...taste the whiskey...feel the virtual ink blotting dot.gov petition forms.

Due to perceived bad policies put in place by the Gillard government, Australia's richest woman Gina Rinehart warned on Thursday that the country may risk following the model of financially challenged European nations.

By Tatiana Didier, Roberto Rigobon and Sergio SchmuklerInvestment through global funds increases year on year.

By Rudi Filapek-Vandyck, Editor FNArenaI joined Twitter. Not because I am curious what this celebrity has to say about her kids, or to read that another one is waiting for a connecting flight, impatiently.

By Richard (Rick) MillsAhead of the HerdAs a general rule, the most successful man in life is the man who has the best informationNickel is present in over 3000 different alloys that are used in over 300,000 products for consumer, industrial, military, transport/aerospace, marine and architectural a...

FNArena is surveying investor sentiment in Australia in an effort to generate, over time, a guage similar to the AAII Investor Sentiment Survey in the US.

By Greg PeelIn the most anticipated come-back since Nellie Melba, China's manufacturing PMI is back in expansion territory after thirteen consecutive months of contraction.

The Aussie took a tumble on Wednesday as Euro zone finance ministers, the IMF and the European Central Bank failed for a second week in a row to reach an agreement on how to get Greece's debt down to a manageable level.

By Greg PeelThe Dow rose 48 points, or 0.4%, while the S&P gained 0.2% to 1391 and the Nasdaq added 0.

General Electric takes the Lead in Avio Acquisition

'Ahh the French', as Orson Welles once declared in an infamous champagne commercial. The Hollywood legend made the point that French champagne has always been celebrated for its excellence. Today, the French are being punished for their excess. At least, that's how we see it.

Billabong International Ltd., the Australian surf wear manufacturer, which had expected buyers withdraw offers for takeover the previous month, stated on the 19th of November that one of the directors of the firm was set to investigate a probable Billabong leveraged buyout offer of the company.

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed down 7 points, while the S&P gained a point to 1387 and the Nasdaq was flat.

The Philippines government may attempt to revive a hugely unpopular 2009 bill that aimed to levy a tax for all mobile phone text messages, claimed a report by the Philippine Daily Inquirer on Monday, with a new 'sin tax' on alcohol and tobacco also expected to be passed as early as next week.

Australia's major advertisers have declared that the self-regulatory system for food-related advertising is already working effectively, regardless of a recent report by the Obesity Policy Coalition (OPC).

By Andrew NelsonOne of the things that uranium market watchers assumed would halt the metal's slide was news a few months back that China had shrugged off its post Fukushima ashes and decided to go ahead at full steam in expanding the nation's nuclear energy program.

E-commerce company eBay Inc. has been summoned on the 16th of November by the state of California and their Department of Justice as well. The case is a result of an illegal agreement of the e-commerce company eBay Inc. with Intuit Inc. that the former would not employ the workers of the latter.

HSBC Holdings Plc has confirmed that it is negotiating the sale of its 15.6 percent stake in China's Ping An Insurance Co., which is worth approximately $9 billion, as it tries to boost its profitability. On the 19th of November, shares of HSBC grew approximately 1.4 percent in Hong Kong after the biggest Europe's bank informed about its plans to sell stakes in the China's second-biggest insurer.

The last six weeks of the calendar year are usually a lot like the last two turns in a major downhill ski race. You get a couple of steep, sweeping bends and then the finish line. At this point in the race, you can only screw up. It's too late to make up for lost time.