MARKETS

By Richard (Rick) MillsAs a general rule, the most successful man in life is the man who has the best informationSometime between 1500 and 1565 a large graphite deposit was discovered in Cumbria, England.

U.S. equities rose after positive news from the labor and housing markets, then drifted higher on reports of progress toward a second bailout for Greece.

New claims for unemployment insurance in the US fell by 13,000 to 348,000 in the latest week - the lowest level since March 2008.

By Greg PeelThe Dow rose 123 points or 1.0% while the S&P gained 1.1% and the Nasdaq leapt 1.5%.As the sun set on the Asian zone and began to rise in Europe last night the mood was very sombre on heightened expectations that Greek default was now nigh.

by Peter Switzer, Switzer Super ReportWith the market having the biggest down day for some time, it is timely to ask what the year ahead looks like.

A busy day for retail-related companies yesterday with Westfield Group leading the way in revealing a US joint venture and asset sales, with asset sales in the UK as well, plus reasonable 12 month results.

Dairy Australia's latest forecast, released today, shows that Australia's milk production is continuing to climb, with total output for 2011-12 forecast to be between 9.4 and 9.5 billion litres, up on last season's total of 9.1 billion litres.

One of the world's largest fast food chains, McDonald's Corporation, has announced that it will require its U.S. pork suppliers to outline their plans to phase out the use of sow gestation stalls.

The Commonwealth Bank says it won't be joining rivals Westpac and ANZ, in cutting jobs as it met guidance yesterday with a cash net profit of $3.567 billion for the six months to December 31, up 7% on the same period of 2010-11.

By Kathleen Brooks, Research Director UK EMEA, FOREX.comThere are two forces working on the markets right now: 1, central banks in simulative mode and 2, fragile recoveries and tail risk from Europe.

By Greg PeelThe Dow fell 97 points or 0.8% while the S&P fell 0.5% to 1343 and the Nasdaq lost 0.6%.The US Federal Reserve has been adopting a new model of transparency under chairman Ben Bernanke's reign which, aside from Mr Bernanke's four-a-year press conferences, now includes disclosur...

Upbeat news yesterday from the economy with business conditions and confidence improving and good weather conditions in the past month or so helping rural areas and boosting the size of the 2011-12 wheat crop to an all time high.

The downside of the domestic economy and the minerals sector were seen yesterday in the results of midcap building products group GWA and nickel miner Western Areas.

A week after reporting massive profits and more spending on expanding their huge WA iron ore operations, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto yesterday revealed they would spend around $US4 billion ($A3.75 billion) on the huge Escondida copper mine in Chile which accounts for around 8% of total annual global production.

By Rudi Filapek-VandyckThe Dow Jones Industrial Average managed to add 4.2 points, or 0.03%, to 12,878.

Well, JB Hi-Fi survived a tough Christmas trading period, not to mention a "challenging" six months and lived to tell the tale, despite what some alarmists have been writing about the state of the consumer electronics sector.

Barbara Fredrickson is a social psychologist who has conducted extensive research into emotions and positive psychology.

Commodity and stock markets across Asia and Europe and the US are on alert as Greece moves back to centre stage with a vital week for the stricken country to either accept sweeping cuts and a huge new round of debt, or head for default.

To read some of the reports of the January economic data from China, you'd be excused for thinking that a crisis is on the way as imports and exports growth slowed sharply in January and inflation rose.

Almost a year on, after the March 11 disasters, the Japanese economy continues to be battered by the impact of the quake and tsunami, and especially the Fukushima nuclear power station crisis.

Australia's December interim reporting season will dominate this week, with a host of major companies revealing their results.

By Greg PeelThe mismatch between demand for spot uranium in Europe and supply in the US reached its ultimate conclusion last week when simply no one wanted to play.

By Rudi Filapek-VandyckFNArena has added another video to its Investors Education section on the website.

By Rudi Filapek-VandyckFNArena has added another video to its Investors Education section on the website.

By Greg PeelThe Dow rose 72 points or 0.6% while the S&P gained 0.7% to 1351 and the Nasdaq added 1.0%.

- Telstra interim broadly as expected- Mobiles a driver, Sensis still struggling- Minor changes to broker estimates post the result- Broker opinion remains divided on the stockBy Chris ShawInterim earnings from Telstra ((TLS)) were broadly as the market had expected, the company delivering solid mob...

Walmart Store_ the world's largest retailer

Rio Tinto has taken the opportunity of a peak in its iron ore-driven profits to clean up its books with a massive $US8.9 billion write-down in the value of its aluminium business.

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed up 6 points while the S&P added 0.1% to 1351 and the Nasdaq rose 0.4%.Last night Greek prime minister Lucas Papademos announced that he and the opposition representatives had finally reached agreement on austerity measures after their marathon of negotiation.