MARKETS

ASIC reports Fairfax is the most shorted stock in the index, with daylight second. Why?

The latest Westpac-ACCI Survey of Industrial Trends has delivered some mixed data, with price pressures rising but growth still above trend.

Asian stocks plummeted its biggest in two weeks as U.S. home sales slowed down anew in May unexpectedly raising concerns on the fragility of the world's biggest economy.

The Australia 200 CFD Index was 1.6% lower today, with energy and financial names detracting most of the points.

Shares in Pharmaxis declined by almost 50 per cent today after investors took a gloomy view on trial results of its Bronchitol drug.

Q3 is shaping up as a highly volatile quarter dominated by economic data and government decisions, argue Gain Capital's Brian Dolan and Jane Foley.

A weak US housing number added to a growing renewal of general concern last night as the S&P500 fell through its 200-day moving average amidst weak volume. Dow down 148. (Locked for subscribers until 10:00 AEST)

Creditors of Australia's largest cotton farm, Cubbie Station, will vote today on the bids of two foreign groups to restructure the debt-ridden farm.

On Monday, the Australian dollar opened two US cents lower; a reaction when markets expressed worries of a soft jobs report in the US that suggested a slower than expected recovery in the world's largest economy.

There have been several calls to the consumer watchdog to pursue an investigation to Coles for putting its products with a “tick symbol” which is similar to the symbol used by the Heart Foundation.

Asian equities extended their global rallies that help buoyed the Australian and New Zealand dollars. At the close of Friday's trading session, the Australian dollar was poised for its first five-day advance in more than a month and the New Zealand dollar appears to gain for the first time in three weeks.

State Street Global Markets, the investment research and trading arm of State Street Corporation, said that global investor confidence fell 11.2 points in May to 88.2 from April's revised reading of 99.4.

David Jones posted its stronger sales growth from its rival Myer to 1.4 per cent in the third quarter, but still below analyst expectations.

Morningstar France Holding, a subsidiary of Morningstar, Inc., a leading provider of independent investment research, has announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Seeds Group, a leading provider of investment consulting services and fund research in France. The companies expect to complete the transaction within the next few months, subject to customary closing conditions. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Australia launched a new national brand, "Australia Unlimited" in the hope to lure foreign investors.

Sprott Asset Management, a business unit of Sprott Inc. and manager of the Sprott family of mutual funds, hedge funds and discretionary managed accounts, has approved the $2.5 million financing deal with RX Exploration Inc. through Brant Securities Limited.

Leading index provider Standard & Poor's Indices announced on Wednesday changes in the U.S. indices. It said that the S&P SmallCap 600 constituent Rock-Tenn Co. would replace Varian Inc. in the S&P MidCap 400 index, and LSB Industries Inc. will replace Rock-Tenn in the S&P SmallCap 600 index after the close of trading on a date to be announced.

The Emirates Group defied global market instability and economic uncertainty, posting a record profit rise of 248% in the last fiscal year.

LCH.Clearnet Ltd., the largest independent clearing house group, has cleared the first-ever 50-year interest swap trades (IRS) through its SwapClear offering.

To prevent the so-called 'May 6 rout" from happening again where the crash on Wall Street markets caused a global ripple effect, U.S. regulators Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), announced the creation of the Joint CFTC-SEC Advisory Committee on Emerging Regulatory issues.

The Australian gold stocks had inspired a beehive trading on Wednesday following the precious metal’s spot price record spikes in US trading overnight, with the spot gold price reaching as high as $US1,234.55 per fine ounce in the US session.

The International Monetary Fund reported that Latin America and the Caribbean are experiencing better-than-expected economic recovery but at different speeds across countries.

Ratings agency Standard & Poor's on Friday announced a change to U.S. index. The agency said that Tibco Software Inc. would replace Brink's Home Security Holdings Inc. in the S&P MidCap 400 index after the close of trading on Friday, May 14. Brink's Home Security Holdings is being acquired by Tyco International Ltd. in a deal expected to be completed on or about that date, pending final approvals.

International derivatives exchange Eurex on Friday announced it would list three new options beginning 17 based on the Deutsche Bank ETFs db x-trackers MSCI Emerging Markets TRN, MSCI World TRN and MSCI Europe TRN. Additional ETF options are expected to be listed at Eurex later this year.

CME Group, the world's leading and most diverse derivative marketplace, on Friday defended Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and that its activities in the CME Group's stock index futures markets does not appear to be unusual.

Credit ratings agency Fitch Ratings said that a study of 308 U.S. companies showed that capital expenditures would rise by an average of 3.1% this year as against 2009, reflecting a stabilizing economic conditions.

Credit ratings agency Standard & Poor's on Wednesday dismissed speculations the ongoing Greek crisis may hit Asia and said Asia's government-issued bonds appear to post positive growth from low debt levels and developing economies. It said Asia would perform better compared with its Western counterparts which are weakened by the debt default crisis in Greece.

Small- and medium-based (SMB) companies are utilizing social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, blogs, YouTube, Twitter and others, for their business operations. IT marketers have discovered the power of these social media to generate sales, a report said.

East Timor turned down Australian-based Woodside, an oil gas producer to export gas from the Timor Sea that would have become the world's first floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) platforms and could have put the multibillion-dollar Greater Sunrise's LNG partnership in jeopardy.