MARKETS

Yesterday we wondered whether Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, in his speech to Congress, would come out in support of his colleagues (and the banks) or whether he'd speak with one eye on his legacy. Turns out he's managed to do both!

Despite a slight rise on the open, local shares are falling by 1.3 per cent, taking the losses for the week so far to more than 3.5 per cent. If markets continue in this direction for the rest of the session, we're set to have the worst week in a year.

By David Fessler, Investment U Senior AnalystSomething big is about to strike the mining industry. When it does, savvy investors have a grand opportunity on their hands.

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed down 12 points, or 0.1%, while the S&P lost 0.3% to 1650 and the Nasdaq fell 0.

The Australian sharemarket had its worst day in two months, pushed lower by Ben Bernanke's much anticipated testimony before congress last night. The All Ordinaries index (XAO) slumped by 2 per cent, adding to yesterday's 0.27 per cent losses.

The Australian share market is being heavily sold off in early trade, following a volatile night on Wall Street.

Being a country's topmost political leader does not necessarily equate to being most powerful. In Australia, Julia Gillard may be the Prime Minister, but is it Gina Rinehart who is the most powerful woman of Australia, according to Forbes magazine's annual list of 100 most powerful women around the world.

By Tim Price"The first panacea for a mismanaged nation is inflation of the currency; the second is war.

Ford Motor Co. is having its good days and it simply wants to take advantage of growing demand for cars in North America. Thus the US-based automaker informed that it decided to increase production at its car plants located in North America, thereby cutting the summer shutdown.

By Jonathan BarrattWe have been talking about gold consolidation for sometime, and the price action over the last few trading sessions has been supportive of a low.

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed down 80 points, or 0.5%, while the S&P lost 0.8% to 1655 and the Nasdaq fell 1.

With the exception of the first half hour of trade, sellers dominated the session on Wednesday. The news pulse in corporate and economic terms provided further encouragement.

After it had allowed its girls to engage in sports in their private schools, oil-rich nation Saudi Arabia is now divided whether to extend such empowerment privilege to allow its women to watch sports in a stadium due to be completed in 2014.

The Australian share market is trading slightly lower in the early session, despite record highs being reached on Wall Street overnight. The US Dow Jones Index made it 19 consecutive Tuesday wins, while the broader share market and NASDAQ Indices were higher for the 9th consecutive Tuesday.

By Peter Switzer, Switzer Super ReportBy Peter Switzer founder and publisher of the Switzer Super ReportFor those caught in a "will I or won't I go long BHP Billiton" at these levels, the tennis tournament between Roger Montgomery and my fanatical BHP Billiton supporter, who I nicknamed the BHP...

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 PeelThe Dow closed up 52 points, or 0.3%, while the S&P gained 0.2% to 1669 and the Nasdaq added 0.

The selling that marked the early part of the session subsided in the early afternoon and the ASX200 was able to finish off the lows of the day. Although profit warnings from a number of companies saw investors reflect on the broader earnings picture at present.

Local stocks have come under selling pressure in early trade on Tuesday, despite predictions of a flat session.

By Kathleen Brooks, Research Director UK EMEA, FOREX.comIt's been pretty slow-going today as economic data has been thin on the ground.

By Andrew NelsonLast week was a slow, if not somewhat significant week on the uranium spot market. Slow because only three deals were done, with just 300,000 pounds U3O8 changing hands.

Canada glories in many titles. Similar to Canada, Toronto is frequently and constantly ranked at the top of rankings. In some rankings, the country was ranked as one of the best places to do business.

Bad money drives out good money. That's the short version of Gresham's Law. What it really means is that people interested in self-preservation don't follow trends. When inflation runs amok in financial markets or in the economy, prudent people tend to hoard what's valuable. They spend what's less valuable before it becomes even more devalued (paper money).

Gold experts continue to see bleaker days ahead for the yellow metal, once considered a safe haven. Ric Deverall of Credit Suisse forecast the price of gold would further dip to $1,100 in 2013 and even plunge more to $1,000 in the next five years.

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed down 19 points, or 0.1%, while the S&P lost 0.1% to 1666 and the Nasdaq lost 0.

The afternoon session saw the local index retreat from its best levels of the session when it was seeing gains of more than 1%. The main event of the week sees the US Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke delivering a testimony to the Joint Economic Committee in Washington on Wednesday night local time. Whilst the purpose of the Mr Bernanke's chat is to update the politicians on the state of the economy, the key focus will be on Quantitative Easing.

The Australian share market has hit five year highs in early trade on Monday, following a strong lead from Wall Street and a weaker Australian dollar.

Until recently, it was only Amazon, one of the most profitable online stores in world, that was in the public eye for irregularities in its UK tax payments. May 15 saw another tech major - Google Inc. - added to the list of high-profile companies with business operations in the UK, which despite earning huge profits continue to circumvent local tax guidelines and get away with paying low tax.

The Australian market not only held onto its gains but extended them further this afternoon. The ASX200 Index jumped by 0.3 per cent, making it three stronger sessions this week. Despite the rise, local shares slipped by 0.5 per cent over the past five sessions. This makes it the first week of losses in a month.