MARKETS

On the 13th of March, British travel firm Thomas Cook informed that it aimed to improve its profits by around £350 billion by 2015 through its turnaround strategy. The 171-year-old UK tour operator plans to reduce the number of its stores, dispose non-core businesses and concentrate on online sales as it is trying to stand on its feet.

The Confederation of British Industry, UK's leading lobbying organization, suggested that the forthcoming 2013 Budget should be centrally focused on creating around 50,000 new homes in order to reduce fiscal deficit. Moreover, the British Chambers of Commerce supported the plea put forward by the CBI to promote infrastructure.

Despite a slightly firmer start to the day's trade, local stocks are trading in the red at lunchtime, weighed down by weakness from the mining players.

By Jonathan BarrattCopper is not performing on the back of disappointing economic data from the number one consumer of the metal, China.

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed up 5 points, while the S&P gained 0.1% to 1554 (still 11 points shy) and the Nasdaq added 0.

- Aussie resilient despite stronger greenback- Importers/exporters expecting further AUD strength- Investment and hedging plans adjusted accordinglyBy Greg PeelThe US dollar index has rallied 5.

The Australian share market eased for a second session today, as big falls from the big four banks dragged on the local bourse.

According to figures released on the 11th of March, German exports increased more than initially expected, exceeding analysts' estimates. Official data showed that also German imports surged significantly. After all, the German economy saw some positive signs after a contraction in the fourth quarter of 2012.

The Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards has criticized the Chancellor George Osborne's bank reform as it is simply unbalanced and inadequate. The Commission has underlined that the financial regulator should be given competence to separate high street and investment banking.

On the 11th of March, Chinese online giant Alibaba Group informed that its executive vice president Jonathan Lu would take the helm from current chief executive officer Jack Ma. The nomination was announced amid growing speculation over its forthcoming initial public offering.

On the 7th of March, BHP Billiton Ltd. firmly rejected China's allegations of iron ore manipulation aimed at driving prices up, underlining that it would improve its transparency in trade with the world's second economy. China, which is the world's biggest consumer of iron ore, is convinced that three iron ore miners manipulated the market, thereby pushing prices up.

On the 12th of March Lloyds Banking Group PLC informed that it has decided to sell 20 percent of its stake in the wealth management firm St. James Place PLC in order to uphold its capital reserves. The bank is expected to reap a profit of approximately £520 million from the stake sale.

Adidas reported a fourth quarter net loss for the year ended December 2012 after goodwill impairment charges on its subsidiary Reebok brand which took a toll on its profits. In the face of heavy impairment expenses, Adidas expects lower profits for 2013.

The Australian sharemarket has kicked off hump day in subdued fashion, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) down by just 0.2 per cent or 9.2 pts to 5119.5.

By Greg PeelIn the process of open cut mining, as opposed to underground mining, "stripping costs" are incurred.

This story was first published with full access for subscribers only on March 7. Due to a technical error, now resolved, a large section of the story was omitted on first publication.

The family court feud that Australians are following like soap operas because of the huge money involved has a new twist. It seems the battle has suddenly turned lopsided in favour of the family matriarch who at one point was sued by her three adult children for their fair share of the family wealth.

By Rudi Filapek-Vandyck, Editor FNArenaPrelude: In April 2011, with the Australian share market experiencing yet another January-April rally, I compared index projections for the calendar year from equity strategists with consensus price targets for individual stocks (*).

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed up 2 points, but the S&P lost 0.2% to 1552 and the Nasdaq fell 0.3%.It was touch and go at the death, but the Dow did manage to close in the green for an eighth straight up-day.

The Australian sharemarket couldn't make it three consecutive sessions of gains today, with the All Ordinaries Index slipping by 0.61 per cent or 31.4 pts to 5128.6. The mining and energy sectors continue to underperform the broader market. Both industries combined account for around ¼ of the Australian sharemarket.

The local share market is trading slightly lower at lunchtime in the East, despite a positive start and another record high on Wall Street overnight.

ew Zealand clients of the big 4 Australian banks filed on Monday a class action suit over charges that the lender have collected from them $800 million in excessive default fees.

Hancock Coal and rail freight company Aurizon inked an agreement for the joint development of new rail and port facilities in Galilee Basin. The project is estimated to cost $6 million.

By Andrew NelsonThe Chinese started the shift from central planning to market-based economic reforms back in 1978 and since that time China's economy has grown 28 times larger.

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed up 50 points, or 0.4%, while the S&P gained 0.3% to 1556 and the Nasdaq added 0.

BHP has made strategic shale acquisitions in the US. It's also been absolutely caned on those acquisitions, writing off $2.84 billion from its Fayetteville Shale assets late last year. This cost Marius Kloppers his bonus for 2012, and arguably his job for good.

Despite a flat start, the Australian share market has closed higher thanks to strong gains from financial stocks and another rise on the Japanese sharemarket.

The Australian sharemarket started session largely flat for much of the morning following mixed economic news over the past three days. The All Ords is a touch higher though, adding to last week's 0.75 per cent improvement. On Friday, a report showed that there were around 70,000 more jobs created in North America over February than expected, while the jobless rate improved to 7.7 per cent. This was the first time since March 2012 that more than 200,000 jobs were added in one month.

Mining giant Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) forecast over the weekend another slump in iron ore prices in the next 18 months. Viviel Tulpule, chief economist of Rio Tinto, estimated the price of the key steelmaking ingredient would decline to just above $100 per tonne by September 2014.