MARKETS

By Ben TraynorMark Carney's been hired to bang bankers' heads together...WHERE have all good men goneAnd where are all the gods?Where's the streetwise HerculesTo fight the rising odds?Isn't there a white knight upon a fiery steed?Late at night I toss and turn and dream of what I ...

By Rudi Filapek-Vandyck, Editor FNArenaAt its final meeting for calendar 2013, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has sliced off a further 25bp to bring the official cash rate down to 3.

Not for the first time, Monday bore witness to one of those perverse circumstances where stocks rise in response to weaker economic news. The last week in the US was defined by a lack of progress in relation to the fiscal cliff, although Republicans and Democrats expressed confidence that the matter would be resolved in a timely fashion. Weekend developments in Washington saw an opening gambit being made by the Democrats, which was summarily dismissed by the Republicans. 'The game' has beg...

Is it laughable, or lamentable? The market, that is. In the past few years, it has become a joke...a tool of manipulation, an unreliable source of information. Despite the outperformance of the US equity markets this year, ordinary investors (presumably people with savings they would like to invest in productive and attractive businesses) are not interested.

The Australian sharemarket is kicking off the new trading week in positive fashion, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) up 0.5 per cent or 22.3 pts to 4540.3. This adds to last week's 2 per cent rise; the local market's second straight week of gains.

So we've decided to chronicle our attempt to join an Aussie Rules football team. The Daily Reckoning seems like as good a place as any to do this for your amusement. Thrilling, right?

William Knox D’Arcy: The Greatest Australian You’ve Never Heard Of

While our political leaders push, shove and bicker like stupid kids in a playground, signs of a weakening economy continue to mount. Yesterday, Rio Tinto told investors it plans to slash $5 billion in costs by 2014. Mining services companies duly suffered more share price falls.

On the 30th of November, Osram informed that it would downsize another 4.700 jobs as well as sell its plants to better compete with Asian rivals. The job cuts at Osram will help the company save approximately €1 billion ($1.3 billion) and improve profitability as the market for traditional light bulbs shrinks significantly. Earlier this week Siemens AG announced to spin off Osram.

- JBH needs to boost flagging revenues- Plans to trial home appliance expansion- Not what analysts had in mind- Scepticism reignsBy Greg PeelHands up who remembers Brashs? In the 1980s Brashs became the iconic, large chain, go-to music store during the vinyl-to-CD transition, as well as selling "bro...

Australian Resource Minister Martin Ferguson and Queensland Premier Campbell Newman are in India to sign a $10-billion agreement with the Indian company, The Adani Group, to develop a coal mining project in the Galilee basin.

Sixteen Chinese miners were trapped on Saturday after a coal mine in Qitaihe City, Heilongjiang Province in northeast China was flooded. The 16 are among 22 miners deployed by the Furuixiang Coal Company.

Archibald Colquhoun returned from a trip to Myanmar (Burma) enthusiastic about the opportunities in the country. He wrote a book about it all: Burma and the Burmans: Or, 'The Best Unopened Market in the World'.

On the 29th of November, Japan's industrial companies Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd and Hitachi Ltd informed that they had reached a basic agreement to merge their thermal power units as they try to compete against global giants, including Siemens and General Electric.

On the 29th of November, Kingfisher Plc posted its third-quarter profit. According to a statement, the Europe's largest home-improvement retailer saw a 6 percent drop in the period ended October 27 as sales declined in its main markets in France and the UK, not to mention that the company's results were affected by unfavorable foreign exchange movements as well.

As the trading week wound down, regional markets were generally set to finish in positive territory. Notwithstanding various economic data points being released over the last 5 days, the overwhelming influence on market sentiment came from headlines related to political developments on the US fiscal Cliff. On that score the last 24 hours has yielded more optimism that US politicians will be resolve this critical matter in a timely fashion. They have 32 day left in which to deliver.

The Australian sharemarket is improving for the fourth time this week, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) up 0.5 per cent or 20.7 pts to 4510.8. Global market rose overnight thanks to mostly positive economic news. A report showed that the U.S economy continues to grow; the number of Americans filing to receiving jobless benefits fell and there were additional positive signs for the U.S housing market.

Competition between Australia's two major stock exchanges is becoming tougher as the Chi-X and ASX disclosed separately measures designed to snare a larger slice of the stock market amid a background of weak trading and poor investment sentiment.

By Peter Switzer, Switzer Super ReportHere's what I expect to happen to stocks and the global economy as we head into the New Year, and I've thrown in a couple of stock tips as well.

The dust from Qantas's fallout with Tourism Australia over the alleged meddling of a private consortium at the air carrier's policies and decision has barely settled, yet new groups are in for the prowl ready to get a piece of the $40-million marketing deal with the airline.

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed up 36 points, or 0.3%, while the S&P gained 0.4% to 1415 and the Nasdaq was up 0.

After a brief pullback yesterday, the Australian sharemarket benefited from a late surge in American equities overnight. This was following positive comments relating to the U.S fiscal cliff in late trade. The market has been extremely sensitive to comments concerning these budget deficit problems, which U.S parliament has a little over a month to resolve.

The back page of today's Australian Financial Review has an illustration of a roided out Kangaroo, the kind you see on a one Australian dollar coin, but with Schwarzenegger like muscles. The story is called, 'Leaps and bounds in $A demand.'

Local stocks are recording positive gains at lunchtime in the East, despite a fairly flat start to the trading session. Overnight, Wall Street staged a remarkable comeback on hopes an agreement on the Fiscal Cliff could be reached before Christmas.

What is arguably the very last bastion of totally free speech is once again under assault by the world's tyrants, as the United Nations is now eying regulation of the Internet - as though it was in need of being regulated.

The RC helicopter you may have played with as a kid just got an upgrade: it can now be controlled with your mind.

Treasurer Wayne Swan reiterated on Wednesday that Australia's mining boom is not yet over despite falling prices of commodities in the world market and lower demand. He cited the $268.4 billion investment to major resources projects that mining companies had committed in the last six months to October.

By Greg PeelThe Dow rose 106 points, or 0.8%, while the S&P gained 0.8% to 1409 and the Nasdaq was also up 0.

The last 24 hours have been quite revealing in terms of the character of the market. From time to time the market discussion has turned to the matter of how well market sentiment is holding up in the face of US political uncertainty and the fiscal cliff. However this matter has been painted in a different light in the last day.The preceding 24 hours have largely been defined by good news. Common ground has finally been found between the IMF and Eurozone finance ministers in relation to the next ...