POLITICS & POLICY

A number of business retailers have cautioned Australians to double check their Christmas lights for defective wires and unusual sparks.

Wanting to have a well-diversified portfolio, Australia's Future Fund has scooped up assets in infrastructure amounting to A$2 billion (US$2.08 billion).

The Australian state of Queensland's AA1 credit rating has been downgraded from stable to negative by international ratings agency Moody's Investors Service, and is unlikely to revert any time soon to its former AAA rating.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian Dollar is trading half way between USD 1.0400 and 1.0500 following rallies on global stock markets at the end of last week.

The chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel has raised uncertainties over the reaching of an accord in the next European Union budget that is to be held in a meeting in Brussels.

AFTERNOON REPORT (5pm AEDT)Local stocks closed flat today, following yesterday's impressive rally, and with Wall Street closed overnight for Thanksgiving. It's expected to be another quiet session in the US tonight, with no economic data scheduled for release. European markets rose overnight on improving Chinese manufacturing data, while markets around the Asian region were generally higher today.

Today, technology giant Apple will be hosting a 24-hour in-shop and online sale for gadget consumers in Australia. The iPod Touch, MacBook Pro and MacBook Air including the Retina models are all offered with a lower price but the well-known iPhone is not listed on the discounted items.

An island off the South Pacific has been discovered to be a hoax or non-existent by a group of Australian scientists, despite being visible on marine charts and world maps, even on Google Earth.

At least 100,000 jobs will be made available in Western Australia in the next 10 years as the state surges on with growth in its minerals and energy sector.

With US markets closed overnight for the Thanksgiving holiday, all eyes were on Europe where EU leaders began a two-day meeting to discuss and set the Euro bloc's next seven-year budget.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian Dollar has opened slightly firmer this morning but trading ranges overnight have been very tight due to the US Thanksgiving holiday.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott envisions a government with sound fiscal policies and more focused in engaging with its immediate neighbours in the Asia-Pacific region, that is if he becomes Australia’s next leader.

Aluminum producer Alcoa Inc. is mulling to acquire the aluminum holdings of BHP Billiton Ltd. and Rio Tinto Group to boost production requirements in anticipation of a 6.5 per cent growth in demand.

Chinese miners of rare earths are bound to receive a funding support from China's Communist Party-led government to encourage further development and upgrades in the badly performing sector recently dealt with environment problems.

A proposed management plan to save the Murray-Darling Basin after decades of degradation has finally become a decree on Thursday, with Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke affixing his signature to make the plan a final legality.

The resumption of uranium mining in Queensland could potentially earn for the state some $78 billion, Jeff Seeney, Deputy Premier and Infrastructure Minister, said on Thursday.

Jonathon O'Dea, Liberal MP for Davidson, has urged on the New South Wales Government to consider exploring the potential of nuclear power generation after the state government reported 39 expressions of interest from companies wishing to explore for uranium in the province.

Mines located in Queensland ought to brace for potential ill-effects of the impending wet season as well as ensure that their respective safety contingency plans are in place and at the same time are working.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: Australian Dollar opens little changed after a subdued overnight session. The Australian Dollar has this morning opened at 1.0364 against the Greenback after trading to a low of 1.0339 overnight.

Comments from Central Bankers have been in focus in the last day. Locally RBA Governor Stevens presented a picture of the RBA being alert but not alarmed. In a speech the Governor delivered on Wednesday evening, he reflected on the Chinese slowdown being 'more material' than the Bank had predicted, although the outcome wasn't a 'disaster'.

After the meltdown came the eventual chaos, and more. Shopping retailers that participated in Click Frenzy are mulling to combine forces yet again, not to add in more products for sale this time, but to ask for proper compensation for the services the online shopping website failed to deliver.

The state of Queensland has given a conditional stamp of approval to a proposed $1.4 billion resort tourism and residential development project at Ella Bay near Innisfail, south of Cairns.

The inevitable happened. What was touted as the "online event of the year" frustrated many cyber shoppers when the website of Click Frenzy failed to run smoothly a minute after it opened shop at 7pm (AEDT) on Tuesday.

Some eleven franchisees of the Harvey Norman, a large Australian-based retailer of electrical, computer, furniture, entertainment and bedding goods, have been slapped cases by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) in the Federal Court on alleged consumer rights misrepresentation.

Risk assets were fairly choppy throughout European and US trade, but managed to edge higher into the close. Market participants continued to monitor the wires for a potential deal on Greece as European leaders meet.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian Dollar is slightly lower this morning following falls on US stock markets and a signal the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) may cut the cash rate again in the near future.

Hopes the US government will reach a deal to avert the so-called fiscal cliff saw US share markets soar overnight, with the Dow Jones Index adding more than 200 points. Local stocks have followed suit, adding to yesterday's 0.5pct gain with another 0.6pct win today. By close, the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) was higher by 24.9pts to 4407.5pts.

Australian rare earths miner Lynas Corp has scheduled for December the start-up of its processing plant in Kuantan, Malaysia, executive chairman Nicholas Curtis said at the annual general meeting in Sydney on Tuesday.

Australia, along with 109 other nations, on Tuesday supported a resolution at the UN General Assembly urging for the elimination of the death penalty. The declaration is voted upon every two years by member-nations.