POLITICS & POLICY

The Australian sharemarket has kicked off the week in better form, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) up 0.2 pct or 9.2 pts to 4351.9. Last week was the worst weekly performance for the local market in around six months. This weekend, the Chinese Central Bank cut its reserve requirements for Chinese banks to give the economy a bit of a boost. This essentially means that banks will have more cash to lend out to borrowers.

The government of Mozambique has announced it is currently preparing the necessary prerequisites for the international tenders it intends to make on the new oil and natural gas blocks in the Rovuma Basin in the far northern portion of the country.

If it seems as though the FBI is making a large number of terror busts these days, maybe it's because the agency itself is at least partly responsible for hatching the plots.

China has started on Sunday the construction of what could be the world's largest capacity power transmission line capable of transmitting 37 billion kWh on average annually.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard said on Monday that former Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd is free to comment on anything and anytime, dismissing suggestions that the ruling party was imposing on its erstwhile leader to shun media interviews.

The Australian Council of Trade Union (ACTU) proposed a millionaire's tax on wealthy Aussies such as Gina Rinehart, Clive Palmer and Andrew Forrest. The proposed levy is similar to the Buffett Rule in the U.S.

Three of Asia's biggest economies have agreed Sunday to commence their discussions for the likely establishment of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) among them, which China believes would propel the region to further economic strength.

The Fair Work Ombudsman will go over the books of about 120 cafes, restaurants and fast food outlets in Adelaide to check abuse of workers, particularly in the area of wages.

After hitting its lowest since early January on Friday, the safe-haven precious yellow metal gold edged a little on Monday, adding $3.39 an ounce to $1,581.69 by 0248 GMT.

The $29-billion Wheatstone LNG (liquefied natural gas) project of US giant Chevron Corp. is almost already a good done deal, with 80 per cent of sale contracts already covered.

Gay marriage has won the unconditional backing of U.S. President Barack Obama last week and Argentine President Cristina Kirchner is sending an appeal letter to Prime Minister Julia Gillard, all representing the series of events that marriage equality advocates hope would prompt the Australian government to rethink its position on the controversial issue.

Crown Chairman James Packer sees middle-class Chinese casino-goers as the possible saving grace of Australia's tourism industry. He compared the value of that market segment to the importance of the Internet to the modern world.

It was a wild weekend for investors. The European market traded higher as no new news was seen as good news, but the US markets closed down on trouble in the finance sector and Chinese growth concerns wacked well-known companies. News that the US banking giant, J.P. Morgan Chase & Company. (JPM.NY) had disclosed trading losses from one of its derivatives trading businesses in London, that currently stand at US$2Billion and could blowout to US$3 Billion, shocked the market. The fact that this cou...

Australia's identified gas reserves is enough to power the country's needs for almost two centuries, Resources Minister Martin Ferguson said on Sunday.

Australian rare earths miner Lynas Corp. and its embattled processing plant in Malaysia continue to get caught in a nasty tug-of-war between the country's locals and its government which very much approves its presence.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian Dollar is close to parity with the USD after the weekend's announcement of China's second cut this year in the reserve ratio requirement for banks has provided no relief from the ongoing concerns of Europe.

The Dow industrials edged lower to cap their biggest weekly retreat of the year, as big trading losses at J.P. Morgan Chase weighed on sentiment. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 34.44 points, or 0.3%, to 12820.60, erasing earlier gains after reports of a Securities and Exchange Commission review tied to J.P. Morgan's trading loss.

The Australian sharemarket fell for the third time this week, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) down 0.3 pct or 11.1 pts to 4342.7. Shares have slumped by 2.6 pct this week locally, which is the worst weekly performance since November 2011. Only around 30 pct of listed companies improved today.

Many parts of the world will celebrate Mother’s Day on Sunday, May 13. Meanwhile, in some unfortunate places, mothers continue to struggle just to find food for their children.

Australia appears to be on the right track on its carbon pricing program as a UN report that came out Thursday called on countries in the Asia-Pacific region to ramp up their efforts in reducing carbon emission while attaining economic prosperity.

The room for the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to further cut the overnight cash rate just shrank with the release on Thursday of statistics that the country's unemployment rate unexpectedly went down to 4.9 per cent from 5.2 per cent.

India, currently embroiled in a coal supply shortage owing to various complicated issues at the home front, is set to enter into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Mongolia that will enable it to acquire a coking coal mine in the coal rich country.

The Australian share market closed higher yesterday even with a slight slump in the last 2 hours of trade after the weaker than expected trade data out of China, the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) ended up 22points.

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key voiced out on Friday his personal support for gay marriage, joining U.S. President Barack Obama who openly said yesterday that "same-sex couples should be able to get married."

China, in just barely less than a week, has sent again into orbit another remote-sensing satellite. Although this time, it has yet to confirm that this particular one launched was a spy satellite.

Australian miner Dart Energy said on Friday that it would no longer drill a coal seam gas (CSG) well in St Peters, Sydney, The firm confirmed its statement in a filing with the Australian Securities Exchange.

Lynas Corp had scored a stamp of safety approval from no less than the Malaysian Parliamentary Committee, which continuous the Australian miner's winning streak to get its controversial rare earths processing plant operational in Malaysia.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The local unit recovered some ground overnight only to open back below USD1.0100 this morning.

The Dow industrials broke a six-session losing streak Thursday as a potential breakthrough by Greek political leaders eased immediate concerns about the country's exit from the euro zone. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 19.98 points, or 0.2%, to 12855.04. Blue chips survived a last-minute swoon, after having turned negative in the final minutes of the session, to snap their longest losing streak since August.