POLITICS & POLICY

David Jones Ltd, Australia's No.2 department store chain and rival to Myer, reported total sales in its Financial Year (FY12) has dropped 4.6 per cent from a year ago.

U.S. stocks erased earlier losses to finish the day roughly flat, as investors rode hopes that the Federal Reserve may act again to stimulate the economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended Wednesday's session off 30.82 points, or 0.2%, at 13172.76, after falling as many as 83 points earlier in the session.

Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick said on Wednesday that the present atmosphere in Defence would not allow women to flourish within the organisation. To change this, she made 21 recommendations when she submitted her final report to the federal government.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian Dollar is currently trading around USD1.0500 as comments from the Federal Reserve during last night's offshore trading session boosted optimism in the markets and offset the glum feeling out of Europe.

Australian public service unions are against a proposal by the Coalition to outsource federal jobs to state governments. Community and Public Sector Union National Secretary Nadine Flood warned of the danger of reversion to a 1980s policy which could result in axing of thousands of federal jobs.

Support by the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Greens led the passing on Wednesday night by the territory's Legislative Assembly of the same-sex union bill after a long debate.

All in the same plate, only different viands. But no matter, Australia could still very much capitalize on China's growing interest on its agriculture sector as the latter once had on its resources sector.

After weeks of dilly dallying and speculative talks, global miner BHP Billiton has finally dropped the bomb and confirmed it is dropping all plans on the supposed $30 billion expansion of the Olympic Dam copper and uranium mine mega project in South Australia.

Spot prices of key steel-making ingredient iron ore have been forecast to gain as much as 39 per cent in the fourth quarter of the year, spurred by a possible renewed buying spree from China and reversing the fall in demand in the last first two quarters.

Australian legislators called for an independent probe Wednesday to sort out allegations that the senior executives of the country’s central bank tried to cover up the note-printing scandals that rocked the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) in mid-2009.

Seven West Media Ltd, Australia's largest locally listed media company, said its takeover by West Australian Newspaper Holdings in 2011 has helped lift its first full year net profit to $226.9 million, up by 97.1 per cent over the previous year's $115.1 million.

Three decades from now, the world's financial activity may very well be managed and controlled by the richest people from Asia.

The New South Wales government ended on Tuesday its one year impasse with the Shooters Party over amendments to the state government's anti-graffiti legislation.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard was completely clueless of the alleged nefarious activities of her former partner, then Australian Workers Union boss Bruce Wilson, 17 years ago. Mr. Wilson, on the other hand, claims that they were backed by her former employers at Slater & Gordon law firm.

The emerging El Niño weather pattern that Australian scientists have been closely monitoring could prove beneficial to the country's sugar cane growers in Queensland, according to a senior forecaster.

U.S. STOCK MARKETSThe Dow finished with its biggest decline in almost three weeks Tuesday, falling for the second session in a row after knocking on the door of multiyear highs early in the session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 68.06 points, or 0.5%, to 13203.58, its sharpest drop since Aug. 2.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian Dollar is relatively unchanged this morning, currently trading at USD1.0470 as low trading volumes make it hard for the AUD to hold onto the gains experienced following the RBA's release yesterday.

Tony Abbott is convinced he is a ‘modern man’ as he parried accusations from Labor ministers that he behaves quite differently when dealing with female colleagues at the Parliament.

Philippine government officials confirmed on Tuesday that the body of the country’s interior ministry chief, Jesse Robredo, has been retrieved from the wreckage of the private plane that crashed Saturday afternoon in seawaters located south central of the Philippines.

The number of New Zealanders making an exodus to Australia has reached a record high in July, Statistics New Zealand said, which reported that a whopping 53,900 people departed New Zealand to transfer to the resource-rich nation.

The U.S. State Department has accused WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange of sidestepping the real issues surrounding his legal predicaments even as a key Labor figure sounded off grave concerns on the prospect of the Australian national getting a fair trial in the United States.

As expected, the board of Australia's Hastings Diversified Utilities Fund (HDF) has recommended on Tuesday the A$1.4 billion ($1.46 billion) bid of gas distributor Pipeline Consortium APA Group, a day after rival suitor Pipeline Partners Australia (PPA) bowed out from the chase game.

Alan Joyce, chief executive officer of labour beleaguered Qantas Airways Ltd., has decided not to accept his bonus and pay rise for this year, in what could be a fitting gesture in light of the continuing massive fiscal crisis affecting both local and international companies.

Oil major Chevron Corp on Monday announced it had reached a $450 million agreement with Royal Dutch Shell PLC to exchange its assets in the Browse development for stakes in the Clio and Acme fields in the Carnarvon Basin.

U.S. STOCK MARKETSU.S. stocks took a pause Monday, with the Dow industrials ticking down for the first in three sessions, as telecommunications and consumer-discretionary shares fell. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gave up 3.56 points, or less than 0.1%, to 13271.64.The blue-chip benchmark had capped its sixth-straight weekly advance on Friday, putting it within striking distance of multi-year highs.

Coalition leader Tony Abbott suffered a double whammy in two successive days. On Monday, he was ejected by Parliament during a heated Question Time and the next day reports said support for Labor continued to rise despite the introduction of the carbon tax in July.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian Dollar had a very quiet night with markets noticing the effect of the traditional summer holiday periods in the Northern Hemisphere.

Pipeline Consortium APA Group could most likely win the takeover battle over Hastings Diversified Utilities Fund (HDF) after rival bidder Pipeline Partners Australia (PPA) announced on Monday it no longer plans to match APA's raised bid.

Australia may find it hard to meet the demands of the ‘Asian Century’, this was hinted Monday by former Treasury Secretary Ken Henry in a speech before the Australian Industry Group held in Canberra.