POLITICS & POLICY

The Australian sharemarket improved for the second consecutive trading session, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) up 0.6 pct or 24.9 pts to 4143.2. This is the first time this month that shares have recorded two straight days of gains. Despite the improvement, today was yet another extremely quiet day for local markets (one of the quietest sessions of the year). This was partly due to a public holiday in Japan. The Tokyo Stock Exchange is considered to be the world's fourth largest stock ex...

Another Australian business entity has been put up on sale, this time its largest integrated poultry producer, Inghams Enterprises, after weathering the corporate storms for 94 years as a private company.

Ben Linden, a 24-year-old musician and cabinet maker from Perth, is the fifth fatality of a shark attack in a WA beach in ten months. A jet-ski rider who tried to pull Linden’s body said he saw the massive shark. The shark tried to knock him off his jet ski as he tried to recover Linden's body.

Mongolia, a nation known for its vast yet largely untapped natural reserves, has earned yet another interested miner from Australia for its oil and natural gas supplies.

While a new report released on Monday acknowledges that the carbon trading scheme is needed for Australia to meet long-term targets that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions, it is not sufficient to cut the cost of clean technologies to generate sufficient electricity and replace coal.

Shares of Whitehaven Coal Ltd. responded positively to news of a A$5.3 billion ($5.4 billion) takeover bid by a consortium led by Australian billionaire Nathan Tinkler.

The Sri Lankan government has arrested more than 200 boat people that said to be on their way to Australia over the weekend.

Latest census data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics has revealed that most of Australia's richest towns lie in its western portion, which is not surprising though since Western Australia is home to the country's much touted mining boom. New research showed the town of Dampier is now Australia's richest town.

Beyond the mining boom, Australia needs to train its eyes on a burgeoning economic activity that has been growing by the millions each year, according to Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan.

Australian media group Seven West Media, owner of The West Australian newspaper and the Seven Network, on Monday announced it will embark on a A$440 million ($450 million) capital raising to write off debt via a renounceable one-for-two rights issue to existing shareholders.

On Friday we saw most global share markets rallying higher after the Chinese economic data was not as bad as investors had feared. European and US markets helped by the news out of China reinvigorating commodity prices and better than expected numbers from Key US banks. JPMorgan Chase beat the street with is quarterly results despite the firm increasing the cost of its one off trading loss that has now cost US$5.8 billion and set to climb. California's largest bank Wells Fargo also thrilled t...

Many Australian businesses, particularly those outside the resources sector, are suffering from revenue and profit squeeze due to increasing cost of energy, expected to worsen with the imposition of the carbon tax on July 1 and huge investments in energy networks.

Financial stocks led a market surge after better-than-expected quarterly results from J.P. Morgan Chase boosted enthusiasm about earnings season and jolted the Dow from its longest slide in almost two months. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 203.82 points, or 1.6%, to 12777.09. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index advanced 22.02 points, or 1.7%, to 1356.78.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian Dollar has opened above 1.0200 following Friday's Chinese Q2 GDP data and rallying equity markets Friday night.

There was nothing frightening about Friday 13th, with sharemarkets improving for the first time in seven trading days thanks to economic news out of China not surprising investors. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) rose by 0.3 pct or 12.3 pts to 4118.3. The XAO is one of the main ways to measure market performance in Australia. Despite today's gains, shares locally have slumped by 1.7 pct over the past five days, are only a touch weaker so far in July and are flat in the 2012 calendar year.

As expected, the Australian dollar slid, albeit marginally, on Friday afternoon in reaction to China's dismal second quarter 2012 gross domestic product (GDP) growth performance.

Matamec Explorations Inc., a junior mining rare earth exploration company, has entered into a sale and purchase agreement (SPA) and a joint venture agreement (JVA) with Toyotsu Rare Earth Canada, Inc. (TRECan) over the former's Kipawa heavy rare earths element (HREE) deposit in Québec.

The former Treasury Secretary, Ken Henry, encouraged Australian businesses to have an open mind for offshoring to help them survive the current economic and commercial global environment. By sourcing more of the products from overseas, he said the businesses - especially those in the manufacturing sector - would offset the squeeze they experience from the mining boom.

The three economic leaders U.S., the European Union and Japan won't be pleased. After imposing curbs of its rare earths exports, China is set to launch effective August 8 a physical trading platform for rare earths, in a bid to strengthen its hold, if not totally manipulate, the global prices of the essential minerals.

Not by some stroke of luck but more of a force majeure, the U.S. House of Congress on Thursday cleared a proposed law to increase the output of rare earths and other highly coveted metals and minerals, effectively clearing for the resurrection of its domestic rare earths mining which it suspended over 20 years ago partly due both to environmental concerns and falling global demand and prices.

Australians were at the mercy of global online retailers for now, which is the main reason that digital contents and products marketed locally carry more premium price when compared to offshore online stores, a new government submission said.

The federal government on Friday warned businesses to refrain from applying the GST on top of the fixed-priced carbon tax following news reports that the goods and services charges would be included on customer bills.

Australian unions are gearing up for a battle with Opposition leader Tony Abbott after he disclosed on Wednesday plans to revamp the country's flexible workplace agreement system.

The S&P 500 fell Thursday, extending the longest slump for the broader market in nearly two months as investors weighed concerns about corporate earnings and a global economic slowdown. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index dropped 6.69 points, or 0.5%, to 1334.76. Technology and financial shares led declines, while defensive sectors such as healthcare and utilities rose.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian Dollar has opened lower this morning following a night of heavy market sentiment.

Rio Tinto has backed out from a planned $1-billion iron ore project in Portugal to focus on much bigger and potentially profit-yielding development projects, Reuters News reported.

A double whammy of falling revenue and rising costs have ultimately forced Australia's largest department store operator Myer to slash 100 jobs from a total of 13,000 manned staff, chief executive Bernie Brookes announced on Thursday afternoon.

The United States strongly urged China to seriously consider a code of conduct in the South China Sea, purportedly to ease the deepening dispute among claimants of the area, which is believe to hold vast amount of oil and natural gas reserves.

Ten days after Australia implemented its $23-a-tonne carbon tax law, the country's competition watchdog said it has received a total of 630 complaints against it.