Esther Tanquintic-Misa

Hopes of a coordinated European bailout plan propelled copper futures to end sharply higher Tuesday, with December delivery reaching 15.65 US cents, or 4.5 per cent, to $US3.4395 per pound on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

World oil prices has moved up more than 5 percent on Tuesday on encouraging news that European fiscal managers are working overtime on a bailout fund to contain the region's debilitating sovereign-debt crisis.

Gold futures on Tuesday regained its foothold after a three-day slide on a weakened U.S. dollar and renewed investor confidence fuelled by encouragement that European fiscal regulators are working overtime on a bailout fund to address the region's debilitating sovereign-debt crisis.

In spite the tightening of oil supplies as Libya is yet to regain its normal oil production output, the prime commodity is expected to fall a third straight day on Friday to to $80.09 per barrel.

Rio Tinto is mulling to spin off a fraction of its Australian aluminum assets as a planned carbon emissions tax would surely raise costs and lower profit margins for the global mining company, the Australian Financial Review said Monday.

Budget airline Jetstar has launched a $7 fare sale to promote interest to its latest flight destination from Wellington to Queenstown in New Zealand.

It's all systems go as Chevron Corp. formally approved today the $29 billion Wheatstone liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Western Australia's Pilbara region.

It seems the "safe haven" of gold is losing its shine as investors flock to the renewed strength of the U.S. dollar amid the dreary global economic outlook, causing the precious metal along with silver to plummet on the trading floor.

The Mongolian government is seeking to increase its stake allocation in the Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold project from 34% to 50%, leaving its developers rethinking if it was a good deal at all to have initiated the project.

Good or bad news, it could still be good news. While most are on the edge awaiting for final developments as to how low the Aussie dollar can go, some are just most happy they have taken advantage of its worth months ago.

Is there really finality in death? Two days after Troy Davis was executed via lethal injection close to midnight on Wednesday, the controversy surrounding his death still goes on. Can death really give both defendant and accused and all concerned parties the closure they need? Hardly it seems.

Deposits flowed out of China's four major state-owned banks as high inflation and low interest rates prompted savers to cash their money in the private lending market for better returns.

China is headed for a slowdown and may not be able to pull the world out of its economic rut, projections from the International Monetary Fund and a drop in HSBC's purchasing managers' index indicate.

Fearing a global fall into recession, copper investors liquidated their assets Thursday, forcing copper futures to drop by more than 7 percent to their lowest levels in a year at $3.48 a pound.

China and Tanzania are set to work on a $3-billion coal and iron ore construction partnership that will develop the Mchuchuma coal and Liganga iron ore projects in Southern Tanzania.

The changes elicited mixed reactions. Some liked it not, some liked it real hot.Its 750 million users were shocked to see changes in their home pages in the past few weeks, such as larger photo displays and a feature that categorizes friends' lists. But more is yet to come.

In a bid to protect the global economy from further financial oblivion, the International Monetary Fund pressed Europe's many banks to raise capital to cushion the $405 billion it stands to lose because of the massive euro-debt crisis.

A principal of Lindisfarne Anglican Grammar School, in Tweed Heads has used his school newsletter to lash out against global social networking sites, in particular Facebook.

High-end Australian department store David Jones reported its profit after tax dropped 1.5% to $170.8 million and sales fell 4.4% to $2053.1 million. David Jones attributed the decline the strong Aussie dollar and reduced consumer spending due to the global financial meltdown.

Foster's Group had expressed high hopes that the takeover of SABMiller of its company will mean Australian beers getting the exposure it deserved from beer aficionados around the world.The Australian beer giant accepted on Wednesday an improved takeover package worth from $10.1 billion from British-based brewer SABMiller.

Now, shopping and paying for your purchases could be as easy as a button click on your mobile devices and gadgets.Electronic payment whiz PayPal recently announced it is working on a technology that will allow mobile devices to scan product codes and then support payments from a mobile account. It will also allow users to send and receive money using their smartphones, as well as check product inventory and make reservations at stores where available, and pay for items without falling in lin...

It ain't over yet. Beleaguered Qantas Airlines faces more turbulence ahead as the Transport Workers Union (TWU) pushes for successive work stoppages this and next week.

Unlabelled China vegetable imports entering Australia via New Zealand have irritated a key farming organization in Queensland, and strongly pressed New Zealand nationals to strictly comply with the Australian Country of Origin Labelling ('CoOL') regulations.

Days after S&P reduced Italy's credit rating on Monday, Chinese foreign currency experts are getting restless the euro's weakness will greatly affect the value of Chinese currency and its overall exports performance.

Fueled by fears over the continuing and escalating global financial meltdown, prices of gold are projected to increase by end of this year and way into 2012 as investors turn to the metal commodity to assure their financial capabilities. Mining companies said the precious commodity may hit $2,000 an ounce by end 2011, and further hike to $2,300 an ounce by the close of 2012.

China, in a bid to gain a foothold in the global pricing of iron ore, will launch by October its own iron ore price index, with updates on a weekly basis.

Three years before it has yet to really produce coal, the northern Galilee basin is already fully booked to Indian and Chinese coal mining companies.

UK-based Rio Tinto announced it recently increased its copper mineral resources to 106 million tonnes at its wholly-owned Kennecott Utah Copper Bingham Canyon Mine.

China is becoming concerned that Europe's continuing financial meltdown will harm its exports, as the U.S. plans to launch a trade enforcement action against the world's No. 2 economy.