Jamelle Agbuis

Non-bank margins may be unviable as a result of the government's ban on exit fees, Aussie CEO Stephen Porges has claimed.

With thin market conditions last night due to the US Independence Day Holiday, the AUD is fairly unchanged this morning currently trading around USD1.0730.

As the majority of investors initially stayed on the sidelines yesterday morning, the Australian Dollar was sold heavily in the second half of the Asian Session as Australian Retail Sales produced a reading of negative 0.6 percent for the month of May.

The U.S. dollar was modestly lower in holiday-thinned trade Monday as the euro brushed aside concerns triggered by Standard & Poor's warning on Greece's debt. Standard & Poor's warning that a debt rollover plan for Greece would be akin to a default rattled markets and negated the positive momentum seen after euro-zone ministers approved funding for Greece this past weekend.

A stress test conducted by the European insurance regulator, EIOPA, has revealed that 10pct of European insurers would need to raise fresh capital in the event of a severe economic shock.

A big week for most markets, especially in the US where a relief rally saw the best gains in two years and European markets had their best week in a year.

The HIA has forecast a "chill wind" for residential building activity over the next year.

The Australian Dollar enjoyed a strong week across the board opening this morning noticeably higher at a rate of 1.0781 against its US Counterpart.

U.S. stocks surged Friday, notching the biggest weekly gain in nearly two years, as a strong reading of manufacturing activity lifted investor spirits ahead of the long holiday weekend.

The free cloud applications, particularly Google spreadsheets, are gaining popularity as a phishing platform.

On this day, 235 years ago, the Second Continental Congress voted for a Declaration of Independence.

Skype on Thursday updated its Android app to allow users of select devices to make video calls, putting Android users on the same level of functionality as their iOS counterparts. Users of the Skype for iOS app have been able to make video calls since late December.

A debate will take place in Canberra today about whether or not quotas should be introduced in Australia to place more women in senior roles.

"We're embarking on a series of interface updates to help strip out unnecessary clutter and make Gmail as beautiful as it is powerful", Jason Cornwell, Google user experience designer, writes in a blog posted late this evening Eastern Time. Changes will occur gradually over a few months.

One of the biggest problems with instant messaging is that not everyone uses the same network. Typically you'll have friends who swear by Windows Live on the one hand, while others refuse to budge from Yahoo Messenger on the other.

In terms of tech specs, it's actually quite unremarkable. It runs on Android 2.2 with what appears to be a custom Tag Heuer skin, has 256 MB of RAM and an 8GB SD card, a single 5 Megapixel camera, and an undisclosed applications processor speed.

Bankrupt Canadian telecommunications company Nortel Networks Corp. has been slowly selling off its assets since 2009, and this year it put its most valuable intellectual property up for auction: essential patents for approximately 6,000 telecommunications and Internet technologies, including fundamental patents included in the LTE wireless standard.

Greece seems to be behind us, but the US debt ceiling brawl continues towards the August 2 deadline.

Los Angeles Times reporters Jessica Guynn and Dawn Chmielewski claim that Google "is in preliminary talks to buy online video pioneer Hulu, people familiar with the situation said".

On July 6, Facebook is hosting an event where it will unveil an unnamed new product, which TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington says will be an in-browser video chat client from Skype.

A new online compliance forum will help provide guidance to brokers struggling to come to terms with the NCCP regime.

The US ISM manufacturing index rose unexpectedly from 53.5 to 55.3 in June - marking the first rise in four months.

A week ago, the AMP's chief strategist and chief economist, Dr Shane Oliver, re-examined the Wall of Worry that confronts markets and investors.

One thing is certain, markets in the coming financial year will not be underwritten by the US Federal Reserve's easy money activities (AKA QE2), they will have to look to more mundane factors for their stimulus.

Greece finally found sense this week and avoided committing financial suicide, for the time being at least.

For us in Australia, the 2010-11 financial year, June 30 half year, June quarter and month of June have all been confusing, to say the least.

Data released out the Australian economy yesterday showed private sector credit rose by a disappointing 0.3 percent for the month of May.

U.S. stocks closed the second quarter with a fourth straight day of gains as encouraging Chicago-area economic data and a pledge from German banks to support heavily indebted Greece whetted investors' risk appetite.

The ISM Chicago business index rose from 56.6 to 61.1 in June. The result was well ahead of expectations which centred on a result around 54.