Vittorio Hernandez

In European economic data, German retail sales rose by 1.9% in real terms in October, above forecasts for a 1.7% gain and compares with the 2.8% fall in September sales.

The weak tone seen in the first half of the session remained over the course of the afternoon. The ASX 200 was unable to recover from the session lows which was where the index spent most of the session. Over the course of the week the index gained 0.16%

Cooling measures put in place by some Asian government such as Hong Kong and Singapore had displaced demand for real estate in the region. Because of the significant impact of the measures on transaction volumes, market experts foresee some of those restrictions being lifted in the next 12 months, forecasts Liam Bailey, global head of residential research at Knight Frank, in the white paper of leading property portal Lamudi.

Australian shares are posting their biggest daily losses in a month and a half following a huge slide in oil prices overnight. The ASX 200 Index is down 1.3 per cent and is being led lower by an energy sector slumping by close to 7 per cent at lunch.

With US markets closed for Thanksgiving, investors focused on European trade and the OPEC meeting. Yields in Europe continued to decline as markets continue to price in the possibility of QE. ECB President Mario Draghi spoke again and reinforced that all assets are under consideration should additional measures be required. This kept bond yields calm and drove European equities higher. Just to put it into perspective, the German 10-year fell to just 0.7%, while Spain's dropped to 1.89%.

There were at least two people who were unhappy with Manny Pacquiao's successful defense of his WBO welterweight title on Nov 22 in Macau. One was obviously his opponent, the loser Chris Algieri who could no longer claim the title unbeaten boxer and is now recovering from his bruises that he sustained during the lopsided fight.

A report by EDITD, a retail technology firm used by more than 10,000 US and UK subscribers, suggests several clothing items that retailers give a big discount because it would soon be out of fashion. By disposing of these soon-to-be outdated styles, stores maximise their profits and prevent having too much of certain styles on their stockrooms which if left too long would become stale and may force them to even slash its tag prices further.

The peak of the Geminid Meteor Shower in 2014 would be on Dec 13 and 14, with Australians having the chance to see the shower of 30 to 40 meteors and hour. There would also be an occasional bright fireball that would light up the sky, said Perry Vlahos of the Astronomical Society of Victoria.

Ministers from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) have decided to leave production quotas unchanged, resulting in a 6% slump in world oil prices.

Former US President Bill Clinton apparently has not learned his lesson from his affair with then White House intern Monica Lewinsky which almost had him impeached, while then First Lady Hillary Clinton almost divorced him.

In spite of adding another $25 million to his wealth, the Philippine elite would likely keep its distance from boxing champ Manny Pacquiao who successfully defended his WBO welterweight title on Nov 22 against American boxer Chris Algieiri.

Australian shares finished slightly higher on Thursday, adding to yesterday's 1.1 per cent surge. The ASX 200 Index closed a touch above the 5400pt level. This makes it three days of gains this week and takes the improvements over the past four days to 1.8 per cent.

In a bid to regain its lost market share, Ontario-based phonemaker BlackBerry is offering owners of iPhones up to $400 if they would trade in their Apple-made units for a BlackBerry Passport phone.

The Australian market is improving for the second day and is trading around its best level in more than a week. The ASX 200 is up 0.1 per cent and remains slightly above the key 5400pt level. This follows a 1.1 per cent surge posted on Wednesday.

When Paper magazine published the naked behind of reality star Kim Kardashian on the cover of its November issue a few weeks ago, it promised to break the Internet. Thanks to the display of her rear assets, Kardashian also broke records on views of porn materials.

These winds from "down under" either sound too loud or smell too much. Either way that these "careless whispers" escape through the anus, it's embarrassing to the source and cause of irritation to the recipient of the sound or smell.

The $7 general practitioner co-payment proposed by Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott is good as dead. He has reportedly accepted privately that the proposal would not be approved in the Australian Senate where the Opposition, Greens and crossbenchers rule.

Notwithstanding the #bendgate scandal, iPhone 6 sales soared and is responsible for Apple's market value hitting $700 billion on Tuesday. Add as well the sale of the flagship in China.

In US economic data: personal spending +0.2%, income +0.2%; durable goods orders +0.4%; weekly jobless claims +21,000 to 313,000; Chicago purchasing manager's index down from 66.2 to 60.8; pending home sales down 1.1%; new home sales +0.7%; consumer sentiment down from 89.4 to 88.8; weekly mortgage market index down 4.3% with purchases down 5.8%.

Australian shares made up for yesterday's modest 0.5 per cent tumble in full with the ASX 200 surging at the close to end 1.1 firmer. It continues to be a volatile affair for local stocks this week with shares up 1.1 per cent on Monday prior to Tuesday's falls.

Because of the private nature of a testicular exam, only six men in Los Angeles allowed themselves to be given testicular exam by a young and hot female named Marissa dressed in a sexy white nurse uniform. SimplePIckup, a YouTube prank group, made the offer to raise funds for their Movember cancer charity, which focuses on male health issues.

Even Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott and his daughter Frances are probably relieved that the Downing Centre Local Court did not convict Freya Newman for accessing restricted data and sharing her discovery.

The market volatility that has been a recent staple for local shares continued on Wednesday. The ASX 200 opened with a gain of 4 points before rallying to an improvement of 56 points at the morning highs. Thereafter the index consolidated within sight of the best levels of the day. The early improvements locally came despite flat results for European and US indices in the last 12 hours. European shares rose on Tuesday but gains in bank stocks were offset by weakness in resources. The FTSEurofirs...

A potential merger between Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) and Glencore (LON: GLEN) could create the world's biggest mining company and dislodge BHP Billiton (ASX: BHP) from the top, a London expert said.

The gender gap in salaries in Australia just got wider. The latest report by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) said the difference grew to 24.7 percent from 19.9 percent. The gap is felt more among women executives who get lesser discretionary pay such as bonuses, allowances, overtime and other perks when compared to their male counterparts.

In US economic data the consumer confidence index fell from 94.1 to 88.7 in November, well short of forecasts centred on a reading near 96.0. The Case Shiller home price index rose by 0.3% in September to be up 4.9% over the year. The US economy grew at a 3.9% annual pace in the September quarter, up from the 3.3% consensus forecast.

The AUD lost over 1% in overnight trade as the commodity free fall began to bite into the risk currency

The Australian market is having its worst day in close to six weeks with mining and energy stocks wiping out most of Monday's gains. The ASX 200 Index is down 0.9 per cent and remains just above the key 5300pt level. Local shares surged by 1.1 per cent yesterday following the surprise interest rate cuts in China.

Further record prints for the US markets overnight as stimulus from three of the four largest central banks, coupled with solid state specific economy data, allowed investors to keep the long auto-pilot on.