Vittorio Hernandez

The organisers of the dream match between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr better ensure that the bout take place in 2015 for them to maximise the potential pay-per-view sales of such a gargantuan boxing match.

The winning streak continued with shares hitting fresh six-year highs, rising for a third day and remaining above the key 5600pt level. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) improved by a modest 0.1 per cent despite mixed performances from global markets overnight. The US economy expanded at a faster than expected 4 per cent annual pace in the June quarter, while comments by the US central bank relating to inflation has increased the market's expectations of an earlier rate rise. The default of Arge...

The Australian sharemarket has been unable to replicate yesterday's 1.3 per cent surge at lunch, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) down 0.3 per cent. Today is one of the busiest days for markets in the region with a barrage of earnings results out in Australia, Japan's quarterly growth update issued this morning and plenty of Chinese data scheduled for release this afternoon.

The choppy price action in equities continued with the pendulum swinging in the way of the bulls this time around. Perhaps the lack of fresh bad news on the geopolitical front calmed investor concerns. This gave investors a chance to focus on the raft of economic releases across the globe, with significant emphasis placed on disappointing US retail sales data. Given negative US data is now being perceived as positive for equities again, this reading helped ease fears of an early Fed funds rate h...

In US economic news, retail sales were flat in July, short of the expected 0.2% gain. Excluding autos, sales rose 0.1%, again short of forecasts for a 0.4% gain. The mortgage market index fell by 2.7% in the latest week, dragged down by a 4% fall in refinancing. Business inventories rose by 0.4% as expected in June.

British Telecom is preparing to place pressure on Vodafone to reduce its tariffs as competition in the 4G mobile broadband becomes tighter.

Controversial new Palmer United Party Senator Jacqui Lambie is again creating headlines by issuing comments and statements that shock Australia. The lawmaker, who called Prime Minister Tony Abbott a psychotic politician and said in a radio interview that her suitors should be well hung, warned on Wednesday of mass suicides among Aussie youth.

Wang Jianlin, the richest man in China, is committing to spend $1.7 billion to fund the construction on a 1.3-hectare beachfront resort on Australia's Gold Coast, the country's favourite summer destination.

Another jihadist man decided to sacrifice his young sons' lives by bringing them to Syria to join Islamist militant. The al-Hayat newspaper identified the father as Nasser al-Shayeq and his two sons as Abdullah and Ahmed.

The jaws of some of Fox News's hosts dropped on Tuesday when contributor Dr Keith Ablow did the unthinkable on national TV and said that U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama needs to lose weight to be credible in her campaign for better nutrition among American school children.

The Australian sharemarket has been unable to replicate yesterday's 1.3 per cent surge at lunch, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) down 0.3 per cent. Today is one of the busiest days for markets in the region with a barrage of earnings results out in Australia, Japan's quarterly growth update issued this morningand plenty of Chinese data scheduled for release this afternoon.

A 3,000-kilometre trans-Pacific cable network aims to link the U.S. and Japan. Named FASTER, the cable network would be cost $300 million and would be funded by Google and five Asian telecom and communications companies, reports NDTV.

The ASX 200 started the second session of the week on the front foot with the index happily building on the previous day's gains. The market was trading close to session highs at lunchtime with a gain of points 55 points after US stocks held their recently improved tone into the start of the week overnight.

Hispanic investors have a strong appetite for financial education and more sophisticated investment knowledge, according to a recent Wells Fargo survey. A significant 45 per cent of surveyed Hispanics claim they did not received any education on how to save and invest (versus 31 per cent of U.S. investors overall), and three out of four (76 per cent) wish they had learned more about managing money when they were growing up (compared to 61 per cent of U.S. investors overall).

It certainly seems to be a headline geopolitical risk driven market at the moment, as any news out of Russia, Ukraine or Iraq dictate sentiment. This time around the news wasn't too constructive with investors concerned about Russia using humanitarian efforts as an excuse to send troops across to Ukraine. Additionally, it doesn't seem like much progress has been made on the Gaza front ahead of the expiration of the ceasefire.

In European economic news, Germany ZEW economic sentiment index fell from 27.1 to 8.6 - the lowest level in 18 months and well below expectations. The ZEW current conditions index fell from 61.80 to 55.5. No surprise that the weakness was driven by the escalation of tensions between Russia and the West. News reports suggest a growing number of the 6,200 German firms active in Russia are warning about a hit to their business. The survey was based on 222 analysts and investors, and conducted betwe...

The law firm Maurice Blackburn filed on Tuesday a new class action suit before the New South Wales Supreme Court against ANZ, Citibank and Westpac over credit card late fees.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said on Tuesday that she had the passport of jihadist Khaled Sharrouf canceled and his family faces legal action if they return to Australia. Sharrouf shocked the world by posting on Twitter photos of his young son holding the decapitated head of a Syrian soldier.

A video of a stroller being blown into a London rail track with a baby inside the pram is now being shared in various social media sites and has gone viral. In YouTube, this video has more than 60,000 hits so far less than a day after it was posted.

When Tony Abbott was still the Opposition leader, his nemesis were female members of the handbag brigade, led by then Prime Minister Julia Gillard who called him a misogynist on the Parliament hall. Now, besides grappling with his dwindling voter support, the PM has a growing number of new nemeses - school-going and letter-writing children of lesbians who could not understand why their two mums could not legally get married in Australia.

The winning streak continued with shares hitting fresh six-year highs, rising for a third day and remaining above the key 5600pt level. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) improved by a modest 0.1 per cent despite mixed performances from global markets overnight. The US economy expanded at a faster than expected 4 per cent annual pace in the June quarter, while comments by the US central bank relating to inflation has increased the market's expectations of an earlier rate rise. The default of Arge...

Brisbane Times columnist Marcus Padley identified on Monday some 26 stocks in the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) 200's industrial sector and listed shares that investors consider vulnerable because of their high price-to-earning (PE) ratios.

Melbourne real estate technology professionals have launched a mobile application that could prevent realtors from undervaluing a property and could eventually lead to the creation of similar apps.

The ASX 200 started the second session of the week on the front foot with the index happily building on the previous day's gains. The market was trading close to session highs at lunchtime with a gain of points 55 points after US stocks held their recently improved tone into the start of the week overnight.

"Na-nu, na-nu," were the famous words that then 27-year-old actor Robin Williams uttered as the newly launched lead actor of the YV sitcom Mork & Mindy in 1978. The show, which aired until 1982, featured Williams as Mork, the alien from the planet Ork who initially came into Earth as a dog, but eventually appeared as a human.

One of the last things that 63-year-old Hollywood actor did to battle depression was check himself into a Minnesota rehab in early July to keep his sobriety. Best known for his role as the alien Mork in the 1970s hit sitcom Mork & Minday, Williams stayed at the Hazelden Addiction Treatment Center for a few weeks.

Russia has taken a further step back from the Ukrainian crisis, after having pulled back strike fighters from the border (however, Russian troops still remain).

The specter of higher rates putting pressure on corporate earnings spurred investors to redeem a record setting $11.38 billion from High Yield Bond Funds and pull over $19 billion - a 26-week high - from U.S. Equity Funds, according to the latest data from EPFR.

The smartphone market is being shaken up as the tech giants' dominant positions are challenged by Chinese phonemakers that offer lower-cost handsets. With cheaper units that offer similar features to the pricier iPhone of Apple and Galaxy Android units of Samsung, companies like Lenovo and Xiaomi are grabbing a bigger share of the smartphone market.