Vittorio Hernandez

Another satirical Web site has joined the growing list of hoax story makers. However, a quick glance at the title of its articles is enough to give the discerning reader an idea that the portal carries fake news due to the absurd angles.

Sellers returned to the ASX on Thursday having been absent in any meaningful fashion for 7 sessions. Bulk miners were the weak spot after the price of iron ore continued to fall in the last day to the lowest levels seen in 2 years;around $US 97.00 per tonne levels. Telecoms were the best improved group in a falling market. Telstra shares rose by four cents or 0.25 per cent, although recent commentary from the telco which included talk of offshore expansion plans was met with not great cheer by i...

The Australian sharemarket is slipping for the first time since last Monday, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) down 0.3 per cent. A weak lead from Wall Street overnight and softer commodity prices are both drags.

Embattled Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott would likely be eating his heart out to know that his political nemesis, former PM Julia Gillard, whom he often used to beat in political surveys, is the second most admired figure in 2013.

The U.S. Navy acknowledged on Wednesday that the pings they got in the past seven weeks are not from the missing Malaysian Airlines Flight 370's black box.

The S&P pulled back from its record close, with investors exercising some caution and on mild profit taking. There was nothing on the US economic calendar to really drive sentiment and as result investors looked ahead to the GDP reading, which is due out later today. US GDP is expected to be revised to a negative print, with most analysts feeling this is consistent with a handover into Q2, which is then expected to show a bounce-back. Some Fed members anticipate growth of nearly 3% for Q2. Shoul...

Miner Andrew Forrest plans to venture outside the mining industry by looking into the possibility of exporting beef to China. He said on Thursday that he would place in his luggage sample parcels of steak for his next trip to China.

In US economic data, the weekly mortgage market index fell by 1.2% with the purchase index down 1.1% and the refinance index down 1.8%. According to Redbook Research, weekly chain store sales fell rose by 3.2% on a year ago, down from the 3.9% annual gain in the previous week. The Dallas Federal Reserve services index eased from +18.5 to +13.1 in May.

Like the Dream Match between unbeaten American boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr and Filipino boxing champion Manny Pacquiao, there is little chance that a speculated bout between Money May and top MMA fighter Ronda Rousey would ever happen.

The fight between unbeaten American boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr and rapper T.I. ain't over yet. From swinging fists and flying chairs at Fatburger, it has moved into cyberspace as they use Instagram videos to hit each other

Many non-fans of South Korean YouTube sensation Psy are happy that they no longer hear his hit song Gangnam Style every time they pass a karaoke bar or club, dine out or take public transportation.

The California Assembly approved on Tuesday a bill that would require porn stars to use condoms when shooting sex scenes despite worries that the legislation would drive the lucrative adult entertainment business out of the state.

Naked 3D scanners, which used to be found only in major international airports, are now in shopping centres in Australia. The use of these devices has raised privacy and security concerns among Aussie shoppers.

The Australian share market continued its good run during the month of May, rising 0.3 per cent today to close near 2014 highs. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) was higher by 16 points to 5506.7 while the ASX 200 (XJO) was up 15.5 points to 5527.

Despite the silence the past few days over the $60,000 scholarship given by the Whitehouse Institute of Design to Frances Abbott, the scandal is far from over. On Wednesday, Newscom.au reported that the institute was vandalised overnight to protest the apparently political decision of Whitehouse to grant the scholarship to the then Opposition leader's daughter.

Local stocks benefitted from some US direction overnight with Wall St overnight returning from a long weekend. The broader US market continued to grind higher following better economic readings. This translated to a positive start for local stocks with the ASX 200 trading higher by around 20 points in early trade. As lunch time drew closer the market gave up some its gains, although it remained in the range of positive territory.

US markets returned to trade on a positive note, with the S&P rallying to yet another record of 1,912. Not only did the S&P print a record high, it also closed right at the highs, which is a positive sign and says a lot about momentum. Sentiment was lifted by a string of positive data releases out of the US, including durable goods orders and the Case Shiller house price index. Both indicators were quite positive and confirmed the US continues to bounce back after a tough start to the year. As ...

In US economic data, the 20-city S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index lifted by a larger than expected 1.2% in March and was up 12.4% on a year ago. The Conference Board Consumer Confidence index rose by 1.3 points to 83.0 in May. The regional manufacturing indices were mixed, with the Dallas Fed index retreating from +11.7 to +8.0 in May, while the Richmond Fed index remained at +7 in May. US durable goods orders rose by 0.8% in April after an upwardly revised 3.6% in March.

If an ordinary person has a brawl with unbeaten American boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr, chances are he would be beaten black-and-blue and probably be in a stretcher. However, Clifford "Tip" Joseph Harris Jr, now known as rapper T.I., disputes that common belief and the rumours that after his brawl with Money May over the weekend, he now sports two black eyes. To disprove that, T.I. posted videos of himself on Instagram as proof.

Top Rank boss Bob Arum named on Tuesday the top 3 boxers whom eight-division title holder Manny Pacquiao would battle on Nov 8 at the Cotai Arena in Macau.

Investment guru Warren Buffett, 83, is fulfilling his 2006 promise to share his wealth by tapping a foundation set-up by his 86-year-old sister Doris. The Sunshine Lady Foundation has seven women staff who go over the thousands of letters the billionaire received the past 12 years and respond to those they deem worthy of assistance.

Coffee giant Starbucks sold its 24 stores in Australia to The Withers Group, which owns the 7-Eleven franchise in the country covering 600 outlets. Prior to the sale, Starbucks, which opened its first store in Sydney in 2000, was wholly owned by Starbucks in the U.S., based in Seattle.

Australian Minister Eric Abetz may have meant well when he suggested that unemployed youth pick fruit in Tasmania while waiting to be hired in their dream jobs, but the suggestion didn't sit well with Tasmanian farmers.

Australian air-accident probers believe that the missing Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 ran out of fuel and crashed into a remote part of the southern Indian Ocean.

The ASX 200 spent the afternoon session consolidating having surrendered a 17 point improvement in early trade. The lack of direction felt from the closure of Wall St overnight remained in place in the 2nd half of the day. Volumes were a feature in that that were unusually low with less than $3.6 bln in shares changing hands. Most sectors were higher at the close of trade although the gains were unspectacular.

Fresh from his trip to the Holy Land, Pope Francis announced a renewed war against sex abuse, particularly of minors. He declared to media while aboard a plane returning to Rome that he has a zero tolerance for members of the clergy involved in child abuse scandals.

The Australian share market is only slightly firmer at lunchtime in the East, after US and UK markets were closed overnight for public holidays.

With the US and UK closed for bank holidays, attention was solely in Europe where we finally saw sentiment swing positive. The highlight of the session were comments by ECB President Mario Draghi which essentially confirmed that action will be taken at the June 5 policy meeting. Draghi discussed the possibility of negative deposit rates, further LTROs and a broad-based asset purchase programme. He also made it clear that they were concerned about an undesirable tightening of monetary conditions ...

European shares rose on Monday following uneventful European Union elections and a decisive result in presidential elections in Ukraine. Reuters reports ´´Results from around the 28-nation bloc showed pro-European centre-left and centre-right parties will keep control of around 70 percent of the 751-seat EU legislature, but the number of Eurosceptic members will more than double.´´ In Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, a billionaire chocolate manufacturer, record an emphatic victory in presidential elec...