Vittorio Hernandez

The Australian sharemarket is off to its worst start to a week in almost a month and a half, with a slump in iron ore pushing miners substantially lower. At lunch, the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is down 0.9 per cent, with mining and energy stocks down by at least 1.5 per cent.

There is an eerie quiet around markets currently; intraday equities moves are trending back to the value average mean price (VWAP) and currencies are treading water suggesting that fair value is globally priced in, barring the moves seen in the EUR.

In US economic data, housing starts rose by 13.2% in April to an annual rate of 1.072 million - well above expectations. Building permits hit 6-year highs. But consumer sentiment eased from 84.1 to 81.8 in May, short of expectations centred on a reading of 84.5.

The Vanishing Act, a movie by Kamasutra 3D director Rupesh Paul, is one film that relatives of the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 would want to disappear from the face of the earth.

Like the missing Malaysian Airlines tragedy which has been exploited by unscrupulous Web site owners to harvest data from gullible netizens, interest over mermaid spotting is being used by the posting of hoax videos.

Apple may have agreed with Google's Motorola Mobility to drop lawsuits against each other, but another lawsuit awaits the Cupertino-based tech giant after a California woman filed a lawsuit claiming Apple failed to delivery texts to her Samsung Galaxy 5 which runs on rival OS Android.

Is North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un the victim of black propaganda by western media or is he a heartless leader who would not hesitate to kill - even relatives and loved ones - to hold on to power?

A double whammy is hitting FIFA since two of the locations of the World Cup hosts are proving to be problems for the international football league.

Unbeaten American boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr gave some jewellery shops in New York City good business last week when he decided to spend some of the millions he won on his May 3 bout against Argentinean boxer Marcos Maidana.

The deficit tax and other unpopular measures introduced by the Coalition government are proving to be the Julia Gillard moment of Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott. The PM, who is only eight months in power, was the subject of the March in May protests held over the weekend.

While waiting for the Dream Match between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr to materialise, boxing fans in the meantime can look forward to another anticipated rematch - the Pacquiao-Marquez 5 battle. The stage has been set for the fifth bout between the eight division Filipino title holder and Mexican boxer Juan Manuel Marquez after the latter, also known as El Dinamita, easily won over Mike Alvarado on Saturday night.

Apple and Google have agreed to drop the lawsuits the two technology giants have filed against each other, but it only applies to legal cases involving Google's Motorola Mobility.

Local stocks were under sustained pressure on Friday with the ASX 200 ending the session at the lows of the day. One small consolation was the low level of participation with just over $ 3.8bln shares changing hands.

Thousands of investors are considering filing a $200-million class action suit against Financial Wisdom, owned by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) because of alleged bad financial advice that cost them to lose their life savings.

The worst trading session in five weeks on Wall Street overnight has given the local sharemarket a negative lead this morning. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is down 0.5 per cent, with only the defensive utilities managing to remain modestly firmer.

Equities extended their losses overnight with sentiment remaining subdued as European concerns resurfaced. Peripheral bond yields spiked in Europe with investors going defensive and favouring German bunds. US 10-year treasuries rallied to 2.5% as investors continued to flee risk. The carnage in the small cap space also continued with the Russell index extending its losses to contractionary territory. Even a drop below 300,000 for the first time since mid-2007 in unemployment claims to 297,000 wa...

n US economic data, consumer prices rose by 0.3% in May. Food prices lifted for the fourth consecutive months, coupled with a lift in gasoline prices. Prices were up 2% over the year. Excluding volatile food and energy, cosnumer prices increased by 0.2% in April to be up 1.8% over the year. US initial jobless claims fell by 24,000 to 297,000 - a seven year low. US industrial production fell 0.6% after lifting by 0.9% in March.

Advertising has not spared the athletic wear of professional sportsmen and women, but a new trend could generate controversy. It is the fad of placing advertisements right on the breasts of the shirts of female tennis players. Among those seen wearing such not-so-subtle endorsements of brands are Camila Giorgi and Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia.

With more than 6 months before 2014 ends, another anticipated boxing rematch could possibly happen first - that between Pacquiao and Mexican boxer Juan Manuel Marquez.

Unbeaten American boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr is certainly enjoying the fruits of his fists after a successful but dubious victory over Argentinean boxer Marcos Maidana on May 3. More than a week about the talked-about and controversial bout, Money May was seen on Tuesday with burly bodyguards shopping in New York. He had with him a large bag on his right shoulder, presumably full of money to burn.

Despite a $30-billion forecast budget deficit for 2014-15, rating agency Moody's kept Australia's AAA credit rating this week. It also said that compared to other nations with the same tripe A rating, Canberra's growth outlook is still favourable.

Labor leader Bill Shorten has vowed on Thursday to block key measures of the 2014-15 federal budget proposed by the Coalition government. In opposing the document, Shorten pointed out because of some provisions such as the deficit tax, higher fuel excise and $7 co-pay per visit to the GP, it would take away about $120 a week from the average family budget for the next two years.

The ASX 200 saw a day of consolidation on Thursday ending the session higher by 14 points having seen a 25 point deficit at the lows of the day. There is little on the calendar that is likely to have a lasting impact on the markets until Fed Chair Yellen speaks later tonight local time. Ms Yellen is expected to stick to the recent script which has described, the ongoing slack in the labour market that will require monetary policy to remain accommodative even as the US economic recovery gathers m...

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 has been missing for more than two months and until now no trace of the Boeing 777 jet that had 239 passengers and crew on board could be found.

The Australian sharemarket is a touch softer at lunch, with the mining and energy sectors helping minimise losses. Weakness in U.S. markets for the first time in six sessions and a pullback from six-year highs in Europe have given us a negative lead locally.

A former editor of News of the World admitted on Wednesday at the Old Bailey court in London that he hacked the phones of British royal couple Prince William and Kate Middleton 200 times to get stories.

US equities finally pulled back from record highs, while bonds gained resulting in US treasury yields dropping around seven basis points to their lowest level in six months. Losses in the US were mainly pinned on renewed weakness in the small caps, which encouraged some profit taking across equities. When equities are at record highs, any source of concern generally triggers profit-taking.

In US economic data, producer prices rose by 0.6% in April, the largest increase in 18 months. Prices were up 2.1% over the year to April. Food prices surged by 2.7% in April pushed up by higher meat prices, which recorded their largest increase in 11 years. Producer prices excluding volatile food and energy costs increased by 0.5% in April to be up 1.9% over the year.

British boxer Amir Khan could possibly have a chance to fight unbeaten American boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. Not in MGM Grand, but through the video game Fight Night on Khan's Xbox.