Vittorio Hernandez

Eight-division title holder Manny Pacquiao, who just regained his WBO welterweight title from Timothy Bradley on Saturday, April 12, and the boxing world's admiration for his comeback, has a woman for his next foe. The unexpected challenge came from Pacquiao's pregnant wife who is due to give birth to their fifth child this month, Jinkee. Mrs Pacquiao, also the vice governor of Saranggani Province, pleased for her husband to hang up his boxing gloves for good just minutes after he won a un...

The question who is the better boxer between Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley was settled on Saturday with the unanimous decision by the Filipino eight division titleholder over the American boxer who suffered his first defeat. The scorecards were 116-112 and 118-110 in favour of Pacquiao who regained the WBO welterweight title from Bradley and improved his record to 56-5-2.

Unbeaten American boxer Timothy Bradley is hopeful that he could knockout eight-division titleholder Manny Pacquiao in their rematch on Saturday. A KO, instead of a split decision, would certainly erase any doubts in the minds of boxing fans over his questionable win in their first bout in June 2012.

Queensland Premier Campbell Newman had warned residents of the state to stay at home or in local shelters as Cyclone Ita batters Australia. He advised those whose houses were built before 1985 to immediately leave their units and go to local shelters since the homes could possibly not withstand the storm.

The Australian share market closed sharply lower on Friday, following a big sell-off on US markets on fears tech stocks are overvalued. The NASDAQ closed lower by almost three per cent in the US on Thursday while the Dow Jones Index was down 267 points or 1.6 per cent.

After two straight days of gains and almost reaching a six-year high earlier this week, local stocks are falling for the third time in five sessions. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is down 0.9 per cent, with almost all sectors in the red. The weakness can be partly blamed on significant weakness from U.S. stocks overnight, particularly in the technology space. Investors are perhaps questioning the value of some market darlings in recent times.

Another thinly traded rout in the US overnight has put most investors on notice as we approach US earnings season.

The MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, venue of two major boxing bouts in the next few days and weeks, got the ire of Top Rank promoter Bob Arum on Wednesday. The reason for Arum's pre-fight rant is the giving by the venue organisers of higher priority to the promotion of the fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr and Marcos Maidana on May 3 over the Manny Pacquia-Timothy Bradley rematch on Saturday, April 12.

In US economic data, new claims for unemployment insurance fell from 332,000 to 300,000 in the latest week, well below forecasts centred on a result near 320,000. Import prices rose by 0.6% in March with export prices up 0.8% - both results above expectations. And the Federal Budget was $36.9 billion in deficit in March, around half economist forecasts.

It may not be a selfie photo that became controversial like that of U.S. President Barack Obama and an athlete who has an endorsement for Samsung. But Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott's photo talking on the phone and posted on Twitter has became viral and subject to parodies.

Work-life balance was given a stronger boost in two European countries with changes to work hours that would surely be the envy of many overworked and underpaid employees around the world who often neglect family life or personal pursuits because of too much time spent on the job.

Two companies that manufacture products for women are under criticism for the advertisements they recently released supposed to be female-oriented.

Canadian phonemaker BlackBerry is finally making some sense under new CEO John Chen. After making several failed attempts to regain its lost glory of being the top mobile phone manufacturer that resulted in $1 billion losses under its old CEO, BlackBerry is now seriously considering exiting the phone manufacturing business if it continues to suffer from further financial losses.

Instead of an 11-year record high unemployment rate of 6.1 per cent that economists forecast on Wednesday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics surprised Aussies with a different figure. The number of jobless Aussies actually went down, rather than up, as 18,100 new jobs were created in March.

Local stocks continued their upward trajectory today, consolidating at the best levels we've seen since June 2008. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) added 17.2 points or 0.3 per cent by the close to finish at 5477.5 points.

The Australian sharemarket is continuing to improve, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) 0.5 per cent firmer and near a six-year high. No sectors are escaping the gains, with at least modest improvements felt across the board. So far this month, local stocks have improved by 1.65 per cent.

We witnessed more green on screen for the US equity markets overnight as the FOMC minutes beat down any thought of an early rates rise in the Fed funds rate.

In US economic data, wholesale sales rose by 0.7% in February with inventories up 0.5%. The sales data was short of forecasts centred on a 1.0% increase. The weekly index of mortgage activity fell 1.6% with purchases up and refinancing down.

Court documents in the ongoing patent lawsuit between competitors Apple and Samsung would give a glimpse of how intense is their rivalry. From former business partners, the Cupertino-based tech giant and the Seoul-based electronics firm have become bitter business enemies trying to outdo each other in many ways.

Unbeaten American boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr may be dismissing eight-division titleholder Manny Pacquiao as a has-been fighter, but his own trainer and uncle thinks otherwise.

Interest in the medical marijuana business continues to grow after two U.S. states and a few countries had legalised the trade. Also expected to expand as a result of that development is the physical space to legally cultivate cannabis.

The resumption of pings received by the Australian ship Ocean Shield has provided a ray of hope in the month-long search for the missing Malaysian Airline Boeing 777 jet which mysteriously disappeared on March 8 with 239 people aboard while on its way to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur.

Did Australian voters made a mistake when they elected the Coalition to power in September 2013? Aussies who found themselves jobless the past six months since Tony Abbott became prime minister are probably asking that question as the jobs market became tighter.

The Australian sharemarket had its best day in two months, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) ending 1 per cent firmer by the close. The ASX200 Index finished not too far off a six-year high and is 75 per cent higher than the lows hit in March 2009. At its best, local stocks were up 1.2 per cent today and the low was hit on the open, with the XAO up 0.6 per cent. All sectors improved, with some solid gains from the miners and banks helping most.

Hope that the missing Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 jet will finally be found is up again after reports said that the pings are back. Four such signals were received on Tuesday afternoon and evening by the Australian ship Ocean Shield.

The local share market has tested five year highs in early trade, with every sector well supported.

The NASDAQ broke its three-day rout with a 0.9% rise as Google, Facebook and eBay added 2%. The S&P and the Dow also broke its four-day downtrend, which will see support for the broader market, particularly the information technology space. However, this does not mean that after this slight pull back the tech space would make the sector fundamentally cheap; it is likely that the market direction in these stocks over the coming week will be downward as they return to fair value.

In US economic data, weekly chain store sales were up by 2.9% in the latest week compared with a year earlier, up from the 2.3% annualised gain in the previous week.

Boxing fans expecting a knockout either by eight-division titleholder Manny Pacquiao or unbeaten American boxer Timothy Bradley are cautioned by experts not to see a KO during the April 12 rematch at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.