BUSINESS

The campaign to establish if the male fruit fly that scared New Zealand in January was part of a breeding population has cost taxpayers a whopping $1 million.

The debate on big vs. small screen is a never ending saga. Although there are many parameters one would consider before choosing a handset, the screen size is always the deal breaker.

Sellers have dictated terms in early trade on the ASX on Tuesday. The unconvincing tone on Wall St in addition to underlying concerns about the state of Chinese growth have been enough to keep every ASX sector in the red.

Apple Inc shares are expected to get a boost from the release of the new iPhone anticipated to have a bigger screen. According to the latest edition of Barron's, Apple stock could increase by 20 per cent in 2015. The iPhone 6 is rumoured to be launched in the summer or fall. Since the iPhone 5S hit the market last September 2013, Apple's flagship product still continues to enjoy solid sales despite several critics saying the iPhone 5S lacks innovation. The premium iPhone is in stores for ...

When iPhone 5C has been released, there were many negative feedbacks and criticisms mainly brought by the plastic appearance of the phone, which was far-off from Apple's expected standards.

The worst HSBC PMI print in eight months now sees growth estimates in the world's second largest economy possibly below 7%, and therefore well below the official estimates of 7.5%.

In US economic data, the ´´flash´´ purchasing managers index fell from a 4-year high of 57.1 to 55.5 in March, below forecasts for a result near 56.5. The national activity index rose from -0.39 to +0.14 in February. The composite Euro zone purchasing managers index eased from 53.3 to 53.2 in March, but the French index rose from 47.9 to 51.6. The Chinese manufacturing gauge fell from 48.5 to 48.1 in March.

The Australian share market closed slightly firmer today, despite a negative start on the back of falls on Wall Street on Friday night and weaker than expected Chinese data.

Australian rare earths miner Greenland Minerals and Energy Limited announced on Monday it has entered into a memorandum of understanding with China Non‐Ferrous Metal Industry to push the development of the Kvanefjeld Project in Greenland.

ANZ released its new report predicting for the Asian financial system to surpass US and EU by 2030

The ASX 200 has spent the early part of the session in the red on Monday. Sellers pushed the index down by as much as 37 point in early trade before the market found some traction.

Friday night saw the US snap its run of flat to negative weeks, with the S&P registering its best week in four.

In US economic data, the weekly Economic Cycle Research Institute index eased from 133.8 to 132.9 but was up 2.3% over the year compared with a 2.1% annual gain in the previous week.

Mining giant Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) finds the current climate change policy debate too idealistic and over focused on renewable energy. Rio Energy Division Chief Harry Kenyon-Slaney is pushing instead for the Australian government to place more investment in clean technologies such as carbon capture and storage.

Apple App Store has a Starbucks mobile app with virtual tipping option. Starbucks 3.0 brings in a visual re-design which follows Apple's flat iOS 7 visual aspect with a clean user interface. The app uses a "Helvetica Neue" font and there is no skeuomorphic graphics to make the app look cluttered and overdone, reports Apple Insider.

Samsung introduced a series of exclusive curved TVs with 4K (a.k.a Ultra HD or UHD) resolution. The company also furnished the official pricing (well in advance) for some of its 2014 TV models. Notably, most of them were premised at CES 2014 in January.

Apple Inc. has been making slight modifications to its current iPhone and iPad product lines with new and cheaper alternatives for emerging markets.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is still at number one in UBS Quality Growth at a Reasonable Price List (Q-GARP) of stocks to buy

The Australian share market recovered somewhat from yesterday's sell-off during Friday's trade following a rebound on Wall Street and strong gains from mining and energy players.

Australia's richest woman Gina Rinehart has secured a $7.2 billion debt deal for the Roy Hill iron ore mine project in West Australia's Pilbara region.

The Australian sharemarket is edging higher at lunch, following a hefty 1.12 per cent slump recorded on Thursday. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is up 0.34 per cent, with mining stocks the biggest contributors to today's strength. U.S. stocks improved by 0.7 per cent overnight.

As commentators continue to debate the fall-out from Yellen's first run as chair after quantifying 'a considerable amount of time' as around six months. The markets have moved on from the press conference by completely erasing all losses from her speech.

In US economic data, new claims for unemployment insurance rose by 5,000 to 320,000 in the latest week. Existing home sales fell by 0.4% to 4.60 million in February, as expected. The leading index rose by 0.5% in February, above forecasts for a 0.2% gain. And the Philadelphia Federal Reserve index rose from minus 6.3 points to +9.0 in March, above forecasts for a result near +3.8 points.

In yet another example of the continuous widening gap between executive pay and rank-and-file compensation, Sears Canada almost doubled the salaries of their top executives in 2013 while laying off about 2,000 employees.

Telecom giant Vodafone will cut the roaming charges for its pre- and post-paid subscribers to $1 per megabyte for a one-minute call. The new rate, which takes effect on March 23, would cut the 20 different call rates of Vodafone covering 200 different countries.

The fallout of the global financial crisis is far from over as the latest report by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development revealed high unemployment rates and low income have led to the worsening socioeconomic conditions in several countries, including Australia.

Local stocks fell for the second time this week, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) down 1.1 per cent. No sectors escaped the selling by the close of trade, with losses between 0.2 per cent and 2 per cent recorded across the market. The mining sector was the biggest drag, slumping by 2.03 per cent. Australia's four largest miners - BHP Billiton (BHP), Rio Tinto (RIO), Newcrest Mining (NCM) and Fortescue Metals (FMG) wiped out 11.8 pts from the All Ordinaries Index (which fell by 60 pts today...

New Zealand's economy grew 0.9 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2013 which indicates the programs of the government are working, according to Finance Minister Bill English. New figures released on March 19 showed that the country's GDP had increased to 0.9 per cent in December which total growth in a year to 3.1 per cent. Compared to the same quarter in 2012 which had an annual average growth of 2.7 per cent, New Zealand's GDP was 3.1per cent higher in the recent December quarter in 20...

A defect in the water filtering system at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant had forced operator Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) to suspend yet again its decontamination process at the facility.