BUSINESS

We're down here in the Andes, continuing our tour of the future. What have we learned so far? It might be too early to sell America and buy Argentina, but we'd keep an eye on the trade.

It's not only the falling terms of trade that's making Australia poorer by the day. It's the fact half the country has the day off! It's a public holiday in four Australian states and the ACT today. No wonder there's a productivity crisis in the economy. C'mon Australia. Do you think anybody has the day off at the Foxconn factory in China?

How do you zero in on the best that Android can offer? Take for instance Sony’s Xperia Acro S and Motorola’s Droid RAZR HD, which are slated to hit the global market in full force just in time when people are in the mood for spending – the holiday season.

Uh. Things are heating up in 'The Code War.' Last week we wrote about the rise in un-armed conflict between...well between pretty much everyone (organised crime, hackers, governments, terrorists etc). This week there are a lot of 'pre-incident' indicators that suggest we're on the verge of a new era of permanent on-line conflict in which systems that control information are one of many targets.

Credit card giant American Express (Amex) has agreed to pay $85 million to around 250,000 consumers for violating consumer protection laws in marketing, billing and debt collection practices, reported the New York Times on Monday, with the financial institution also expected to pay up to $27.5 million in fines to regulators.

The Bank of Queensland said on Wednesday that it would cut by 20 basis points is interest rate following the Tuesday decision by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to reduce the overnight cash rate by 25 basis points.

- Christmas will be very competitive- Retailer inventory levels high- Discounting to be unprecedentedBy Eva BrocklehurstOnce again, retailers are expecting a very competitive Christmas shopping season.

Snappy and responsive! These words were directly from Paul Allen, one of Microsoft’s co-founders, and which mostly described his experience while immersing himself in the new Windows 8 environment.

"Bull Trend Intact" for Gold, But "Zero Silver Demand" Seen in IndiaBy Ben TraynorSPOT MARKETgold bullion prices dipped below $1770 an ounce during Monday morning London trading, though they remained in line with the last fortnight's price action, while European stock markets rallied along with...

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed down 32 points, or 0.2%, while the S&P gained 0.1% to 1445 and the Nasdaq added 0.

The Australian sharemarket rose for the fourth consecutive session, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) rising by 1 pct or 43.6 pts to 4451.9. Despite the improvement, volume and value of shares exchanging hands remained light due to public holidays in China, Hong Kong and India.

Samsung is given the go signal to resume selling the Galaxy Tab 10.1 following a U.S. court decision on late Monday to lift the preliminary injunction slapped on the tablet computer in June 2012.

Are ultrabooks anywhere on your must-buy list for Christmas? According to market research firm IHS iSuppli, consumers will likely not rush to grab a unit of the lightweight but powerful laptop computer this holiday season.

We can call this a battle of enemies within, that is inside the Android platform that hosts clashing technologies, which in the case of Samsung’s Galaxy S3 against Sony’s Xperia Acro S were from South Korea and Japan.

Australia Post, wanting to capture majority of the pie that caters to the growing online shopping activities of Australians, will acquire 50 per cent of Qantas Airways Ltd's freight business StarTrack for A$408 million ($422 million).

Today, the Australian share market followed the lead of the US and European markets higher, with the gains in oil and gold helping the material sector run higher in early trade. By lunchtime the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) had held on to early gains up 28 points to 4,436 points.

Prices for the Ford Focus range in Australia have been cut by as much as $2410 with the arrival of the MkII model that takes advantage of a switch to Thailand production.

Two percent is what the Bureau of Labor Statistics says. But the quants are massaging the numbers so hard, they're breaking their backs. The real rate is probably closer to 5%. Maybe 10%. Who knows? You might say "it depends on how you mis-measure it".

The buzz on the recently rolled out iPhone 5 has yet to die down and now reports are out that another Apple gadget, the iPad Mini, will hit the market very soon, likely late October or early November.

By Andrew NelsonWe were doing all right after the GFC. It wasn't comfortable, but comfort could be taken from having a look at Europe and the US.

While residents of most Australian states are struggling with their finances, let alone save, the mining boom has made people from Western Australia (WA) and Queensland enjoy a comfortable income that enabled them to pay their debts and even save some money.

New Zealanders continue to migrate to Australia which offers better income opportunities to migrants. The New Zealand Herald reports that in the past 12 months to June 2012, the number of Kiwi migrants hit a record-high of 53,763 people.

It has been two months since the Australian Investors' Association (AIA) in conjunction with FNArena announced the results of their two-monthly Australian Investors Sentiment Survey.

By Andrew NelsonSeptember started off as about the worst looking month we've seen in the uranium spot market in quite a while.

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed up 77 points, or 0.6%, while the S&P rose 0.3% to 1444 and the Nasdaq slipped 0.

By Greg PeelAt today's monetary policy meeting the board decided to cut the RBA overnight cash rate by 25 basis points to 3.

By Rick Mills, Ahead of the HerdAs a general rule, the most successful man in life is the man who has the best information.

A loan worth nearly $2 billion from the China Development bank is being delayed as concerns over the effect of tax policies in the United States surface.

L'Oreal Chairman and Chief Executive yesterday criticised the French government's plans to introduce a 75 percent marginal income tax rate, arguing that it would make it difficult if not impossible for France to attract top talent should the plan go ahead.