BUSINESS

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.

After a slow start to trade this morning, the Australian sharemarket managed to edge higher by the close of business. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) rose by just 0.1 pct or 3.5 pts to 4406.3; however still finished the week lower by around 0.5 pct. This makes it the first weekly loss for the Australian sharemarket in four weeks. Volume was also higher than usual due to equity option expiry yesterday.

Everything is almost fresh on Nokia Lumia 920 – the operating system, the spritely bright shells and the wide-array of connectivity options – all attractive features that would convince buyers to go grab the new smartphone from Finland.

For the first time in three years, Nike Inc. reported its earnings for its fiscal 2013 first quarter ended August 31, 2012 had dipped 12 per cent, spurred by declining orders from China, prompting shares to immediately tumble on Thursday.

We spent yesterday in Perth presenting at the Pastoralists and Graziers Association (PGA) annual convention. It was a packed house in the morning session.

Home prices continued rising in July across the United States. According to reports, home prices in the U.S. biggest cities have risen to the highest level in almost two years.

Tesla Motors Inc., the electric car maker, faces a revenue drop as it struggles with supplier problems and delays in ramping up production of its Model S. According to the company statement, Tesla Motors Inc.'s sales will be around $45 million, which is far below estimates of $80 millions.

After a slight improvement in markets yesterday, Australian shares are a touch weaker at lunch. The All Ordinaries Index is down 0.1 pct or 5.7 pts to 4397.1. Last night, the Spanish parliament released its first draft of a tough 2013 budget. Around €39 billion of spending cuts were announced, which is an 8.9 pct reduction in spending compared to this current year. Perhaps this can be summed up as being good news for markets (over the very short term) and bad news for those living in Spain. The...

Microsoft’s Windows 8 won the nod of the man chiefly responsible in building up the vast Windows global market – Bill Gates.

Unfazed by the prevailing bleak prospect for the global PC market, Intel paraded on Thursday new mobile devices that draw power from its newly-designed tablet chip – the dual-core Atom Z2760.