BUSINESS

It's been a crucial two weeks. Germany's constitutional court ruled that the European bailout fund is legal. Ben Bernanke, Mario Draghi and Masaaki Shirakawa fiddled with the money supply in America, Europe and Japan. The result was impressive. Not much happened.

A US Senate committee has alleged that technology giants Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard avoided billions in US taxes over the past three years by transferring profits to offshore jurisdictions.

Starbucks Corp. has introduced its new single-serve brewer Verismo, which will be sold online this weekend for $199. The Starbucks Corp.

What does it mean? That QE3 will do nothing? Or that the market had already priced it in?

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi has pledged to increase the transparency of the bank, suggesting yesterday that he was open to the idea of publishing minutes from its monetary policy meetings sooner rather than later.

The poor Republicans have their Mitt in the wringer. Everyone is ranting and raving against him. Why?

Sri Lanka's house price rises continue, as security issues get sorted out. There's no official house price data in Sri Lanka, but developers and homebuyers confirm there have been double-digit property price rises.

The Australian sharemarket ended the day a little higher for the third time this week, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) rising by 0.2 pct or 11 pts to 4430.8. The defensive healthcare sector lost a little ground but all other regions of the market ended in the black. Overall however; this has been a very uneventful week for broad market movement, with the XAO gaining just 0.5 pct over the past five sessions.

The U.S.-based aircraft manufacturer said on Thursday that future roll out of its assembled planes will be designed to accommodate cellular connectivity, wireless broadband and live television feeds.

Tuesday next week is the slated U.S. debut of the trimmed down PS3 but Sony has insisted that the published prices for the new game console will stick amidst gamers’ complaints that the tags were way too pricey.

Local stocks are holding up relatively well in the early session, given a fairly subdued offshore lead. US and European investors were shaken by the weaker than expected manufacturing data out of China, however were also heartened by a successful Spanish bond auction. The Dow Jones Index finished up 0.1pct to 13596.9pts, while European shares were mostly lower. At lunchtime in the East, the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is up 10.2pts or 0.2pct to 4430.

By Rudi Filapek-Vandyck, Editor FNArenaI joined Twitter. Not because I am curious what this celebrity has to say about her kids, or to read that another one is waiting for a connecting flight, impatiently.

Like their counterparts in other global cities, Australians lined up on Friday morning to buy Apple's iPhone 5 officially launched last week but made available only beginning Sept 21 in retail outlets in selected countries.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) announced on Thursday that it registered a $1.076 billion profit in the last financial year. It is a turnaround from the $4.889 billion loss the central bank logged the previous financial year.

In the latest twist to the ongoing drama over the fate of the 21,000 Australian sheep in Pakistan, an independent veterinarian from the United Arab Emirates concluded the animals to be healthy, free from diseases and fit for slaughter for human consumption.

By Greg PeelThe Dow rose 18 points, or 0.1%, while the S&P was flat at 1460 and the Nasdaq lost 0.2%.My editor informs me there is much confusion in the market about how a purchasing managers' index (PMI) actually works.

The number of Asian millionaires surpassed that of North America's for the first time ever last year.

America's super high net worth individuals saw their net worth grow by 13 percent in the past year to $1.7 trillion, according to Forbes annual wealth survey.

The Australian sharemarket lost a little ground for the second time this week, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) slipping by 0.5 pct or 20.6 pts to 4419.8. The defensive healthcare and telco sectors ended higher, however all other regions of the market lost ground. Volume and value of shares traded was significantly higher than usual due to equity index expiry today.

Take note Qantas and Virgin Australia. U.S. carrier American Airlines has forged a partnership deal with Samsung that will see the Galaxy Note become a regular fixture on future flights of the airline.

Local stocks have come off the four month highs reached yesterday, as investors await Chinese manufacturing data coming through later this afternoon. The Australian share market rallied in afternoon trade yesterday after the Bank of Japan announced it would extend its asset buying program to 80 Trillion Yen. US and European markets also surged on the efforts to stimulate Japan's economy and tackle its deflation concerns. At lunchtime in the East, the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is down.

Sony shrunk the PS3 and called it ‘Super Slim’. Following the superhot route taken by smartphone and tablet makers, the Japanese firm upgraded the ‘look factor’ of its half-a-decade old game console by shaving off unnecessary heft and weight.

National Australia Bank (NAB) launched on Wednesday nabtrade, its own online share trading platform which will mainly target investors in self-managed superannuation funds.

While Australian retail giant Harvey Norman is one of the leading voices calling for lowering of the general sales tax on items purchased overseas, the company's own chief executive, who is also the owner's wife, ironically buys from online shops abroad to save money.

Australia's Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry placed on hold all sheep exports following the order by Pakistan authorities to cull 21,000 Aussie sheep tested positive for salmonella bacteria and actinomyces.

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed up 13 points, or 0.1%, while the S&P gained 0.1% to 1461 and the Nasdaq added 0.

Local stocks rallied in afternoon trade, after the Bank of Japan followed the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank in providing more monetary easing to stimulate the global economy. Stocks had been trading only marginally higher before the announcement from the BOJ, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) rising by 22.6pts or 0.5pct by close to finish at 4440.4, a four month high.

It took only a few months for new Yahoo chief executive Marissa Mayer to finalise an agreement with China’s Alibaba Group, which in the last two years has not come in to terms with the CEOs that came before her.

The Australian market opened slightly higher today but fell in and out of the red in the first few hours of trade. The by lunchtime the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) was only 7 points higher at 4,425 points.