BUSINESS

Wheat, Australia’s chief farm export produce, is expected to deliver less yields in the current financial year, according to the latest estimates issued on Tuesday by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Science (ABARES).

FedEx Corp.'s shares dropped roughly 3 percent in after-market trading as the company, which is the world's largest express parcel service by revenue, informed about cutting outlooks on earnings for its just-completed first quarter.

Bacon. That's been the secret to everything all along. If only we'd known! We would have told you sooner. More on the power of bacon shortly.

Almost a third of the economy faces a digital "big bang" over the next three years, pushing companies as diverse as retailers, banks and real estate agents to rethink their strategies, a new report says.

A new list of world university rankings for 2011-2012 released by QS World University Rankings has ranked the Australian National University (ANU) as Australia's best university, while the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is the world's best.

What a switch on the markets this morning. Yesterday it was all about trading defensively and being safe ahead of some big ticket items that are due for release and resolution from overseas markets this week. But today it is all different.

Much is expected from the new iPhone version. Apart from issuing a reengineered hardware and improved software, all packed into a slick and thin brick, Apple is also pressured to replicate and even exceed what it has been doing in the past half-decade – earning billions and really quick.

Giant tobacco firms call it creative marketing but Health Minister Tanya Plibersek was not impressed at all with the latest ploy of cigarette manufacturers to circumvent Australia’s plain packaging laws, set to take full effect December 2012.

With mining commodity prices on a downward trend, Australian exporters were advised to look into non-resource export to Asia as another profitable undertaking. A study by global business adviser Boston Consulting Group estimated that businesses outside the mining sector could earn up to $126 billion by 2021 if they shift their attention to this market.

By Jaume Ventura, Vasco M Carvalho and Alberto MartinOver the last two decades, US aggregate wealth has fluctuated substantially.

The Australian dollar steamed ahead of its US Counterpart overnight with investors speculating that the US Federal Reserve will announce further stimulus measures when they begin a two day meeting this evening.

By Rudi Filapek-VandyckUS equities resumed their steady rise in overnight trade. The DJIA gained 69.07 points to close at 13,323.

Investors seemed uninterested with markets across the region today, ahead of two busy and vital sessions offshore this week. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) eased by 0.2 pct or 9.7 pts to 4348.3, losing ground for the first time this week and for the first time in four trading sessions.

Barring unlikely force majeure, Apple’s new iPhone will definitely hit the global market this late September, prompting the tech giant’s closest rival, Samsung, to welcome the handset debut accordingly – with lawsuits.

The economy of Australia has once again enjoyed a solid growth thereby outpacing its peers in the last quarter. But the tumbling prices of export and marked slowdown in China left them with very little time to celebrate. These factors actually resulted in a cut in the Australian rates of interest so as to safeguard their growth in future.

Last week we examined Bernanke's dishonesty; today we'll examine his insanity.

China will try to do what's right for her, not for Australia. But sometimes we're not sure China even knows what's 'right'. There are so many competing forces in a centrally planned economy that no one knows what's going on.

Vast amount of clean energy can be generated via wind turbines and supply more than enough of what the entire planet needs, reports said.

Royal Dutch Shell started oil drilling in the Chukchi Sea, just 70 miles off the coast of northwest Alaska. The company, however, has begun just preparatory oil drilling for the well in the Arctic after waiting 4 long years since it paid roughly $2.8 billion to the federal government for petroleum leases in the Chukchi Sea.

That day-old Starbucks croissant may not need to go into the garbage after all. A new technique developed by Carol S. K. Lin, a biochemical engineer at the City University of Hong Kong, could turn uneaten pastries and coffee grounds into useful chemicals which could be used to formulate bioplastics and other substances.

More job losses will hit ailing PC maker Hewlett-Packard (HP) in the immediate years ahead, purportedly to realise more savings amid the prevailing soft environment in the global personal computer market.

Only 14 per cent of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in Australia are using cloud computing, a study commissioned by MYOB, a business software provider, found.

Local stocks are giving back yesterday's gains in the early session, with investors choosing to stay out of the market ahead of several key international events this week. Profit takers moved in on US and European markets overnight, as uncertainty surrounds the outcome of the Dutch election being held tomorrow and the German constitutional ruling on the Eurozone bailout plan. At lunchtime in the East, the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is down 11.5pts or 0.3pct to 4346.5.

Western Australia Premier Colin Barnett said on Tuesday that the city of Perth is shedding its blue collar reputation and is even attracting fresh professional talents. Among those who moved to the WA capital city are scientists, engineers and academics.

To convince regulators to approve its newly signed agreement with Emirates, Qantas in a submission filed on Monday with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), said it would quits its European trips if the regulators reject the deal.

By Andrew NelsonNo matter where you look, or what you read, or whom you talk to; analysts, commentators and investors alike remain guardedly optimistic about the prospects for a rise in uranium prices in the not too distant future.

By Rudi Filapek-VandyckUS equities closed lower on Monday (US time), with the DJIA losing 52.35 points to close at 13,254.

By Richard Krivo, Trading Instructor, FXCMFirst and foremost a trader should determine the direction that the market has been taking the pair over time.

Local stocks closed slightly higher today, rebounding from a mid-session slump in response to disappointing Chinese import figures. US and European markets posted modest gains on Friday in response to the bond buying program announced by the European Central Bank late last week and hopes the US Federal Reserve would provide more economic stimulus in the wake of a disappointing jobs report released on Friday. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) closed up 9.2pts or 0.2pct to 4358 after hitting an intra...