BUSINESS

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed down 54 points or 0.4% while the S&P lost 0.1% to 1404 as the Nasdaq rose 0.

The Australian sharemarket lost ground for the first time this week and for the fifth time in seven sessions today. Global markets were subdued last night due to the closure of U.S markets for Labor Day. In fact, it was one of the least eventful sessions in Europe since December last year. The U.K's FTSE index rose 0.82 pct, Germany's DAX edged higher by 0.6 pct and France's CAC40 gained by 1.19 pct. Locally, the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) slid by 0.6 pct or 26 pts to 4325.6.

It is not all gloomy in the Australia housing market. According to the latest RP Data/Australian Financial Review (AFR) data, there are some suburbs that allow investors to earn amidst disappointing price declines.

The local share market is slightly lower mid-session, with no clear direction for investors after US markets were closed overnight for the Labor Day holiday. Base metals prices however rallied in London trade as weak Chinese and European manufacturing data prompted hopes that central banks across the globe will take action to boost economic growth. At lunchtime in the East, the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is down 16.1pts or 0.4pct to 4355.5.

Even if BHP Billiton (ASX: BHP) has not totally abandoned its plans to expand the Olympic Dam uranium, copper and gold project in the long term, the giant miner has no guarantees and timeline yet for the project, South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill said on Monday.

Improvements are now underway on its Chinese production facilities, Samsung disclosed on Monday, following allegations that the Asian tech titan’s manufacturing partners in China were deliberately subjecting product assemblers to inhumane working conditions.

Tiger Airways is roaring its way back into Australian skies by offering large discounts on one-way tickets for as low as $19.95 and resuming trips between Adelaide and Melbourne on Nov 1.

By Raman Ahmed, Heleen MeesChina's monumental savings rate is a popular topic of for policy discussion.

By Andrew NelsonOne thing is for certain, there was a lot more activity in the uranium spot market in August than there was in July.

The rejection by Australian building firm Grocon of a compromise offer from the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) has led to the return on Monday evening of the blockade at the Emporium construction site in Melbourne.

China has pledged more help for the deteriorating eurozone crisis, with Premier Wen Jiabao promising to purchase more EU government bonds.

Spain's government has approved the creation of a so-called "bad bank" that will take over most of the nation's worst property assets and defaulted loans

By Greg PeelUS markets were closed last night for the Labor Day holiday. The long weekend signals the end of the summer break and brokers are hopeful of a pick-up in volumes from here as traders return just in time for supposed central bank action.

Australia's retail sector showed unexpected poor sales in July and broadly trickling down to the fragile profits of businesses still gaping for low demand for exports in Europe.

Two months after it acquired a 4 per cent controlling stake in Virgin Australia Holdings, Abu Dhabi's flagship carrier Etihad Airways on Sunday announced this has been increased to 10 per cent, even as it reiterated it will not push for a majority stake ownership in Australia's second-largest airline.

Nestle, one of the largest food companies in the world, has extended its Product Technology Centre situated in Konolfingen, Switzerland in order to increase its research and development. The extension is likely to help Nestle enhance the company's innovative equipment for the purpose of new goods development and employ these for the international operations of the company.

Wednesday's Daily Reckoning promised you a guide to Australia's coming deflation. But the mainstream media stole our thunder.

The Powers that Be are hunkered down in Jackson Hole for their annual international central banking symposium, a jaw-gabbing event where the world's "brightest" economists get together to come up with the world's dumbest "solutions"...solutions to problems largely caused by their last round of "solutions."

Qantas Airways is all set to finalise a code-sharing agreement with Emirates Airlines, which reports said would provide a wider gateway for the national carrier to secure more profitable routes in Europe.

Rising pork prices, coupled with a declining domestic supply, could trigger high inflationary rates across China over the next year.

French businesses that hire a person aged between 16 and 25 for at least a year may only have to pay as little as 25 percent of the individual's salary starting from 2013.

The modest gains on the Australian sharemarket were short lived this morning, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) now completely flat to 4339.2. Most sectors are improving; however the mining sector is once again one of the biggest drags on trade.

The biggest of the Big Pharmas, Pfizer, has agreed to pay $60 million in fines to the federal government to settle charges the company paid millions of dollars in bribes to foreign officials.

Over the 16 weeks leading up to August 26, Dubai saw a bullish market driven by property. On Sunday August 12, Nakheel announced that demand was expected to remain high for properties on the island. The Dubai developer made the statement as it announced the sale of a 305,704sqft plot for Dh1,302 ($520) per square foot to an unidentified local investor.

The Australian government is about to face its own budget problems. Today's Australian Financial Review reports that the government's budget is in tatters. Tumbling iron ore prices will blast a massive hole in the numbers.

Everyone SEO recently feels as if they have there heads on a Google Guillotine after updates to search engine rankings this year.

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.

The Victoria police have deployed hundreds of officers to the Grocon Myer Emporium construction site in Melbourne to secure the area occupied by members of the union. With their presence, the police safety secretly escorted 35 Grocon non-union employees inside the $250-million site.

By Greg PeelTourism was once Australia's second biggest industry, but that was in the days when a more inviting Australian dollar made visiting Australia for a holiday relatively inexpensive, despite the tyranny of distance.