BUSINESS

By Peter Switzer, Switzer Super ReportWe had a potential financial planning client who only had $6 million to invest around August last year and while many of us would have loved to be him, he once had $20 million!That's why he came to see us, but because he was so pessimistic after reading a w...

We love the kids, don’t we? But Harli Jordean, the 8 year old kid, soon to be 9, is just too cute. Harli Jordean was born in Stoke Newington, London in spring 2003.

Media stocks will to come under renewed downward pressure today after surprise earnings downgrades from Seven West Media and PMP late Tuesday.

Interest rates will fall next week after the lowest inflation figures for some time in the March quarter took the market by surprise.

The US Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting overnight won't alter the way the US economy completes 2012.

Although the influx of foreign visitors to Australia could slow down in financial year 2012, the tourism industry's value would climb by $100 billion by year-end, the Tourism Forecasting Committee said.

By Greg PeelThe Dow rose 113 points or 0.9% while the S&P gained 0.7% to 1400 and the Nasdaq added 0.7%.

St George Bank assured on Friday its employees that no one would lose their jobs amid reports that the subsidiary of Westpac is planning to outsource 200 IT jobs to IBM.

Australian beef exports may benefit from reports of a mad-cow disease in the U.S., according to the Australian Beef Association. The reported case of mad-cow disease in the U.S. may prompt Japan and South Korea to increase its demand from Australia, said the industry group.

Rio Tinto and Chinalco's listed subsidiary, Chalco, have completed the formation of their joint venture (JV) to develop and operate the Simandou iron ore project in Guinea, following the completion of all Chinese regulatory approvals. As a result, a consortium led by Chalco has made an earn-in payment of US$1.35 billion, in line with an agreement reached with Rio Tinto in March 2010.

Apple must train its sight to the East, experts said, if it wishes to sustain its record-breaking results and deflect predictions that the tech titan would falter sooner or later minus the introduction of innovative products, which marked the reign of Steve Jobs.

Australian borrowers gravitated more on securing fixed mortgage packages, according to a new report, because they deem the rates more stable at the moment, with lenders offering more premium with the product.

Atlas Iron and QR National launched on Thursday the $3.5-billion Pilbara railway through the start of a feasibility study to build the 600-kilometre multi-user rail link to transport iron ore from the east and southeast Pilbara to shipment facilities at Port Hedland.

While recent statistics indicate the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) would likely cut the overnight cash rate when it meets in May, any rate cut would hardly benefit Australian mortgage customers.

Justice finally caught up with the U.S. subsidiary of Lend Lease Construction, an Australian firm, over a 10-year overbilling fraud. A U.S. court in Brooklyn fined the company $58 million in fines and restitution to victims.

By Greg PeelGiven yesterday's holiday in Australia we've had two overnight sessions since the local market closed.

Robots could soon assume the role of miners but they will not be harvesting minerals from the depths of the earth, instead they will be transported into space, where they will be deployed to explore the hundreds of asteroids that regularly pass near our planet.

A senior United Nations official has said that criminality is one of the biggest economies in the world.

Another month of contraction for Chinese manufacturing, but the chances of so-called soft landing for the economy have been reinforced by the latest flash estimate on sentiment from the sector for April.

HTC, the Taiwanese-based smartphone manufacturer recently announced the release of the newest Android smartphone called HTC One S and many experts are stating that this is one of the best Android smartphones released by the company.

There are countless rumors circulating the web nowadays and this time, it focuses on the supposed release of Apple's iPhone Nano alongside the new iPhone or iPhone 5.

Newcrest Mining again pared down its overall production guidelines for the current financial year following the company's earlier output cutbacks in February, further highlighting the difficulties that hit the miner's global operations.

The Australian share market has managed to shrug off weak offshore leads and fears of a mass sell-down to start the trading day on a positive note. US and European markets slumped overnight, as uncertainty surrounds the future of the French and Dutch governments. The local share market started the trading day on a flat note, defying predictions of a 0.6pct fall and at lunchtime in the East is trading firmer by 903pts or 0.2pct to 4439.6.

Australia's retail sector remains under pressure as reflected by the third quarter results of Wesfarmers' Coles supermarket chains, which slightly moved up but exceeded the general growth forecasts earlier set by the market.

While borrowing an average of $200 a month from family and friends, Australians at the same time have toned down their demand for various types of credit.

Flag carrier Qantas is on an apparent collision course with the New South Wales (NSW) government insofar as the construction of a second Sydney airport is concerned.

By Greg PeelThe market for spot uranium seems destined to reach some sort of meeting of the minds which could result in more solid volumes, but not just yet.

FNArena has added another video to its Investors Education section on the website. The latest video explains why EUR/USD continues to have Jerry Simmons' full attention as the cross is facing key weekly resistance at 1.

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed down 109 points or 0.8% while the S&P lost 0.8% to 1366 and the Nasdaq fell 1.