BUSINESS

Two Australian banks cut their interest rates on Monday, ahead of a possible overnight cash rate reduction by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) in May and amid ANZ Bank's unpopular decision to hike fixed mortgage and small business loan rates by 0.06 per cent on Friday.

By Rudi Filapek-VandyckThe Reserve Bank of Australia today released the Board Minutes that accompanied the decision to stick with the status quo on the official cash rate earlier this month.

Asus, the Taiwanese-based company announced that the company's Asus Transformer Pad 300 will be released in the market on April 22, 2012. Pre-order for this tablet has already started and this release date would also mean that it will be directly competing against the official debut of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 2.

Samsung has finally ended months of speculation about the Samsung Galaxy S III. The Korean-based firm finally sent out invitations stating "come and meet the next Galaxy". The invitation is for the May 3 event called "Samsung Mobile Unpacked 2012" that will take place in London.

To address the high cost of aviation fuel, flag carrier Qantas is experimenting with the use of refined cooking oil to power its jets.

Toyota Australia implemented on Monday the job cuts it announced earlier this year on its Altona assembly facilities in Melbourne, which the Japanese carmaker has attributed to shrinking orders and the constantly rising Australian dollar.

Australian stocks have started the trading week in the red, dragged down by falls on European and US share markets at the end of last week. Typically, US investors bail out of equities on Friday 13th, the mood last week not helped by ongoing concerns surrounding the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis. Lower commodity prices haven't helped sentiment locally, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) down 20.5pts or 0.5pct in early trade to 4383.7.

Number one social networking site Facebook and Ten Network are talking about an alliance that would involve sharing of content, audiences and advertising income, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

Three teaser shots of the new Fiat Viaggio have been leaked ahead of the car's official debut at this month's Beijing motor show.

By Adrian Ash, BullionVaultIt's more than "interesting" that platinum prices are lagging gold...GOLD has risen nicely since the meltdown following Lehmans' collapse, with the gold price in Dollars rising 130%.

Chances are higher for a Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) overnight cash rate cut in May due to ANZ Bank's decision on Friday to increase its variable mortgage and small business loan rates, economists said on Monday.

New data from R.L. Polk reveals that only 35% of hybrid owners bought another hybrid last year.

Save money and reduce your environmental impact by buying previously loved stuff — with a few notable exceptions.

Australian miners and interest rates, US quarterly earnings, Spain's struggles and the IMF's latest economic outlook for the world and major economies will dominate headlines here and offshore in the coming week.

Miners in Australia, earnings in the US, and the pain in Spain will dominate markets in the week ahead, along with concerns about China, weak commodity prices and interest rates.

Burma is entering the era of the Asian world economy.

One of the true wonders of the modern world, which goes largely unrecognised, is that China manages to collate and report its quarterly economic growth to the world in less than two weeks.

Student debt is growing at an alarming rate.

China has once again shown a capacity to surprise the west just when you don't expect major policy moves to happen.

BrightSource Energy Inc., a California solar-power developer, plans to go public, in spite of an unenthusiastic market for solar companies and an uncertain outlook for renewable-energy firms.

Does Australia have an economy that won't die?

New rumors about Apple's next MacBook Pro are circling the web as there are reports stating that the present 15-inch models are running low on stock. This seems to be an indication that a new line is being prepared with upgraded features and specifications.

Tablets have evolved from being an optional device to being a must-have device in a person's life either in business or personal dealings. Many companies have noticed this sudden shift as various tablet models are being manufactured and marketed in the market.

The Australian share market posted another solid session of gains today, to finish the trading week virtually unchanged. Yesterday and today's gains managed to negate losses in the earlier part of the week and it was clear investors were not spooked by the curse of Friday the 13th, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) up 42.5pts by close or 1pct to 4404.2.

Emerging economies have ramped up their campaign to finally secure the World Bank (WB) top post, possibly strengthening their efforts by fielding a single candidate.

A higher financial firewall may not be necessary for now, according to International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director Christine Lagarde, reversing her earlier calls of putting up a deep war chest to combat threats of global recession.

Finance Minister Penny Wong said on Friday that the Wednesday announcement by BHP Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA) that it would close its Norwich Park coking coal mine in Queensland is not an indicator of the state of the mining industry in Australia.

by Peter Switzer, Switzer Super ReportMy view on the stock market this year is more cautiously positive than last year.

Strong gains in global equities just overnight have made the Asian shares shoot up, especially after hard manufacturing data from the United States, and as leading Asian exporters offset signs of mild recession in Europe.