BUSINESS

US jobs, the Australian Reserve Bank's monthly interest rate decision, Chinese manufacturing and Japanese business sentiment will dominate a trading week shortened for the great Easter bun and chocolate festival.

Qantas Airways and Jetstar will increase their ticket prices because of their higher aviation fuel bill.

The local share market has started the new trading week, month and quarter on a positive note thanks to strong gains offshore on Friday night and better than expected Chinese manufacturing data. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) hit a high of 4460.7pts in early trade but has come off that slightly at lunchtime in the East and at 12.15pm AEST is firmer by 18.1pts or 0.4pct to 4438.1.

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.

Overall sentiment among investors in Australia has improved markedly since January. While short term caution still reigns, a majority is now anticipating 2012 will generate a positive return with equities likely to be higher on a six to twelve month horizon.

China is slowing gaining a foothold into the US and Canada oil and natural gas industry

State-owned Chinese oil company PetroChina announced this Thursday that it pumped 2.4 million barrels of oil per day last year - overtaking Exxon Mobil's 2.3 million bpd to be the world's largest publicly traded producer of oil.

Sony recently announced that users of Sony Xperia Play can now update their device's OS to the latest Android version which is Android 4.0 or better known as Android ICS (Ice Cream Sandwich).

When Thorsten Heins stepped in for departing co-founders Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis as Research in Motion's new CEO, he faced the uphill task of rejuvenating a company that has been on a steady downward slide. Now with RIM posting a dismal performance last quarter Heins announced a strategic overhaul and the possibility of a future sale of the company.

Immediately after launch of the new iPad, the iPhone Dev Team and other hackers have already announced they have they have discovered multiple ways to jailbreak the third generation iPad.

There'll be no more unpaid overtime work on Foxconn facilities in China in the coming months, according to Fair Labor Association (FLA), which has been commissioned by Apple to conduct audits on its partner Chinese assemblers.

Hardware chain Bunnings Warehouse announced on Friday that it would create 6,000 jobs in Australia over the next three years as part of its $1.5-billion expansion plan. That would involve the setting up of 85 new stores across the country which would also create more than 11,500 construction jobs.

Through its takeover of Anvil Mining, Minmetal Resources of China said on Friday that it would use its recently acquired assets to acquire mines in southern Africa.

By Aaron Tornell and Frank Westermann"Should the inflation outlook worsen, we would immediately take preventive steps".

By Peter Switzer, Switzer Super ReportAt a time when luminaries, such as the Future Fund's ex-chairman David Murray and ex-Treasury boss Ken Henry, have warned Aussie investors and super funds about holding too many shares, the question is, is this a good sign that we should be buying?To buy or...

Leighton Holdings has confirmed what more and more investors have been suspecting, that it is a wealth destroyer, not a creator and that if they are really brutal, its time as a listed company in Australia is now looking limited.

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed up 19 points or 0.2% while the S&P closed down 0.2% to 1403 and the Nasdaq lost 0.

After reaching a 2012 high yesterday, the local share market pulled back a little today, following falls in offshore markets and due to a lack of guidance in the form of economic data. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) closed down 9.5pts or 0.2pct to 4422 while the S&P/ASX 200 Index (XJO) lost 5.6pts or 0.1pct to 4337.9.

Five million units of Samsung Galaxy Note have been shipped since its October debut in 2011, South Korea's Samsung said on Wednesday, marking a significant milestone for a device that the tech world greeted with mixed reactions.

Let's begin the day looking at Bank of Queensland's (ASX:BOQ) $91 million first-half loss.

Last year, I was at a dinner with a bunch of fertilizer analysts from Wall Street and Toronto.

Pay off a credit card, take a vacation, open a Roth IRA and more.

One of the great things about markets is how they are always changing. They never cease to surprise. But the market, as sly as it is, sometimes tips its hand.

Fresh accusations of wrongdoings further deepened the existing woes of global media firm News Corporation, which has yet to put behind the hacking scandals that led to the closure of its major daily in the United Kingdom.

The Canadian miner, Crocodile Gold, just purchased two Australian mines from another Canadian firm, AuRico Gold. It bought the Fosterville and Stawell mines in Victoria for $101 million.

China assailed Australia's decision this week of banning a major Chinese firm from participating into the $36-billion roll out of the national broadband network (NBN), labelling the move as discriminatory and unfair trade practices.

By 2030, Australia would have a population of over six million people. That would need another 2.7 million more homes, 125,000 retirement facilities and 24,000 additional hospital beds.

The Reserve Bank has given the Australian financial system and banks a tick of good health in its first Stability Review of 2012.

Tech giant Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) is giving back Aussies’ money as iPad 3’s 4G feature is not applicable in the country.