BUSINESS

OZ Minerals has downplayed the dangers posed by chemicals that spilled earlier this week when one of its freight trains was derailed due to heavy flooding that had hit the Northern Territory.

Mining has been the Australian economy's backbone for some time but its benefits were essentially eclipsed by rising living costs, forcing many consumers to rationalize their spending habits.

Boeing forecasts more consolidation in the global aviation industry in the next 10 years. Boeing Chief Executive Officer Jim McNerney said that restructuring of air carrier companies would be one of the biggest challenges that airlines would face in the coming decade.

Since the 2008 global financial crisis, Australians have been saving at a record-high rate, to the detriment of the country's retail industry. For the September quarter, Aussies' ratio of net household savings to disposable income went up to 10 per cent from 9 per cent in the June quarter.

Moly Mines (ASX: MOL) is again postponing its $700-million molybdenum and copper mine projects at Spinifex Ridge in Western Australia. The company explained the move to falling prices of molybdenum, a key ingredient in the manufacture of steel, and the strong Australian currency.

2012 could be a banner year for Microsoft. The software giant is set to release the next generation Windows software, Windows 8 which is slated to run on both tablets and desktops. It's a huge gamble for Microsoft, one that could very well spell the difference between success and failure for Microsoft in this post-PC era.

Hewlett Packard finally made the leap to join the growing tablet market by releasing the HP TouchPad, but the response for this tablet was poor. Will this be the end for the HP TouchPad? If the reports true, the probable answer is a big "YES".

Qantas compensated passengers of its Perth-bound plane from Singapore of up to $400,000 each. The 144 travelers were hurt when the Airbus A4330 jet they were riding on October 2008 nosedived twice.

U.S. stocks gained in the second-to-last trading session of 2011, boosted by data that showed a modest improvement in the U.S. housing and employment sectors and a drop in borrowing costs for heavily indebted Italy.

Italy successfully sold 7 billion euros of bonds at an auction on Thursday with the yield on the benchmark 10-year bonds at 6.98pct, well off the highs of 7.56pct set a month ago. Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti was cautious: ´´Auctions held yesterday and today went rather well, this is encouraging but the financial turbulence absolutely isn´t over.´´

Google could have a potential enemy now that HP (Hewlett Packard) revealed that they are planning to pursue their WebOS project which is incidentally, also an open source project.

Seven LCD manufacturers in Asia including Sharp Corp. and Samsung Electronics Co. agreed to pay $553 million to settle anti-trust claims for illegally fixing liquid crystal display prices in televisions, notebook computers and monitors.

Microsoft Corp's Windows Phone Marketplace now has more than 50,000 apps available which makes the Windows Phone the second fastest growing app store after Apple. That is good news for Microsoft which took a year to reach 40,000 apps on Windows Phone but only 40 days to reach the 50,000 milestone. On any given standard, the fast growing app store, the good reviews for its Windows Phone; one would expect Microsoft to have a better slice of the smartphone market but it only managed to grab just...

The Boxing Day aftermath proved encouraging enough for the Australian retail sector, and major players are still cautiously optimistic about the general picture.

Stricter U.S. regulations on pollution control, together with higher costs incurred in burning coal, have prompted Sunbury Generation LP, owner of one of the nation's oldest coal-fired power plants, to switch to natural gas by 2015.

The West Australian government invited China to be an investor in its $5.94-billion Oakajee port and rail project. The venture seeks to open up a new iron ore mine site in the state's Mid-West and make it WA's second major iron ore output behind Pilbara.

YouTube launched Tuesday a new game wherein viewers and visitors can vote to pick which of two video clips pitted against each other weekly is more impressive, funnier, cuter or weirder.

A train was derailed on Tuesday caused by floodwater brought by ex-tropical cyclone Grant. The accident involved OZ Minerals (ASX: OZL) whose $8-millon shipment of copper concentrates partly spilled into the Edith River.

Amid the spate of train accidents in Australia involving shipment of minerals, BHP Billiton (ASX: BHP) assured on Thursday that the route it would take to move toxic products from its Olympic Dam expansion is safe.

The S&P 500 fell 1.3% on a forex related move, after EUR/USD traded down to an eleven-month low.Among the major averages, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.1% to 12151. The S&P pulled back 1.3% to 1249, below its 200-day moving average, while the NASDAQ dropped 1.1% to 2267.

Anyone who's ever flown knows the drill before take-off. Seatbelts on and turn off all electronic devices. However according to a study conducted by U.S.A Today more people are refusing to turn off their electronic devices even during take-off, flight and landing. What are the effects of these electronic devices to a plane? Will they really cause a plane to drop out of the sky?

The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) criticised the Australian government on Tuesday for renewing a textile, clothing and footwear scheme with the Fiji government. The scheme is part of a multilateral trade agreement, which ACTU President Ged Kearney insisted would not improve the lives of textile workers in Fiji who are paid low wages.

Jetstar has revealed plans to attract another partner for its new Japan venture, the Jetstar Japan, adding up to the budget airline's present investors - Japan Airlines and trading firm Mitsubishi.

International mining company Cliffs Natural Resources bought Atlas Iron Limited's (ASX: AGO) magnetite project for $18 million.

Major consumer electronic firms, led by Samsung and Sharp, have agreed to settle on Tuesday the U.S. lawsuits that alleged they collaborated to control prices of LCD panels, reports said.

Sears chief executive Lou D'Ambrosio announced on Tuesday that up to 120 Sears and the iconic Kmart stores will close shop soon, citing that the outlets targeted for shutting down failed to generate "the results we were seeking during the holiday."

The Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union (CFMEU) charged that 400 workers may have been exposed to asbestos for about one year in the $50-million redevelopment of the Museum of Contemporary Arts building in Sydney.

Foxconn, assembler of Apple's iPad and iPhone, has unveiled plans to upgrade its production capacity in mainland China, expanding the company's existing plant in the country's Henan province, reports said.

Australian mining company Arc Exploration (ASX: ARX) temporarily suspended the operation of its gold project at Bima in the Indonesia island of Sumbawa after violence broke out on the site on Christmas Eve.