BUSINESS

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed down 108 points or 0.9% while the S&P lost 1.0% to 1204 and the Nasdaq fell 0.

The four-hour strike at Qantas which was supposed to start at 7 a.m. in many airports began 3:30 a.m. The early start was caused by the air carrier's alleged lockout of the 3,800 striking baggage handlers, ground staff and caterers.

GVK Group of India is set to close the funding requirements for its US $1.2 billion acquisition of Hancock Coal in Australia in the next few weeks.

Esprit has turned to the Chinese market to help increase its profitability and has embarked on a four-year investment program that will cost HK $18 billion.

Chinese automaker BYD Co. plans to sell as much as $939 million (6 billion yuan) worth of bonds as the company continues to seek ways to raise funds to keep operations alive and going.

With more than enough cash on their hands and a big buying power, China continued to buy U.S. notes and bonds, bolstering its holdings at the U. S. Treasuries to record at a $1.17 trillion.

China Southern stepped up an airline challenge to its closest rivals as it gears to introduce the Airbus A380 Aircraft superjumbos next month to service the Europe and North America routes.

The rally between two giant tech companies never stopped as Samsung filed a counter lawsuit against Apple under Australian ruling.

Apple Inc. got a ban of Samsung Electronics' Galaxy Tab 10.1 and the Galaxy Tab 7.7 in Germany, at a time when all device-makers were touting new gadgets at the IFA 2011. Apple also forced Samsung to pull the Samsung Galaxy S 2 off shelves in the Netherlands, and Samsung tablets in Australia.

There has been a lot of news leaks about the next iPhone that triggers the high expectations among fans and consumers on Apple’s soon-to-be-released product.

As rival telcos unveiled their new broadband pricing schemes, giant Telstra Corporation revealed on Monday new offerings that it hopes would continue to lure customers amidst the approaching roll out of the National Broadband Network (NBN).

Apple's iPhone 5 hasn't been released yet but Samsung is already planning to launch an aggressive legal campaign to ban the device in Korea.Insiders at the South Korean company told the Korea Times that the company plans to up its legal battle with Apple with the next generation of smartphones, starting with the much anticipated iPhone 5.

Qantas said more than 6,100 passengers will be affected on Tuesday by the Transport Workers Union's strike as the airline will be forced to cancel 28 flights and delay a further 27 flights by up to 35 minutes.

Facebook is joining forces with Twitter - does this spell doom for Google+? If the outcome depends on the numbers, Google+ could be dead. Facebook has more than 750 million active users and Twitter has 100 million, compared with only 20 million users and no signs of growth so far for Google's social network.

As major Australian retailers absorb the ongoing crunch in the sector, players also point the blame on rent fees that further sap away the measly margin, if any, they were able to make.

The Australian and International Pilots Association (AIPA), which has been focussing its protected industrial action on raising awareness of the Qantas management plan to offshore jobs, is today marking the two month anniversary of qantaspilots.com.au by thanking the 50,000 individual Australians who have visited the site since its launch in July, and the 22,000 who have signed the online petition to keep Qantas pilots in the cockpit.

Critics of the Victorian Government plan to expedite cases through the Victorian Civil and Administrative Appeals Tribunal (VCAT) were attacking housing affordability and employment opportunities of thousands of Victorians, the Urban Development Industry of Australia warned today.

When it comes to property, Australians are starting to choose location over size, according to new Grattan Institute research.

Housing has become the biggest cost of living issue all over Australia and there is a significant crisis, according to a coalition of national housing, welfare and community sector organisations to highlight the problem of housing affordability in Australia.

Virgin Australia and Delta Air Lines announced on Monday a code sharing agreement on trans-Pacific flights beginning Nov. 6, 2011.

Home prices in China grew only 4.1 percent in August, hinting earlier policy rules laid down by government in July may be slowly taking effect.

Samsung Electronics filed an appeal against a court ruling banning the sales of Galaxy tablet computers in Germany. In the latest news of the legal battle between the two smartphone technology giants, the South Korean company also accused Apple Inc. of patent infringement in Australia.

Unable to market in full swing its line of Galaxy tablet computers due to global legal disputes with giant tech firm Apple, South Korea’s Samsung Electronics asked Australian and German courts to invalidate an earlier ruling from a German court that prevents the consumer electronic maker to sell its new products internationally.

Samsung Electronics Co. filed a countersuit against Apple in Australia, while also appealing a German court ruling, intensifying a global legal dispute between the two tech companies.

The four-hour walk-out of about 3,800 baggage handlers, ground staff and caterers of Qantas is scheduled Tuesday, but a day ahead of the work stoppage, the air carrier canceled on Monday 28 flight and delayed 27 more by up to 35 minutes.

More confirmation of the weakness of Australia's retail industry came out on Monday as investment firm Premier reported a 49 per cent drop in profit for its retail businesses.

A McDonald's drive through in Sydney suffered its second robbery within a span of one week.

Daily update on share prices and consensus price targets.By Rudi Filapek-VandyckLooked at from one perspective, the chart below shows that even when it comes to defensive yield plays in the Australian share market, timing counts.

Indian billionaire G.V. Krishna Reddy wants to acquire a stake in Hancock Prospecting, owned by Gina Rinehart, Australia's richest woman. He agreed to pay $1.26 billion to acquire a 79 percent share in the coal assets, Bloomberg reports.