BUSINESS

National Australia Bank (ASX: NAB) today announced changes to the Group Executive Committee.

Telecom New Zealand (ASX: TEL; NZE TEL) has today announced it will credit all residential customers’ landline calls to Japan. This includes calls made from landline to landline and landline to Japanese mobile phones.

Patterson Cheney Pty Ltd, trading as Patterson Cheney Holden, has paid two infringement notices totaling $13,200 following an Australian Competition and Consumer Commission investigation into its promotional offer of a 'Free Extended Lifetime Mechanical Warranty'.

Music and record-producing companies will soon realize the untapped potential of digital music subscription that will also curb the availability of free music downloads online.

Web developers will get the most benefit with Microsoft's Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) launched early this week.

- The eurozone has surprised by suddenly announcing new agreements- The bail-out fund is now bigger and concessions have been made to Greece- It's an improvement, albeit still not enough to cover Italy- But it may yet prove a turning pointBy Greg PeelLast week the world was distracted by MENA uprisings, including planned Saudi protests and the ongoing civil war in Libya. But Europe was suddenly ba...

News of another explosion at the Fukushima nuclear power station sent shockwaves through global markets. With the Nikkei plunging more than -10%, the largest one day decline since 1987, risk liquidation accelerated weighing the Aussie down. Initial reactions saw the Australian Dollar slide to 0.9925 against the Greenback.

U.S. stocks sank Tuesday as worries deepened over the specter of a nuclear crisis and economic slowdown in Japan, but encouraging comments from the Federal Reserve kept the losses in check.

- Experts are trying to assess Japan's earthquake and commodity market implications- LNG, Coal likely winners- Long-term contracts to support uranium- Oil price forecasts also liftedBy Chris ShawThe full impact of the damage and losses suffered in Japan in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami that struck on Friday afternoon still cannot be accurately assessed, but with markets remaining open bro...

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed down 137 points or 1.2% while the S&P lost 1.1% to 1281 and the Nasdaq dropped 1.3%.The first thing to note here is that Australia is currently leading Wall Street rather than following it as usual, given the critical situation at present is in the Asian time zone. Having fallen 6% on Monday, yesterday the Nikkei fell another 10% as the focus moved from the cost of the t...

Don't expect too much in the way of changed language from the post meeting statement from the Fed.In reality not much has really changed from the last meeting in January.A small improvement in the jobs market is being offset by fears the damage that could flow from oil prices above $US100 a barrel and petrol prices between $US3 and $US4 a gallon.Inflation fears are overdone; the overhang of u...

Australian interest rates will be on hold for a while longer as the central bank confirms that it will ignore short term blips and troughs in inflation and other data caused by the floods and bad weather.In the minutes of the March 1 board meeting, released yesterday the RBA said."Members confirmed that the Board's approach would be to look through temporary effects caused by extreme weather ...

The push to return the Budget to surplus by 2012/13 must not come at the cost of jobs or cuts to vital programs, services that working people and their communities rely on.

The Australian Bankers' Association (ABA) said the new MoneySmart website will be a helpful resource for consumers who access financial literacy information online.

The Australian Bankers' Association (ABA) said the new MoneySmart website will be a helpful resource for consumers who access financial literacy information online.

The merger of the Australian Retirement Fund (ARF) and the Superannuation Trust of Australia (STA) has created an industry behemoth that seeks to serve all of Australia's working class. AustralianSuper is still working hard to keep step with the demands of its members that encompasses all industries in the country.

The person behind the viral spread in Facebook for an overblown birthday party invite for a young girl residing in New South Wales has been identified by the state police.

The rising smartphone sales in Australia is expected to further accelerate this year and among the competing brands, Apple, according to experts, currently holds the edge due to its iPhone’s wide range of apps offerings.

Finally, Internet Explorer 9 shed its beta-status as Microsoft Corporation announced on Tuesday the formal launch of the web browser during the South by Southwest Interactive technology festival held in Texas, USA.

The Al Habtoor Leighton Group (HLG), in joint venture with Murray and Roberts, has been awarded an AED2.2 billion (US$600 million) contract for the construction of Al Mafraq Hospital for SEHA, the Abu Dhabi Health Services Company.

Murchison Metals Ltd (ASX: MMX) has secured the approval of the Environmental Protection Authority of Western Australia (EPA) for the proposed Oakajee Port & Rail (OPR) terrestrial iron ore port development and associated rail infrastructure in the State’s mid-west region.

Woodchipper Gunns (ASX: GNS) says it is continuing to assess the effects of the Japanese earthquake on the business outlook.

By Greg PeelIs the world about to end? Fans of the Book of Revelation may be somewhat inclined to believe so, but seismologists recently interviewed by the media have played down the implications of the seemingly endless stream of seismological events the world has suffered over the past couple of years, noting that such activity usually occurs in clusters. Eventually the earth will settle down ag...

Australia had A$1.79 trillion (US$1.82 trillion) in funds under management (FUM) in the December quarter 2010, according to Austrade.

The financial services capability of Australia, particularly the rapidly growing funds management sector, was showcased in Toronto and Montreal during an Austrade-led mission from 28 February – 2 March.

Australian uranium exporters spearheaded a fall in Australian's stock market Monday after a devastating earthquake and tsunami last week hit Japan, Australia's second biggest trading partner behind China. Insurers and agricultural companies also fell, while steelmakers, oil refiners and clean energy producers were among a handful of gainers. The S&P/ASX 200 was down 1.2% at 4588.3 points around 0220 GMT after earlier hitting low of 4564.1.

Mortgage Choice CEO Mr. Russell has welcomed the Productivity Commission report findings ratify an earlier government department report identifying the true cause of deteriorating housing affordability. Mortgage Choice is Australia's largest independently-owned mortgage broker.

By Greg PeelRegular readers of this weekly report will appreciate that it summarises activity in the spot uranium market from the week before as noted by industry consultant TradeTech, and notes the indicative price for the week set by TradeTech. While this week's report will briefly summarise last week's activity, let us be clear all reported transactions occurred in blissful ignorance of what wa...

The Australian Dollar weakened against the US Dollar as Japan's biggest earthquake dampened demand for higher yielding assets.