BUSINESS

The $1 billion agreement between China and Australia that would result in the export of 1 million cattle to the Asian giant would also boost the Aussie economy by $1.8 billion. The deal is expected to be officially finalised on Monday by Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the APEC Summit hosted by Beijing.

In the US, non-farm payrolls (employment) rose by 214,000 in October, short of forecasts tipping a 231,000 gain. Unemployment fell to a 6-year low of 5.8%. Average earnings rose by 0.1%. The labour force participation rate rose from 62.7% to 62.8%.

Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea may soon be seeing robots working to combat the dreaded Ebola in their countries.

Both retailers and consumers are excited about the upcoming Black Friday 2014, which offer big discounts for customers and guarantee massive profits for retail stores.

The Australian sharemarket has recovered yesterday's losses, with all ten sectors finishing firmer. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) gained 0.78 per cent or 42 points to 5,522, while the S&P/ASX 200 Index (XJO) climbed 0.78 per cent or 43 points to 5,549. The market was boosted by strong gains in the materials and energy sectors and even the financial sector managed to shrug off early losses to finish the day in positive territory. Over the course of the week the ASX 200 has gained 0.4%, markin...

Cruise ships could be taking in more passengers these days, no thanks to the terrorist groups in Syria and Iraq.

Local shares started the last session of the week on the front foot following encouraging gains for US and European markets over night. The ASX opened with a small loss, down 6 points before trading with a gain of 33 points at the best levels of the morning. The early optimism reflected gains seen overseas which were driven by the hope of more central bank led action to promote economic growth. The European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said the bank's governing council was unanimous in...

The United Nations is calling for more help to fight the Ebola outbreak right in the region where it started.

Alex LaBeouf who has been working at Target in Dallas, Texas for about three months could be appearing on TV or in the movies soon.

It was a busy night for global markets, as investors digested a raft of releases and events from Europe and the US. In Europe, the BoE and ECB both kept policy unchanged. However, the latter's press conference drew significant attention, as the central bank said it expects its balance sheet to move towards 2012 levels. Essentially, this implies the balance sheet is set to increase by around a trillion euros. At the same time, the ECB reinforced its commitment to using other unconventional pol...

Typhoon Nuri could put parts of the United States experiencing single digit temperatures in the coming days.

In the US, jobless claim fell by 10,000 to 278,000 last week. The Labour Department also reported that hourly compensation increased at a 2.3 per cent rate in the September quarter. Labour productivity rose at a 0.3 per cent rate in the September quarter after a decline of 0.5 per cent in the June quarter.

Australia has been negotiating for 10 years with China to finalise the one-billion cattle deal.

The local sharemarket continued its downward slide this afternoon, closing firmly in the red. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) lost 0.32 per cent or 17pts to 5,475, while the S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.29 per cent or 16 pts to 5,501. The market was weighed down by falls in the mining and financial sectors. Volumes saw 1.9 billion shares exchanged worth $5.3 billion. 386 stocks ended higher, 571 closed lower and 321 were unchanged.

Canada and Australia have been sought by the WHO to explain their respective visa bans imposed against travellers from Ebola afflicted west African nations.

Intel Corporation announced its investment of $62 million in 16 companies marking its quest to make a mark in areas outside of chip engineering.

After several sessions where a weaker tone had prevailed locally, early trade on Thursday saw buyers re-emerge to assert themselves once again in the Australian sharemarket. The improved tone was a reflection of the gains seen in Europe and the US overnight. In Europe the FTSEurofirst 300 index rose by 1.7%, the UK FTSE gained 1.3% and the German Dax lifted by 1.6% as investors showed no anxiety ahead of the European Central Bank meeting on Thursday which is seen as bringing news of fresh stimul...

Gisele Mesnage, who is legally blind since birth, sued Coles for making it difficult for her to access its shopping website.

Amid concerns of a recession in the Euro zone, the European Commission forecasts a slow GDP growth.

Breakr claims the #AlexFromTarget viral campaign is its brainchild, but Alex himself denies it.

S&P moved to a record all-time high overnight, as the US midterms delivered their expected outcome.

It looks like the next three Olympic Games would be hosted simultaneously by Asian cities. Beijing is the strongest contender to host the 2022 Winter Games, reports said.

In the US, the ISM services index fell from 58.6 to 57.1 in October, short of estimates near 58.0. The ADP survey of private employment showed that 230,000 jobs were created in October, above estimates near 220,000. And weekly home loan commitments fell 2.6% in the latest week with new purchases up 2.6% while refinancing fell 5.5%.

A number of investors of Virgin Galactic have turned cold feet after Friday's crash.

November is always a dull month in the world of trading. US earnings season has passed, investors start to think about the new year and most macro influences slow down to a trickle.

A Sydney-bound Virgin Australia flight was forced to return to Los Angeles on Tuesday after passengers complained of a very strong and foul odor while flying.

If you want that promotion, you've got to do something.

How to get your staff to like you.

It can make you exceedingly happy -- and then land you in debt