BUSINESS

Mining giant BHP Billiton (ASX: BHP) said the 31 per cent drop in the price of iron ore in the international market may not be the last. It anticipated further declines in the price of the key steel-making ingredient in the coming months, said BHP Billiton President of Marketing Mike Henry.

The local sharemarket has just had its best week in four and a half months, with the All Ordinaries index (XAO) rising by approximately 1.5 per cent over the past five days. Better than expected employment growth in the U.S. gave local investors an additional push forward today.

The Manhattan spring market posted very activities and generated more sales compared to the same period last year, brokerage firms reported. Douglas Ellman Real Estate said although inventory has been rising since reaching an unprecedented low at the end of 2013, the supply of apartments for sale still remains unusually low.

The Australian sharemarket is rising for the third straight day thanks to better than expected economic news last night. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is up 0.6 per cent, is trading above 5500pts for the first time in a month and almost all sectors are higher. If the market can hold onto the gains for the remainder of the session, this is set to be the best week in 4.5 month for local shares.

Problems in the brake lines of its cars and SUV lines have forced Subaru to recall more than 660,000 vehicles, majority of which are in the U.S. About 100,000 are in Canada.

NASA is usually associated with fascinating jobs like that of astronauts, rocket ship engineers and scientists. A job, classified as weird, which joins this list of fascinating jobs is that of a staff sniffer.

US equities extended gains on the back of a monster jobs report which essentially reassured investors that the US economy is on track for a Q2 bounce. This saw the S&P close at an all-time high for the 25th time this year. The non-farm employment change reading for June showed a whopping 288,000 jobs added while the unemployment rate dropped to 6.1%. Both readings smashed expectations and this helped push the US dollar higher across the board. Additionally there were also upward revisions for Ap...

In US economic data, non-farm payrolls lifted by 288,000 in June. The unemployment rate fell from 6.3% to 6.1% - the lowest level since September 2008. Data for April and May was revised to show a total of 29,000 more jobs than previously reported. The service sector drove the job gains while manufacturing and construction jobs also recorded a healthy lift. Over the first half of 2014 jobs growth has now averaged 231,000 jobs per month, the best start to a calendar year since 2006.

The Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia has developed a new breed of apple, dubbed as "black apple" that can rival the Pink Lady as world's most popular apple.

The Australian sharemarket continued to improve this afternoon, with local shares rising by close to 0.75 per cent. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) jumped by 0.7 per cent with all sectors finishing higher.

Institutions or individuals fond of sending spam mail to Canadian electronic mailboxes should ought to think twice sending those missives or otherwise risk getting sued in court for millions of dollars. Canada's new anti-spam law (CASL) already took effect on Tuesday.

Residents in the U.S.' North Carolina coast as well as Canada's Nova Scotia area have been advised to take necessary precautions as tropical storm Arthur continued to gain strength, potentially hitting hurricane level by Thursday.

When it comes to fast food restaurants, quality of the food and convenience of location have become more important factors in the people's dining decisions according to the recent release of Consumer Reports on best and worst fast food restaurants in the United States.

The Australian sharemarket is having its best week in two months with shares rising for the second day. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is up 0.7 per cent or 37pts to 5477.8. U.S markets ended modestly higher overnight with a better than expected report on private sector employment in North America helping.

Netizens have reacted on the social media Twitter over Facebook's social experiment testing whether emotional contagion occurs outside of in-person interaction between individuals by reducing the amount of emotional content in the News Feed.

Canada could be seeing soon on its many runways its first ultra low-cost air carrier as Canada Jetlines Ltd. announced plans of raising $10-million to be able to enlist on the TSX Venture Exchange.

American publishers have earned more from online sale of books than from physical stores in 2013.

It was a busy night on the US economic calendar with the ADP jobs report and comments from Fed chair Janet Yellen hitting the wires. The ADP non-farm employment change came in at a much-better-than-expected 281,000, smashing estimates of 207,000. This saw expectations ramp up as we head into the official non-farm payrolls reading later today. With the July 4thIndependence day holiday on Friday, the data is being released on Thursday instead of the traditional Friday. The market is expecting to s...

Federal Reserve Chair Yellen delivered a speech at an IMF conference in Washington. She believes that raising interest rates to fight asset bubbles would be a bad idea, instead she argued better regulation would mitigate financial risk.

Apple Inc. stock is reaching a new all-time high and is completing a record breaking June quarter according to analysts

Despite the recent protest against the operation of its rare earths facility in Malaysia, Australian miner Lynas said on Wednesday that it would move the company's headquarter to Kuala Lumpur from Sydney to cut costs.

Up to 75,000 jobs in Australia's mining industry are at a risk of being lost as the country enters the third phase of the resources boom, a report from ANZ warned.

Nikkei, a Japanese financial site, has reported mockups of iPhone 6 spread across media which are only rough estimates of what its sources from the supply chain have in their hands.

Apple Inc. has been beaten by Google, Microsoft and Walt Disney in the FutureBrand Top 100 Index. Consumers were asked to rate brands based on their experiences. Research firm Futurebrand seeks to "define and deliver future brand experiences."

The Australian share market rebounded solidly on Wednesday, following another record high for US blue-chip stocks during Tuesday's trade.

The Australian sharemarket is improving for the first time in three days, with fresh record highs in the U.S. and a firmer iron ore price helping. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is 0.9 per cent higher, making it the best day for local shares in a fortnight.

Rumours of an impending shakeup has forced Ernst von Freyberg, chairman of embattled Vatican Bank, to step down ahead of confirmations, Italian media reported earlier.

Ofcom, the broadcast media regulator in the UK, just approved 10 new digital radio stations. It is the result of the auction of a second national digital radio multiplex seven years since the regulator made the first multiplex available.

Controversial CEO for Hon Hai, Terry Gou, hints at Apple Inc.’s robotic factory