MARKETS

Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu is on an aggressive campaign to court foreign investments, particularly Chinese, through an ongoing week-long trade mission to the Asian economic giant.

The Pakistani government ordered on Monday the culling of 21,000 sheep from Australia after the animals were tested positive for salmonella bacteria and actinomyces, and declared unfit for human consumption.

By Greg PeelThe Dow fell 40 points, or 0.3%, while the S&P lost 0.3% to 1461 and the Nasdaq slipped 0.

The euphoria surrounding the US Federal Reserve's latest efforts to stimulate the global economy continued to impress local investors today. US and European markets rallied on Friday, with the Dow Jones Index and S&P 500 both hitting highs not seen since December 2007. Japanese markets were closed today for a public holiday, while China's Shanghai Composite Index fell into the red. By close, the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) edged higher by 11.6pts or 0.3pct to 4421.8, its highest level since...

he Australian market opened a little weaker than expected today The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) rose by 10 points but by lunchtime it had lost a bit of ground and was only up 8 points to 4,418 points.

PepsiCo Inc. informed on Tuesday that its president, John Compton, resigned from the post to run a large privately held company in the state of Tennessee, Pilot Flying J Oil Corp. John Compton's resignation comes as a surprise after less than a year on the job. Zein Abdalla has been appointed John Compton's successor.

One of the longest-running myths in financial markets is going to damage a lot of portfolios: the myth that central bank money printing - in the context of a modern banking system - hikes the value of stocks.

There's a movie about a zombie apocalypse where fireworks are used to distract the zombies. While their yellow eyes are peeled to the sky, scroungers go looking for food outside the safety of the walls. The violent zombies are so absorbed by the fireworks they let people walk right past them. Think of it as stimulus.

In a bid to boost the state economy, New South Wales Resources Minister Chris Hartcher said on Saturday that NSW is open to uranium exploration. Besides announcing the state policy, Mr Hartcher moved one step ahead by seeking expressions of interest in licences.

How QE Favours the Rich

If you need any further evidence that the bulk commodity bubble has burst all over the place, look no further than the actions of the Queensland government. These bozos announced their budget on Tuesday, ratcheting up the royalties on coal production.

We're back in the City of Lights, Fellow Reckoner, La Ville-Lumière. The hot and dusty Medina of Marrakech is behind us. So too the coastline of Portugal and the cities of Seville and Madrid. But what is ahead...for Europe...for the world?

The Australian sharemarket improved strongly today following the U.S central bank's decision to stimulate the American economy. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) rose by 1.2 pct or 50.4 pts to 4410.2. Thanks to today's improvements, the XAO is around 1.4 pct stronger today than this time last week and has had its best single day of trade since 27 July.

Spanish house prices continue to slide, as the economy slumps deeper into recession mainly due to weak demand and stringent austerity measures.

Overnight there was only one focus for the US markets, the outcome of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting to decide on a new monetary policy. The market is hoping for additional stimulus and that is exactly what it got. The FOMC announced an open ended Quantitative Easing (QE) program focused on purchases up to US$40Billion worth of Mortgage Backed Securities (MBSs) a month. The program will commence tomorrow and can be increased with additional asset purchases if required to try an...

Three unions at BHP Billiton (ASX: BHP) rejected on Thursday the latest workplace agreement offered by the giant miner. The unions want changes to the offer before they submit the deal for a vote to their 3,000 members assigned at BHP's coking coal mines in northeastern Australia.

Iranian oil tankers have been unloading millions of barrels of oil near a small port island just off the East Malaysian coast.

U.S. fast food giant McDonald's Corp will begin posting calorie information for its entire menu at U.S. stores starting from next week.

By Rudi Filapek-VandyckThe Dow Jones industrial average jumped 207 points, or 1.6%, to 13,539.86, while the Nasdaq rose 1.

The Australian sharemarket lost a little ground for the second time this week, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) easing by 0.5 pct or 23.3 pts to 4359.8. Despite the pullback, investors seemed uninterested with equities as there was only $3.3 billion worth of shares that exchanged hands. This is around 30 pct less than last Thursday's trade volume. Yesterday, the XAO improved by 0.8 pct.

Today the market has reversed yesterday's strong run, positive news out of Europe was not enough to keep the momentum from continuing ahead of the outcome from the US Federal Reserve tonight. Overnight the German Constitutional Court formally approved The European Stability Mechanism (ESM), paving the way for the Eurozone's permanent rescue fund to come into operation. While a positive decision had been expected the euro markets and currencies rose. The UK market was a little weaker even w...

Every so now and then FNArena receives a question that is worthwhile sharing with a broader audience. This week's question from subscriber John from Altona Meadows, Victoria about JB Hi-Fi ((JBH)) qualifies in our view.

The Hyundai Motor's labor union has voted to approve a revised wage and working-conditions deal, ending strike that had hurt sales at South Korea's biggest car maker. The strike at Hyundai Motor is said to be the costliest one in the company's history.

This story was originally published on 6 September 2012. It has now been re-published to make it available to an audience beyond paying subscribers at FNArena.

Ford Motor Co.'s board of directors is due to meet on Thursday. The Ford Motor Co.'s board will probably discuss the most pressing issue facing the American car maker - the retirement of Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally.

Is today Big Wednesday? Well, if you had to pick a day when the market could blow out - in either direction - you could do worse than today.

This is the last day of the Mont Pelerin Society meeting in Prague, and I am writing from inside Prague Castle, where we have been the guests of the Czech Republic President Vaclav Klaus.

By Rudi Filapek-VandyckThe Dow Jones industrial average DJIA closed up 9.99 points, or 0.07%, to 13,333.

The Australian sharemarket improved for the second time this week today and ended close to the daily highs. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) rose 0.8 pct or 34.8 pts to 4383.1, with almost all sectors closing in the black.