POLITICS & POLICY

The Dow industrials edged lower to cap their biggest weekly retreat of the year, as big trading losses at J.P. Morgan Chase weighed on sentiment. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 34.44 points, or 0.3%, to 12820.60, erasing earlier gains after reports of a Securities and Exchange Commission review tied to J.P. Morgan's trading loss.

The Australian sharemarket fell for the third time this week, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) down 0.3 pct or 11.1 pts to 4342.7. Shares have slumped by 2.6 pct this week locally, which is the worst weekly performance since November 2011. Only around 30 pct of listed companies improved today.

Many parts of the world will celebrate Mother’s Day on Sunday, May 13. Meanwhile, in some unfortunate places, mothers continue to struggle just to find food for their children.

Australia appears to be on the right track on its carbon pricing program as a UN report that came out Thursday called on countries in the Asia-Pacific region to ramp up their efforts in reducing carbon emission while attaining economic prosperity.

The room for the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to further cut the overnight cash rate just shrank with the release on Thursday of statistics that the country's unemployment rate unexpectedly went down to 4.9 per cent from 5.2 per cent.

India, currently embroiled in a coal supply shortage owing to various complicated issues at the home front, is set to enter into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Mongolia that will enable it to acquire a coking coal mine in the coal rich country.

The Australian share market closed higher yesterday even with a slight slump in the last 2 hours of trade after the weaker than expected trade data out of China, the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) ended up 22points.

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key voiced out on Friday his personal support for gay marriage, joining U.S. President Barack Obama who openly said yesterday that "same-sex couples should be able to get married."

China, in just barely less than a week, has sent again into orbit another remote-sensing satellite. Although this time, it has yet to confirm that this particular one launched was a spy satellite.

Australian miner Dart Energy said on Friday that it would no longer drill a coal seam gas (CSG) well in St Peters, Sydney, The firm confirmed its statement in a filing with the Australian Securities Exchange.

Lynas Corp had scored a stamp of safety approval from no less than the Malaysian Parliamentary Committee, which continuous the Australian miner's winning streak to get its controversial rare earths processing plant operational in Malaysia.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The local unit recovered some ground overnight only to open back below USD1.0100 this morning.

The Dow industrials broke a six-session losing streak Thursday as a potential breakthrough by Greek political leaders eased immediate concerns about the country's exit from the euro zone. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 19.98 points, or 0.2%, to 12855.04. Blue chips survived a last-minute swoon, after having turned negative in the final minutes of the session, to snap their longest losing streak since August.

Tareq al-Hashemi, Iraq's Sunni vice president, remains in Turkey despite a Red Notice issued by Interpol requesting his extradition to Iraq. He fled Baghdad last December, immediately after he was indicted by the Iraqi government for organizing death squads against Shia Muslims during the Iraq War.

The Australian sharemarket improved for the second time this week today, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) edging higher by 0.5 pct or 21.6 pts to 4353.8. It certainly was an eventful session, with stocks treading water this morning in anticipation of the monthly jobs numbers. The market reacted well to the news as did the Australian dollar, however started to weaken following some disappointing signs for China's exports.

Australian Communications Minister Stephen Conroy admitted on Thursday that the party paid for the legal fees of former Labor MP Craig Thomson, which he stressed was a normal procedure.

After numerous rejections and delays, Chinese banks are slowly invading the U.S. banking system.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) pulled another surprise on Australians for the second consecutive month by announcing on Thursday that unemployment rate in April unexpectedly dipped to 4.9 per cent.

As Australia prepares to wind down its Afghan Mission, the Defence Ministry reported to the Parliament on Thursday that Diggers operating in Afghanistan gained considerable success in handling insurgents that were captured since last year.

The Australian share market lost ground for the second day in a row yesterday. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) slumped by 44 points to 4, 332 points.

As per the government, four people have been killed and ten are still missing after floods carrying volcanic debris swept through a town in eastern Indonesia yesterday.

Did you see the bit in yesterday's Australian Financial Review about who owns Australian government debt? Amy Auster, the chief of staff for the CEO of Institutional Banking at ANZ wrote the following (emphasis added is ours):

At least nine trade cooperation agreements were signed on Wednesday between China and Colombia that included the possible construction of a railway infrastructure in Colombia and an oil pipeline that will run from Venezuela to Colombia's Pacific coast.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled for a sixth straight day Wednesday as investors remained focused on fresh concerns about Greece and Spain. The blue-chip Dow fell 97.03 points, or 0.75%, to 12835.06. It had been down as many as 184 points earlier in the session.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: Commodity currencies were driven lower again overnight due to the ongoing uncertainty over the outlook for the euro zone.

The Malaysian High Court has scheduled to hear in mid June the injunction application filed by Australian miner Lynas Corp. and its subsidiary Lynas Malaysia Sdn Bhd against independent media outlet Free Malaysia Today (FMT) and protest group Save Malaysia Stop Lynas (SMSL) group.

MORNING REPORT (7am AEST)U.S. wholesale inventories rose 0.3pct in March to $480.4 billion, while wholesale sales rose 0.5pct to $411.1 billion. The inventories-to-sales ratio was unchanged at 1.17. Inventories of durable goods rose 1pct in March, while inventories of nondurables decreased 0.6pct. In February, total inventories grew 0.9pct, while sales rose 1.1pct.

The Australian sharemarket lost ground for the second time this week and for the fourth time in five sessions. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) slumped by 1 pct or 43.7 pts to 4332.2. Despite the delivery of the Federal Budget last night, investors were more concerned with the situation in Europe and in particular in Greece. The Greek sharemarket is trading at its worst level in around 20 years and its eventual exit from the Eurozone has become more likely.

The ingenuity of the Chinese in do-it-yourself projects can be quite fascinating.