Vittorio Hernandez

Unlike other western countries, Australia does not consider Halloween a national holiday. Banks and other offices are open on Nov 1, but a growing number of young Australians are following their counterparts in the U.S. by going on Trick or Treat.

In US economic news, the Chicago PMI surged from 55.7 to 65.9 in October. This was a high since March 2011. The main driver of the jump was a surge in orders from 58.9 to 74.3. Production jumped from 58.0 to 71.1 and employment lifted from 53.2 to 57.7. Initial jobless claims dipped from 350k to 340k in the past week.

Halloween 2013 came earlier for the wife of former Brazilian Joao Rodrigo Silva Santos when Geisa Silva found on their home's front steps the decapitated head of her husband on Tuesday morning.

Barely eight months in the public eye, Pope Francis continues to gain the trust of people from all over the world with his simple and uncomplicated lifestyle without veering from the basic Christian message of love.

South Korean tech giant Samsung recently agreed to a European Union proposal to stop filing patent lawsuits against other technology firms in exchange for not paying a hefty fine. However, the EU action was only against the Seoul-based firm.

Local stocks ended slightly weaker on Thursday. At face value it was an unflattering result although when measured against the lows of the session, when the index was down 32 points, it was a solid come back.

The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) lost ground from the start of today's trading session hit by weakness in the banking sector. Overnight the US Dow Jones Index overnight, closed weaker after the latest statement from the US central Bank (The Federal Reserve) showed little change over the last month.

It was not just German Chancellor Angela Merkel and 34 other world leaders whom the U.S. National Security Agency spied on. Even the seat of the Roman Catholic Church, Vatican City, and its head, Pope Francis, were not spared, according to Panorama magazine.

As expected, the status quo was maintained on US monetary policy.

In US economic news, consumer prices rose by 0.2pct in September with the core rate up 0.1pct, below forecasts for a 0.2pct gain. The ADP employment index shows that 130,000 private sector jobs were created in October, below forecasts of a 150,000 gain.

Outlined images of witches riding a broomstick may not be visible to some people this Halloween weekend as a rare hybrid solar eclipse happens on Nov 3, Sunday.

A few months after coming out on Philippine national television and admitting she is lesbian, former Glee star Charice Pempengco is mulling in the future marriage to her girlfriend, fellow singer Alyssa Quijano.

Australians who love to take pictures using their smartphones would be happy to know that the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom is landing in the Land Down Under next week. The device would cost $699.

For comparing homosexuality to alcoholism and labeling the alternative lifestyle as equal to spiritual disease and demonic, Newcastle Knights NRL footballer Ryan Stig is harvesting a social media backlash.

In a combination of heavy drama and comedy of errors, a 26-year-old Chinese man chopped off his penis on Monday because of desperation over having a zero love life.

BlackBerry officials are ecstatic that while their smartphones don't sell, their messaging app for Android and iOS phone owners had reached 20 million downloads in one week.

Despite giving back some of the more significant gains recorded at midday, the Australian market still managed to rise for the fourth time in five trading sessions and for the 10th time in 12. Chinese economic data out over the past few weeks has been largely promising while the political situation in the US is in better shape for now.

After a 0.5 per cent fall yesterday, the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is now up by 21pt or 0.4 per cent. Local stocks have only fallen on two occasions over the past 12 trading sessions; rising by 4.5 per cent since mid-October.

The embattled Canadian phone maker BlackBerry may have found a financial saviour in Facebook, the world's largest social media company. Reports said that BlackBerry and Facebook officials met last week to discuss a possible buy-in.

Spa customers often have the choice of a masseur or masseuse for their body massage. However, in the case of the Bali Heritage Reflexology and Spa in Jakarta, Indonesia, it is slithering snakes that crawl on the customer's body.

In US economic news, retail sales fell 0.1pct in September, but excluding autos, sales rose 0.4pct, in line with forecasts. Producer prices fell by 0.1pct in September, but excluding food and energy, prices rose 0.1pct, in line with forecasts. Consumer confidence fell from 80.2 to 71.2 in October. And the Case Shiller home price index rose 0.9pct in August to stand 12.8pct higher than a year ago.

Even though Miss Universe 1999 1st Runner-up Miriam Quiambao is definitely not a virgin, having been married once to an Italian man, for her second marriage to a Filipino businessman, the couple have taken a vow of purity. Her fiancé, Ardy Roberto, is a widower.

With an agreed payout of almost $60 million, the 26 sex abuse victims of former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky are bound to get an average of $2.3 million each.

There was no surprise on Tuesday when IDC released its smartphone market report for Q2 2013. As expected, Samsung dominated the top spot, followed by Apple with market shares of 35 per cent and 13 per cent, respectively.

Samsung rules in the global smartphone market. While Apple reported on Tuesday impressive 4th quarter results of $6.9 billion earnings, broken down into $31.2 million for the iPhone, $14.6 million for iPads and $3.8 million for Macs, the South Korean tech giant easily trounced the Cupertino-based firm's accomplishment.

Sellers continued to hold sway over the 2nd half of Tuesday's session. The weakness seen in the morning refocussed on the bank stocks which were outperforming in a falling market in early trade.

It is not just bacon that is the culprit when it comes to male fertility. Lower sperm counts across the globe have been blamed by a new Harvard University study to other processed meats as well.

Singer Beyonce Knowles had a good time exercising her lung by screaming when she jumped from New Zealand's highest tower, Sky City.

On the heels of a strong start to the week sellers got some modest traction at the outset of trade on Tuesday. One of the factors helping sellers was the weakness in US futures the start of the Asian session after the Apple result, post the close of Wall St.