Vittorio Hernandez

May; A month which was charactarised by the US Federal Reserve signalling, tacitly or otherwise, that it was developing a strategy to exit its quantitative easing policy. The impact on the local market has been significant. The ASX200 has shed 4.7%, marking its worst decline in 12 months. Additionally there has been a precipitous decline in the Aussie dollar which has also dealt confidence a blow. The local unit has lost more than 7% in May.

Up until just before lunch, the Australian market was improving for the third time this week. Global markets were up modestly overnight, with shares in the US up 0.1 per cent while the German market jumped by 0.8 per cent.

Investors are leaving the iron ore industry as price of the key steel-making ingredient went down anew to $112.90 per tonne. The 22 per cent cut in iron ore price from the average price of $145 per tonne in the March quarter would result in $18 billion losses for iron ore producers in Pilbara.

The Moto X smartphone will move from being a rumour to a real device in October when Google's Motorola Mobility will roll out the mobile phone which will be manufactured in Fort Worth, Texas.

Drought-stricken farmers in the Australian state of Queensland will finally get some relief through an $11.2 million fund to finance a rescue package for them.

A day after Filipino gay comedian Vice Ganda and GMA 7 Vice President for News Jessica Soho patched things up over the furor caused by the comedian's weight and rape joke, another controversial TV host is in hot waters again over child abuse accusations.

In a belated show of remorse over the cover up of clergy sexual abuse of children, the Catholic Church in Australia release the names of 29 Melbourne priests who are guilty of sexually abusing children.

Local shares slumped by 0.9 per cent today, comfortably wiping out the previous two sessions of gains. The falls were partly due to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) cutting growth forecasts for the global economy overnight.

It appears that Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard is a favourite sandwich target among students. Within the same month, two sandwiches had been thrown at her.

Although gay Filipino comedian Vice Ganda apologised on Wednesday to GMA 7 Vice President for News Jessica Soho for joking about her weight problem and her possible gang rape if she would become a sexy actress, the issue is far from over.

Australian stocks have hit a 5 week low in early trade following weakness on Wall Street overnight and a cut to global growth forecasts from the OECD.

West Wing star Rob Lowe will portray the character of former U.S. President John Kennedy in a TV movie to be made to mark the 50th anniversary of the president's assassination in 1963.

The shortage of products in Venezuela has turned for the worse. Aside from running out of toilet paper, the country's Catholics may also no longer have the wine and the host when they attend Mass.

The Australian dollar dipped to a 19-month low on Wednesday up to 95.28 U.S. cents late afternoon after the release of strong American economic data. The rate was the currency's weakest since Oct 5, 2011.

Couple Vincent Aubin and Bruno Boileau made history on Wednesday by being the first gay pair to marry in France, 10 days after the country enacted a gay marriage law that was precipitated by violent protests.

Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook shattered the Google Glass as having a limited appeal, but hinted at the same time the Cupertino-based firm will soon release a wearable technology.

The Australian share market closed modestly higher on Wednesday, as gains from mining players offset weakness in the financial sector.

n a display of the power of social media to shame, a popular Filipino gay comedian who poked fun of a respected female news executive from a rival station was shamed on Tuesday for his joke that had become viral and gone bad.

Chile and Argentina have ordered an evacuation of the Andes region which borders the two South American countries because of the threat of an eruption from the Copahue Volcano.

The Australian sharemarket was up by 0.25 per cent in early trade, making it two straight days of gains. The improvement was short lived however, with stocks down a few points at lunch. The ASX200 Index has remained below 5000.0pts since late last week.

New 17-months lows of USD 0.9570, AUD breaks stop and drops below 0.9600 within minutes this morning.

Beginning Wednesday, May 29, Australian supermarket giant Woolworths is cutting the price by up to 33 per cent for hundreds of grocery items as it renews its price war with competitor Coles.

Looking at the graph of the ASX 200 from the last two weeks, the term 'don't catch a falling knife' certainly springs to mind.

In US economic news the S&P Case/Shiller home price 20-index posted a 1.1pct gain in March taking annual growth up to 10.9pct, back at a double-digit pace for the first time since 2006.

Australia registered a $367 million trade surplus in the first quarter of 2013, indicating that the country is entering the third phase of the resources boom. The figure means exports are shifting to mining exports from mining investments as imports of construction machinery dipped 44 per cent.

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia's (CBA) competitors are no longer just Westpac, ANZ Bank and the National Australia Bank (NAB), but also tech firms such as Apple and Google, CBA Chief Executive Ian Narev said on Tuesday.

After racist jokes about a dark-skinned senator, gay Filipino comedian is getting the flak in the Internet over his rape and weight jokes he made about the news executive of a rival TV network.

Investors have pushed the market slightly higher for the first time in six sessions, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) up by a modest 0.2 per cent or 12 pts to 4950.6.The moves have been indecisive so far this week, with the closure of US and UK markets due to holidays overnight.

The much-awaited public outing of international singer Charice Pempengco as a lesbian finally happened. It came through an article that was published in Philippine Star on Tuesday, May 28.