Vittorio Hernandez

The Australian sharemarket started session largely flat for much of the morning following mixed economic news over the past three days. The All Ords is a touch higher though, adding to last week's 0.75 per cent improvement. On Friday, a report showed that there were around 70,000 more jobs created in North America over February than expected, while the jobless rate improved to 7.7 per cent. This was the first time since March 2012 that more than 200,000 jobs were added in one month.

One explanation why Samsung is getting a larger cut of the smartphone pie is that the South Korean tech giant has affordable units that offer the same technology and similar specs to high-end units of competitors.Reports said that Samsung will again roll out another easy-on-the-pocket smartphone in May - the Galaxy Pocket Neo.

There are accusations that the Vatican is still steeped in the 15th century, but the Roman Catholic Church is apparently trying to catch up with the technological times. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI had a Twitter account under the handle @Pontifex which had more than 1 million followers, until he closed the account on Feb 28. As the focus shifts to the Tuesday, March 12, start of the conclave, people who want to follow the latest news, aside from checking their Facebook or Twitter accounts where u...

It is not only tech giants Apple and Samsung that are engaged in a series of legal battles over patent infringements. Two other major phone makers, Taiwan-based HTC and Finland-based Nokia have a court war of their own.

Mining giant Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) forecast over the weekend another slump in iron ore prices in the next 18 months. Viviel Tulpule, chief economist of Rio Tinto, estimated the price of the key steelmaking ingredient would decline to just above $100 per tonne by September 2014.

The delay in setting the conclave date because of the wait for all 115 cardinal electors in Vatican City seems to have affected the chances of Ghanian Cardinal Peter Turkson to become the first black pope.

With the conclave date set on March 12, Tuesday, many Filipinos have turned to prayers that the 114 other cardinal electors in the Vatican City would write the name of Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle on their ballot.

All eyes are now on Vatican City after the cardinals announced on Friday that the conclave or the election of the new pope will begin on Tuesday, March 12. But even before the Vietnamese cardinal arrived on Thursday to complete the 115 cardinal electors, there are speculations that the princes of the Roman Catholic Church are divided who would next lead the 1.2 billion faithful.

The much anticipated conclave will start Tuesday, March 12, when 115 cardinals will lock themselves inside the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City to elect a new pope.

Analysts at Morgan Stanley warned that the price of iron ore in the global market has reached a peak and will average $133 per tonne for the rest of 2013.

The wake for deceased Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will end on Friday, but instead of being buried, his remains will be placed in a military museum in Caracas. The South American country will also extend its mourning period for their popular leader by another seven days.

While more women have broken glass ceilings in the political and corporate world, much more needs to be done to have more full equality for women, according to organisations that represent women's rights in Australia. The organisations are in solidarity with other women's rights groups in other countries as the world observers International Women's Day on Friday, March 8.

It was the second consecutive loss for South Korean tech giant Samsung in its epic legal battles with American tech giant Apple across different continents. On Thursday, Apple won again when London Judge Christopher Floyd invalidated Samsung’s patents.

The Australian Dollar has strengthened slightly since yesterday on comments from ECB President Draghi.

Risk sentiment remained resilient through European and US trade in an active night on the macroeconomic front. Equities extended their gains yet again and with investors continuing to believe in the ability of central banks to support markets. There was also another set of encouraging US economic data with unemployment claims coming in well ahead of expectations (340,000 versus 354,000 anticipated). The more interesting moves were in the forex space as market participants reacted to different po...

New claims for unemployment insurance in the US (jobless claims) fell by 7,000 to 340,000 in the latest week. Planned job cuts by US companies lifted to 55,356 workers in February, up 7pct on a year ago according to the Challenger survey. The trade deficit widened from $38.14 billion to $44.45bn in January, above forecasts centred on a result near $42.6bn.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), after giving the thumbs down on Wednesday to 12 cardinals because of their alleged bad record in handling sex abuse cases involving minors, gave the thumbs up on Thursday to three papabiles. SNAP identified the three as Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of the Philippines, Cardinal Christoph Schonborn of Austria and Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Ireland.

Fortescue Metals's lawyer told the Australian High Court on Wednesday that the minerals resources rent tax is unconstitutional. He cited the tax causing disadvantage to different resource projects in different states as his main argument.

Thursday was a day of consolidation for regional indices. Whilst political issues remain fluid in Europe the focus is tending towards the other side of the Atlantic. Better economic news is empowering investors who continue to push the Dow Jones Industrial Average further into record territory. The gains on Wall St failed to translate to local trade today although a case could be made for investors holding their fire until the release of key economic figures in the US at the end of the week. Not...

Official Venezuelan government version is that the country's president, Hugo Chavez, died of pelvic cancer on Tuesday. Did he really die of the incurable ailment?

Russia will assign 36-year-old Yelena Serova to the International Space Station in 2014. However, she will not perform a space walk but would concentrate on research.

The local share market is virtually unchanged at lunchtime in the East, after rising to highs not seen since September 2008 yesterday.

As the conclave approaches with all the 115 cardinal electors expected to be in Vatican City this week, the guessing game on who will succeed the just-retired Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has become trending topic in church circles and the cyberworld.

Venezuela is mourning the death of its president, Hugo Chavez, for seven days. Schools are close for the entire week. The funeral is scheduled on Friday, expected to be attended by heads of state friendly to Venezuela, and crowds are gathering at the military academy where the wake is being held.

US dollar strengthens as strong US data adds to positive sentiment.

Wednesday night it is was US non-manufacturing PMI that pushed the Dow to all-time highs and the S&P near its all-time high; last night, however it is was non-farm payrolls shooting the lights out.

The US ADP reported another 198,000 private sector jobs were created in February, with January numbers revised up to 215,000. The underlying trend remains one of improvement in terms of job creation. US factory orders fell back by 2pct in January, largely due to a fall in demand for military hardware and commercial aircrafts.

A group of survivors of clergy sexual abuse released on Wednesday its Dirty Dozen, which refers to a list of 12 cardinals who do not deserve to become pope to replace Pope Benedict XVI who resigned on Feb 28.

Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology caught the eruption on video and posted it immediately on YouTube.