Vittorio Hernandez

Treasurer Wayne Swan reiterated on Wednesday that Australia's mining boom is not yet over despite falling prices of commodities in the world market and lower demand. He cited the $268.4 billion investment to major resources projects that mining companies had committed in the last six months to October.

Although Hydro Tasmania's proposed $2-billion 600-megawatt wind farm has the potential to become the largest wind farm in the southern hemisphere, the company wants the approval of King Island residents before they begin construction.

The last 24 hours have been quite revealing in terms of the character of the market. From time to time the market discussion has turned to the matter of how well market sentiment is holding up in the face of US political uncertainty and the fiscal cliff. However this matter has been painted in a different light in the last day.The preceding 24 hours have largely been defined by good news. Common ground has finally been found between the IMF and Eurozone finance ministers in relation to the next ...

The local share market has followed Wall Street into the red in the early session. Sellers moved in on blue chip stocks in late trade in New York as talks between the Republicans and Democrats over the "Fiscal Cliff" issue stalled.

Sold at $99 in Verizon, the LG Spectrum 2 is viewed by tech experts as a good buy for smartphones as mid-range. Expected to be its competition in the mid-range section is Samsung's Galaxy Premier slated for release the last month of 2012, although its price tag is unknown but expected also to be in the mid-range level.

On the last day of November, iMac 21.5-inch will go on sale in the United Kingdom. Apple announced on Tuesday that the ultra thin 21.5-inch iMac will be available in stores and online shop by Friday. For the larger version, which is the 27-inch iMac, techies would have to wait until December for delivery but could pre-order it also on Nov 30.

Facebook, the largest social media network in the world with over 500 million members, is cashing in on the Christmas spending mode of netizens by launching in the United States a section called Gifts.

Qantas suspended on Wednesday a $50 million marketing agreement with Tourism Australia over the alleged meddling of a consortium led by the head of the tourism body and former Qantas official.

Australians know that election time is near when politicians promise the sun, the moon and the stars in a bid to win votes. This especially is the case for MPs who used to enjoy popularity with voters until the political scenario changed in favour of their perceived rivals.

While Australian retailers felt some form of relief with the apparent success of Click Frenzy on Nov 20, a major retailer forecasts a wave of retail collapses in 2013.

A more constructive tone was in place for local stocks on Tuesday, reflecting the general atmospherics for regional indices. Most stock indices throughout the region ended higher. The Shanghai index was conspicuous for its weaker finish, ending below the 2000 mark.Market participants remain wary of the technical picture around the Chinese index and the difficulty it's having consolidating at an important support level.

Despite a flat start, local stocks are rallying at lunchtime in the East on reports Eurozone Finance Ministers have agreed to a voluntary buyback of Greek debt. Sources familiar with the situation say it would involve private equity investors taking a haircut, to receive 35c for every Euro of Greek bonds they hold.

Virgin Mobile opened on Monday nominations for individuals who want to be part of the Virgin Mobile Testing Team. Successful team participants who are nominated through a Facebook-dedicated page will be sent a latest handset to test drive and asked for reviews that must include pros and cons in a two-minute video.

As 2012 winds up, ZTE and Samsung are now planning to have the next generation of smartphones in 2013 with octo-core or eight core processors inside their mobile devices.

Thanks to the Windows OS, Swedish telecom firm Nokia is experiencing a second wind. Reports said that Nokia has received more than 2.5 million orders for the Lumia 920 unit worldwide. This volume of orders is more than the entire line up of Lumia family sold in the third quarter of 2012.

Milking is the new Internet craze that is now starting to replace online planking, which involved a person lying on streets or other public places face down with their hands by their sides. Planking became an Internet sensation at the start of 2011.

More evidence continues to be discovered of the dangers of smoking to human health. The latest is a study made by researchers at King's College London that smoking is more dangerous to the brain than high blood pressure and obesity.

A day after Gina Rinehart, Australia's richest woman, warned of the country losing its competitiveness in the global market due to wrong policies, Chevron's top man in Australia waved a similar red flag.

The new trading week has begun the way the previous one finished. Investors are maintaining their vigil in relation to economic readings out of Europe and the US, wary of any negative impact that political inertia is having on real economy outcomes on either side of the Atlantic.

Local stocks are underperforming Wall Street in the early session, with investor apathy appearing to be at play. Despite predictions our market would rise by around 0.7pct today, at lunchtime in the East the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is firmer by just 6.3pts or 0.1pct to 4437.8.

Another printed paper product was recently sidelined with the introduction of online maps offered by competing tech firms. The value of these online maps was again highlighted when a former soldier walked 5,000 miles in over one year, aided largely by technology.

HTC has another leak of an upcoming mobile device called HTC Deluxe which is expected to arrive January 2013. Other latest HTC Android smartphones released recently have powerful processors which are all in quad-core, providing efficiency and speed to the user.

Major book chain Barnes & Noble has joined the technology battle by releasing the Nook HD. The popular bookstore's decision to include more electronic items that actually are also considered rivals of its traditional books is an indicator that bricks and mortar stores need to accept and take part in the technology battle to survive financially.

Qantas Domestic Chief Executive Lyell Strambi blamed on Sunday the excess capacity in the country’s domestic routes as the reason behind the air carrier’s financial woes. He said the situation benefits passengers, but not the airlines.

Success or failure? The Click Frenzy on Nov 20 in Australia was met with mixed reviews with a major retailer calling the event a runaway success, while critics who bit the hype that it was the sale that would stop the nation were disappointed not only because of the Web site's crash but also the flimsy deals made available.

Due to perceived bad policies put in place by the Gillard government, Australia's richest woman Gina Rinehart warned on Thursday that the country may risk following the model of financially challenged European nations.

The Australian sharemarket slipped for the fourth time in five sessions today, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) easing by 0.2 per cent or 10.5 pts to 4360.1. The local market fell by 2.7 per cent this week, making it the biggest weekly slide in value since May. Interestingly, barely a month ago the Aussie market hit a 14-month high but has dropped in value by 5 per cent since.

If the first day sale of Nexus 4 were an indicator, it would be a Merry Christmas for Google since reports said that within hours, consumers snapped up units in Australia, United Kingdom and several other nations after the stores opened.

Local stocks have hit fresh seven week lows in the early session, following more weakness on European and US markets overnight. Data showed the European economy is officially in recession, and whilst this was no surprise, it did give investors reason to sell. US markets were also sold-off after the world's largest retailer Wal-Mart disappointed with profit results.