Vittorio Hernandez

The Australian Tax Office (ATO) has specifically identified IT managers, plumbers and defence force non-commissioned officers as the occupation groups that it will closely watch for further tax scrutiny.

WOW! What a turnaround. The European markets rallied higher overnight on uplifting comments from the European Central Bank (EBC) President Mario Draghi. ECB´s Draghi said that the bank is ready to do ´´whatever it takes´´ to help support the euro. Now the next big item that the markets will be waiting out for is the ECB interest rate meeting on Thursday.

In anticipation of businesses ripping off motorists due to the Thursday announcement of the closure of the Caltex Kurnell refinery in New South Wales, the Automobile Association of Australia (AAA) warned of deceptive practices similar to what happened to the carbon tax.

A report by Fairfax Media claims that Thalidomide, the drug which caused thousands of babies to be born with congenital defects, was initially tested on pregnant Australian women.

Less than a month since its implementation, the number of complaints over the carbon tax has been declining to 45 from 63 per day, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) disclosed on Friday.

Members of the Baby Boomers generation are not selfish and greedy as they are stereotyped, a study released Thursday by the University of Adelaide concluded.

The local share market closed higher today, boosted by company news and a lift in energy and banking stocks. By close, the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) was up 22.4pts or 0.5pct to 4173.8.

The local share market is tracking higher in the early session, boosted by company news and a lift in blue chip US shares overnight. At lunchtime in the East, the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is up 10.8pts or 0.3pct to 4162.2.

Coles gained the upper hand in its battle for the number position with Woolworths as the number one supermarket by reporting on Thursday a yearly sales growth of 6.1 per cent to $33.7 billion.

Caltex announced on Thursday that after a review, it has decided to shutter its Kurnell refinery in Sydney. The closure of the 57-year-old facility by mid-2014 would cause the loss of over 300 jobs.

The Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) and Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX) will jointly host a data centre beginning September to boost the flow of futures activity between the two major bourses.

Due to the high liquefied natural gas (LNG) cost base in Australia, which Royal Dutch Shell has described as the highest in the world, new investments in the LNG sector may be under threat. LNG is considered a sunshine industry for Australia and experts have forecast the country would be the world's largest LNG exporter by 2020.

Prices of goods and services in Australia has risen at a much slower pace that the country registered on Wednesday a 13-year low inflation rate of 1.2 per cent.

Local stocks ended slightly lower today, recovering from heavy losses earlier in the day on the back of a tame inflation report. The core inflation data (CPI) was released today, showing a 0.5pct rise in the June quarter, for an annual increase of 1.2pct, showing inflation in Australia is well and truly contained. By close, the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) was down 9.8pts or 0.2pct to 4151.4, off its earlier lows of 4114pts.

The Australian share market opened lower this morning after overseas markets continued to fall overnight. The concerns over European debt, growth and miss management continue to rock market. Weaker than expected European manufacturing data and more drama in Greece also added to the pain.

Adhering to the popular adage that the only things permanent in life are death, taxes and change, a recruitment firm listed the top qualities that employers look for in workers amid high unemployment rates in different parts of the world.

Western Australia (WA) banned on Wednesday coalmining in the wine and tourism region of Margaret River. The prohibition was made by WA Mines and Petroleum Minister Norman Moore who declared a no coalmining zone which covers 230 square kilometers.

Kingsgate Consolidated (ASX: KCN) Chief Executive Gavin Thomas is perplexed by the continuous fall in gold prices despite the high demand for the yellow metal. He opined that the decline by prices by about 16 per cent since September 2011 may be caused by the paper market, including the derivative gold futures markets.

National Australia Bank (NAB) announced on Tuesday that it will increase on July 30 its interest rates on business loans by 20 basis points. The bank explained it had to hike rates because of strong competition for deposits and higher funding costs.

The Australian Labor Party may have kicked out embattled MP Craig Thomson from its caucus and the Coalition is not touching the former Health Services Union (HSU) official with a ten-foot pole. However, Zoe Arnold believes Mr Thomson is innocent of the charges against the legislator, including using HSU credit cards for the services of prostitutes.

Local stocks managed to finish in positive territory today, as investors embraced better than expected Chinese economic data and as merger and acquisition activity boosted retail players. By close the All Ordinaries Index added 2pts to finish at 4161, a pretty positive outcome given the weak offshore lead and fact the market was trading down to the tune of half a percent at one stage during the day. The benchmark ASX 200 Index (XJO) added 4pts or 0.1pct to 4133.2.

More information is the key for the federal government of Australia to reverse the voter dislike for the carbon tax, a study by the Climate Institute said.

he Australian share market remains in the red in the early session, but importantly the selling isn't as significant as what we saw on US and European markets overnight. Investors there sold out of equities on ongoing concerns about the Eurozone debt crisis and after companies missed earnings expectations, including bellwether McDonald's. Locally, investors are treading water ahead of the release of the flash HSBC manufacturing gauge out of China, and a speech by RBA Governor Glenn Stevens...

A day after Deloitte Access Economics warned that Australia's mining boom could end in the next two years, an economist said any decline would not be caused by lower levels of investment but by the mining tax.

More charges of Health Services Union (HSU) funds misuse were confirmed Monday on union officials, similar to charges made by HSU Executive President Kathy Jackson on embattled MP Craig Thomson.

A UBS forecast that banks in Australia would axe several thousands of positions over the next two years was validated by a National Australia Bank (NAB) executive on Monday.

The more than two weeks industrial action at Coles warehouse in Somerton, Melbourne finally ended on Monday night. The workers agreed to terminate their strike, lift the barricade and accept the wage increase offer from Toll Holdings, the operator of the largest warehouse of Coles in Australia.

European debt concerns once again weighed on investor sentiment today, causing the local share market to post its biggest once day loss since early June. After rising almost three percent over the course of last week, the best weekly gain since December, the share market today fell 1.7pct on the back of losses on European and US share markets. That was the biggest one day drop on our market since June 4th. Fears the European debt crisis continues to grow saw investors bail out of equities across...

The Australian share market opened weaker this morning after overseas markets sold off on Friday. Once again European debt concerns and a pull-back in global iron ore and coal prices along with end of week profit taking took its toll on markets.