Vittorio Hernandez

The Australian sharemarket lost ground for the second straight day today, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) falling 0.4 pct or 15 pts to 4133.7. At its worst, the market was down 1.3 pct early in the session. May was the worst performing month for Australian shares in two years, with stocks down 7.5 pct.

To protest the planned offshoring of sub-editing tasks to New Zealand, journalists at Fairfax Media voted to go on 36 hours of strike which took effect Wednesday midnight.

Wesfarmers is optimistic for the current financial year that the company plans to open 19 Coles stores and refurbish 400 outlets in the coming months.

Despite a positive start to the trading week, the Australian share market continues to be sold off today, and is on track to close out May with an 8.5pct drop. That would make it the worst month on the Australian share market since the collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers in September 2008. In early trade, the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is down 47.2pts or 1.1pct to 4101.5. Following falls on European and US share markets overnight on more worries about the deepening European debt crisi...

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard gave the minerals resource rent tax a boost on Wednesday night by saying at the Minerals Council of Australia annual dinner that the government with go on with spreading the benefits of the mining boom.

Independent MP Rob Oakeshott aims to disprove the claim by large Australian mining companies that there are not enough local miners to fill in vacancies. He issued a challenge for the mining firms to send a plane to New South Wales and Mr Oakeshott promised to fill the jet with workers from his electorate.

Embattled MP Craig Thomson may have created a stir in Parliament on Wednesday when he sat and voted with Liberals four times. However, the bigger story about Mr Thompson failed to air because Nine Network placed on indefinite hold on the same day the broadcast of its interview with a former prostitute who claimed the MP from Dobell was her client.

The Australian sharemarket lost ground for the first time this week, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) easing by 0.5 pct or 19.5 pts to 4148.7. The market gained by around 1 pct yesterday and on Monday but could not continue the winning streak. At its low point of the day, shares were down by 1 pct, while the market was flat at its best. Despite today's losses, local shares are still around 1.6 pct higher now than on Friday last week. The dollar value of shares that exchanged hands today re...

Embattled MP Craig Thomson caused a stir in Parliament on Wednesday by sitting with Liberals and voting against the Gillard government. Mr Thomson's move made Opposition leader Tony Abbott - who has been pushing for Mr Thomson's resignation - uncomfortable and scurry for the parliament door.

More bad news wait Australian workers as another round of job cuts loom over employees of an insurer and the country's Foreign Affairs Department.

Local stocks are coming off the recent two day rally, despite gains on US and European share markets overnight. US stocks resumed from the long weekend holiday to gain more than one percent, while European markets recorded healthy gains thanks to cyclical stocks. Profit takers though appear to have moved in on the local share market, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) down 35.4pts or 0.8pct at lunchtime in the East to 4312.8.

A regional carrier has blamed the carbon tax for its decision to axe two routes, but no less than Prime Minister Julia Gillard belied the claim.

Gina Rinehart, the world's wealthiest woman, did not get to the top by waiting for opportunities to drop on her lap. While her father, Lang Hancock, left her several millions of dollars, she parlayed the inheritance into billions by aggressively pursuing opportunities in the mining sector through Hancock Prospecting.

Coles and Woolworths's battle with global food giant Heinz may have subsided, but the two Australian supermarket giants are facing another war this time. Not another price war between the two competitors, but public perception which at this time is not kind towards the use of cheap, foreign labour.

The Australian sharemarket improved following a slow start to trade, to finish significantly higher for the second day running. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) rose 1.2 pct or 48 pts to 4168.2. This morning however, shares were down by as much as 0.67 pct in the first hour of trade only to steadily improve as the day wore on. At the start of trade, nine of 12 market sectors were losing ground, whereas only two of 12 ended the day in the red.

Although embattled MP Craig Thomson's political career is apparently on a downward slope due to the Fair Work Australia (FWA) report that he misused $500,000 of Health Services Union (HSU) funds, it is not only the legislator whose reputation has been damaged.

The latest NAB Online Retail Index released on Tuesday showed that in the year to April demand for products such as household appliances and electronic device dipped 5 per cent. However, for the same period, housewives online spending grew by 20 per cent.

The federal government of Australia is set to start collection of the carbon tax in less than five weeks, but a survey found that many small- and medium-sized businesses are still confused about the tax.

Only about half of Australia's mining boom windfall was spent properly by the Howard and Rudd governments, think tank Per Capita said in a report released on Monday.

Despite a negative start, local stocks are tracking slightly higher in early trade, thanks to gains from energy and defensive stocks. At lunchtime in the East, the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is up 15.3pts or 0.4pct to 4135.5.

The fears of hundreds of layoffs as a result of the financial collapse of the Hastie Group moved a step closer as the company stood down on Tuesday morning 2,700 workers.

The Australian sharemarket rose for the first time in four sessions today, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) up 1 pct or 39 pts to 4120.2. Despite the gains, there were around 25 pct less shares exchanging hands than this time last week. This is mainly due to the Memorial Day public holiday in the U.S tonight, which means American markets will be closed.

With billions to her name, Gina Rinehart, the world's wealthiest woman, could probably buy anything with a price tag that she fancies. Recently she increased her shareholdings in Fairfax Media to more than 13 per cent from 12.59 per cent.

Sugar raisers in Australia are expecting a sweet and $2.1-billion bumper harvest as growers in Tableland starts crushing cane on Monday.

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) Deputy Chairman Michael Schaper warned Australian firms on Monday not to use the carbon tax, slated to be collected beginning July 1, as their excuse to jack up prices.

The Australian share market is moving to recover some lost ground on the first day of the last trading week of May. The catchphrase "Sell in May and go away" appears to have rung true for investors so far this month, however solid buying is helping to support the main All Ordinaries Index (XAO) today on hopes Greece will approve its latest bail-out conditions. At lunchtime in the East, the XAO is up 21.4pts or 0.5pct to 4102.6.

An Ernst & Young study has estimated the cost of underproductivity of Australian workers at over $41 billion a year in salaries alone.

Unexpected gains in Australia's employment figures in April could be reversed as hundreds of workers may become jobless with the collapse of the Hastie Group and Games.

Probably encouraged by a Channel 9 TV show that found a former sex trade worker who claimed to have been a client of embattled MP Craig Thomson, the police is seeking other prostitutes to prove misuse of Health Services Union (HSU) funds by the ex-national secretary of the union.