Vittorio Hernandez

Friday our market had what many would call a "shocker" we had widespread selling as losses continued throughout the day by the close the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) has slumped by 110 points to 4,098 points. By the close the ASX had wiped out all of its 2012 gains, listing the worst weekly performance (down 5.6% this week) since September 2011.

Independent Senator Nick Xenophon said on Monday that he would not stand in the way of a repeal of the carbon tax if Opposition leader Tony Abbott becomes the next prime minister of Australia.

The nightmare of Qantas' aircraft maintenance engineers is about to happen as the flag carrier announces likely on Monday the closure of its maintenance bay at Tullamarine Airport. The shutter would lead to the axing of more than 400 jobs.

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia warned on Monday that Greece's expected exit from the eurozone may cause the Australian dollar to plummet below 90 cents. G8 leaders rushed over the weekend to battle the financial crisis to hit the region over the Greek debt.

Today certainly was not an enjoyable day for those involved in markets. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) slumped by 2.6 pct or 109.7 pts to 4098.8. Almost all sectors ended in the red today, with the mining and financial sectors the worst performers. Today was the biggest daily pullback for the ASX in 2012 and the worst weekly performance (down 5.6 pct this week) since September 2011. Australian shares wiped out all of the market's gains for the year in a matter of days.

Embattled independent MP Craig Thomson is expected to blame in Australia's Parliament on Monday a Health Services Union (HSU) official for allegedly destroying documents that would clear him of charges.

More changes are taking place in Australia’s embattled retail industry as Centro Retail Australia sold half of its stakes in three premium shopping centres, while Retravision Southern is teetering towards administration.

Two major players in the oil and gas exploration industry agree that Australia would be the largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) by the end of the decade.

The debate between Transport Minister Anthony Albanese and Sydney Airport authorities over the reason behind plane delays continues.

The Australian share market ended a little lower yesterday, despite a positive start to the session. The ASX 200 Index (XJO) fell 8 points to 4,157 points.

Although Queensland state public employees could still take their morning and afternoon tea break, under cost-cutting measures initiated by the new state government, they must bring their own tea and coffee sachets.

A day after the New South Wales government released strict guidelines in response to a video of a local abattoir that practiced animal abuse, the federal Agriculture Department announced that it fined two Australian cattle exports that used substandard Indonesian slaughterhouses.

The Australian sharemarket ended a little lower today, despite a positive start to the session. The ASX200 Index (XJO) fell 0.2 pct or 8.1 pts to 4157.4. Early in the session, investors seemed encouraged by news that the Japanese economy grew at a faster than expected pace last quarter. Japan is Australia's second largest trading partner and accounts for around 12.3 pct of all goods and services exported overseas.

There is too much milk supply available globally that Dairy Australia warned Aussie farmers to expect a 10 per cent to 15 per cent drop in milk prices in 2013.

The New South Wales (NSW) government is set to announce tougher standards for abattoirs in the state following the release of videos that showed pigs being hit on the head with metal poles as part of the slaughter process.

A Macquarie consortium purchased for $4.1 billion the gas grid of German energy firm E.ON. Open Grid Europe runs Germany's biggest gas transmission system and is about 12,000 kilometres long.

Yesterday was another down day for the Australian share market, with widespread selling in all sectors apart from the utilities, the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) ended off 101 points to 4,214 points.

St Hilliers Construction, which two months ago won major public housing projects in New South Wales, went into voluntary administration on Wednesday. The move created havoc on the company's building projects in Illawarra, Shoalhaven, Coffs Harbour and Victoria.

Hot issues such as the carbon tax and income tax rates were thrown to Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Wednesday when she served for one hour as live blogger on The Telegraph.

The Australian sharemarket lost ground for the second consecutive day, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) falling by 2.4 pct or 101.6 pts to 4214.7. Shares have fallen by around 5 pct so far this month and have significantly reduced the gains for the calendar year to just 2.5 pct.

Teachers would be pitted against school principals on Friday when tutors from 2,200 schools in New South Wales (NSW) strike over more powers to be given to principals.

In the last 10 years, Australians have been issuing lesser cheques by over 60 per cent. The Australian Payments Clearing Association (APCA) said the irreversible decline of the cheque is due to a change in consumer preference for electronic payments systems such as the use of debit and credit cards.

Officials of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are in Sydney to conduct stress test on ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank and Westpac.

The Australian share market lost ground yesterday as the ongoing European concerns held markets and commodities back, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) ending off 36 points to 4,316 points.

Australia's fourth largest bank, ANZ, said on Wednesday that it would invest million more on its China expansion venture. In 2010, ANZ initially invested $395 million which resulted in the opening of six branches in Beijing, Shanghai, Chongquing and Guangzhou.

If 2011 was a bad year for Australian retailers, the industry should not expect an improvement for 2012 since new research shows that Aussie consumers plan to hold tighter to their purses this year.

The Australian sharemarket received a negative lead from global markets last night, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) ending 0.8 pct or 35.6 pts lower to 4316.3. This was no major surprise as European shares hit a four-month low and dropped by around 2 pct last night. The situation in Greece continued to weigh heavily on investor confidence while Moody's (one of the major ratings agencies) downgraded 26 Italian banks last night by between one and four notches. This included Unicredit and In...

Majority of Australian children believe their parents are spending too much time on their jobs and it affects their family time, a study released on Tuesday by the Australian Institute of Family Studies found.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and the Labor Party may have benefitted somehow from the cash handouts announced last week in the federal budget in terms of more primary votes. However, the Craig Thomson scandal continues to drag the party.