Vittorio Hernandez

While Australia's Business Council favoured a return to fiscal surplus, unions advised the Labor government to be prepared to abandon its budget surplus promise in response to budget cuts announced on Tuesday by Treasurer Wayne Swan.

Giant Australian miner BHP Billiton (ASX: BHP) plans to leave the diamond mining business and instead focus on long-life and expandable assets. The company said it is considering selling its diamond interests in Canada's Ekati mine and Chidliak exploration venture.

Qantas passengers again faced delays even if the unions and the air carrier's labor dispute is under arbitration with Fair Work Australia. The culprit this time was computer outage.

It certainly was another volatile session for the Australian sharemarket today. In the first hour of trade stocks rose by around 0.5 pct however at around 1pm the market crept into negative territory. In the last 10 minutes of trade, stocks gained impressively to lift the All Ordinaries index (XAO) by 1 pct or 41.5 pts to 4167.3.

The Australian sharemarket is managing to hold on to some of its gains at lunch, with the All Ordinaries index (XAO) up 0.2 pct or 6.9 pts to 4132.7. Shares opened higher and continued to gain for the first hour of trade however started to pullback at around 11am (AEDT) following the Federal Government's mid-year budget review.

Many techies love to customize the ROMs of their Android devices, which allow various ways to modify smartphones, including the manipulation of startup devices, increase of speed and better battery usage.

A two-minute video to promote gay marriage produced by Australian lobby group GetUp has gone viral in YouTube. Since it was posted on the video sharing site on Sunday, the video had almost 1.9 million views as of Tuesday noon.

The expansion and diversification of its operations had led to record revenue growth for Australian environmental services company, CO2 Group Limited (ASX: COZ). On Monday, CO2 reported revenues of $35 million for financial year 2011 and full year net profit after tax of $1.5 million.

Large Australian mining companies warned of the impact of worsening European debt crisis on their financial operations, particularly availability of credit.

Despite union opposition, Qantas Chief Executive Alan Joyce said the national carrier still plans to push through setting up a hub in southeast Asia and to fast track plans to enter into closer alliances with other airlines.

Global markets rallied overnight as European leaders drafted a framework for a bailout fund for the region. Strength shown in the Asian session resonated in the US and Europe, as investors got a chance to react to the positive developments from the weekend. Investors are increasingly optimistic that European leaders will draft a comprehensive bailout plan which involves better fiscal integration, plus insure bonds of debt-stricken countries with guarantees of 20% to 30%.

The AUD has rallied back towards parity as better than expected retail sales data in the US and encouraging news out of Europe about the potential bailout plan, gave the market some confidence.

The European financial crisis has cut Australia's budget by $20 billion. However, Treasurer Wayne Swan, who will release on Tuesday the midyear budget review, forecasts a return to surplus.

US new home sales rose by 1.3pct in October - marking the fastest pace of growth in five months. The supply of new homes on the market eased modestly from 6.4 to 6.3 months' supply. The Dallas Fed Manufacturing Index rose from 2.3 to 3.2 in November.

After a very tough week and a half the Australian sharemarket has managed to hold onto the majority of its gains for the duration of the session. The All Ordinaries index (XAO) jumped 1.7 pct or 68.2 pts to 4125.8. All sectors improved today with the big banks the standout performers of the day.

Owning an Android smartphone provides advantage to its owners because of the advanced features on the device such as applications to view all of email accounts in one page or social networking sites.

The Australian Retailers Association warned members Monday to brace for weak Christmas sales based on the performance of the retail sector for the last 18 months.

Insider trading is apparently on the rise in Australia. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) disclosed on Monday that it in investigating 35 alleged insider trading cases.

The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) launched its high-frequency trading platform, ASX Purematch, in a bid to boost its competition with the Chi-X Australia, which has gained over 2 per cent market share in less than one month of trading.

The Australian sharemarket is gaining for the first time in seven days after a tough week for shares globally. The All Ordinaries index (XAO) is up 1.9 pct or 76.3 pts to 4133.9. All regions of the market are currently improving with the two largest sectors (the miners and financials) leading the charge higher.

Labor Senator Matt Thistlethwaite proposed at the New South Wales (NSW) Young Labor Conference on Sunday for the state to replace the celebration of Queen Elizabeth's birthday on the second Monday of June with a day off that recognizes Australian values.

The cost-cutting measures initiated by Australians are affecting the bottomline of manufacturers. One of the food producers, Campbell Soup, admitted being hit by the weak consumer environment in Australia.

Food Standards approved the application of the Winemakers Federation of Australia (WFA) to use in their production of wines an additive used also in toothpaste and laxatives manufacturing.

The mining consultant of Surbiton Associated doubts the Greens' estimate of the Australian gold industry in relation to how much the mining tax would generate if it would to apply to the gold industry.

So far, this certainly has been the sort of month we could have done without. The focus has been firmly fixed on any developments or headlines regarding Europe. Borrowing costs for European governments have remained at unsustainable levels and France's AAA credit rating has come until considerable scrutiny. The All Ordinaries index (XAO) fell by 1.4 pct or 57.7 pts to 4057.6.

Half of all companies listed on the Australian sharemarket are losing ground at lunch. The All Ordinaries index (XAO) is down significantly by 1.3 pct or 52.7 pts to 4062.6. Despite there still being well over 200 companies that are higher and another 334 currently flat, most of the big players are being hit hard today.

Android smartphones have flooded tech stores worldwide and are distributed by a lot of vendors. In a way, it has somehow replaced the personal digital assistant (PDA) which originally has smart functions.

Ahead of a political debate sponsored by The Courier-Mail in Queensland, leaders in the Australian state have laid out their vision for the coming years.

The City Central Police arrested on Wednesday a 35-year-old Australian woman who was the manager of a bank and allegedly defrauded her employer of $4.1 million in eight months.