Dollar higher on Chinese banking action

THE Australian dollar is almost half a US cent higher on liquidity action from China's central bank, and ahead of crucial economic news from Spain.    At 12 noon (AEST), the Australian dollar was trading at 103.96 US cents, up from 103.51 cents yesterday. The local currency fell as low as 103.29 US cents overnight, as the market grew increasingly concerned about the eurozone debt crisis, in the wake of higher bond yields in Spain and rioting in Greece. Meanwhile, Australian bond futures prices were higher at noon. The December 10-year bond futures contract was trading at 97.065 (implying a yield of 2.935 per cent), up from 97.035 (2.965 per cent) yesterday. The December...

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Vodafone has lowest customer satisfaction of all telcos, study reveals

VODAFONE customers just can't get no satisfaction. The telco took out the top prize for the telco with the lowest customer satisfaction rating in a mobile lifestyle study released this morning. Less than 50 per cent of Vodafone customers were satisfied with their provider, according to a study released by the Australian Interactive Media Industry Association. The Australian Mobile Phone Lifestyle Index is an independent study conducted annually by the AIMIA. Fifty-four per cent of Vodafone customers were not satisfied with the provider, which has been plagued by network issues over the last few years. That figure represents a 42 per cent drop in customer satisfaction over the past two years. Vodafone...

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Job vacancies rise 4.2% in August

The number of job vacancies in Australia has risen by 4.2 per cent, ABS statistics show. THE number of job vacancies in Australia has risen by 4.2 per cent, official statistics show. The total number of vacancies in August 2012 was 179,300, in seasonally-adjusted terms, compared with 172,100 in May, according to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) quarterly survey released on Thursday. There were 165,900 private sector job vacancies in August, up 5.9 per cent on May's 156,700. But the number of public sector vacancies in August, at 13,500, was down 12.9 per cent on August. Read more: http://www.news.com.au/business/worklife/job-vacancies-rise-42-in-august/story-e6fr...

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European Stocks Rally on Fed Enthusiasm

Reuters The Federal Reserve's new plan to stimulate the U.S. economy and progress on tackling the euro zone crisis spurred a strong rally in risk assets on Friday, pushing global stocks to a 13-month high and sending Spanish and Italian bond yields lower. European equities surged to a 14-month high with London's FTSE, Paris's CAC-40 and Frankfurt's DAX all well up, helping to lift the MSCI index of global stocks to 338.63, its highest level since August last year. On the bond market, yields on 10-year Italian government bonds fell below five percent for the first time since late March as the Fed's announcement on Thursday compounded the recent...

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Fueled by Higher Gas Prices, Consumer Inflation Rises

REUTERS Consumer prices rose in August by the most in three years as the cost of gasoline jumped, but there was little sign of a pick-up in underlying inflation pressures, which should allow the Federal Reserve to stay on its ultra-easy policy path. The Consumer Price Index increased 0.6 percent last month after being flat in July, the Labor Department said on Friday. That was the first increase in five months and was slightly above economist's expectations for a 0.5 percent rise. Gasoline prices, which recorded their largest increase since June 2009, accounted for about 80 percent of the rise in consumer inflation last month. However, underlying...

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Report: US Health System Wastes $750B A Year

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. health care system squanders $750 billion a year _ roughly 30 cents of every medical dollar _ through unneeded care, byzantine paperwork, fraud and other waste, the influential Institute of Medicine said Thursday in a report that ties directly into the presidential campaign. President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney are accusing each other of trying to slash Medicare and put seniors at risk. But the counter-intuitive finding from the report is that deep cuts are possible without rationing, and a leaner system may even produce better quality. "Health care in America presents a fundamental paradox," said the report from an 18-member panel of prominent experts, including doctors, business people, and public officials. "The past 50 years have seen an ...

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43 States Take Part In $10M Allianz Settlement

Iowa Insurance Division - September 6, 2012-The Iowa Insurance Division announced that a multi-state settlement agreement has been reached between Allianz Life Insurance Company (Allianz) and 43 States. Iowa acted as the managing lead state in the settlement and was assisted by three other lead states: Minnesota, Missouri and Florida. An additional thirty-nine states have now signed on to the agreement. The agreement establishes corrective actions, a remediation plan and levies a ten million dollar penalty to be distributed among the participating states. The settlement was a result of a review of company practices related to the sale of fixed annuities by Allianz between the years of 2001 and 2008. Regulators reviewed how Allianz and its insurance producers sold its products, how...

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President Tells Tale of Two NAIFAs

LAS VEGAS, September 9, 2012 -The president of NAIFA in his address to the annual conference decried an unhealthy level of distrust and division within the association and called for unity in the face of one of the most challenging times for life insurance and financial advisors. Robert A. Miller, the 2011-2012 leader of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors, said the animosity is damaging the very base of the federated organization of more than 600 state and local groups comprising 45,000 members. “We see states vying with locals; locals that are having trouble filling their board positions and suspicious of any unsolicited advice,” Miller said this morning at the Las Vegas annual meeting, according to an advance copy of his speech. “The closing down...

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ECB Holds Rates, Draghi Conference in Focus

Reuters European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi faces the most decisive moment of his presidency on Thursday when he aims to back up his vow to save the euro with a bond-buying plan - the main focus of a policy meeting where it kept interest rates on hold. Investors want to hear how the ECB will start the new bond-buying programme to help bring down the borrowing costs of Spain and Italy, after disagreements between bank policymakers over the plan were played out in public last week. With the bond-buying plan the focus of Thursday's meeting, the ECB Governing Council kept interest rates on hold, leaving its main rate unchanged at 0.75 percent....

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UK rises in WEF competitiveness rankings survey

A relatively flexible labour market has helped the UK economy, the WEF says The UK has risen to eighth from 10th place in an annual study of global competitiveness. The World Economic Forum's (WEF) survey said the UK had benefited from a more efficient labour market compared with more "rigid" European economies. The US economy fell from fifth to seventh place, although WEF said it remained the top innovator. Switzerland topped the table, followed by Singapore and then Finland in the survey of 144 economies. The ratings are compiled using public data as well as executive opinion. The survey placed China as the most competitive major emerging economy. 'Innovative businesses' The WEF...

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Share this page * Facebook * Twitter * Email * Print Share this page Lenovo shares slide as NEC sells its stake in the firm

Lenovo has been working with NEC to boost its market share in Japan Shares of Chinese PC maker Lenovo have dipped in Hong Kong after Japan's NEC sold its entire stake in the firm. The Japanese firm sold nearly 281 million shares of Lenovo in a deal estimated to be worth HK$1.86bn ($240m; £151m). NEC had acquired these shares in exchange for a 51% stake in a joint-venture the two companies had announced last year. Lenovo shares fell as much as 8% to HK$6.08. However, Lenovo said that the sale will not affect the venture which the two firms announced last year to manufacture PCs in Japan in a bid to increase their market share in the country. As part of the deal, NEC was allocated the said...

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Longer working week suggested for Greece

There have been many demonstrations against the austerity measures agreed so far Greece's international lenders have suggested measures including increasing the maximum working week to six days. It is one of several unofficial proposals to liberalise the labour market and increase government revenue, contained in a paper seen by the BBC. The proposals were not included in the original bailout agreement signed with the Greek government. Inspectors from the EU, IMF and European Central Bank, known as the troika, are due in Greece this week. They are writing a report, due in October, that will decide whether Greece receives...

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Drought putting a drain on Midwest economy

A monthly survey suggests that the continuing drought and lessening export demand for U.S. products are among the drains on the economy in nine Midwest and Plains states.A report released Tuesday says August's Mid-America Business Conditions Index remained below growth neutral for a second month. It rose to 49.7 from 48.7 in July. June's figure was 57.2.The survey of business leaders and supply managers uses a collection of indexes ranging from zero to 100. Any score above 50 suggests growth while a score below 50 suggests decline for that factor.Creighton University economist Ernie Goss oversees the survey, and he says supply managers remain pessimistic about future economic conditions.The survey covers Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South...

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