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Housing market 'moderating', not in downturn

Foreigners are 'increasingly a key driver of Australia's housing market', says UBS.

Mark Mulligan 11:51AM

Prices may be cooling in the hot residential property markets of Sydney and Melbourne, but a sharp fall is not on the cards, says UBS.

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Markets Live: Big miners thumped

Jens Meyer 11:24AM Live

Shares bounce higher as falls in mining stocks are offset by gains in the banks.

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Credit Suisse says the purchase of CallPlus in New Zealand "deploys excess M2 balance sheet capacity with a solid return for shareholders".

Vocus to merge with M2 to create $3b titan

David Ramli 11:19AM

M2 Group is attempting to merge with Vocus Communications to create a $3 billion company that can take on rivals including Telstra, Optus and TPG.

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Servicing cars is big business for car makers and dealers.

Home brand auto parts revving up

Simon Evans 7:46PM

Home brand spare parts are increasingly making their way into our vehicles, with the market leader in the $14 billion industry, Burson Group, leading the way.

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Farquhar and Cannon Brookes started the company using $10,000 in credit card debt.

Atlassian files for IPO in the US

Tim Binsted 8:16AM

Software developer Atlassian has filed for an initial public offering in the United States and expects to list before the end of 2015.

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LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 25: Used cars by German manufacturer Volkswagen are parked at a dealership in Battersea on September 25, 2015 in London, England. The Department for Transport's Vehicle Certification Agency, the UK's national approval authority for new road vehicles, has announced that it will re-run laboratory tests on engines and compare the results with emissions from on-the-road tests in the wake of the VW test-rigging scandal. The German car manufacturer has admitted selling vehicles in the US with diesel engines that could detect when they were being tested for emission, changing the vehicles performance accordingly in order to improve results. (Photo by Rob Stothard/Getty Images)

VW board warned in 2011: reports

Andreas Cremer and Steve Scherer 2:37AM

Volkswagen's own staff and one of its suppliers warned years ago about software designed to thwart emissions tests, two German newspapers reported on Sunday.

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A Samsung concept design for convertible phone and tablet device.

Smart phones lure Gen Y to share trading

Ruth Liew 5:49AM

Gen Y-ers are leading the charge in the boom of online broking, as younger Australians flock to their Android and iPhones to trade shares amid volatile markets.

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Retail Consumers splurging on little luxuries
Media & Marketing Stan readies No Activity
Markets China, US rate forecast steers sentiment
Markets Wall St ends flat as biotech slumps
Workplace Relations The case for changing worker exploitation

Market Indices

Last updated: September 26, 2015 - 2:00AM

Currencies

United States Dollar
Last updated: Sep 28, 2015 - 11:26AM (delayed by 30 minutes)
0.7032	0.13%
Euro
0.6285	0.08%
British Pound
0.4628	-0.02%

Comment & Analysis

Colin Kruger, CBD

No Magic Millions from this Gerry Harvey thoroughbred
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Michael West

Coal isn't dead yet - it's a takeover target
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Clancy Yeates

Light at the end of the tunnel as NAB's UK saga nears terminus
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Pilotless planes, trains and automobiles

Jamie Freed

Google has trialled driverless cars and Singapore has driverless trains. Now the airline industry is experimenting with the idea of pilotless passenger planes.

Contains: total comments26 This article contains a poll.

In Depth

'Win back trust': VW names new chief

Matthias Mueller, chief executive officer of Porsche AG, may replace 68-year-old Winterkorn as Volkswagen AG CEO, according to one media report.

Volkswagen appointed Porsche brand chief Matthias Mueller as CEO as the car maker reels from the biggest crisis in its history.

Contains: total comments7 This article contains a video.

David v Goliath in power battle

NSW Premier Mike Baird had made privatising the networks, and using the proceeds to new fund infrastructure, his signature policy.

Jessica Irvine

In a lofty courtroom high above Sydney's CBD, a David and Goliath battle is unfolding that will decide the size of your electricity bill.

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Why Transfield needs to change name

Transfield Holdings co-owner Luca Belgiorno-Nettis wants to distance his company from Transfield Services.

Jenny Wiggins and Michael Smith

Transfield Services will ask investors to approve a name change to Broadspectrum Ltd.

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Workplace

Unfriending staff can be 'bullying'

Unfriending employees on Facebook and not saying good morning could constitute workplace bullying, tribunal finds.

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Public service job criteria? Nah!

Phillip Thomson

Top ranking public servant slams job criteria as a waste of time for everyone.

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Markets

Aussie bonds a 'buy' at Fidelity Worldwide as dollar falls

9:24AM

International investors' appetite for Australian bonds has waned as the local dollar tumbled. Fidelity Worldwide Investment has been sticking with its holdings and says it's time to consider buying.

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need2know: Flat open for ASX

AMP's Shane Oliver says investor horizons have shrunk back to a very short-term focus.

8:03AM

The ASX 200 is poised to open little changed to start the week after Wall Street finished a choppy week flat on Friday.

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Wall Street awaits grim earnings season

Forward and trailing price-to-earnings ratios for the S&P 500 are converging, another sign of collapsing growth expectations.

Wall Street is bracing for a grim earnings season, with little improvement expected anytime soon.

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Gold gives back some of sharp overnight gains
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Boehner resignation heightens shutdown risk
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Shanghai composite falls 1.6pc, wiping out week's gain
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Japan strategists see Topix rising 17pc by end of 2015
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Billabong founder looks to ride the wave
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Gold rallies to eight-month high
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Norway cuts rates, will Australia be next?
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Day trader jailed for market manipulation
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The Federal Open Market Committee of the US Federal Reserve will vote in September on whether to raise US interest rates.

Emerging market currency support curbs bonds

Search Quotes & Charts

The Economy

AMA accuses government of attack on doctors' integrity

During financial year 2015, nib's net margin expanded to 5 per cent, at the bottom of its target range, but ahead of last year's 4.4 per cent

Lucy Hughes Jones 5:40AM

The Turnbull government has launched a "long overdue" review of Medicare services

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VW facing possible Australian class action

Maurice Blackburn believes it is 'likely' Australian owners have been affected by the scandal.

Leading class action law firm Maurice Blackburn has announced an investigation into a potential consumer law case against Volkswagen amid its global pollution rigging scandal.

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VW's light 'leakage' needs explanation
Contains: total comments16 This article contains a video.
Norway cuts rates, will Australia be next?
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Senator says thorns removed by Turnbull optimism
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Memo to Bill: Sign ChAFTA and get on with it
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ScoMo, keep head down and drop the chants
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Retail

Independent distributors eye Metcash's market

Metcash must protect its share of the grocery basket from independent suppliers and distributors.

Catie Low

Metcash has been warned it must defend its share of the wholesale supply market from independent distributors to safeguard its competitive advantage.

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7-Eleven could cop hefty fines from ACCC

Embattled 7-Eleven Australia has announced a store buy-back for disgruntled franchisees.

Adele Ferguson and Sarah Danckert

The competition watchdog has set its sights on 7-Eleven head office for potential breaches of the Franchising Code of Conduct and Australian Consumer Law.

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Banking & Finance

Ex-Best and Less boss joins AMP board

Former Best & Less chief Holly Kramer joins AMP board.

10:12AM

The former head of discount retailer Best & Less, Holly Kramer, is joining the board of financial services giant AMP.

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Bendigo Bank's low returns may be glimpse of majors' future

Despite investors and broker negativity on the outlook for Bendigo, there are several arguments that say it will be able to maintain its present profitability.

Shaun Drummond 5:46PM

If you want to see what the big banks might look like in a few years, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank might be a good place to start.

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Kisimul claims win against Bendigo in bid to prove database theft
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M&A; to ramp up among insurers
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NZ P2P lender Harmoney starts in Australia
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CommSec back in the black with $77m profit
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63 loans in six years: pensioner takes Cash Converters to court
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Mining & Resources

WA mining focuses on productivity, costs

Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton are relying on automation to further drive down iron ore production costs.

Angela Macdonald-Smith 12:00AM

Anchored in sparkling turquoise waters off BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto's iron ore loading terminals in Western Australia, some 35 vessels wait to take on their cargo.

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China carbon trading likely to boost Australian coal industry

Australia's coal industry is likely to benefit from China's new national carbon trading trading scheme when it is rolled out in 2017.

Amanda Saunders 4:19PM

Australia's coal industry stands to benefit from China's surprise move to adopt a carbon trading system that puts a price on emissions.

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World Business

VW names Matthias Mueller as CEO

"It is crucial that something like this never happens again," Mueller said at the press conference in Wolfsburg.

Chad Thomas and Chris Reiter

Volkswagen appointed Porsche brand chief Matthias Mueller as CEO as the car maker reels from the biggest crisis in its history.

Contains: total comments7 This article contains a video.

Memo to Bill: Sign ChAFTA and get on with it

Harold Mitchell

China is going to be the world's dominant nation. It's time we embraced it.

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Fed intends to lift rates this year: Yellen
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Mueller a frontrunner to steer VW
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Why Amazon beats Google
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Caterpillar slashes up to 10,000 jobs
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VW bigger risk to German economy than Greece
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China

Australia hurt by reliance on China

Bruce Einhor, Michael Heath and David Fickling

Throughout Australia's industrial heartland, factories are closing.

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US tech titans greet Xi, but it's not all laughs

The first in line to meet Xi, Mark Zuckerberg, the chief of Facebook, spoke Chinese with him, enough to get a laugh from the Chinese leader.

Jane Perlez and Nick Wingfield

Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg got a laugh from the Chinese leader at a meeting of tech chiefs in Washington, but Xi came in for some tough criticism from US business.

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Five things on agenda for Xi's US visit
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Thriving in the Asian century
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China, HK stocks up after US holds rates
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Options traders doubt Macau recovery
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China FTA delay would risk jv: Wellard
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FTA to 'level playing field': Hendry
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Featured advertisers

Property Focus

When it comes to property, jargon is just a word

Fog over Sydney at 9.05am, 1 April 2015. Photo Peter Rae
Blue skies over Sydney across the harbour, fringed with palm trees and other trees

Carolyn Cummins

Terminology, otherwise known as jargon, is a necessary evil in all professions and property is no exception.

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AMP makes the call to sell Ghostbusters building

An AMP Capital fund has sold Liberty Square in Boston.

Carolyn Cummins

Liberty Square, an office building in central Boston, has been sold by AMP.

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Start with the end user to create the right space

Food for thought in the Chatswood Interchange development.

Adam Sheumack

The challenge for planners and developers is the sheer volume of mixed-use developments coming online in Sydney in the next five years.

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Australia's population growth rate is now well below the 2.1 per cent achieved during the height of the mining boom.

Victoria: Australia's fastest growing state

Looking for the past in the present
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Tasty return tipped for Abercrombie Hotel at Central Park
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Hotels to kick come goals in coming weeks
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Investors seek out high-yielding assets
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Emporium Melbournein the old Myers building on Lonsdale street.

Federation Centres gets a re-rating

Home building boom continuing: Brickworks

Tim Binsted

Brickworks says east coast home building boom shows no sign of slowing down as impairments dragged down its full-year profit.

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Executive Style

Reach out to your real-life connections and turn acquaintances into valuable contacts.

Secrets to building a great network

Sylvia Pennington

How to turn your casual business acquaintances into powerful allies.

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Money

Have a second bite at mortgage cherry

Cherries, like a better mortgage rate, are always good for the picking.

Larissa Ham

Getting a home loan is hard enough, so why waste time revisiting it? Simple - you could save yourself heaps each month.

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How to find an extra hour a day

Take a step back from your working day to spot inefficiencies.

Kate Jones

Here are four really easy ways to stretch your day.

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Business Video

Banks v Bitcoin?

Our banks, big and small, are delving into the business affairs of customers who deal in bitcoins and declining to do business with them. Michael Pascoe comments.