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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 9:39AM

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: Deceptively calm

Jens Meyer 9:23AM Live

The ASX is poised to open little changed as investors remain edgy.

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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

David Ramli 9:38AM

Vocus Communications has moved to merge with Melbourne-based telecommunications provider M2 Group in a deal that will create a $3 billion telecommunications titan.

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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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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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Oroton's $8000 limited edition Alpine Croc bag

Consumers splurging on little luxuries

Catie Low 8:06AM

Sales of high-end handbags and fancy food show consumers are splurging on little luxuries despite the uncertain economic outlook

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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
Business Australian start-up sector a global player

Market Indices

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

Currencies

United States Dollar
Last updated: Sep 28, 2015 - 9:26AM (delayed by 30 minutes)
0.7023	0.01%
Euro
0.6275	-0.05%
British Pound
0.4623	-0.11%

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 gainsf
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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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Emerging market currency support curbs bonds
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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
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Norway cuts rates, will Australia be next?
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Senator says thorns removed by Turnbull optimism
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ScoMo, keep head down and drop the chants
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Retail

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

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

Executives at Bendigo Bank subsidiary Rural Bank face allegations its former head of IT stole records from database company Kisimul.

Shaun Drummond 11:45PM

Bendigo and Adelaide Bank subsidiary Rural Bank will be subject to an extensive trawl through their files by lawyers for Kisimul Holdings in an attempt to prove the bank's executives were implicated in the alleged theft of Kisimul's database of 120,000 farmers.

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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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Peter Warne to take chair at Macquarie
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Hail and farewell to Suncorp's Snowball
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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 board warned about emissions test cheating in 2011 – reports

Volkswagen has admitted selling vehicles in the US with diesel engines that could detect when they were being tested for emission, and changing the vehicle's performance in order to improve results.

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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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.

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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