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Fragile franchise: It's crunch time for 7-Eleven

A lack of trust has created an atmosphere where the franchisees are concerned that the deal isn't what it seems.

Adele Ferguson and Sarah Danckert 12:16AM

It's crunch time for 7-Eleven as franchisees decide whether to accept new contracts with head office.

Contains: total comments11 This article contains a video.

Don't buy the China doom and gloom

Ross Gittins

Is the Chinese economy slowing down or melting down? You don't have to go far to find answers.

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Australian cattle king, Sir Sidney Kidman

At $350m, it's the deal of a lifetime

Tim Elliott 1:04AM

It's a unique opportunity to bag a prime piece of outback Australia, not to mention a sizeable slice of the country's history. A hefty slice of the Australian outback is for sale.

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Many on Wall Street believe that raising rates next month will be interpreted as a sign of confidence in the US economic recovery.

S&P; 500 scores best week in almost a year

9:17AM

Wall Street racked up a solid week on Friday, with healthcare, technology and consumer stock making gains and investors looking beyond a widely-expected December interest rate hike.

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Surely this is bad for you. Well, maybe not ...

How to sell to friends on Instagram

Catie Low 12:15AM

Social media is a powerful weapon in the marketing war but businesses need to know how different platforms drive sales.

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BHP dividend cut an even money bet

Malcolm Maiden 12:22AM

Chairman Jac Nasser didn't dump BHP Billiton's progressive dividend policy at the group's annual meeting on Friday, but he did recast perceptions of it.

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The Guinean government stripped BSG and Vale of their rights over Simandou and the Zogota deposits shortly before Rio Tinto filed its lawsuit last year.

Rio Tinto loses bid to sue Vale

4:01AM

A US judge on Friday dismissed Rio Tinto's lawsuit accusing rival Vale and others of conspiring to misappropriate its mining rights in the Simandou region in Guinea.

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Retail Myer narrowly avoids strike
The Economy Shirtfronting is a losing game
Property Fitting out space for a free float
The Economy Facts fall like ninepins in tax inquiry
Markets Bumper week for ASX as banks rally hard

Market Indices

Last updated: November 21, 2015 - 9:15AM

Currencies

United States Dollar
Last updated: Nov 21, 2015 - 10:59AM (delayed by 30 minutes)
0.7243	0.64%
Euro
0.6805	-0.01%
British Pound
0.4769	0.00%

Comment & Analysis

Ross Gittins

Don't buy the China doom and gloom
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Malcolm Maiden

If commodity prices stay down, BHP will too
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Harold Mitchell

Let's beef up our relationship with Indonesia
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How Fortescue Metals dug deep and fought back

Peter Ker

Andrew Forrest's mining company is winning the race to cut costs ahead of the falling ore price.

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In Depth

Can you pass the financial literacy test?

Has a mysterious WW2 train been found and was it carrying tonnes of gold?

Suzanne Woolley

A bit of financial advice: When you go out to dinner with a Norwegian, a Swede or a Dane, let them calculate the tip.

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Are market trends your friends?

Being able to take a view of the future is vital for investors.

Scott Phillips

Being able to take a view of the future, however dimly, is vital when it comes to investing.

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Drones more risk to planes than birds

The full effect of drones strikes has yet to be subjected to real-world testing.

Alan Levin

Even toy drones have the potential to cause far more damage to commercial airliners than birds, an American study has found.

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Workplace

The CEO who saved Christmas

EIGHT DAYS DEC 14
Christmas by the Beach promo pic?

Xmasby theBeach.SantainSand.DeeWhy.jpg

It's a holiday classic - the heartwarming tale of a drug company trying to get the balance right and leaving investors stunned.

Contains: total comments1 This article contains a poll.

Why millennials are just as good at leadership

Millenials are no longer just the colleagues of us older-generation folks, they're becoming, in many cases, our managers and bosses.

Rex Huppke

Regardless of who you think is more qualified to lead, the millennials have the numbers.

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Markets

Zinc surges after China smelters promise to cut output

Smelters in China plan to lower refined output by 500,000 metric tons next year.

Agnieszka de Sousa 8:16AM

Zinc rose the most in more than a month as major smelters in China vowed to curtail output, helping to drain a glut that has driven prices to the lowest in six years.

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ECB's Draghi readies more stimulus

As necessary, "we will do what we must to raise inflation as quickly as possible", Draghi said in a speech in Frankfurt on Friday.

Jeff Black and Alessandro Speciale 5:12AM

European Central Bank president Mario Draghi has set the scene for further stimulus in two weeks' time. The euro fell.

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Wall St lifts on Nike, Draghi hints at stimulus

The S&P 500 has advanced more than 3.5 per cent so far this week.

Anna-Louise Jackson and Sofia Horta e Costa 2:52AM

US stocks advanced, with the Standard & Poor's 500 Index heading toward its best weekly gain in more than a year.

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Infratil sell-down dominates boardroom trades
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Markets Live: Cracking week for ASX
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Big banks looking 'bloody cheap'
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Five reasons not to fear Fed rate hikes
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Giving back makes billionaire less popular
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Fed's Fischer says rate plans well communicated
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S&P; 500 dips as health-care stocks slump
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need2know: Flat open on weak US lead
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Day rates Capesize vessels, so called because they can't get through the Panama Canal's locks, slumped 7.2 per cent to $US4015.

Ore futures in Dalian sink to record low

Search Quotes & Charts

The Economy

Victoria becomes Australia's fastest-growing non-mining state

Victoria's Treasurer, Tim Pallas, says the news showed confidence had returned after years of economic inertia.

Peter Martin and Richard Willingham 7:21AM

Victoria has become the fastest-growing economy on the eastern-seaboard, overtaking NSW for the first time since 2008.

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NSW: the half-trillion economy and falling behind

Peter Martin 10:15PM

NSW has become Australia's half-trillion dollar economy, for the first time producing more than $500 billion in a calendar year.

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Biggest losers from a hard landing in China
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Sub-par is actually OK: RBA
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Why copper is the new iron ore
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Resources 'passes baton' to blue-collar economy
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Retail

Windsor Smith family feud puts the shoe on the other foot

Mark Hawthorne The Hawk Column Dinkus for THE AGE

Mark Hawthorne 8:00PM

Differences of opinion over what should be next steps for family-owned shoe company lead to change of chief executive.

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7-Eleven's wage scandal percolates into company's Starbucks chain

In this July 16, 2015 photo, a customer walks out of a Starbucks with a beverage in hand, in New York. Starbucks reports quarterly financial results on Thursday, July 23, 2015. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

Adele Ferguson and Sarah Danckert

A former payroll officer at 7-Eleven and associated entity Starbucks Australia described head office as "unethical" and "unsupportive" when she tried to bring her concerns about expired visas and payroll issues to management's attention.

Contains: This article contains a video.

Banking & Finance

Macquarie loses bid to dismiss Hertz spinoff lawsuit

The dispute stems from Hertz's $US2.3 billion acquisition of Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group

David McLaughlin 9:17AM

Macquarie Group will have to face the fraud and defamation claims of an executive who says the bank ousted him from running Advantage Rent A Car.

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Call to link super contributions to pay cycle

Nearly 7 per cent of Australians have unpaid super, with employers witholding $2.6 billion in contributions annually.

Sally Rose

Employers should have to pay their workers' superannuation fortnightly or monthly instead of only quarterly to stop workers being bilked of their entitlements, industry super funds are arguing.

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'Poor-quality loans in high-risk areas'
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Macquarie Group raising comes in at $547 million
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Big banks looking 'bloody cheap'
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Westpac pilots SME lending with fintech Prospa
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Fiddling with super won't help women: AIST
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Mining & Resources

Zinc surges after China smelters promise to cut output

Agnieszka de Sousa 8:16AM

Zinc rose the most in more than a month as major smelters in China vowed to curtail output, helping to drain a glut that has driven prices to the lowest in six years.

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NT gas pipeline goes from dream to reality in a year

Northern Territory Chief Minister Adam Giles, left, and Jemena managing director Paul Adams announce the NEGI pipeline this week in Darwin.

Angela Macdonald-Smith 12:15AM

Little more than 12 months ago the Northern Territory's ambitious plan to link its pipelines into the national grid was the object of great scepticism, even as a bit of a joke in some quarters. But now Northern Territory Chief Minister Adam Giles is the one who is smiling.

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World Business

Giving back makes billionaire less popular

John Arnold and his wife Laura are targeting contrarian, underappreciated causes, things like research integrity, drug-sentencing reform, organ donations and broken pension systems, an especially radioactive issue.

Dan Murtaugh

John Arnold made millions at Enron and billions at Centaurus, zigging when others zagged. Now he's giving his money away to underappreciated causes, and it isn't winning him any friends.

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Dorsey's Square jumps in market debut

Square's chief executive, Jack Dorsey, will try to manage both it and Twitter simultaneously. Photo: Bloomberg

Shares of mobile payments company Square jumped as much as 64 per cent on their market debut, countering recent negative sentiment for tech start-ups.

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