Why we keep buying presents no one needs

Spend much time with economists around this time of year, and you will hear about the dreadful inefficiency of exchanging gifts. But there's a higher logic to the gift economy.

Record crowds flock to Sydney Fish Market on Christmas Eve

Record numbers expected to attend the Sydney Fish Market's annual 36-hour Christmas Seafood Marathon.

Aussie extends its slide; Wall St gains

US stocks posted modest gains in thin trading before the holidays. Gold fell for a seventh week.

Forget Christmas cheer for Seven board members

• COMMENT

There will be no relaxed Christmas break for Kerry Stokes and the directors of his Seven West Media.

Gold extends run of weekly losses

Gold futures capped the longest run of weekly losses in 12 years as the case for higher US interest rates strengthens.

Xi open to slower growth rate

President Xi Jinping reportedly told party officials that he's no longer wedded to China's 6.5 per cent annual growth target.

Retail revolution: How a superhero toy could save Australian retail

Australian toy creators are making child's play of the retail revolution led by the likes of US giant Amazon and proving innovation is a more powerful than price, a lesson many of Australia's best-known retail brands would do well to heed as we hurtle towards 2017.

US economic outlook brightening

New US single-family home sales rose more than expected in November and consumer sentiment hovered near a 13-year high.

Iron ore spot rises, China steel futures dip

The spot price for seaborne iron ore rose in light trade on Friday ahead of the Christmas break.

Copper dips on Chinese demand doubts

​Copper prices slipped on Friday as investors took profits on long positions ahead of the Christmas break.

Sharing economy revolution overshadowed by Uber

• ANALYSIS

TaskRabbit was founded in 2008 with a big idea. On the company's website and app, people make money by assembling strangers' Ikea furniture or cleaning their bathrooms

Corrections staff at 'suicide risk' from bullying

Prisons agency faces claims of high risk of suicide and self-harm among current and former staff.

Blogger behind Worner affair posts referred for contempt

A rogue blogger who claims to have revealed the identities of other lovers of Seven boss Tim Worner could face criminal contempt charges. 

Trump vows to cut plane costs

US President-elect Donald Trump says he discussed cutting costs with the chief executives of two major defense companies he has singled out for criticism over project costs.

Camp Gallipoli stripped of charity status following ACNC investigation

Camp Gallipoli wasn't actually a charity or not-for-profit – it was a business that used the Anzac name, run by an ex-bankrupt executive.

The Seven boss, the scorned mistress and the affair that stopped a nation

"The only reason we are racing this horse is for the sheilas," quipped the knockabout 30-year-old owner of racehorse Chicks Dig Me.

What's the US billionaire Koch brothers' beef?

• COMMENT

In this uncertain world, there are still a few unalterable facts of political life. For example, Republicans always do what Charles and David Koch, the billionaire bankrollers of right-wing politics nationwide, tell them.

Front running, insider trading, collusion: Scandals keep rolling

• COMMENT

Corporate Australia has wound down for the silly season, but the scandals haven’t abated.

ASIC loses case against LM Investment founder Peter Drake

Case thrown out after court finds ASIC's expert witness gave testimony that was "preposterous" and displayed "partisanship".

Online games site Steam fined millions

Gaming company Valve Corporation has been hit with a $3 million fine after online games site Steam breached Australian Consumer Laws.

Knowledge, not resources, driving economic growth

• COMMENT

Some economists worry the world economy isn't growing fast enough. It's slowing down and reaching the point of "secular stagnation".

Tatts backs Tabcorp bid over consortium

Tatts Group will reject the takeover offer from a consortium of big-name and will retain its backing for Tabcorp's bid.

Singo, Dixon's pub fund sells three iconic Sydney pubs for $47m

In one of the last big deals for the year, good mates and businessmen, Geoff Dixon and John Singleton have sold three iconic Sydney pubs.

Private Rinehart emails revealed

In 2013, Adele Ferguson gave a preview of her story about the Rinehart family feud, which included private emails between John Hancock, his mother and the CFO of Hancock Prospecting.

Chadstone mogul John Gandel sues Myer ahead of Christmas

Department store owner Myer has been slapped with a pre-Christmas court action by the billionaire property magnate John Gandel. 

Deutsche Bank reworks Trump loan

Bloomberg's Keri Geiger discusses what Deutsche Bank is doing to restructure $300 million of debt held by US President-elect Donald Trump ahead of his inauguration and the bank's legal problems.

Deutsche to pay $10 billion for its role in GFC

Deutsche Bank said it has reached an agreement to resolve a year's-long US investigation into its dealings in mortgage-backed securities, removing a major legal hurdle for the bank.

Gina Rinehart loses costs case against journalist

A company owned by Australia's richest woman, Gina Rinehart, will have to pay the costs of a journalist who the billionaire tried to force into revealing her sources for a book about the family.

Italy approves $29b bank bail-out

The Italian government has agreed to bail out Monte dei Paschi di Siena after the world's oldest bank failed to to get a capital increase.