Newcastle Hub: ASX surges in $39b relief rally and other top stories.

ASX surges in $39b relief rally
Shares surged to their first weekly gain in six weeks, after the US Federal Reserve lowered its outlook for future interest rate hikes, dispelling investor worries that an end to the era of easy money is nigh. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 Index and the broader All Ordinaries Index closed up 1 per cent on Friday to 5431 points and 5518 points respectively. The ASX 200 rose 2.5 per cent for the week, adding $39 billion to the market's value. The ASX 200 rose 2.5 per cent for the week, adding $39..
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Consumer watchdog ACCC urged to investigate cartel claims against surgeons

Concerns that Australian surgeons may be running cartels to protect their lucrative private markets will be discussed at a national meeting of health ministers next month. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is also under pressure to investigate potentially anti-competitive behaviour by the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons after Fairfax Media revealed fresh concerns about its secretive practices. More News Videos Previous slide Next slide Plasti..
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'I'm not drinking it now': VB on the nose as pubs join fight for brewery jobs

Several well-known Melbourne pubs have turned off their Carlton Draught and VB taps and removed many other popular beers from sale, as conflict continues to plague Australia's biggest brewer.A union-led boycott fighting for the reinstatement of 55 laid-off fitters and electricians at Carlton & United Breweries in Abbotsford this week passed the 100-day mark. More Business Videos Previous slide Next slide Trouble brewing: CUB protests hit the CBD ASX closes on ..
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Traders angry with the ASX but investors don't care

Newly appointed ASX boss Dominic Stevens returns to his office on Wednesday, having been overseas on the day of the outage. Ben Rushton If the level of squealing is any guide after Monday's embarrassing ASX outage, there might be more high frequency trading going on in the local sharemarket than we all think.If you're a trader and can't trade, then of course you're angry about the "unprecedented" and "complex" failure in the hardware systems th..
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Ausgrid receives new unsolicited bid for 99-year lease

Ausgrid receives new unsolicited bid for 99-year lease Posted September 23, 2016 17:27:27 IFM Investors and AustralianSuper have both submitted an unsolicited proposal to acquire a 50.4 per cent interest in a 99-year lease of Ausgrid, just over a month after Treasurer Scott Morrison blocked its sale to Chinese bidders.The Government is reviewing the proposal and will make a decision later in the year, the consortium said."If we are ultimately successful, [we] intend t..
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Former BBY chairman Glenn Rosewall denies 'deflecting blame' for firm's demise to CEO

When he left the witness box on Friday, former BBY chairman Glenn Rosewall had drained a jug of water and been grilled for hours about his reliance on advice from a Sydney psychic.He had also been asked if he was trying to pin responsibility for the spectacular collapse of the stockbroking firm on his former chief executive, Arun Maharaj. Glenn Rosewall leaves the Supreme Court on Thursday. Photo: Daniel Munoz The NSW Supreme Court examination into the demise of the Sydney-based BBY, whi..
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The big myth about dole bludgers

Ashleigh and Amy, from Mount Druitt in NSW, made headlines after saying they would happily ‘chill’ at Maccas but knocked back jobs there. Picture: Justin LloydTHE government is making a lot of noise about welfare payments. It sent out new Social Services Minister Christian Porter to imply he is set to make grand changes. Mr Porter wants you to believe he will root out all Australia’s bludgers and promptly send them off, to dig holes or stack shelves with groceries, etc.Many people believe that w..
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Blame all around as the Bureau of Statistics deflects criticism of Census 2016

The Australian Bureau of Statistics has blamed the media for the failure of its census hotline and blamed an overseas denial-of-service attack for the failure of its census website.In a strongly worded submission to a Senate inquiry, the Bureau also attempts to deflect blame for the overwhelming of its website on to its contractor, IBM. More News Videos Previous slide Next slide Census: internet's hilarious memes Lindt siege police response in question ..
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A review of the week's economic data

Australian Associated PressA review of this week's Australian economic data, September 19 to September 23:COMMONWEALTH BANK BUSINESS SALES INDICATORThe indicator rose 0.6 per cent in trend terms in August. CommSec chief economist Craig James said it was the strongest rise in nine months and a large jump after almost flat spending over the last year of so.*****MINUTES OF RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA MONTHLY BOARD MEETINGThe Reserve Bank said consumer spending had not lifted in response to recent int..
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Telstra to add 1000 technicians to work on NBN and reduce repair times

Telstra will hire 1000 new field technicians in coming months to cope with NBN-related work and reduce the time customers spend waiting for a fault to be repaired or a new connection. About one third of the new hires will be full time Telstra staff, and the rest sub-contractors to ISGM, which manages the contracting workforce. This brings Telstra's total technician work force to about 6000 people across Australia. Telstra will hire 1000 new technicians, with one third directly employed by..
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