Bulk commodities iron ore and coal have largely driven Australia's export earnings to a record $42.6 billion for the September quarter, just before prices took a dive.
RBA signals caution on big rate cuts; Westpac taps market for $2.5bn; Rudd trims emissions target to 10pc; Sino Iron on track, insists Citic Pacific; Macquarie warns profit will fall as deals wither
Babcock & Brown Power has shaved off $20 million from its 2009 earnings guidance after taking into account its soon-to-be sold interests in two Western Australian power stations.
West Perth-based Apex Minerals expects to pour first gold from its Wiluna gold mine next week after technical plant delays were repaired quicker than expected.
Less than a month after the termination of a friendly merger, West Perth-based Kalahari Minerals has called for the chairman of Extract Resources to be removed.
Job advertisements in the state's mining sector fell over 5 per cent for November as a private job index for the country slumped 46 per cent from a year ago.
Despite the increasing rate of job losses around the globe, Australian finance and accounting professionals remain optimistic about job prospects, as found in a 14-country survey by international recruiter Robert Half.
The challenges of late 2008 look set to carry over into the new year with business chiefs anticipating further erosion of profits and sales as credit market conditions, a volatile Australian dollar and inflationary pressures impact prospects for 2009.
Job fears grow, but unions want more; Non-bank lenders hurting; Miners tear into ETS proposal; BHP, Rio face $2bn iron threat; Qantas plays down BA merger
Australian companies are still chasing growth opportunities despite the global economic downturn and a dive in consumer spending, according to Ernst & Young research.
Subiaco-based Chrome Corporation is seeking to have its self-imposed trading halt lifted following an announcement from the company about the sale of its 74 per cent interest in a South African chrome project for $41 million.
Oil and gas producers Apache and Santos have officially deferred development of the $900 million Reindeer gas project, as forshadowed last week in WA Business News, with engineering company Clough likely to be the biggest loser.
A crane has failed during a maintenance operation at Wesfarmers' Curragh coal mine in Queensland causing major structural damage and leaving one worker injured.
Economic forecaster BIS Shrapnel says the Australian economy will not fall into recession, despite the dismal growth in real GDP in the September quarter.
Tax board targets GST red tape; Oil price plunge alarms OPEC; Iron contracts in jeopardy; Spanish airline a barrier to Qantas merger; Garnaut warns - don't go alone
A company with an indirect interest to Western Areas chairman Terry Streeter has pocketed nearly $2 million from the on-market sale of the miner's shares over the past four days.
Perth-based CityView Corporation is facing a shareholder revolt with a group using the internet to express their concern over chief executive Mark Smyth and his management of the company.
Atlas Iron has celebrated a milestone at its Pardoo iron ore project in the Pilbara with the shipment of first ore through Fortescue Metals Group's Herb Elliot port.
Mining services company Mineral Resources has secured a pipeline contract with Brunei Shell Petroleum as it announced a share buy back scheme in a bid to boost shareholder value.
Perth-based Bunnings Warehouse Property Trust says it is continuing negotiations to extend a $100 million facility as it acquires a store and wraps up the construction of another on the east coast.
Business confidence in Western Australia has hit record lows as the global economic uncertainty starts to impact owners, two separate surveys have found.
Almost one third of Western Australians will buy a property before 2009 is over despite the current financial conditions prompting many people to revisit their financial plans, a survey has found.
Perth-based Pacific Energy will pay $77 million in cash and scrip to acquire Kalgoorlie Power Systems, which owns a suite of power stations in Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
Western Australia has suffered the nation's biggest drop in confidence among small and medium enterprises, according to the Sensis Business Index for November.
Engineering and infrastructure firm GRD will be hit by a significant one-off charge after agreeing to sell its loss-making Australian waste treatment facility in a bid to boost its financial position.
Recession looms as growth drops close to zero; Listed WA companies drop $17bn; Hostile opposition to Qantas changes; Rudd plots bankroll plan; Varanus gas explosion rocks national accounts
THE ASX 200 Index is currently trading with a trailing price to earnings ratio of less than eight times historical earnings, while consensus estimates for the 2009 financial year earnings place the index on a forward multiple of 10.
THE Commonwealth Bank of Australia is urging small business owners to take stock of their finances and monitor cash flow as the usually busy summer period gets off to an unseasonably slow start.
CITIC Pacific Mining is on the recruitment drive for 100 workers across a variety of roles in a bid to get its Sino Iron magnetite project at Cape Preston in production by 2010.
