Share Trading Online

Any way you cut it, September was challenging.

Asian stocks kicked off the fourth quarter an upbeat note Wednesday, although gains were relatively shallow compared to the overnight rally on Wall Street, with investors in Japan taking a cautious stance after a business sentiment survey found the mood among large companies turned negative for the first time in five years.

Finally. The stock market did it.

THE Australian competition watchdog said today it would not oppose BHP Billiton’s proposed takeover of rival mining giant Rio Tinto.

BUSINESS confidence in Japan has fallen into negative territory for the first time in five years as an economic slump intensifies.

WALL Street looks the same: the same sharp-suited brokers swinging the same monogrammed attache cases; the blue-jacketed traders smoking and gossiping outside the stock exchange; the same air of ambient wealth, gambling and nervous expectation.