Insights

First Pacific, Wilmar lob 67.5c per share offer, target flags $300m-$400m impairment.

Market rallies in early trade after US car sales, China data pushed Wall Street to new highs.

On the balance of risk, companies and banks are unlikely to reach easy agreement when it comes to participating in Greg Hunt's emissions reduction fund - especially for land sector abatement.

The week in clean energy saw Germany try to regulate investment flow into renewables while the Caribbean is seeking as much as $30bn to expand its sector.

For the third consecutive month, particles of carbon dioxide in the world's atmosphere have been above 400 parts per million, a level not seen for at least 800,000 years.

The Australian government hopes to finalise the Free Trade Agreement with China by the end of the year but it could be some time yet.

Hillary Clinton believes Australia is too economically dependent on China. Is she right?

China's local governments are cashing in on 'green opium' despite a decade-long ban on building new golf courses, highlighting a central tension between the nation's economic and environmental development.

Australia's rising dollar is causing tremendous damage to our export industries, but the RBA can't cut rates further for fear of creating a property bubble. The government can no longer sit back and hope for a miracle.

Both the S&P 500 and Dow hit new records after upbeat manufacturing and spending data encouraged investors, while the Australian dollar lifted above US95c.

China's growth figures are notoriously unreliable and, as its economy slows, inaccuracies become even more important. All signs point to China becoming a normal economy... with abnormally large problems.

Australand looks set to go to Frasers Centrepoint after the target's board gave the tick of approval, while Medibank Private gears up for a marketing bonanza.

'Horror budgeting' has helped Australia in the past, when conditions were starkly different. But Joseph Stiglitz's modern take says one piece of the puzzle is missing.

Which is the best investment - shares or residential property? It's a question that enthrals most Australian investors, with many vehemently liking one, but not the other, and lots of people putting most if not all their investment eggs into just one of these asset baskets.

With sharemarkets in many parts of the world at or near all-time highs, some analysts are wondering if the most likely direction they will take as 2014 proceeds, is downwards.

At its meeting this week, the RBA decided to leave the cash rate unchanged at 2.5%. It is now almost a year since the Australian federal bank last tweaked the cash rate, and according to Paul Bloxham, Chief Economist, Australia & New Zealand, HSBC Bank Australia this holding pattern is set to continue.