Insights

More than $5 billion has been wiped off QBE's market value in two days, as investors punish the company for repeatedly disappointing and analysts warn that further pain could follow this week's profit downgrade.

BHP Billiton expects gas exports from North America will supply 11 per cent of Asian demand by 2030, but still be less than half the amount exported to the region by Australia.

Mining services company WesTrac has announced it has bought Caterpillar Global Mining's distribution and support businesses operations in north-eastern China for $US130 million ($142 million).

'We continue to see significant opportunity for further growth.' Andrew Mackenzie, BHP

Woodside Petroleum has defended its lower-than-expected forecast for output in 2014, blaming a decline in domestic gas sales and maintenance shutdowns.

Holden chief executive Mike Devereux didn't confirm that his company was quitting manufacturing in Australia when he appeared before the Productivity Commission on Tuesday, but he did make one thing clear.

Dexus Property has upgraded its 2014 earnings guidance by 7 per cent based on its share buyback program and the rise in value of its direct investment in takeover target Commonwealth Property Office Fund.

The US government's bailout of General Motors ended on Monday with the Treasury Department's announcement that it had sold its final shares of GM stock.

Billabong International chief executive Neil Fiske has vowed to make the iconic surfwear brand "cool" again and has set out a seven-point plan to turn around the ailing retailer, which lost $860 million last year.

Billabong waves in brand new era

Air New Zealand has forecast a 20 per cent rise in pre-tax profit for the first half as solid bookings in the lead-up to the busy Christmas-New Year holiday period bolster its confidence. Days after Qantas warned it would slump to a pre-tax loss of up to $300 million in the first half, New Zealand's flag carrier said it had "sufficient confidence" in its expected bookings this month to forecast a 20 per cent rise in earnings before tax to $NZ167 million ($152 million) for the six months to December.

Investors are taking on record levels of housing finance as first home buyers continue to struggle to enter the growing property market.

Qantas executives will face off with heavyweights from unions representing the bulk of the airline's 30,000-strong workforce next Wednesday over the latest round of job cuts.

Wholesale reform of electricity distribution is essential to ensure consumers are charged only for the costs incurred, while investment should be limited to matching demand, research by the Grattan Institute has found.

Lion has half of the craft beer market and wants more, writes Eli Greenblat.

The sharemarket reversed early gains to finish flat on Tuesday, with a slump in insurer QBE erasing early rises fuelled by record highs on Wall Street overnight.