ECONOMY & MARKETS

Japanese authorities know there is not much they can do to turn a broad weak-dollar tide so will judge any intervention a success if it keeps speculative action from driving up the yen too far and too fast.

Some of the largest pension funds and investment firms have urged President Barack Obama and Congress to resolve the deficit impasse and avoid inflicting "pain and hardship" on the nation.

Fading hopes the Congress will strike a deal in debt talks any time soon have left investors scrambling to position themselves for what many now view as an inevitable downgrade of the U.S

The top pre-market NASDAQ Stock Market gainers are: Questcor Pharmaceuticals, CalAmp, Trius Therapeutics, RF Micro Devices, Amazon.com, and Affymax. The top pre-market NASDAQ Stock Market losers are: Illumina, P.F. Chang's China Bistro, CIENA, JDS Uniphase, Level 3 Communications, and Virgin Media.

The companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trade on Wednesday are: Edwards Lifescience, Moodys, Electronic Arts, International Game Technology, Aetna, Wyndham Worldwide, Dow Chemical, Boeing, Corning, Quest Diagnostics, Wellpoint and Hess Corp.

The companies which are expected to see active trade on Wednesday are: Boeing, Dow Chemical, Visa, Aflac, Akamai Technologies, General Dynamics, Hess Corp, Ameriprise Financial, Bemis Co, Symantec Corp, CB Richard Ellis, Moodys, Murphy Oil, Southern Co and Owens-Illinois Inc.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) issued its quarterly 10Q which stated that the company's contribution to the recently announced Nortel patent win will be $2.6 billion, once the deal closes.

The new MacBook Air products in particular could be a source of upside for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) in the second half of calendar 2011, Barclays Capital said in a note to clients.

The top after-market NASDAQ Stock Market gainers are: Keynote Systems, Boston Private Financial Holdings, Questcor Pharmaceuticals, Hovnanian Enterprises, and Electro Scientific Industries. The top after-market NASDAQ Stock Market losers are: JDA Software Group, Illumina, Panera Bread, CIENA, and Arch Capital Group.

The top after-market NYSE Losers on Tuesday are: Juniper Networks, Inphi, Trinity Industries, Omnicare, Fidelity National Financial, USANA Health Sciences, Alcatel Lucent, Teradyne, W.R. Berkley and Big Lots.

The top after-market NYSE gainers on Tuesday are: Tempur-pedic International, Genco Shipping & Trading, Las Vegas Sands, Cai International, International Game Technology, RPM International, Thomas & Betts, Genuine Parts, W.W. Grainger and Weyerhaeuser.

There are only 5 days left to enter MPA?s prestigious Top Commercial Brokers list, recognising the top-performing advisers in the non-residential space.

Inflation has seen a slightly higher-than-expected rise, though it still may not be enough to prompt an RBA move next week.

Assuming President Barack Obama and Congressional Republicans can not resolve the debt deal dispute in eight days, the unfathomable will happen -- a default by the U.S. Government. But that begs the question: what will the U.S. Federal Reserve do, if the U.S. Government defaults?

South African gold miners will this week join thousands of workers seeking pay rises in widening nationwide strikes, threatening to hurt exports from Africa's largest economy at a time when bullion is at record highs.

Demand for South African government debt picked up at a weekly auction on Tuesday mainly due to strong foreign buying.

At the once-feared commodity trading arms of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, the pressure to do better in the second half of this year has never been more intense.

The top pre-market NASDAQ Stock Market gainers are: OceanFreight, S1 Corp., PLX Technology, Sanmina-SCI, and Broadcom. The top pre-market NASDAQ Stock Market losers are: Netflix, STEC, Fundtech, Rediff.com India, and Gulf Resources.

The companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trade on Tuesday are: SUPERVALU, Lexmark International, Cummins, Covidien, Ford Motor, Hershey, Sprint Nextel, Waters, Valero Energy, Nvidia, 3M Co and Macy's Inc.

The companies which are expected to see active trade on Tuesday are: Ford Motor, 3M, AK Steel Holding, Electronic Arts, Fiserv, International Game Technology, Amazon.com, Invesco, Lockheed Martin, United Parcel Service, Western Union, ACE, Biogen Idec, C H Robinson Worldwide and Cummins Inc.

China's Sinohydro Group Ltd, the builder of the Three Gorges dam, plans to raise more than $2.5 billion in what could be mainland China's biggest initial public offering this year.

The top after-market NYSE gainers on Monday are: BancorpSouth, Hexcel, Wuxi Pharmatech, Helix Energy Solutions and E-Commerce China Dangdang. The top after-market NYSE losers are: STMicroelectronics, Unisys, Basic Energy Services, Lender Processing and Albemarle Corp.

Jefferies & Co. said Netflix Inc.'s (NASDAQ: NFLX) second quarter results missed revenue and subscribers addition estimates on higher churn, while third quarter guidance was below consensus.

Time and time again, Washington has shown itself incapable of coming up with a solution to the U.S. debt ceiling impasse. Meanwhile, August 2 looms closer and closer.

For most Americans, talk of a U.S. Government default is a little complex. What the American people really want to know is, assuming the U.S.Government defaults, where should one consider putting a portion of their money? Glad you asked.

The deadly crash of a bullet train on China's new high speed railway raises questions of safety, technology and government accountability.

Nvidia shares were slammed on Monday after analysts cut estimates on the stock on concerns that rivals were gaining steam.

Toronto's main stock index looked set to open lower on Monday, hurt by news of major job cuts at Research In Motion Ltd (RIM.TO: Quote) and an impasse in U.S. debt ceiling talks that fueled worries of a U.S. default.

Moody's cut Greece's credit rating further into junk territory on Monday and said it was almost certain to slap a default tag on its debt as a result of a new EU rescue package.