US blue chips extended a losing streak not seen in almost 40 years as Wall St fell for the 12th consecutive trading session.

A RECORD 571m shares traded in Facebook's IPO, but the market debut was more buzz than pop and the stock closed just US23c higher.

THE value of Australia's second-tier iron ore producers was slashed yesterday in response to BHP's warning on  prices and demand.

A coming change in eastern Australian gas demand fuelled by $60 billion of coal-seam gas LNG projects  is on a truly global scale.