The Dollar And The Economy

Sydney - Yet more highs for the Australian dollar overnight and yesterday after another solid jobs report added to suggestions that interest rates will have to go up, a feeling also boosted by the International Monetary Fund in its annual outlook.The Aussie closed to within sight of 83 USc and 100 yen as traders continued to push the line that the Reserve Bank would be forced to boost rates at its May meeting.It traded up around 82.88 USc in New York early Friday morning and 98.66 yen.

In many respects the reaction to the jobs reportis a re-run of the debate we had running up to the April RBA board meeting but this time around the Aussie dollar is much firmer and is now a definite anti-inflationary tool, especially if it continues at this level for the next couple of months.

The good domestic conditions and stronger Aussie is boosting companies with significant domestic business, such as retailers, led by Woolworths, Coles, Harvey Norman and Metcash, while exporters and companies with US dollar revenues such as Westfield, BHP, Rio, Woodside and others are weak.

At this level it stands to put a bit of a dent in the impact of the current high prices for metals and other commodities for quite a few Australian companies. The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that jobless rate last month fell to a 31-year low of 4.5 per cent. The ABS saidthat employment rose by 10,500 in March, thanks to a surprisingly strong 31,700 rise in the number of full time jobs.

Blue Diamond Ventures, Inc. to Be Featured on Norman Schwarzkopf's ...

Blue Diamond Ventures, Inc. (PINKSHEETS: BLDV) announced today the company will be featured on "World Business Review" Television series, hosted by General Norman Schwarzkopf, as part of the show's Environmental and Alternative Energy Initiatives Series. The segment, scheduled for taping in late June, will examine enzyme technology in bio-diesel production, along with an added perspective from industry expert Roger Ballentine.

"The current attention and concerns on the effects of Global Warming, escalating fuel costs and dependency on imports to meet energy needs today and into the future all point to the validation of increased attention to alternative fuel development," said Jay Crosby, Senior Coordinating Producer of "World Business Review." "My research of the industry worldwide led me to the efforts of John Moaning and Blue Diamond.

Sean Rhody Named Tech Chair of SOA World Conference & Expo

SYS-CON Events announced today that Sean Rhody was named the tech chair of SOA World Conference & Expo 2007 East. Rhody is the founding-editor and editor-in-chief of SOA World Magazine and a respected SOA industry expert and a consultant with a leading consulting services company.The 11th International SOAWorld Conference & Expo 2007, colocated with the Second Annual Enterprise Open Source Conference, will take place on June 25-27, 2007 at the historical Roosevelt Hotel in New York City.

SOAWorld Conference & Expo and Enterprise Open Source Conference together deliver the #1 i-technology educational and networking opportunity of the year.Service-oriented architecture or SOA is a style of information systems architecture that enables the creation of applications that are built by combining loosely-coupled and interoperable services.