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Until a few weeks ago, Australia's 20,000 investment advisers and their associates in stock broking firms and banks probably thought they had jobs for life; but that was before the Commonwealth Bank advisers' scandal and the latest threat – internet-powered advice.

A Nationals senator wants to make it illegal for banks to foreclose on drought-hit farmers.

ASX-listed shopping centre owner Federation Centres has picked up Currambine Shopping Centre for $74 million, the second major retail transaction in Perth this week.

Big businesses already raise a hefty chunk of their funds from the bond market rather than banks - and many will go further down that road in 2015.

Caltex expects to lift its full-year profit by about 40 per cent thanks to higher fuel sales as oil prices fall.

Silver Lake Resources has cancelled the $5.5 million sale of its Lakewood Mill near Kalgoorlie, after the buyer was unable to secure financing.

Australia is considering selling uranium to Ukraine, home to the world's worst nuclear disaster.

A fire at a margarine factory in Western Australia's south has caused an estimated $1 million worth of damage.

Energy company Santos plans to slash its capital expenditure by 25 per cent as the oil price slides to fresh five-year lows.

Redundancies and cuts to directors' fees have helped BC Iron secure cost reductions at the Nullagine joint venture.

Manufacturers are gaining a new lease of life from rising building activity and a sustained depreciation in the Australian dollar.

The unemployment rate has hit a 12-year high, despite a strong rise in the number of people with jobs, while Western Australia continues to have the lowest unemployment of any state.

The Australian stock market has taken another dive after oil prices dropped to fresh five-year lows.

US stocks have tumbled more than 1.5 per cent as a pullback in petroleum stocks sparked a sell-off in the broader market.

Houses sales flattened off this week and sit just 2 per cent above the average of 562/week for the year, which is unlikely to change much with only two weeks remaining in 2014.

The Australian dollar has slipped back below 83 US cents as oil prices come under further pressure after OPEC cut its 2015 demand forecast.

Oil prices have sunk to new five-year lows with the US benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude nearly hitting $US60 a barrel, 40 per cent down from just six months ago.

Gold prices have retreated from a six-week high, as some traders take profits on the recent rally and others adjust their expectations for the timing of interest-rate increases in the US.

West Perth-based Red Fork Energy, which has raised $125 million from investors over the past three years to support its shale drilling program in the US, has collapsed after losing the support of its major lender.

A private investor has snapped up Fremantle's Woolstores Shopping Centre for $40 million, in a deal brokered by commercial agency JLL.

Tony Abbott may believe 2014 has been a year of achievement for his government, but its legislative shortcomings are all-too apparent.

The state opposition claims the MAX Light Rail project is doomed, after a Parliamentary Estimates hearing was today told the government was considering constructing an underground rail line to service the same transport corridor.

Domestic tourists spent $4.6 billion while visiting Western Australia in the year to September, which was 12 per cent more than the previous year and three times the average increase nationally.

Resource Development Group has been assigned two construction contracts for Chevron's Gorgon LNG project, following the demise of Killarnee Civil & Concrete Contractors.

Australia's free trade agreement with China is likely to deliver significant benefits to agricultural exporters but the gains will be mainly indirect and apparent over the longer term, a report by Rabobank has concluded.

A subsidiary of Perth company Liquefied Natural Gas has filed for a permit to export gas from the US to a planned LNG plant in Canada.

A slump in consumer sentiment and fears commodity prices will continue to tumble have driven the Australian share market lower.

Movie companies may soon be able to get court orders requiring Australian internet providers to block foreign illegal download websites.

Mt Pleasant-based gold junior Alloy Resources is up 28.6 per cent today after a find at its Horse Well joint venture with Doray Minerals.

Could health insurance follow the superannuation sector, where industry funds have collectively taken on private retail players? WA's biggest fund, HBF, is leading a national alliance of not-for-profit health insurers, which are now a minority following the recent privatisation of Medibank Private.

The state government has rezoned almost 200 hectares of land to industrial uses in Hazelmere, north east of Perth Airport.

Mackerel Island Tourist Resort, off the coast of Onslow, has begun powering itself from one of Australia's largest off-grid solar power station.