18 June 2012: Betting on the financial market and full body scans

Full body scans to be introduced to Australian airports in coming months (Adelaid, Cairns, Brisbane, Darwin, Gold Coast, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney). Technology reduced risk rate 5 to 10%, would only be cost effective if the mean attack rate was 2 to 3 per year. [CR: Time to get those metallic ink tattoos]

World Bank’s annual Doing Business review 2012 looks at rules and regulations that affect companies in 183 economies, Australia slipped from 11th to 15th place in terms of overall ease of doing business. [CR: I thought it was getting harder]

Tabcorp considering offering betting on the financial market. Already offers betting on interest rate movements, would expand into sharemarket and commodity indices. [CR: Isn’t that an oxymoron, betting on the stock market?]

Deloitte survey of over 2000 consumers: Use mobile phone for entertainment - 49% between 29 and 45, 72% between 14 and 22; Baby boomers – 46% prefer computer over TV, 55% first learn of new products online; 53% of consumers under 22 socialise on social networking sites each day.

Banking game technique: CBA’s Investorville: https://www.investorville.com.au/ - goal to increase wealth over a 15 year period by buying and selling properties, charging rent, and reacting to economy. [CR: Playing a new game, where I count how many times the word “gamification” still appears in the FIN review.]

Supermarkets move into digital entertainment: Tesco, Britain’s largest retailer, pays $16.8M for digital music streaming platform WE7, bought online movie service blinkbox last year. Rival retailer Sainsbury offers ebooks to onlin shoppers, takes 66% stake in ebook store Anobii by buying 45.5% of the store from HMV. [CR: People who are good at selling stuff look to sell more stuff, digitally]

Nokia shares dropped 18% on Friday, steepest dive in over a decade, to cut over 10,000 jobs, potential takeover target. [CR: How the mighty have fallen.]