Traders think it is increasingly likely the NZ First leader will help form the next government.

Barack Obama is continuing to build on the social media campaign he used in his 2008 presidential campaign, with a 17 minute online video being released on his own YouTube page today.

The impasse over the US debt ceiling may be over but the political wrangling will continue.

Private Bin is guessing US President Barack Obama really, really wanted to celebrate his historic healthcare reform victory with a sly cigarette.

But its seems - unless he can message from his souped-up BlackBerry with one hand (hmmn, possible) - that The One foreswore a ciggy in favour of a thoroughly modern form of euphoria: a tweet.

As traditional telcos grapple with their transition to the digital age, the search giant is set to announce its new Google Voice today. Voice will offer free domestic VoIP calls, a single number that rings on any phone you own, and transcribes voice mail - which will be placed, alongside email, in a single inbox, accessible from anywhere.

Within mere weeks of his inauguration, US President Obama has today signed into law a historically unprecedented $US787 billion stimulus bill that combines massive tax breaks with huge government spending in a desperate bid to capture the US economy from entering a depression.