If investors could be bothered wading through academic research of recent decades on markets and investor behaviour, they'd probably feel like giving investing a wide berth.

Andy Warhol was the top-selling artist at auction last year as increased competition for the most-expensive segment of the market drove global art sales higher.

The New Zealand dollar is heading for a 5 per cent decline against the greenback in 2014, a year which saw the kiwi soar close to a post-float high and prompted the central bank to intervene to bring it down.

The richest people on Earth got richer in 2014, adding US$92 billion ($118 billion) to their collective fortune in the face of falling energy prices and geopolitical turmoil incited by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

For New Zealanders interested in investing in Australia, 2015 looks set to provide a golden opportunity.

If there's one thing we learned about technology in 2014, it's that other people (never us) can suffer alarming consequences from security breaches.

The oil price decline of 2014 upended the geopolitical chessboard. Worth watching in 2015 will be who can recover and dominate play - Opec, Vladimir Putin or US shale drillers.

The extraordinary strength of the New Zealand dollar against the aussie wasn't the main reason why Infratil and the New Zealand Superannuation Fund decided to buy RetireAustralia, but it helped.

United States markets head into the last week of the year with a "Santa Claus rally" having lifted them to record highs, picking up momentum from outstanding GDP numbers in the world's biggest economy.

The initial public offering pipeline is expected to keep delivering in the year ahead, but market watchers say it will be a challenge to match or exceed 2014's bumper crop of 12 IPOs.

Air New Zealand's flights to Buenos Aires will be more than a third filled with passengers from Australia, an analysis of the service says.

To lose money in the markets in 2013, you had to really try. Three-quarters of the world's stocks rose, by an average of 42 per cent. The S&P 500 jumped 30 per cent.

The benchmark NZX 50 Index hit its highest point yesterday and has risen by 17 per cent in 2014, marking another golden year for local equities.

Kiwi Christmas shoppers have spent $170 million more this month than at the same time last year and retailers are hoping the splurge will continue on Christmas Day online.

Mighty River Power and the Tuwharetoa Maori Trust Board have signed a deal over water in Lake Taupo, the terms of which the electricity generator says are confidential.

APN News & Media has increased its presence in the Australian broadcasting scene through the purchase of Perth radio station 96FM from rival publisher Fairfax Media.

The Commerce Commission says it found no evidence that Fletcher Building's Winstone Wallboards unit engaged in anti-competitive behaviour to protect its dominance in the market.

Liam Dann writes: 2014 doesn't look like letting go early. In fact, like a good TV drama, it looks set to end on a cliff-hanger.