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Australian shares rise as surveys showing a lead in opinion polls for Greece's pro-bailout camps help calm eurozone turmoil fears and ease risk aversion.

1.03pm: A look around the region shows our market is today's star performer, with many others posting losses:

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12.56pm: The Australian dollar is trading at 98.50 US cents, its highest level in almost a week as hopes grow that Greece will elect a pro-bailout party on June 17 and stay in the eurozone.

CMC markets foreign exchange dealer Tim Waterer says the gains made by the pro-bailout parities gave the market a reason to be optimistic:

12.49pm: And unions are echoing the administrator, saying they are scrambling to secure work for about 2000 plumbers and electricians expected to lose their jobs after engineering company Hastie Group was placed in administration.

Communications Electrical Plumbing Union national secretary Peter Tighe said most of the employees whose positions were in jeopardy were contracted to construction projects still in progress around the country.

Union leaders are hoping workers will be able to continue in the current roles under different contracts.

The works got to be finished, Mr Tighe said. What we normally do is well go to the principal contractor and argue that our boys should stay on for the duration of the project."

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Markets Live: Stocks rise on Greek hopes

Now more than ever, a comfortable retirement depends on secure, stable investments. Unfortunately, the right stocks for retirement won't just fall into your lap. In this series, I look at 10 measures to show what makes a great retirement-oriented stock.

Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO) is regarded as one of the primary forces behind the proliferation of the Internet. Without its networking infrastructure products, it's hard to imagine what the Internet might look like today. Yet now that the Internet is a well-established part of modern society, Cisco has tried to go past its roots to search for new growth paths. In doing so, though, it has alienated some of the companies with which it worked together earlier in its history. Can Cisco recover from tough times? Below, we'll revisit how Cisco Systems does on our 10-point scale.

The right stocks for retireesWith decades to go before you need to tap your investments, you can take greater risks, weighing the chance of big losses against the potential for mind-blowing returns. But as retirement approaches, you no longer have the luxury of waiting out a downturn.

Sure, you still want good returns, but you also need to manage your risk and protect yourself against bear markets, which can maul your finances at the worst possible time. The right stocks combine both of these elements in a single investment.

When scrutinizing a stock, retirees should look for:

With those factors in mind, let's take a closer look at Cisco Systems.

Factor

What We Want to See

Actual

Pass or Fail?

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Will Cisco Systems Help You Retire Rich?

NORMAN ROTHERY From Saturday's Globe and Mail Published Friday, May. 25, 2012 6:30PM EDT Last updated Friday, May. 25, 2012 7:08PM EDT

The bear market is back and Canadian investors have the claw marks to prove it.

The S&P/TSX composite is now down just over 20 per cent from its highs of early 2011. The European financial crisis and Chinas slowdown have taken a bite out of portfolios and continue to stalk the market.

Fortunately, there is good news even during a rough patch like this. Lower prices can be an opportunity for bargain hunters. In fact, a bear market can be an excellent time to track down a few juicy dividend stocks while theyre on sale.

To guide us in our hunt, lets follow the path of conservative dividend investors a group that has historically done quite well over the long haul.

Investors of this type tend to stick to larger companies because big guys tend to be more stable than small fry, which have the disconcerting habit of swooning after every economic twitch.

When it comes to size, I think its good to employ a two-stage test. Start by looking for firms with market capitalizations in excess of $500-million, then search for those with revenues of $500-million or more. Each factor weeds out slightly different stocks and they work well in combination. For instance, by demanding large revenues you effectively eliminate many speculative junior mining concerns from consideration.

You can get a full list of large Canadian common stocks that trade on the TSX by taking a quick trip to globeinvestor.com's stock filter. If you do so this weekend, youll likely find more than 200 stocks that pass the dual size test.

With such a long list of large Canadian stocks in hand you can develop a good sense of the dividend yields on offer. To form a picture of the dividend landscape, Ive sorted all the stocks into groups based on their yields; Ive then added up the number of stocks in each group. The result is displayed in the accompanying graph, which shows the distribution of large Canadian stocks by dividend yield.

Dividend investors should be pleased that most large Canadian stocks pay dividends because that diversity allows for a good deal of choice when it comes to selecting the best ones for your portfolio.

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10 dividend stocks for safety-conscious bargain hunters

Stocks closed mixed Wednesday after a late rally erased steep losses. The Dow lost seven points to close at 12496

By Matthew Craft,AP Business writer, Pallavi Gogoi,AP Business writer / May 23, 2012

A big final-hour comeback pulled the Dow Jones industrial average nearly back to where it started Wednesday.

The Dow was down as much as 191 points earlier as the threat of a financial crisis spreading from Europe shook markets. The euro dropped to a nearly two-year low against the dollar, and oil prices sank to their lowest this year.

A late surge of buying erased nearly all of the Dow's deficit, leaving it down just 6.66 points at 12,496.15 by the end of the day. Other indexes ended slightly higher.

In the last hour of trading, news crossed that the leaders of France and Italy favored using region-wide bonds to support Europe's economy. That gave traders hope that a summit of European leaders might produce concrete steps to tackle the economic morass there. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development warned Tuesday that the 17 countries that use the euro risk falling into a "severe recession."

Analysts and investors have turned increasingly skeptical this month that European leaders will prevent Greece from dropping the euro or agree on ways to jump-start the region's economy. The Dow has lost 5 percent this month, nearly wiping away its gains for the year. It has risen only three days in May.

Plenty of good ideas to buttress Europe's financial system have been floated in recent weeks, said Paul Zemsky, global head of asset allocation at ING Investment Management. Eurobonds could be sold by countries in the currency union to raise money for bailouts and banks. Some have proposed insuring bank deposits across countries that use the euro, a program modeled on the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

"There are all these great ideas," Zemsky said. "But there's nothing yet. There's a lot of talk and no follow through."

Benchmark stock indexes dropped more than 2 percent in Germany and France and 3 percent in Spain and Italy.

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Stocks rally to erase steep losses

By Corrie Driebusch and Nathalie Tadena

Among the companies with shares expected to actively trade in Thursdays session are Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ), Pandora Media Inc. (P) and Tiffany & Co. (TIF).

Hewlett-Packard unveiled plans to lay off 27,000 employees and said it was cautiously optimistic about its future despite a 31% slump in its fiscal second-quarter earnings. Shares were up 8.2% to $22.80 premarket as earnings beat the companys expectations and as the company raised its full-year view.

Pandora posted a widened quarterly loss on Wednesday, though the Internet radio firms results included a fast-growing sales figure that topped Wall Street expectations. Shares jumped 15% to $11.93 premarket.

Tiffanys fiscal first-quarter earnings edged up 0.6% and the high-end jewelry retailer reduced its full-year expectations, citing slowing economic growth in many countries and softness in U.S. operations. Shares dropped 7% to $57.50 premarket.

NetApp Inc. (NTAP) joined a growing list of technology companies issuing bleak financial guidance, citing ongoing economic uncertaintyespecially in Europefor a disappointing current-quarter outlook. Shares sank 17% premarket to $27.20 as a weak forecast overshadowed the data-storage makers fiscal fourth-quarter earnings, which grew 13% on stronger revenue in all three major businesses.

Signet Jewelers Ltd.s (SIG, SIG.LN) fiscal first-quarter earnings rose 9.4% despite modest sales growth amid a calendar shift for the Mothers Day selling season. Shares were down nearly 10% in recent premarket trading as revenue missed expectations the Signet estimated fiscal second-quarter earnings below analysts views.

MediciNova Inc. (MNOV) said the preliminary results from a Phase 2b clinical study did not yield statistically significant results for its MN-221 asthma treatment. Shares of the biopharmaceutical company slumped 43% to $1.57 premarket.

PVH Corp.s (PVH) fiscal first-quarter earnings jumped 61% as the apparel company saw continued growth in its two key labels. Shares rose 4% to $80.48 in premarket trading as the company boosted its full-year guidance and beat its guidance.

Monro Muffler Brake Inc.s (MNRO) fiscal fourth-quarter profit rose 27% as the automotive services company saw a boost from acquisitions and higher brake sales. The results fell short of expectations, however, and the company said higher gas prices and economic woes would affect customer purchasing decisions and pressure earnings in the near term. Shares slipped 1.4% to $36.50 premarket.

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Stocks to Watch: Hewlett-Packard, Pandora, Tiffany