Here is a quick snapshot of some key overnight news, views, and data.
December car sales strong
We are still buying new and used-import cars at a fast clip. 2010 new car sales were up +14% over calendar 2009, although the 2010 totals of 62,000 were way below the 2005 totals of 78,000. We imported 88,600 used imports in 2010, +28% more than the previous year.
Vulnerable exposures
Banking Day is reporting that Australian banks may be downgraded by S&P because of persistently high rates of credit growth relative to GDP and seemingly high property prices. These aspects will be now important to S&P as it adopts revisions to its credit analysis. Although it gives low-risk assessments to many parts of the New Zealand banking system, it judges our economic imbalances as 'high risk' because of persistently high current account deficits, and high external debt to current account receipts.
The Bill Daley problem
Daley is President Obama's new chief of staff. He has been at the very top of one of the US largest financial insitutions - JPMorgan-Chase. Some say he represents the capture of the White House by Wall Street.
Banks and debt
"I sincerely believe that banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies, and that the principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale."
- Thomas Jefferson
more below ...
| 8 am | --- 52 week -- | |||||||
| Today | yesterday | high | low | |||||
| -------- | -------- | --------- | --------- | |||||
| FX rates | NZ$1=US$ | 0.7627 | 0.7610 | 0.7964 | 0.6584 | |||
| NZ$1=AU$ | 0.7674 | 0.7641 | 0.8212 | 0.7408 | ||||
| Gold | in US$ | 1,372 | 1,367 | 1,421 | 1,058 | |||
| in NZ$ | 1,799 | 1,796 | 1,877 | 1,507 | ||||
| Copper | in US$ | 9,373 | 9,399 | 9,754 | 6,091 | |||
| in NZ$ | 12,289 | 12,351 | 12,811 | 8,951 | ||||
| Crude oil | in US$/bl | 89.24 | 88.44 | 91.45 | 70.15 | |||
| in NZ$ | 117.00 | 116.22 | 121.36 | 101.30 | ||||
| US Treasuries | 30 yr bond | 4.48% | 4.48% | 4.78% | 3.61% | |||
| Dow | DJIA 30 | 11,635 | 11,675 | 11,729 | 9,614 | |||
Goldman's Facebook pitch
You need to be seriously wealthy to get the Goldman Sachs invitation to buy into Facebook. But the Wall Street Journal couldn't help but notice some similarities between the Goldman invitation, and a Nigerian scam. You be the judge.
On the edge
Vietnam is growing fast, but its not all good. It is buffeted by rampant food price inflation, official corruption, and stifled by huge inefficient state-owned enterprises. It's in a real quagmire.
Some of its own medicine
French intelligence services are looking into China’s possible role in an industrial espionage scandal at car maker Renault that a senior minister has said involved 'economic warfare'. But France itself has a major industrial spying program.
"a worrisome new phase"
Many in Europe say a breakup of the eurozone would be nearly impossible. But a German bank doesn't think it is at all far-fetched, as real contagion spreads from the PIIGS to Belgium and France. It's looking ugly.
New stress tests
Large US financial groups are bracing for a new battery of stress tests that will determine which institutions are now healthy enough to raise dividends and buy back shares.
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11 Comments
Cunliffe gives National a 4/10 for its handling of the economy.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10698919
This is what Labour would do:
Labour favours trying to "basically grow our way out", with the Government taking a more active or even "activist" approach to economic development, particularly in the export sector.
"It's got to be a judicious combination of Crown investment in growth promoting activity, sufficient short-term stimulus to rebuild confidence in the economy, but enough discipline over Government finances to avoid a blowout of debt over the longer term."
David Cunliffe : " But it's as inevitable as God made green apples that when New Zealanders' understand what is being done to them they will not put up with it . "
Wrong on 3 counts , Cunny . Herr Helen ruled that NZ has no state religion , so God doesn't exist , because your lot said he/she/it doesn't .
NZ'rs voted your Labour back into office twice , in 2002 , and in 2005 . So they will put up with a whole pile of crap , before tossing it out .
God didn't make little green apples ...... Granny Smith did .
................ Try boiling eggs for a living , guy . I reckon that you've got more talent for that .
Breakfast would be kind of slow , at the Labour party , wouldn't it . ........... A series of committees and votes , to reach a consensus on what we're having ( everyone gets the exact same amount of the exact same meal ) ............... Then a food standards inspection of the raw ingrediants ...... the eggs to be boiled . Then an assessment as to the sustainability of the energy source , the carbon foot-print , of boiling the eggs . Next some psycho-babblers roll in , to determine whether or not the eggs are in a fit state of mind to agree to being boiled ................
........ Feck ! ............ I'm off to Robbies for a feed .
"I sincerely believe that banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies, and that the principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale."
- Thomas Jefferson
Just goes to show that the road we face ahead is nothing new.
The only US president that never wanted the job. A great man, but then I am biased because he was an architect.
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