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A review of things you need to know before you go home on Monday; milk payout threat, bank hybrid downgrade, silver slump, interest swaps fall, NZD bounces

A review of things you need to know before you go home on Monday; milk payout threat, bank hybrid downgrade, silver slump, interest swaps fall, NZD bounces
For Monday, September 22, 2014. <a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/">Image sourced from Shutterstock.com</a>

Here are the key things you need to know before you leave work today.

TODAY'S MORTGAGE RATE CHANGES
Kiwibank sliced -20 bps off its standard one year fixed home loan rate, reducing it to 5.79%. AMP Home Loans did the same.

TODAY'S DEPOSIT RATE CHANGES
There were no changes today.

PAY BILLS AND RENT WITH BITCOIN
New Zealanders can now pay bills and rent with bitcoin, igot.com says. It says users can make direct bill payments, including credit card, phone and internet bills, utilities bills, council rates and rent, using bitcoin and via a user’s everyday personal banking account. Igot.com says it'll partner with "several billers" over coming months to offer 'pay with bitcoin' services to their customers.

NO EVIDENCE OF CREDIT STRESS
The latest bankruptcy and insolvency stats clearly show very low levels of credit stress. We are back to pre-2008 levels.

2014-15 MILK PAYOUT WATCH
We have an important payout revision announcement from Fonterra on Wednesday (when they announce their full year financials). However, today Synlait Milk made their results public, and revised their 2014-15 payout forecast. They have dropped it from the initial $7.00/kgMS to just $5.00. Let's hope the Fonterra cut is not as fierce. $5.00 from Fonterra would be a big depressant. Markets are expecting $5.35 - $5.65.

FROM BOIL TO SIMMER
The Westpac MM consumer confidence fell to 116.7 in the September quarter and down from 121.2 in June. But it remains elevated by historical standards. There has been a notable deterioration in consumer's view of the economic outlook over the year ahead, but little change to their longer term view. There is no real surprise in this quarterly series because it has actually been well signaled in the very similar monthly ANZ Roy Morgan series.

NEARLY A FULL RECOVERY
Investors in Allan Hubbard's Aorangi Securities have now received 99.037 cents in the dollar, amounting to a total payment of around $101 million, the Grant Thornton Statutory Managers announced today.

BANK HYBRIDS UNDER SCRUTINY
Standard & Poor's have announced they are changing and tightening up on how they rate bank hybrid issues (including CoCos). These things are issued to protect banks in times of trouble, not to reward investors. They are not suitable for retail investors. (In fact I wonder how suitable they are for 'professionals' either especially fund managers who may be loading up on them. Make sure your KiwiSaver funds doesn't have any.) Anyway S&P says their proposed criteria will result in the lowering of the majority of issue credit ratings on hybrid capital instruments.

NOT SO PRECIOUS
The price of silver slipped today to its lowest level in over four years. The price of gold is threatening to sink to the same benchmark.

WHOLESALE RATES
Swap rates have fallen slightly today mirroring the falls on Wall Street in final Friday trading. Across the whole curve rates are down -3 bps. The 90 day bank bill rate had another pull-back, now to 3.68%.

OUR CURRENCY
Check our real-time charts here. The Kiwi dollar has had a small 'election rally' today, one that is not expected to last. The NZD has firmed 40 bps from this time on Friday and is now at 81.7 USc. We are also up against the Aussie to 91.3 AUc. The TWI is also higher at 78.8.

You can now see an animation of this chart. Click on it, or click here.

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5 Comments

The most fun we're gonna have between now and Christmas will be the spectacle of the NZ Labour Party tearing itself apart as they try to elect a new leader .... or re-elect the one the nation so comprehensively rejected ...

 

... they're a political entity so engrossed in their own machinations and entrails , they've completely forgotten the public , the great unwashed ... the voters !

 

Some of them even believe that a gay academic , who's never had a job in the private sector , is more representative of the citizenry at large ....

 

... youse lot are so disconnected from our reality on Struggle Street NZ that it's little wonder the Gnats are already tipped to cakewalk into a fourth term ...

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yes strange to see a political party desert its constituency, massive blind spot as noted below...

Making a left turn

If you are turning left into another street, driveway, or policy track:

  • stay in the left-turn lane or keep to the left side of the road
  • slow down before you turn
  • check your mirrors and your blind spot
  • signal for at least three seconds
  • turn when safe.

poor old folk in the centre lane remained in position seemingly with just one choice.

 

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What!!! - so the new leader can match Key's socialist agenda and claim I'll see you and raise you.

 

...like free doctor’s visits for children under 13 and the extension of paid parental leave? Read more

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Spectacular - all Fonterra's doing? - or Christchurch rebuild - or JK's ?

 

On 1st trading day of 2014
NZX50 closed at 4769
ASX200 closed at 5367

 

Today
NZX50 closed 5236
ASX200 closed 5363

 

NZX50 up 467 points for the year
ASX200 down 4 points for the year

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Yep the rentiers did really well. The companies did that did best were those who regularly squeeze unearned income out of the pockets of John Key's much loved "ordinary Kiwis".

 

The rentiers know that JK loves them more than he loves "ordinary Kiwis". 

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