Here are the key things you need to know before you leave work today.
TODAY'S MORTGAGE RATE CHANGES
ASB and its relations (Sovereign, BankDirect, NZ Home Loans) all reduced their 3 to 5 year fixed rates, grabbing a market-leading position in each.
TODAY'S DEPOSIT RATE CHANGES
No changes here today.
POPULAR WITH CHINA
International visitor arrivals in April surged almost 8% from a year earlier, despite the earlier timing of Easter having dampened Australian visitor numbers. A key contributor to the record April result was a +40% lift in visitor arrivals from China. Overall spending by tourists topped $10 bln in the year to March, a dramatic surge.
NEW RECORD
Migration inflows grew strongly in April, with the net population gain from migration hitting a new record of 68,100 for the year. But some analysts think they see permanent departures rising even as long-term arrivals stay high, and think we may be 'nearing the peak'. In any event we are probably past the 'peak' with Australia. And more people left for the UK than arrived from there, in April.
A LONG LIFE REQUIRES BIG ASSETS
The latest life expectancy tables from Statistics NZ shows that if you are a male aged 45 you should expect to live till at least 82. If you are 55, expect to live to aged 83. If you are 65, expect to live to 84. If you live till you are 85, expect another six years. If you are female, add another two to 3 years to the expectancy for males. The key take-away: you are a long time retired. Your major financial task is to build a large enough nestegg so that you don't have to live in penury when you can't do anything about your financial circumstances.
PAYING OUR WAY
We are using our credit cards more, but we are not letting the balances grow. In April, the amounts charged on them are up +6.9% whereas balances are up only +1.8%. The use overseas plays a big part of the transaction growth.
CRACKING DOWN ON R/E AGENTS
Unique Realty Limited has been ordered to pay a penalty of $1.25 mln following a hearing in the Auckland High Court. Unique is the first of 13 national and regional real estate agencies to appear in court after the Commerce Commission filed proceedings in relation to three separate alleged price fixing and anti-competitive agreements among national real estate agencies, Hamilton real estate agencies and Manawatu real estate agencies.
NERVOUS BANKERS
The Australian banks are very worried about the possibility of a change of government, where the Labor Party is committed to having a Royal Commission into bank conduct. Today the bankers hired to top auditor to oversee an 'independent review' of their self-regulation system "to protect customer interests'. Bankers are trying to be pro-active to head off the threatened closer scrutiny.
SWAP RATES FLATTEN
Despite the rise on Wall Street earlier today, the NZ swap market did not follow. In fact it flattened with rates to 3 years rising +1 or +2 bps and rates for 5 to 10 years falling -1 bp. NZ swap rates are here. The 90-day bank bill rate is up +1 bp, to 2.38%.
NZ DOLLAR INCHES UP
The NZD rose marginally across the board today. The Kiwi dollar is now at 67.7 USc, at 93.6 AUc, and 60.4 euro cents. The TWI-5 is now at 71.7. Check our real-time charts here.
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13 Comments
"Trump has pulled ahead of Clinton nationally in both the new FOX poll and the Rasmussen Poll. And Trump passed Clinton in favorability according to the newest national poll on that topic."
http://blog.dilbert.com/post/144606430606/evaluating-the-political-ches…
I believe we are seeing/experiencing a sea change away from the New World Order and a move back to nationalism. Thank God! It feels as if the Western World is finally waking up. Wake up New Zealand, wake up. Who ever dreamed this awful nightmare of polluted rivers, traffic jams, young families $1,000,000 in debt (slaves for generations) and homeless families, everywhere! Right in front of our eyes. Unbelievable
Be careful what you wish for.....
https://nz.finance.yahoo.com/news/win-lose-trump-could-cause-020116456…
Ah well, what can you do. We live in an emotional age where reason isn't valued much. So they want "America to be great again", but they aren't interested in any rational critique of what his ideas and policies will actually do.
In the end they will get exactly what they voted for but, of course, it will be some else fault.
For sure it will be a roller coaster, so I think the best thing to do is put your hands in the air and scream on the way down!
Those young men and big boys who died overseas, were nationalists. The soldiers, sailers and airmen we cry crocodile tears for, every ANZAC day, were defending our borders. They confronted theJapanese and German invaders who had sworn to enslave some of us and kill the rest (literally, that was the plan). The Poles, Koreans, Chinese, Dutch, Greeks, French..... were unable to defend their borders, and SUFFERED! I first learned about this when I was in primary school.
The people who don't belong to the 1 percenters will be looking for a reset button, that ain't ol Hang around Hill so right or wrong Trump could be a shoe in.
Does the same situation apply to NZ? Probably, jk definitely doesn't represent the majority - trouble is a lot of the majority can't be bothered to vote. Winston's ability to become our Trump might depend on his ability to stir these slackers into actually voting.
Disclosures of half yearly results by the big four banks revealed many were highly exposed to the commodity sector, with analysts raising concerns about the impact on the banks' earnings.
In New Zealand, where dairy farmers have been grappling with lower farm gate prices for several seasons, ANZ showed the probability of dairy farmers defaulting on loans has been rising since September 2014.
ANZ's general manager of regional business banking Christine Linden said the bank had recognised the stress on its Australian customers, but remained confident in the industry's medium and long term growth prospects.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-20/dairy-financial-help-banks-westpa…
You don't need to have anything to hide to get the full 'suspect you have something to hide' experience. This economist got it for sitting next to a woman on a plane, ignoring her, doing algebra and having olive skin (Italian). (does evil know no bounds???)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/rampage/wp/2016/05/07/ivy-league-ec…
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