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Bernard Hickey details the key news overnight in 90 seconds at 9am in association with the BNZ, including news Moody’s has warned the United States that its AAA credit rating will be endangered within a few years unless it gets its budget deficit under control.

The warning follows similar comments from the other 2 big ratings agencies Standard and Poor’s and Fitch. They are worried America’s interest payments will exceed 15% of income with a few years. America is unlikely to be downgraded any time soon, but this will keep the upward pressure on interest rates for the long term.

Meanwhile, there are revelations from a receivers report that Lehman Brothers used vehicles known as Repo 105s to systematically hide US$50 billion of debts from its creditors and regulators. Legal action over allegations of fraud are likely for its key executives.

Meanwhile, trade tensions are growing between America and China. America is due to declare China a “Currency Manipulator” within weeks, which could trigger sanctions. The pressure is being felt in many places, including with Google, which is set to withdraw from China within days over plans to stop censoring search results.

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Bernard Hickey details the key news over the weekend in 90 seconds at 9am in association with the BNZ, including news that Strategic Finance was put into receivership late on Friday. Campaigners who had been pushing for receivership were happy, including John Lacey, known as ‘The Jackal’ for his tireless campaign. Here’s what he told the Sunday Star Times.

“I worked hard for this,” he said. “I don’t drink, but I’m taking my wife out for a steak.”

He heard the news in the car park of Work & Income in Nelson, where he has worked as a security guard since his savings were frozen by Strategic in August 2008. The former accountant, nicknamed “the jackal”, had campaigned for 18 months to have receivers appointed and felt vindicated.

“The jackal’s done his job,” he said. “I had their arses in a thorn bush and they had nowhere to run.”

Lacey, who is owed NZ$379,000, believes investors will see less than 50 cents in the dollar back. Here’s what he told the DomPost.

The receivers should appoint a liquidator and forensic accountant to investigate Strategic’s transactions and sell the company’s assets in a “timely manner” rather than in a firesale, he said.

“If people aren’t repaying their loans, get someone in there who’s an 800-pound gorilla to start kicking the little chimpanzees’ derrieres and make them pay.”

Meanwhile, there’s more news on where some of the money behind Mark Bryers and Blue Chip Investments might have gone. The Herald on Sunday reports that Bryers had a secret trust known as the Sebastian Trust, which was named after his son. Bryers was still paying out cash from the trust months after the collapse of Blue Chip Investments.

Meanwhile, talks will begin in Melbourne today over a multilateral trade deal with America and 7 other nations including New Zealand, the NZHerald reports. Those nations include the United States, Peru, Chile, Singapore, Brunei Australia, Vietnam and New Zealand America seems keener on these bilateral and multilateral deals than deals through the WTO.

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Bernard Hickey details the key news overnight in 90 seconds at 9am in association with the BNZ, including  news the RBNZ held the OCR at 2.5% yesterday and signalled it would not hike it until the middle of 2010, as expected.

But it increased its inflation forecast and said it may not have to increase the cash rate as much as it has in the past because of higher bank funding costs. The RBNZ said it expected these higher costs to remain high for the foreseeable future because of heavy government borrowing globally. This means variable rates are likely to remain cheaper than fixed rates for longer.

Westpac and ANZ have cut their longer term mortgage rates, but they are still more expensive than short term rates. See all mortgage rates here.

BNZ economist Tony Alexander told the DominionPost he expected the OCR to rise 3% by early 2012, which would push variable rates up to 8.6%. He says variable looks a cheaper deal than fixed for now, but to think about fixing some time soonish.

Borrowers should stick to floating mortgage rates, despite the expectation that they would gradually rise. But in coming months, borrowers should think about moving into a one or two-year fixed term rate, because the average rate should be lower than floating rates over that period.

Meanwhile, Marac Finance was granted an extended government guarantee overnight. It is the first finance company to get the guarantee. Many finance companies will be watching nervously over the coming months, including South Canterbury Finance.

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Bernard Hickey details the key news overnight in 90 seconds at 9am in association with the BNZ, including news FAI Money, the finance company owned by Eric Watson and Mark Hotchin, has told shareholders in a letter it will stop taking in new money from March 22 and repay its outstanding debentures with interest.

The NZ Herald reported the change in approach.

FAI Money falls below the threshold of NZ$20 million to be in the Reserve Bank’s reporting regime and it doesn’t have a credit rating. FAI Money has been criticised in recent weeks over changes to its trust deed to start property lending. It is still advertising on its site.

Meanwhile the unleaded petrol price rose over 182.5 cents/ltr at BP stations overnight, its highest level since mid-October 2008. The oil price has risen over US$82/barrel and the NZ$ has weakened off its highs of a few months ago.

Meanwhile in Greece, the European Union has warned that Greece’s tax hikes may not be enough to fix its big budget deficit, raising fears again of new attacks on the euro.

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Bernard Hickey delivers an economic weather report in association with the BNZ, including a look at how the price of unleaded petrol has blipped up in the last week to NZ$1.75 a litre according to MED figures, its highest point since the week of October 24, 2008. (Updated to include price rise overnight at BP stations to NZ$1.82.5 /litre)

A weaker New Zealand dollar and a rise in the price of oil to over US$80 a barrel is to blame for the rise, along with a 4 cents a litre increase in taxes over the last 17 months.

Back in October 2008 when the price of petrol was last around NZ$1.75/litre, the New Zealand dollar was trading at 61 US cents, while the price of oil was at US$60 a barrel. Taxes were around 72 cents a litre. Since then, taxes have risen to around 76 cents a litre, the New Zealand dollar has strengthened to around 70 USc and the oil price has risen to over US$80 a barrel.

Strong demand out of China and India have helped push up the oil price in recent weeks, along with renewed concerns about peak oil. Meanwhile, the New Zealand dollar has come off its recent highs of over 75 USc and various ACC levies have kicked in.

The outlook for the petrol price is for a rise towards NZ$2 a litre by the end of 2010 if current trends persist with oil prices, the currency and taxes. The prospect of a GST hike to 15% in October would, for example, add a further 4 cents a litre.

Meanwhile, BP stations increased their price for unleaded petrol overnight to NZ$1.82.5 /litre.

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Bernard Hickey details the key news in 90 seconds at 9am in association with the BNZ, including news the NZHerald is reporting that Commerce Minister Simon Power is expected to announce tougher rules for KiwiSaver funds reporting results later today.

This follows the controversy around Huljich Funds Management, which issued misleading performance figures. The government is concerned that the public don’t lose confidence in KiwiSaver and is likely to force all fund managers to report their results in the same way. Currently the default funds have tougher rules.

Meanwhile, Portugal has announced measures to bring its budget deficit under control, including cuts to investment and a cap of public sector wages. It wants to avoid Greece’s debacle.

In the United States, a survey of economists has found most now expect the US Federal Reserve to hike its key funds rate within the next six months.

Meanwhile, Europe appears set to build its own regional version of the International Monetary Fund to help bail out countries such as Greece when they’re in trouble.