David Seymour on balancing the books before tax cuts, how he plans to save more than $2.4b from the public service and what to do with debt

NZIER's Chris Nixon says China was the exceptional opportunity of the past generation. The next trade growth push will probably have to be built market by market, barrier by barrier and opportunity by opportunity

The spring lift in residential auction numbers has arrived but there's no change in the sales rate

China-US talks achieve only photo ops; US durable goods orders unchanged; US sentiment falls; markets expect Fed to hike again; China initiates big holiday liquidity support; UST 10yr at 5.17%; gold up but oil dips; NZ$1 = 56.7 USc; TWI-5 = 60.3