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US new home sales stay low; US trade deficit stays high; Canada raises rates less than expected; Wuhan back in partial lockdown; Aussie CPI up more than expected; UST 10yr 4.02%; gold and oil up; NZ$1 = 58.3 USc; TWI-5 = 68.2

Business / news
US new home sales stay low; US trade deficit stays high; Canada raises rates less than expected; Wuhan back in partial lockdown; Aussie CPI up more than expected; UST 10yr 4.02%; gold and oil up; NZ$1 = 58.3 USc; TWI-5 = 68.2

Here's our summary of key economic events overnight that affect New Zealand, with news the data is a bit shaky today and the way forward less clear and uncertainties rise.

American mortgage application levels fell less than expected last week, but that still takes them to their lowest level since 1998. This trade survey shows the benchmark 30 year fixed mortgage interest rate rose to 7.16% plus points, their highest since 2001.

So it is no surprise that new home sales fell -11% from year ago levels. It is small comfort that this fall is less than expected. The prior month rise was clearly just an outlier and the downward trend remains. Building consent levels stabilised however, even if at a low level.

Rising imports and soft export levels took their merchandise trade deficit to -US$99.6 bln. While that may not be great for them, their import engine sustains the core of global international trade. Their overall deficit will run at about -3% of GDP this year.

Also not great, their wholesale and retail inventory build, in current dollars, remains up at +25% and +22% year-on-year. These are largely unchanged levels, but problematic all the same. Inflation and supply-chain issues are a part of it, but it clearly can't continue at this level and we are seeing signs of a pullback reaction in the regional factory surveys now.

The US Treasury auctioned US$45 bln of five year bonds today and as usual this was well supported. In fact, the resulting 4.19% yield was lower than the 4.23% at the prior equivalent event a month ago, which is an unusual leveling out. But to be fair, it has run up quite quickly so far in 2022.

The Bank of Canada raised the target for its overnight rate by +50 bps to 3.75% which was less than the +75 bps expected. Still, it was the sixth consecutive rate hike, pushing borrowing costs there to their highest since 2008. They also signaled that their policy rate will need to rise further to weigh against inflation but they are near the end of that process, they said. However, their preferred measure of core inflation has not shown meaningful evidence of easing yet. Overall Canadian inflation is running at 6.9% and growth is expected to slow to +3.25% this year and less than +1% in 2023.

In China, parts of the city of Wuhan is again under lockdown as omicron cases start to spread there.

Singapore's industrial production stalled again in September in an unexpected pullback because a modest rise was expected after a set of recent months that were weak.

In the UK, their recent political and financial turmoil has brought a very sharp rise in the yield demanded by investors for their Government debt. The UK 7 year bond tendered today yielded 3.76%. Two months ago when this same bond was offered it yielded 1.96%. Bad policy has real cost. And they are expecting to have to issue huge amounts of new debt as a consequence.

The Australian CPI inflation rate climbed more than expected to 7.3% in Q3 from 6.1% in Q2, above market forecasts of 6.9%. This was the highest level since Q2 1990, boosted by higher prices for new housing construction, petrol, and food. Prices for food rose the most since Q4 1983, up 9.0%. The RBA looks like it has called this completely wrong, even if they do now see Aussie inflation peaking at 7.75%.

The UST 10yr yield starts today down -7 bps at 4.02%. The UST 2-10 rate curve is more inverted at -41 bps. Their 1-5 curve is less inverted and at -33 bps. And their 30 day-10yr curve is little-changed at +65 bps. The Australian ten year bond is down another -8 bps at 3.89%. The China Govt ten year bond is still unchanged at 2.74%. And the New Zealand Govt ten year will start today down -10 bps at 4.51%.

Wall Street has started its Wednesday session with the S&P500 down -0.3% in an end to recent strong gains. Overnight, European markets were all up another +0.5%, except Frankfurt which rose +1.1%. Yesterday, Tokyo rose +0.7%, Hong Kong was up +1.0%, and Shanghai ended up +0.8%. The ASX200 rose +0.2% and the NZX50 shone, up +1.3%.

The price of gold will open today at US$1667/oz. This is up +US$13 from this time yesterday.

And oil prices start today +US$3 firmer than this time yesterday at just under US$88/bbl in the US while the international Brent price is just over US$94/bbl. But natural gas prices continue to fall as it becomes clearerr that Europe will have more than enough supplies for this winter. And Germany is on target to avoid using any Russian gas.

The Kiwi dollar will open today at 58.3 USc and up almost a full +1c from this time yesterday. Against the Australian dollar we are marginally softer at 89.8 AUc. Against the euro we are a little firmer at 57.9 euro cents. That all means our TWI-5 starts today at 68.2, and +40 bps firmer than yesterday.

The bitcoin price is now at US$20,773 and another strong +3.9% rise from this time yesterday. Volatility over the past 24 hours has been high at just on +/- 3.2%.

The easiest place to stay up with event risk today is by following our Economic Calendar here ».

Daily exchange rates

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113 Comments

Australia's inflation rate is now at 7.3 % .... above ours , by a pip ...

... this will not do ! ... we cannot sit idly by and let them gazump us again ...

The next NZ inflation rate figure will be 8.0 % or over  .... that should deflate our nation's  #1 windbag , Robbo ... still Putin's fault ?

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Covid & Putin. Sounds like a comedy team from the slapsticks doesn’t it. Actually for as far as these two issues being tabled incessantly as excuses by this government, Roberson is showing quite some comedic skills for sure. Wonder if Hollywood  is looking to recast a remake of Laurel & Hardy?

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... my favourite craft brewer called by yesterday  , to leave a box of his latest brews ... told me , brewing malt will jump 30 % in price next year !!!

OMG Mr F ... what will I do ? ... beerter have a breakfast beer to drown my sorrows ...

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That's not the brewer's only concern. The closure of Marsden Point has resulted in supply constraints for food grade carbon dioxide...

 

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Do real beers require carbon dioxide?

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... no ... the mega brewers use it ... and vintners of authentic champagne  ...

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Carbonating Champagne with industrial CO2? Sacrilege!

Authentic Champagne makes it's own CO2 during secondary fermentation.

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ban all alcohol because it produces greenhouse gases. ban humans because they breathe out carbon dioxide.

 

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Gee that's wild Oscar 

 

 Am not sure if decision to stop refining was because of govt edicts and regulations. NZ refining was an expensive share in its heyday. Last I saw it was close to being penny-dreadful. What an absolute waste

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It was a corporate profit maximising decision, and the shares have done very well since switching to being an import terminal

https://www.google.com/finance/quote/CHI:NZE?sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjGg4ay-_76…

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Home Brew GBH. There’s your answer.  Foxglove Brewery’s  premium is Basil Brush Best British Bitter. Come & try some, but bring a white stick to help you get home.

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Forget all the rhetoric,a large amount of the issue is 'Putin'...diesel & fertiliser input costs are flowing through every part of the food chain...a farmer was on the news the other day,his tractor now requires $1200 to fill up from $600 not that long ago...and yesmthere was a hop grower as well,fertiliser costs have gone through the roof...and a huge amount of the worlds fertiliser and urea originates from Ukraine...I know it doesn't suit the narrative in here..but the world would be a cheaper place to live without Putins war !!

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Putin's war or the USA's war?

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Putin's war. 

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Of course, it is Putin's fault, after all he let the US destroy his pipeline...  Robbo can use the only tools left in the central banker's toolbox, QE and negative interest rates.  Then Ardern can continue her spending spree and keep team NZ living above their means.

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Robertson is not a central banker. You are confusing the separate functions of the Government and the RBNZ, and the specific and different levers each of them can pull.
KeithW

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... " Robertson is not a central banker " ... neither is Adrian Orr , if his track record is taken into account ....

Which direction is inflation going , Keith ... from 7.2 % ... down ... or further up ?

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I mean Adrian Orr is a central banker. Just not a very good one. Sort of like everyone's first car.

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Orr first girlfriend...

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The old Duke of Edinburg exclaimed nowadays when you see a chap opening a car door for a lady, it’s either a new car or a new lady. Wager Orr wouldn’t know whether to open or close a door until something else makes him do it.

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Austin A40 " Somerset " ... looked OK , smelt nicely of leather ... ran like a dog  ... then blew 2 big end bearings  : Knackers yard !

... yup ... the likeness to big Adrian is there ...

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Austin A40 Devon. Suspension as soft as a sleepy head mattress. On a windy day on bumpy road, could have been on a yacht. Notorious for busting crankshafts. My one chose a highly embarrassing location to do so.

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Porsche 356A 1300S cost $800 in 1960.  Wish I still had that amazing car.

 

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I saw this listing you may be interested in: 1957 Porsche Other 356A T1 https://www.trademe.co.nz/3817188044

 

And: 1965 Porsche Other 356 SC https://www.trademe.co.nz/3797615835

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GBH,
It could go either way in the short term.
But it is going to be a huge challenge to get it down to within the target range in the next two years and then to hold it there.
I see hard time ahead and my own plans are based on that assumption.
KeithW

 

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Keith : I see a tough 2-3 years ahead  ... the gloom should be lifting just before Chris Luxon goes into his second election as PM ... 

... remember the GFC ... remember the Dot Com bubble  burst ... this time is not different ... weve got alot of XS to wring out of the financial system ...

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Hard graft is what gets you through. That, and some KFC with your GFC 

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The GFC was more an Atlantic Financial Crisis too...in this one, our banks have been all in on the speculative bubble. If Luxon gains power, it'll be interesting to see what else beyond tax cuts he and National use to try to pump the property market and their own portfolios more.

Kiwi working folk will be left to do it tough while funding society for everyone, obviously.

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If folk are confusing central bankers and ministers next they'll be calling Orr the Minister for Investment Property.

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The parody page for the RBA as the Reserve Bank of Property already has a few followers. It is often a good laugh - and despite the sarcasm, is often uncomfortably close to what is really happening. The crazy times we live in. 

https://twitter.com/RBASHAGGER?s=20&t=qer5OwEHOghYSav5yn0cQw

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KW.  "..... Robertson is not a central banker......"    He is not a Finance Minister either.  

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... he's more than that  , Robbo is a magician ... because , when he spends your taxes & borrows a whole lot more to spend , it's not inflationary ... according to him ...

If the tax bands where adjusted & you got more of your own money to keep ... that's inflationary  ... you have inflation fingers ... according to him , the money magician ...

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He's the politician underwriting a bad central bank policy action at taxpayers' cost.

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GBH if you look at most of the major economies around the world they all have higher inflation than us...

https://tradingeconomics.com/country-list/inflation-rate?continent=world

 

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I work in sales selling a range of home appliances (indoor/outdoor) through popular retailers. Yesterday one of the most prominent stores said to me it has been “scarily quiet for the last couple of months”. Stores are overstocked, and sales are well down. Wallets have been put away unless necessary and I don’t see this easing anytime soon. Chickens come home to roost. 

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Wallets have been put away unless necessary

Im surprised its taken this long for this to happen. There are such huge increases in cost of living/borrowing and for a nation where many live beyond their means on cheap debt I thought reality would have kicked in by now. 

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Not only that, everyone's been locked away on and off for a couple of years. So there will be less and less need to spend money on retail, because everyone's bought everything already.

On the other hand, often pretty hard to find a restaurant table.

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Very true. For a 12-18 month period no suppliers could get enough stock. 
 

It seems it is only starting to dawn on the standard kiwi. 
 

Interesting re hospo. Intrigued to see the numbers and if/when a drop off occurs 

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The other interesting thing to try and determine is how much effect 2 years of online shopping will have on people's desire for brick and mortar retail.

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Many hospo businesses are keeping door opens for fewer hours or reducing the number of tables they serve during busy hours to tackle the worker shortage.

We can blame immigration all we want but the thousands of workers who moved on to different careers during Covid for stability or pay are never coming back.

Also, given the cost-of-living crisis sweeping the world and labour shortages in key sectors everywhere, I don't see a steady supply of migrant workers looking to pursue long-term careers waiting tables and cooking meals for a lifetime of low wages in NZ.

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A fulltime career in the sector doesn't really make financial sense versus housing costs.

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I think a bigger concern now is income tax: minimum wage earnings have now creeped into the 30% tax threshold and Robertson is still ruling out bracket adjustments by incorrectly calling it a 'tax cut'.

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Well, yes, tax desperately needs addressing. The fact working Kiwis are struggling while others are making bank largely or comparatively untaxed is a big part of the problem. We have a productivity problem, an asset bubble, and working folk struggling to get by.

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Yeah, we bought LOTS of stuff second half of 2022. Couldn’t go out and spend with lockdowns, so the money built up and it seemed with inflation on its way it was a good chance to stock up on all sorts of things.

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Anecdotal support for this - a client of mine that manufactures a range of furniture products to sell via big box retailers is saying the same. The drop off in sales activity is noticeable, particularly "mid range" products (high end/luxury and budget still doing ok)

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I'm not surprised. I imagine a few households are holding off buying the new lounge suite on account of the doubling of their interest mortgage payment which will be happening in short order. The middle class is going to get squeezed.

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people are hiding it. I have heard of a few people with big mortgages who have started cutting out the luxuries - it's not like they want to advertise it but starting with stuff like no holidays this year, kids getting haircuts at home, only vital car trips etc.

 

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Hiding it is the Kiwi way. The French protest, the Russian's start a war, Kiwi's bear hardship by hiding behind a stoic facade, the pain is there though.

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Made.com comes apart at the seams as inflation drives sofa retailer to the brink. Its impending demise comes a year after it listed on the London Stock Exchange with a value of £775m.

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Ditto here. Our warehouse and shop full of stock but not buyers. 

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Prices went up because of excess demand, and rising supply chain costs. Perhaps they'll come down because of excess supply and reduced demand?

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Still dealing with heightened freight costs and now excess storage + USD exchange rates. No price decreases for us on the horizon 

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Fair enough. Something will give at some point, eh. Just a question of what.

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I thought that international shipping prices had basically return to pre-Covid levels now - has this not reached NZ yet? I wouldn't be surprised if we're at the end of the queue for price normalisation but I'd hope the price would at least be heading down by now. 

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Yeah it’s returning. We paid ~3.5k per container pre covid. Peaked around 18 and now 9-11ish. Again exchange rates probably have a little to do with that 

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Thanks for the details, hopefully a little further to fall yet. 

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Margins are already low for us and costs are increasing not dropping. I expect other retailers will be in a similar position. We bought in bulk before the first lockdown so won't be replacing stock for the same price. 

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Is it really a surprise that, after a pandemic where there was a shortage of consumer goods because everyone spent their travel money on goods,  there should be an excess of goods because everyone is spending their goods money on travel.

 

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I actually dread to think what will happen to the market if the central banks start slowing rates and then in 3-6 months inflation stays the same or goes up.... in for an interesting 12 months

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Our OCR ought to be 5.0 % right now ... more incompetence from Mr O , he acted too late & far too little ...  

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Don't forget stopping/reversing the money printing/LSAP and the FLP.

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No OCR should be above inflation to halt debt laden speculation. 10%?

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I have difficulties reading this comment. Punctuation, perhaps?..

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Use you're imagination...

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German producer price index is at 45%. What you dread will happen, probably will.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/german-producer-prices-posted-strong-…

 

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Just looking through the list of countries with the highest inflation this year, for one that's reasonably stable to spend 2023 in to wait this out.

Turkey and Argentina are the front runners. Only need a couple months wages from Aotearoa to survive a year.

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would you factor in the crime rate?cant be that good in turkey,when watching turkish dramas on netflix was impressed by how reinforced the front doors were,with internal bolts like a gun safe.

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 ... must send that idea through to Michael Hill , Jeweller ... cheers ... 

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Yeah, a little, mainly somewhere that isn't going to fall over or get shot up in the immediate future.

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Apartment in Istanbul.  Galata, near the bridge. 

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Pa1nter, I just got back from Argentina. The 100% inflation rate is not too bad as long as you have foreign savings or income. It sucks for those earning pesos though. Just make sure you never use a credit or debit card because it will cost you twice as much compared with paying in cash.

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Cheers. So what'd you think of the place? And did you find it pretty cheap, travelling with NZD

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I've been there before, it's a great country. Buenos Aires always has an energetic vibe and the provinces have some amazing things to see. Stability is not one of its strong points though... but that helps to keep it exciting, people live for the moment. People are used to the ups and downs of the economy - they don't have much debt (it's hard to borrow with 100% inflation) so they just weather through the tough times.

You need to exchange your NZD for USD before you go, then change to ARS on the black market. If you do that then many things will seem cheap, especially services, food, drinks, accommodation when paid in cash. Hotels/AirBnb have ok prices but not cheap since you pay by card at the official exchange rate. Clothes are not cheap. Electronics and anything imported is expensive.

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Australia's RBA raised the rates lower than expected and Australia's inflation data released  yesterday's confirms that reserve bank governors should take rational decision based on economy reality, keeping aside their whims and fancy.

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Rising imports and soft export levels took their [US] merchandise trade deficit to -US$99.6 bln. While that may not be great for them, their import engine sustains the core of global international trade.

Good Morning from Germany where govt has agreed on a compromise that will allow China’s state-owned shipping conglomerate Cosco to buy a 24.9% stake in one of Hamburg’s port terminals. Chancellor Scholz and his ministers, many of whom were opposed to the deal, agreed on the deal. Link

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Ideological snipers aim at Scholz even before he leaves for China: Global Times editorial

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Scholz is a communist.

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You could actually suspect that Germany enjoys being screwed over by authoritarian regimes.

The first in recent times was Turkey and the 2015 migrant crisis drama, then came Russia and the ongoing energy crisis. Now Germany wants to double down on its exposure to China by jumping into bed with their state-owned enterprises.

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24.9% is probably not enough to call the shots

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Fed's Favorite Yield Curve Indicator Finally Inverts, Recession Imminent

As bad as this is, it does make sense: 1. US recession 2. Global recession 3. Major US$ shortage 4. Collateral runs 5. And now a full-on housing bust. Yet, rate hikes next FOMC based on old CPI data. Link

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Europe's natural gas storage is being reported as at 94% full, with bulk carriers backing up at ports and no storage available to take their loads. Putin's strategy is failing. Still he could torpedo the bulk carriers with his sub fleet? Besides dirty bombs which won't be very effective anyway, what will his next move be? Will the winter of desperation he hoped to impose on Ukraine come back to bite?

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Putin's strategy?  He would have been quite happy supplying gas to Europe.  As long as they paid in Roubles.  Because if they paid in dollars the Yanks seized it. 

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Yup, he was trying to punish Europe and NATO for providing support for Ukraine without becoming directly involved. Without European forces on the ground in Ukraine or further, he could never sell the "NATO is the aggressor" line that he tried. Some wallies still bought it though.

But if he had kept his profile low, he may even have been able to get Europe, especially Germany to fund some of the war by continuing to sell them gas. I doubt the yanks would have been all that willing to shut Europe down just because the US$ was the currency being used. 

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I mean Europe was never going to freeze. The issue is more that some industry won't be competitive with these higher gas prices, this industry will then shut down creating economic issues. Who knows to what extent this will be an issue. Europe competes on quality & having a highly educated work force. So it may not be a huge issue. 

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You make a good point. Despite full reserves, the futures are being reported as being 126% higher than before the Ukraine invasion. so the expectations are that the price will go up. Still not a pretty picture, but not as bad as it could have been.

This is edited, I mis-read the original news report.

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This 'Wally' believes NATO (USA) is the aggressor.  Funding a war is easy, just print money like the USA has since the Vietnam war.  Europe is not the only place that needs and wants cheap energy.  Europe needs Putin, Putin does not need Europe.

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https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-10-06/dutch-close-europe-s…

The Europeans dont need Putin they just needed a reality check

and note that Germany is still planning to close their nuclear stations in 2023  - so still havent got their plan sorted

Oh and France is stymying a new gas pipeline from Spain's LNG terminals to Germany - with one reason being given that it will be bad for their sales of energy to Germany 

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If Russia want to continue selling the quantities of gas they have recently, they need Europe. Unless they are willing to wait several years for new pipelines to take the gas elsewhere.

You can't just stick this stuff on a boat unless you have significant LNG facilities at both ends, which take years to build. 

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Putin is not Russia. He's just the current, despotic leader trying to remake Imperial Russia (his own words). Russia would be significantly better off without a power hungry tyrant as its leader (as would China) with a focus on peaceful trade. Instead Putin is burning Russia's wealth and youth on an ill-advised adventure to take over another country that was not, and never has been a threat to them. The war crimes already documented in Ukraine tell you all you want to know about Putin and his supporters. They will not stop at Ukraine if they succeed. And Putin is doing much more, he is destroying Russia's credibility at all levels across the world and doesn't seem to care. Ask yourself why? The internal perception of Putin as a strong leader is too shallow an answer. Putin clearly expects that he will be able to bully the world into acquiescing to all his demands. He clearly expects that his view and his version of what is happening and why will be made to be accepted without question as the 'truth'. the only way any of that can happen is by naked brute force.

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Demand.  NATO get out.  Putin has intention of taking over Europe. Europe is another western world conglomerate living above its means.  The naked brute force comes from the US military industrial complex...  the greatest country in the world.

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Now you're stating to get it Putin want all of Europe. But here's the question once he has all of Europe why would he stop there? 

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[UK] Bad policy has real cost.

The dominant narrative on the UK position is deeply flawed. Yes, of course tax cuts and trickle down is stupid policy - but the 'market' doesn't really care what the policies were; they were spooked that they had not priced in the likely Bank of England response to those policies. In this case, traders decided that the stimulatory nature of tax cuts and energy bill giveaways, coupled with rising prices, would force the Bank of England to hike rates aggressively at the same time as selling off their QE Gilts on the secondary market. This is a recipe for spiralling yields - so people started adjusting their positions quickly. This rapid shift destabilised pension funds (massive margin calls requiring fund managers to sell Gilts and add fuel to the fire) and the UK was only a few hours from a major financial meltdown.... until the Bank of England finally intervened.

The Bank of England then made it clear that they would not intervene for long to fix the price of Gilts in the market, and that they would be starting Gilt sales as planned. This basically snookered the Truss Govt and forced them to cancel their plans.

Some are calling this a central bank coup.... https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2022-10-26/liz-truss-s-ouste…

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Aren't we romanticising what's quintessentially a palace coup where Rishi Sunak happens to be the best man available in a hopeless situation for the Permanent Establishment, the City & Deep State to make the inevitable transition to Sir Keir Rodney Starmer KCB KC [Tony Blair. 2]? Link

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Markets had expected the Government to borrow between £10bn to 15bn for the fiscal statement, but the actual figure turned out to be £72bn. “I would happily say it was a surprise. And I would guess that it was a surprise to virtually every market participant as well. Because otherwise, every market participant would have been able to make rather a lot of money because they would know exactly what's going to happen.”

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House prices in Sydney falling rapidly.

Sydney house prices are falling at their fastest rate in decades, and some of the hardest-hit neighbourhoods have dropped by more than $250,000 in three months.

https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/sydney-house-prices-falling-at-fastest-pace-on-record-20221025-p5bsqt.html
 

 

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From the article:

Despite the rapid declines, house prices were only back to mid-2021 levels. They would need to fall a further 22.3 per cent or $326,000 to reverse the gains made during the boom.

I still can't quite get over the madness of the pandemic boom.

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Madness was not taking the easy 40% last November 

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Madness is to believe one knows a market peak in advance.  We can all sound so smart looking back and saying "why didn't we sell…insert date".  So to sell a house at the peak in November 2021, one would have had to know for sure, in September, when the market was still going up, that the peak was coming in two months, not just a dip but a proper multi year peak.  Then a few weeks to tidy the house up, maybe stage it, a few weeks of marketing and open homes and, voila, perfect timing for selling at the peak in November!  How easy!

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ITguy, I would really appreciate it if you could tell me, with 100% accuracy of course, when the market is going to bottom, with 2 months advance notice.  Thank you!

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Central bank money scrambles... the welfare handout to dwarf all welfare handouts.

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And oil prices start today +US$3 firmer than this time yesterday at just under US$88/bbl in the US while the international Brent price is just over US$94/bbl. But natural gas prices continue to fall as it becomes clearerr that Europe will have more than enough supplies for this winter. And Germany is on target to avoid using any Russian gas.

Forget Oil, The Real Crisis Is Diesel Inventories: The US Has Just 25 Days Left

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It's a little ironic isn't it? Diesel used to be a waste product from the distillation of oil, but now it is the most in demand. As EV numbers continue to grow this will only get worse. 

Question; have nuclear powered bulk carriers ever been considered? I know experiments are being undertaken on electric and sail power, but generally only to reduce fuel requirements, not replace them?

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US had a nuclear merchant ship 50 years ago so they know how to do it ,but now it would just be a target for protest no matter how practical it was.

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1950's reactor? Yes it would probably be a little ugly. But the newer ones would be pretty safe. The big bulk carriers a a pretty big source of GHGs, so some alternative is needed. Even as we reduce consumption, trade will still be necessary.

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There's plenty of nuclear powered submarines, and aircraft carriers. Miniature onboard fission reactors that go for many years without refuelling.

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Has anyone mentioned Labour's FPA ? ... literally , we're going back to the 1970's with industry agreements on wages & conditions ...

... I can slack around the water cooler , goof off with my cellphone  ... and still get as much pay as my buddy Foxglove ... who is nose-to-the-grindstone beavering away , stressing & working hard  , doing his bit for the company ...

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Time to set up a corrupt finance professional's union, completely in the pocket of employers, setting bargain basement conditions while being absolutely 100% on the take.

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I wouldn't assume every generation is the same as your own.

Work has been devalued over the last decade or two. Probably time it's rewarded more, rather than only rewarding speculation on assets.

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I read an Australian article recently - workers share of revenue has dropped from over 60% to under 50% over the last few decades.

At the same time the cost of housing has gone from 3 times average wage to 7 - 11 times (depending on city).

I can remember the unions holding the country to hostage in the past - freezing workers and port workers especially. And I guess a lot of older folk hold have a fear of strong unions because of that. But the pendulum has definitely swung too far in the other direction.

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Well the dismantling of unions was meant to mean greater productivity and better wages for all - the creation of a "bigger pie". But we all know now that all these extra profits just get hoarded at the top. 

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Anyone notice that the troll has not woken from slumber and emerged from his cave/hole... yet🤣

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 ... Mr PDK needs his beauty sleep ... leave him be ... sssshhhhh .... 

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