90 seconds at 9 am with BNZ

90 seconds at 9 am with BNZ: IMF cuts growth forecasts for US, Japan; Oil price falls; Toyota suspends US production; Commerce Commision in the news

12th Apr 11, 8:59am by Bernard Hickey

Bernard Hickey details the key news overnight in 90 seconds at 9 am in association with Bank of New Zealand, including news that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has cut its growth forecasts for America and Japan, the world's biggest and third biggest economies, for this year because of slower jobs growth, a higher oil price and the Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami.

The IMF cut its growth forecast for the United States this year to 2.8% from 3% in January. It cut its forecast for Japan to 1.4% this year from 1.6%. See more here from Bloomberg.

The oil price retreated from its 30 month highs and the Dow was weak in early trading. See more here at Bloomberg.

Meanwhile, Toyota announced it was suspending production at its U.S. plants for five one-day periods to cope with component shortages. See more here at BBC.

In the United States, the US Federal Reserve's second in command Janet Yellen has overnight dampened talk of a quick withdrawal of US Federal Reserve stimulus. Yellen said the recent rise in food and fuel prices would only have a temporary effect on inflation. See more here at Bloomberg.

Meanwhile in New Zealand, Vector has said it is astounded by the Commerce Commission's announcement yesterday it would change the price setting regime for Vector, effectively forcing it to cut its prices. Vector's share price fell more than 4%. See more here at Stuff.

Elsewhere, a coalition of telecommunications firms have banded together to ask the government to allow the Commerce Commission to keep regulating the industry. See more here at NZHerald.

The government is proposing a 10 year regulatory holiday for the winners of the Ultra Fast Broadband contracts being dished out by the government.

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15 Comments

by Wolly | 12th Apr 11, 9:29am 1302557366

"Yellen said the recent rise in food and fuel prices would only have a temporary effect on inflation.".......utter bloody rubbish

Next piece of BS from the fools at the Fed will be along these lines: "Yellen claims inflation is only temporary...."

Followed by: "Bernanke claims inflation a false reading"

Then: " Obama out...Bernanke out....Yellen out.....QE over....inflation seen as serious risk by new Fed Governor...."

by powerdownkiwi | 12th Apr 11, 9:49am 1302558549

yes Wally - we aren't sinking folks, that's just the bow down a little. This deckchairs will stop sliding real soon.

by Sepherial | 12th Apr 11, 10:08am 1302559711

...lol more see through propaganda. Hey ruling and banking elites you need to lift your game plan! Its obvious BS and easy to spot...

lol next you will be telling me eygptians built the pyramids with some bronze chisels and wooden rollers in a desert with no trees lol... who would fall for that one eh?

by steven | 12th Apr 11, 10:11am 1302559885

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/world/4875367/Restructuring-talk-gains-…

Greece haircut? Irish haircut? Portugese haircut? all coming to a german bank, which thanks to globalisation and the Internert are very near you....

I wonder if german bankers sleep at night....a "haircut" from anyone of the above would be bad, but 2 or even 3?

regards

by Wolly | 12th Apr 11, 12:50pm 1302569406

"Prime Minister John Key says Finance Minister Bill English was simply stating facts when he made remarks about New Zealand's low wages" rnz

Gosh John, look around you and what do you see....Sir Humphreys!...and are they on low wages...no they fecken are not John...how about the likes of failed insurance company bosses...nope not them either....err maybe the Telecom bosses...nah....gosh John, it seems as though the only ones on low wages are all the rest...except of course the Governor General...the judges...the spin doctors in the Beehive...and so on and so on......

Get it right John!

by Wolly | 12th Apr 11, 1:25pm 1302571525

Fukushima nuclear danger level raised to level 7.......!

by Gertraud T. | 12th Apr 11, 1:53pm 1302573181

Wolly - read this early morning, I am surprised this does not register anywhere.

Radiation measurements OUTSIDE the 30km exclusion zone are 4 times the radiation at Chernobyl.

For most people it does not sink in what this means.

by neco | 12th Apr 11, 2:22pm 1302574963

Gertraud you might like to take a look at this:

How nuclear apologists mislead the world over radiation

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/apr/11/nuclear-apologists-radiation?CMP=twt_gu

In particular the following (given that the Fukushima disaster has now been declared to be at least as bad as Chernobyl):

3) Now let's turn to Chernobyl. Various seemingly reputable groups have issued differing reports on the morbidity and mortalities resulting from the 1986 radiation catastrophe. The World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2005 issued a report attributing only 43 human deaths directly to the Chernobyl disaster and estimating an additional 4,000 fatal cancers. In contrast, the 2009 report, "Chernobyl: Consequences of the Catastrophe for People and the Environment", published by the New York Academy of Sciences, comes to a very different conclusion. The three scientist authors – Alexey V Yablokov, Vassily B. Nesterenko, and Alexey V Nesterenko – provide in its pages a translated synthesis and compilation of hundreds of scientific articles on the effects of the Chernobyl disaster that have appeared in Slavic language publications over the past 20 years. They estimate the number of deaths attributable to the Chernobyl meltdown at about 980,000.

by Gertraud T. | 12th Apr 11, 3:25pm 1302578752

Thanks neco, I am aware about this.

If your computer capacity can take this (1h 32min)

Best Chernobyl documentary 2006:The Battle Of Chernobyl

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiCXbIMhdIo

http://inmotion.magnumfotos.com/essay/chernobyl

Famous photographer from Magnum Paul Fusco created this doco more than 25 years after the event.

How anybody in this world can advocate nuclear energy is beyond me.

by Billy | 12th Apr 11, 3:13pm 1302577996

Would sea currents and migratory fish and birds bring the problem to NZ?

by powerdownkiwi | 12th Apr 11, 3:27pm 1302578852

Billy - no. I can worry with the best of them, but this isn't one on my list.

We survived Hisoshima and Nagasaki and Bikini and Mururoa. And Woomera.

This ain't in that league.........yet.

Only Woomer was really in our hemisphere and upwind of us in any real sense. There's a big divide at the Equator - the ITC (inter-tropical convergence zone) and the way Hadley Cell function see to that.

Nonetheless, nobody has solved the disposal problem yet, so accidents aside, I'd rather avoid the technology. We can do so much by just being efficient and smart with what we've got.

by Gertraud T. | 12th Apr 11, 3:50pm 1302580209

Japan - New Zealand is about 8.000 km away, so hopefully not.

But there are estimates, it will take 100.000 years to make again and again every 50 years the concrete sarcophagus anew to cover Chernobyl. So God knows what will happen if there is somewhere else besides Fukushima an accident.

Radiation damage is accumulative in the bones, the glands etc.

When the disaster happened in 1986 I was living more than 1.000 km away from Chernobyl and the radiation reached our area in Europe, there were the latest Becquerel figures (Sieberts were not used there) given during the hourly news on radio. Spinach, milk, fruit etc. were not allowed to be eaten...........

Puts all our worries about a fraction of a percent in interest up or down somehow into perspectives.

by Wolly | 12th Apr 11, 3:51pm 1302580268

Somebody tell the migratory Tuna quick...put stop signs out there....

by Plebian | 12th Apr 11, 5:52pm 1302587534

Forget it Wolly. They'll all have karked it from radiation sickness before they get here

by Wolly | 13th Apr 11, 7:38am 1302637089

"profit by betting on things like the continuing debasement of the dollar"

http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article27496.html

Sure it's a us based article but hey...it applies to us as well....debasement is NZ govt policy...if you are a saver you are being screwed.

Gotta go...ewes to chase....have fun.