90 seconds at 9 am with BNZ

90 seconds at 9 am with BNZ: Greek euro withdrawal threat; US jobs better; Silver crashes; Farm loan rule tightening; Shell cuts 6c/ltr; Aussie Southern Cross deal?

9th May 11, 9:00am 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 German magazine Der Spiegel reported Greek officials had threatened that Greece would pull out of the Euro zone unless Greece received a fresh German bailout.

Greek and German later officials later denied the euro pullout threat, but Greece has apparently begged for a new extension or change to its current bailout, arguing the debt is unserviceable.

Greece faces an inevitable debt restructuring, which would force German, French, British and Spanish banks to take big losses, potentially sparking another round of financial market instability. That would make it more difficult and expensive for the New Zealand government and its banks to roll over existing foreign debt and sell new debt.

See more here from David Chaston on the Greek threat.

Meanwhile, US jobs growth figures out on Friday night were better than expected, but the Greek turmoil took the shine off the market response. See more here at Bloomberg.

Elsewhere commodity prices continued to weaken. Silver prices crashed more than 25% last week. See our interactive chart of precious metals prices here.

Back in New Zealand, the Infratil-NZ Super fund-owned Shell announced it had cut its petrol price by 6 cents a litre this morning. Will others follow?

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand is scheduled to release its 6 monthly Financial Stability Report on Wednesday, including an expected tightening of capital rules for rural lending that may make it more expensive for farmers to borrow. See more here from Gareth Vaughan on ANZ arguing for a phasing in of the rules.

Elsewhere, Rob Stock from the Sunday Star Times reported that the Australian government-owned medical insurer Medibank is in talks with New Zealand's biggest health insurer and mutually owned Southern Cross Healthcare. Southern Cross has rejected suggestions of a takeover. Medibank has suggested some sort of cooperation.

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30 Comments

by Andrewj | 9th May 11, 9:16am 1304889364

my article of the week

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2011/0507/1224296372123.html

by steven | 9th May 11, 9:34am 1304890499

It is only monday....!!!

Ireland is facing economic ruin.....mainly due to housing....makes me sick really....the gamblers (PIs) have done the same here and teenagers too young to vote yet will be picking up the bill......talk about moral hazard....

Funny thing when the right whingers and libertarians all demand freedom to do as they please that actions and bankrupcies that happen flow up to the macro level where the likes of I a simple PAYE will be asked to pay for it.....

regards

by Christov | 9th May 11, 9:38am 1304890691

whew..! AndrewJ........that was heavy reading...Mr Kelly...has closed the doors and pulled the shades with that one.....

There will be no light in the foreseeable future....!

will there be an Irish exodus...?

by powerdownkiwi | 9th May 11, 10:20am 1304893229

Christov -

How are things in Glocca Morra?

Is that little brook still leaping there?

Does it still run down to Donny cove?

Through Killybegs, Kilkerry and Kildare?

They've already been there. :)

by Christov | 9th May 11, 12:19pm 1304900344

One more reason for the willows to stand aweeping..........

perhaps The Raven's nevermore should have found a home.

by powerdownkiwi | 9th May 11, 12:57pm 1304902626

He quoth Poe-facedly. :)

by Kate | 9th May 11, 10:37am 1304894242

This is an interesting comment from that article;

To borrow so that senior civil servants like me can continue to enjoy salaries twice as much as our European counterparts makes no sense, macroeconomic or otherwise.

Thanks to our Higher Salaries Commission - I'm guessing that NZ civil servants are likely out paid relative to their Aussie counterparts as well.

Bernard, it would be an interesting piece of research to do!

by Nicholas Arrand | 9th May 11, 10:53am 1304895234

"..run by faintly dim former rugby players, could ever borrow tens of billions overseas, and lose it all on dodgy property loans.."

So we did become the Pacific Tiger! ( quote from Andrewj's link)

by Muppet King | 9th May 11, 9:51am 1304891462

Hey Bernard

Check Kitcosilver.com, they've just put in a link to your website because you mentioned silver in your title. I anticipate you will get a bit more traffic than usual today.

by scarfie | 9th May 11, 10:47am 1304894833

Oh no big brother is watching you now Bernard:)

by Gareth Vaughan | 9th May 11, 12:03pm 1304899415

ANZ to get its money back from Allied Farmers/Hanover's Clearwater properties - http://www.nzx.com/markets/NZSX/ALF/announcements/4979181/ALLIED-FARMER…

by Wolly | 9th May 11, 4:34pm 1304915690

"Many Auckland suburbs will become home to high-rise apartment blocks with the quarter acre (1000sq m) dream reserved for the privileged few, according to a leading real estate agency." herald

"High Rise Apartment Blocks".....definition: Slums, Ghetto, Shantytown

by bob | 9th May 11, 5:07pm 1304917650

How come Wally suddenly believes everything real estate agents say?

"High Rise Apartment Blocks" have not been proposed in any Auckland suburbs.

3-4 stories is not 'high rise'.

Even if they were proposed "High Rise Apartment Blocks" don't automatically equal "Slums, Ghetto, Shantytown", just because they are different to a typical house in Malborough.

http://www.holidayhouses.co.nz/properties/16863.asp

by Wolly | 9th May 11, 5:16pm 1304918181

So you don't see them being 12 stories Bob....and none in your lifetime....yeah right.....My money is on the bylaws being twisted inside out and 12 story blocks shooting up like toadstools...soon to become just stools.

by bob | 10th May 11, 9:37am 1304977071

Read the discussion document Wally - this real estate agent is scaremongering and playing on the Kiwi terror of any housing typology that is not a free standing suburban house. He's doing the Bernard Hickey thing of making an outrageous statement to get publicity.

It doesn't matter how much they change bylaws - Bylaws don't control building form, District Plans do.

by Matt in Auck | 9th May 11, 6:41pm 1304923302

the guy from Bayleys is dreaming. The quote of the guy from the Property Council is much more realistic - 50% greenfields, 50% intensification

I reckon the only reason the Bayleys guy is talking up higher density housing is because limitting greenfields will push up urban land prices and he will gain very nicely thank you

I mean, how many people does he think wil be able to afford 400sq. m terrace houses and 140 sq. m apartments? In good areas the likely cost of these kinds of properties on the market would need to be circa $1.3 million and $700,000 respectively to stack up for developers

by Wolly | 9th May 11, 5:05pm 1304917521

"Work on a new $200 million port south of Blenheim could be under way within months, with the Government set to announce a study today.

KiwiRail is backing the plan for a public-private partnership (PPP) terminal at Clifford Bay, replacing the Picton ferry terminal." stuff

Hmmmmmm......depending on the way the wind blows this could either be great for Picton real estate....or another kick in the goolies....!

For sure there will be happy days ahead for the hotel sector in the metropolis of Ward and boom times to come for the Ward store!

by Kunst | 9th May 11, 5:10pm 1304917808

To get rid of noisy and ugly commercial operations/ facillities would make Picton finally a great destination and the beautiful "Kaikoura coast" (bottleneck) rather free of trucks.

$ 200 millions - wow !

by Wolly | 9th May 11, 5:12pm 1304917966

Give over Walter....Kaikoura is south of Clifford bay.....shifting the terminal won't mean squat for where you are.

by Kunst | 9th May 11, 5:41pm 1304919682

.A study showed there had been 47 crashes involving trucks between the Conway and Clarence rivers between July 2003 and September last year.

The stretch of road is a real no go for commercial operations and so between Blenheim and Seddon. Also, weather events can close the road for days.

by KW John | 9th May 11, 6:51pm 1304923902

... a Marina... a great big new posh marina... helipads etc ..... Picton... crap name ... what would sound better... thinking Monaco.... the Med.... yup casinos even

by NeilD | 9th May 11, 7:33pm 1304926432

Exactly.. the good people of Picton can now start to dream of the possibilities...its not the end its the beginning...the bypass at Taupo was to be the death of the town but the opposite has happened..harder that ever to find a park now!!

by Wolly | 9th May 11, 7:40pm 1304926811

Who will leave and who will move in to stay.....it was sposed to be the Queenstown at the top end....need to rename it first...how bout Kate Town....hmmmm that might confuse a few immigrants from Cape Town....no worries....Have to replant the lost native forests...some moron burned them down to grow grass in the 1800s.....total bloody failure.

by NeilD | 9th May 11, 8:01pm 1304928086

Well Wolly they didn't have artificial fertilizer and irrigation in the 1800s did they!

by steven | 9th May 11, 5:46pm 1304920013

Picton will become a ghost town but no great loss.....Blenheim will be free-ish of trucks, the raod south is the same.

by Kunst | 9th May 11, 5:52pm 1304920327

Steven, explain why Picton is becoming a ghost town.

by Wolly | 9th May 11, 7:49pm 1304927346

So how come they are blowing millions on messing with the road over the Lions Back...seems pointless if the Ferry service goes to Clifford bay....is this a case of bureaucratic cockup....! The loot needed to be put into blasting a billion tons of rock from the hills above the mainroad of death south of Walter..try that stretch in a big rig mid winter in heavy rain and howling southerly....

by steven | 9th May 11, 5:47pm 1304920033

Picton will become a ghost town but no great loss.....Blenheim will be free-ish of trucks, the road south is the same.

regards

by Matt in Auck | 9th May 11, 8:20pm 1304929215

wait a minute...don't plenty of people take the ferry cos they like the experience, sail through the sounds, then easy access to the wonders of the top of the south?????

Skip down the line, well you might as well take the plane to ChCh?

Sure benefits to freight to get it down the line quicker but passengers? Why not still keep Picton for the passenger ferries?

Its a nice little spot Picton. Take all the ferries out and it would die

by Kunst | 9th May 11, 10:39pm 1304937553

Absolutely Matt – Picton/ Waikawa the gateways to the wonderful Marlborough Sounds will have a lot more to offer for tourists when heavy commercial activities disappear. Private enterprises are also interested to maintain/ extend the passenger link between Wellington and Picton.