Europe scrambles for IMF funds; NZ$ under 76 USc as NZ indicators mixed; Australian mortgage insurers may be downgraded
Bernard Hickey details the key news overnight in 90 seconds at 9 am in association with Bank of New Zealand, including news the New Zealand dollar is weaker and under 76 USc in morning trade after mixed economic indicators yesterday and more nerves in Europe.
New Zealand consumer confidence slumped, but business confidence was solid and the services sector expanded.
However, the focus remains on Europe where finance ministers have just completed a conference call to discuss details of contributions to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) needed to help bail out Southern European governments.
They failed to raise the €200 billion euros hoped for.
Britain declined to join the plan and Germany has threatened not to contribute if Britain and the United States do not contribute.
See more here at Associated Press.
The euro weakened and has struggled to break convincingly above the key US$1.30 mark in recent days.
US stocks were down 0.6% in late trade while European stocks were flat.
Meanwhile, South Korean stocks fell sharply yesterday after South Korean military forces were put on high alert immediately after the tearful announcement on North Korean state television of the death of 'dear leader' Kim Jong Il.
There are concerns a power vacuum could develop in North Korea that destabilises the nuclear-armed dictatorship.
Closer to home, Moody's has downgraded the outlooks for the credit ratings of Australian mortgage insurers, citing the risk of a slump in house prices and a rise in mortgage delinquencies.
Australia's housing market has been under pressure in recent months as Australia's heavily indebted households and retailing sectors struggle under the weight of higher interest rates and a high Australian dollar.
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16 Comments
So, all-up - things not looking too bad really. I'm sure Warren Buffett is still making money from the situation.
North Korea is probably more of an irritant for global financiers - how to bring it into the fold of open markets? And an excuse to manipulate falls/rises on the "bad news".
buffet has lost 1.5 billion with BofA.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/bac-breaks-4-handle-drags-entire-market-down
"New Zealand consumer confidence slumped, but business confidence was solid and the services sector expanded."....hmmmm I suppose New Zealand Business don't do business with New Zealand consumers ??
I suppose this is a classic example of "cognitive dissonance".
Back in Asia, I suppose everybody is expecting the "Great Successor" to lop a few missles into the China Seas to celebrate his succession....guess what that will do to the Asian Stock markets.....if not already !!
"New Zealand consumer confidence slumped, but business confidence was solid and the services sector expanded."....hmmmm I suppose New Zealand Business don't do business with New Zealand consumers ??
I suppose this is a classic example of "cognitive dissonance".
Back in Asia, I suppose everybody is expecting the "Great Successor" to lop a few missles into the China Seas to celebrate his succession....guess what that will do to the Asian Stock markets.....if not already !!
Care to put your understanding of what "cognitive dissonance" means into plain English for us? I do remember it was a phrase I had to use to get marks long ago, others being objective and subjective and anthropomorphic.
I have a theory that the reason academics and French bureaucrats like long words and thinking about abstractions is that it is a form of intellectual combat. Its like in a low powered computer, so much brain power is used to understand the argument that there is not enough left to see the false bits.
Swap Ted for beaurocrat - 'Teds brain is where knowledge goes to die' Dilbert, mondays top ten. Perfect. Still, love an attempt at wordcraft, bring on the latin guff. As per previous post, BH needs to up his game, AEP leaving him in the dust for doomster and wordster of the year. Go kiwi, if the black caps can do it....(big fan of all mentioned by the way)
Scariest stat for mine is the youth unemployment figures for the struggling EU block. Nothing short of stunning, eg spain close to 50%?! not looking like getting any better, in fact worse in the medium term and a harbinger of a disillusioned populace on the whole. Worrying.
Texas has no border security, so ppl can move there for jobs at will, not so OZ....and its seems they are....its also fairly cheap to employ ppl there....hence in effect they are exporting un-employment,
OZ has a mining boom, its greatest ever....
Texas also has laws that limit mortgage dealings, like a 80% ratio...stopping ppl using their houses like ATMs...and ppl eanr less...this puts an upper limit on what they can afford.
So compare its apples with apples time...
"When bubbles tip, household densities increase quite abruptly"
Glad you recognise an outcome from Peak Oil...of course then there wont need to be an expansion of Chch's boundary now will there.
regards
"
California's population grew by nearly 26 percent between 1980 and 1990, from 23.7 million to 29.8 million, and grew by another 4.1 million persons between 1990 and 2000. Current projections indicate that population may double from the 1990 level to 58.7 million by 2040. In the face of such intense growth, California's fragmented and competitive local land use planning structures and subsidized dependence on drive-alone transportation have contributed to severe environmental and ecological deterioration, including
- Serious air pollution
- Gridlocked roadways
- Strained and polluted water supplies
- Loss of valuable food producing lands and open space
- Increased numbers of endangered species due to loss of critical habitat
- Increased energy consumption
- A lack of affordable housing near places of employment
- Loss of open space
- Excessive consumption of natural resources.
"
http://www.sierraclub.org/ca/scc/growth.asp
Texas, of course, is the source of much climate skepticism. This may be real estate boosterism, Texas being hot, dry, and flash-flood prone with much of its infrastructure and property value barely above sea level. Texas is foolish in this regard, with its access to wind and solar power and energy infrastructure expertise. We ought to be leading the world in the transition to sustainability. Nobody here is willing to face the fact that when the really big problems start to get handed out, Texas will be near the front of the line.
But the culture has never had much respect for the land, which is harsh, scrubby and inhospitable, or the fauna, which tend to be as ornery as the short-tempered folk who famously first occupied this territory not too terribly long ago. The idea of farming was never to create a legacy for future generations. The early farmers would “use up” or “wear out” a farm and move on. And of course the real cowboys spirit opposed the fencelines in the first place.
This is not a place which takes kindly to limits. It respects its peculiar legacy but doesn’t go out of its way to respect its posterity, and never has. Texans have somehow managed to prosper (mostly due to the happenstance of fuel-rich geology, though the mythos speaks endlessly about persistence, diligence, and effort, and hardly at all of dumb luck). That this prosperity is barely a century old, that it carries no warrantee, that it stands to vanish as a result of the very activities that began here and are the source of the present prosperity, warnings like these are unwelcome. The sky, we say, is the limit.
All these structures of rusting steel and decaying cement, are another sad example of property development in China involving wasted money, wasted resources and the uprooting of farmers and their families. It is a reflection of the country’s property market which many analysts say the government must keep tightening steps in place. The worry is a massive increase in inflation and a speculative bubble that might burst, considering that property sales contribute to around 10 percent of China’s growth.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/china%E2%80%99s-deserted-fake-disneyland.html
Gerry discovers just what a pain in the a---- local govt pollies can be!
"Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee has accused "parts" of the Christchurch City Council of slowing the earthquake recovery and has refused to rule out sacking councillors.
Days after being reappointed, Brownlee waded into Christchurch politics, accusing some councillors of being ill-informed and not supporting Mayor Bob Parker.
"There is a case for some elected members of the council to step up and learn a little more about what is going on than they know at the moment.
"We need to get past the idea that we are waiting for someone else to do it," he said. "I have great sympathy for the mayor. I don't know that he is all that well supported by the council." press
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