Here's my summary of the key news over the weekend to keep you up-to-date over these holidays.
First to note is that our exchange rate took a sharp turn upwards at the end of last week and starts today at an eight month high on the TWI. We rose across the board.
Gold rose again as small investors bid up the price of coins and bars, but international crude oil prices fell - both the US and Brent benchmarks. Demand in China dropped in its latest survey, and US inventories are high. Keep an eye on our petrol prices; they should fall.
The UST 10 yr benchmark is touching above 3% again, and a Bloomberg survey of market participants over the weekend showed that they expect it to reach 3.38% by the end of 2014.
And another commodity is in the news too - US beef prices. They have shot up to their highest level ever, as the cumulative effect of a long Midwest dry spell has ranchers holding on to animals to build back their herds. Low grain prices are encouraging the re-stocking. These high prices underpin the good prices Kiwi beef farmers are currently getting.
And staying with commodities, China's top foreign exchange regulator said over the weekend that they would consider a transaction tax to restrain hot money speculation following a year of strong currency inflows.
China would be following the EU who have said they will institute a Tobin tax sometime this year.
In Australia, their competition watchdog, the ACCC, has called for a major sell-off of state trading enterprises like their energy companies, Australia Post, and their medical insurer. The claim is that this would be one of the most effective ways to improve their sagging productivity.
In China, their previously reported slowing in manufacturing PMI was followed up over the weekend with a slowing of growth in their services PMI. These index changes were behind the fall in the price of copper.
The NZ dollar starts today at 82.7 USc, 92.6 AUc, and the TWI is at 78.4
The easiest place to stay up with today's event risk is by following our Economic Calendar here »
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