A review of things you need to know before you go home on Tuesday; Westpac hikes, Tower tanks, Synlait follows, another big R/E fine, Aussie hot, swaps slip again, NZD stable

Here are the key things you need to know before you leave work today.

MORTGAGE RATE CHANGES
Late yesterday afternoon, Westpac announced its mortgage rate hikes. But they said they won't be effective until Friday.

DEPOSIT RATE CHANGES
No changes announced today.

CAN THEY REALLY DO THAT?
Insurer Tower has announced a plan to ring fence its troublesome quake claims, saying the industry model is 'broken'. Its loss has widened to $21.5 mln. It's share price is at record low of 71c, down another -3.4% today.

YOU CAN SEE IT FROM UP IN SPACE
These two space shots show the Kaikoura earth shifts clearly. It was a massive event.

SYNLAIT FOLLOWS FONTERRA UP
Synlait Milk today raised its indicative new season payout target from $5.00/kgMS to match Fonterra at $6.00/kgMS. You can see how that compares here.

STILL GOING UP
The NZX dairy derivatives market today bid up the price of WMP, adding to yesterday's rise and adding to expectations we will see gains at next week's dairy auction.

MOUNTING UP
In December 2015, the Commerce Commission filed proceedings in the Auckland High Court for alleged price fixing and anti-competitive behaviour by 13 national and regional real estate agencies, a company owned by a number of national real estate agencies, and three individuals. The Commission also issued warnings to an additional eight agencies for their role in the conduct. The proceedings relate to alleged conduct in 2013 and 2014 by the national head offices of five major real estate companies, and separately by agencies in Hamilton and Manawatu. The alleged conduct occurred in response to Trade Me’s change from a monthly subscription fee to a per-listing fee for properties advertised for sale on its website. Today, LJ Hooker Manawatu was fined $1.25 mln in the case. This follows the $1.25 mln fine for Unique Realty. Bayleys pleaded guilty and paid $2.2 mln in this broad investigation. There will be more to come in this case.

HOT. REALLY HOT
Australia is set to have a very, very hot summer as a SAM (Southern Annular Mode) sets in. Termperatures in Queensland for example could be regularly over 40^oC. That is just uncivilised. This is another reason we may get a regular stream on NZers (and Aussies) shifting here - as climate refugees. Try this tool. WDKHLWA.

WHOLESALE RATES GIVE UP MORE
Wholesale rates gave up motre ground today in a flattening bias. The two year is down another -1 bp, the five year is down another -3 bps, and the ten year is down another -5 bps. The 90-day bank bill is unchanged at 2.03%. Yields on NZGBs are down another - 3 bps today.

NZ DOLLAR IN A RANGE
The Kiwi dollar is a little changed today at 70.7 USc. On the cross rates it is at 94.5 AUc, and is at 66.7 euro cents. The TWI-5 at 76.4 Check our real-time charts here.

You can now see an animation of this chart. Click on it, or click here.