A review of things you need to know before you go home Monday; Kiwibank changes TD incentive, WMP rising, ASX falling. Ireland's parking problem, Japan's surpluses, swaps and NZD stable

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

MORTGAGE RATE CHANGES
No changes to report today.

DEPOSIT RATE CHANGES
Kiwibank has ended its attractive 3.55% five month rate, reducing it to 3.15%, a drop of -40 bps. But it has compensated by raising its one year rate to 3.55%, up +25 bps from 3.30%. That pushes its one year rate up to the highest among most rivals, but below the 3.65% SBS Bank offer.

POSITIVE FOR DAIRY
There is no dairy auction this week, but the derivatives market is signaling a +4% rise in WMP prices in today's trading, or a gain of more than US$100/tonne. That is actually a bit more than the USDA signal last week.

NOT SO POSITIVE FOR THE ASX
The NZX started out soft today but is now back at break-even. But across the ditch it is another matter with both the ASX200 and the ALL ORDS both down more than -1% in early afternoon trading. Miners are the problem.

A PARKING PROBLEM
You may remember, the EU has ruled that Ireland was wrong to give Apple some huge tax breaks, and forced it to reverse the decision. Apple is appealing. The issue of waiting for the appeal to be heard may take years. But there is €13 bln in dispute, which Apple has agreed to pay, pending that final decision. But where do you park €15 bln which will include 'interest' from when the claim was filed? No bank will take an amount that large. So Apple and Ireland have agreed to set up an 'investment fund' complete with managers, who it is looking for right now. (First rule when disputing tax: pay the claimed amount quickly, then dispute. Otherwise interest and penalties could overwhelm any final resolution.)

A SURPLUS MACHINE
Japan is famous for lacking any substantial natural resources. So it relies on trade, which it is very good at. It reported a NZ$12 bln trade surplus in June. It has recorded a goods surplus in nine of the past twelve months. In the January-June half, exports rose +9.5%, lifted by shipments of semiconductor equipment, auto parts and iron and steel. Imports rose 12.2% on more expensive oil imports.

WHOLESALE RATES HARDLY CHANGE
Wholesale swap rates are largely unchanged although there is a hint of softness for the seven and ten year rates, both down -1 bp today. There are no local data releases, so any influence will be coming from offshore. The 90 day bank bill rate is lower by -1 bp to 1.93%.

NZ DOLLAR STABLE
The Kiwi dollar is up a little at 74.4 USc. On the cross rates we are stable at 93.9 AUc and at 63.8 euro cents. The TWI-5 is still at 77.2. Bitcoin is little changed as well at US$2,786, up +1.7% from this time on Friday.

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