A review of things you need to know before you go home on Friday; personal loan rate cut, PMIs solid, new money for MPB fight, mortgage fraud guilty verdicts, new taxes-fees signaled, swap rates fall, NZD stable

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

MORTGAGE RATE CHANGES
No changes today.

TERM DEPOSIT RATE CHANGES
Westpac has trimmed -5 bps from its 8 month rate, now 3.30%.

A PEER-TO-PEER RATE CHANGE
Lending Crowd has reduced its interest rates. Their A1 rate is down -1.01% to 6.89%, their A2 rate is down -0.98% to 9.98%, the B1 rate drops -0.69% to 13.28% and B1 drops -0.75% to 18.74%. They have premiums for 5 year loans and business loans. These changes come just weeks after rival Harmoney raised rates across the board.

LOWER BUT STILL OK
The factory PMI for May has come in at a solid level of expansion. The seasonally adjusted level was a fall from April, but the raw score was a rise. This indicator sits at a moderate expansionary level, with the index at 56.8 (nsa) and that compares with 60.1 (nsa) for the same month in 2017.

HOUSE AS ATM
ANZ has enabled its "house-as-an-ATM" feature in its goMoney banking app. One click gets homeowner customers a current CoreLogic valuation. So far, there is no one easy click enabled to 'apply' for a top-up, but that can't be far away. Every home loan borrower now knows instantly (daily) how much equity they have ... and can borrow against. This app feature will probably be more addictive than their KiwiSaver feature.

NEW MONEY IN THE FIGHT
The Government is allocating $30 mln to science projects that will help in the elimination of mycoplasma bovis. The projects will be led by Dr John Roche, MPI's newly appointed science adviser.

GUILTY VERDICTS
A property developer, a former BNZ employee, and a suspended lawyer have all been found guilty of partaking in a $54 mln mortgage fraud scheme against banks involving 110 Auckland and Hamilton properties. They will be sentenced later this year. Two of the three are now in custody, one is on bail.

NEW TAXES & FEES
New taxes have been signaled for arriving tourists. They are expected to collect up to $80 mln per year assuming visitor numbers stay at current levels. There will be exceptions for Aussies and people from the Pacific. The funds collected are supposed to be 'shared' with local authorities to fund tourism infrastructure, but no allocation plan has yet been announced. Consultation is open now, and closes on July 15, 2018. More new 'fees' will apply for visa applications, to cover a five year cost of $160 mln.

RISK EMMIGRATION
BNZ's "chief risk officer", Peter Whitelaw is moving to parent NAB to take up the same role there. BNZ has appointed Sam Perkins to the role here replacing Whitelaw.

UNCHANGED
We have another dairy auction next week. Current derivatives trading suggests there is unlikely to be any change in the WMP price, nor the SMP price.

NATURAL CAPITAL RISING
The total value of Australia's environmental assets, or natural capital, was AU$6.4 tln at June 2017, nearly double the value of AU$3.4 tln a decade ago, and an increase of +10% from 2015-16, according to a report released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. That natural capital is now valued higher than their produced capital. This directly challenges the notion that somehow natural capital values are falling due to "modern" degradation.

BENCHMARK INTEREST RATES DROP
Local swap rates are lower and flatter today. The 2 year is down -1 bp, the five year is down -2 bps, and the ten year is down -3 bps. The UST 10yr is now at 2.93%, down -4 bps from this time yesterday. The Aussie Govt 10yr is at 2.68, down another -6 bps, the China Govt 10yr is at 3.63% (down -7 bps), and the NZ Govt 10 yr is at 2.94%, down -7 bps. The 90 day bank bill rate is back up +1 bp to 2.00%.

BITCOIN UP
The bitcoin price is now at US$6,592, up +2.7% from this time yesterday.

NZD LITTLE CHANGED OVERALL
The NZD is nearly -¾c lower today at 69.5 USc. But we are up against the Aussie at 93.2 AUc and at 60.1 euro cents compared with this time yesterday. That has the TWI-5 still at 73.

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