Morning Marcus: Euro bank fears; Swiss peg shock

Bernard Hickey talks with Marcus Lush on Radio Live at 6.50 am about European market carnage and bank fears; Switzerland's shock decision to peg currency

6th Sep 11, 9:04pm by Bernard Hickey

<p> Bernard Hickey and Marcus Lush talk every weekday morning just after 6.50 am about business, economics, markets and personal finance.</p>

Every weekday morning just after 6.50 am I talk with Marcus Lush on Radio Live about the latest news in business, markets, economics and personal finance.

I usually send through suggestions the night before or earlier in the morning. Sometimes we veer off into other areas or pick up on things that happen overnight.

But here's my suggestions as of 9pm the night before. I'll update later on Wednesday with a link to the audio.

Marcus,

1. I'll update the markets action overnight, suffice to say American stock markets are expected to open lower after a sharp slump on European markets on Monday night. European stocks have started Tuesday night slightly better, but the problems remain. Deutsche Bank's CEO and the CEO of another German bank have warned many European banks would not survive if they had to write off the value of the sovereign debt they hold at current market rates. See more here at Bloomberg.

2. Switzerland has taken the extraordinary step of pegging its currency at 1.2 francs for every euro. This shows how much stress there is now in Europe as desperate investors hunt for safe havens and central banks resort to every-man-for-himself money printing to fight back in the currency wars. See more here at Bloomberg.

The NZ dollar was dropping under 83 US cents late on Tuesday and weakened slightly against the Aussie dollar after the Reserve Bank of Australia held rates with a more inflation-conscious statement than expected. See more here in our earlier article.

Gold rose to a record high over US$1921/oz.

3. Perhaps the government should become the insurer of last resort in Christchurch to get things going again. Several insurers aren't insuring, in part because of doubts over reinsurance. The government isn't keen but is looking at it. See more here from Alex Tarrant.

Meanwhile, Bill English has foreshadowed higher EQC levies to rebuild the wiped-out natural disaster fund. See more here in Alex Tarrant's article.

cheers
Bernard

Click here to see all the frequencies for Radio Live in your area.

Scroll to the bottom of the page. Auckland is 100.6 FM, Wellington is 98.9 FM and Christchurch is 99.3 FM.

We welcome your comments below. If you are not already registered, please register to comment

Remember we welcome robust, respectful and insightful debate. We don't welcome abusive or defamatory comments and will de-register those repeatedly making such comments. Our current comment policy is here.

9 Comments

by Kunst | 6th Sep 11, 9:28pm 1315301284

Mismanagment and desperation moves in European financial markets with severe consequences for the real economy in Germany/ Switzerland plus incl. taxpayers of course.

by Christov | 6th Sep 11, 9:36pm 1315301767

Burning the oil there Walter......yup it's all go over on the continent at the mo ...I'm going to have a scout about tonight for a new Merkel face award recipient...I'm sure I'll find one overnight...oh the horror the horror..sleep tight...

Go to bed Bernard...you have an early start tomorrow with what is now a very lucid and sharp man.

by Wolly | 7th Sep 11, 6:48am 1315334917

English is going to be dragged kicking and screaming to accept the govt has to provide insurance to homeowners told to feck off by the private fleecing entities.

Perhaps his real concern is that a 'State Insurance' will prove to be so much bloody better at this than the private sector...that the private sector is driven out of the market for fat profits....

by Ralph | 7th Sep 11, 1:13pm 1315357989

If we changes the words it makes for an interesting story that...

Taxpayers (govt) has to provide insurance to taxpayers (homeowners)...

by goNZ | 7th Sep 11, 7:20am 1315336815

Rugby

by Wolly | 7th Sep 11, 8:57am 1315342674

Italian PM Calls Vote of Confidence.......institute of Italian prostitutes offers to lend PM a hand!

by Christov | 7th Sep 11, 9:10am 1315343454

It's code Wolly...........for the Mafiosa to kill all objectors and leave fish flavored polonies in their unmade beds.

by anonentity | 7th Sep 11, 10:06am 1315346787

This is the month of months where Greece the Euro, will hit the wall. If you've only seen white Swans..Then in all fairness, It would be fair to say that Black Swans dont exist.Even the big boys are starting to say it will be worse than 87.Within days of the coming Euro shock, Wall Street will take a big dive. I notice the asian Tiger of Indonesia is banning trading on anything but the Ruphia..The first sign of currency protection in a dodgy world economy.It all so predictable.

by Chris-M | 7th Sep 11, 10:16am 1315347408

If the Insurance companies find the risk unnacptable why should we? Sorry Christchurch folks I know that this is a bit hard and insensitive. But sometimes it is important to explore these thoughts to see if a solution can be found.

I would have thought that the sensible thing to do is to engage in a dialogue with the insurance Coys to find a way to address their concerns. If a property is uninsurable then ways should be found to bring it to a condition where it is. (why would we want people living in houses that present a unacceptable risk) The question then is, who is responsible for bringing it up to that condition?

In the case of new houses, nothing should be built that fails to meet a standard that is acceptable to the insurance Coys. Maybe they need to be built on more competent ground to a higher standard.

Ditto for repaired houses.

Houses that do not need repair have been proven to be sound, so any structural upgrades required should be minor.

I suppose that there are a bunch of cases that fall between these categories, but I wonder how many these would be if somebody went through and methodically addressed the issues.