ASB Securities Morning Brief for Saturday, 04 February 2012

New Zealand Market Report. Stocks were down, with trading light as investors clung to the sidelines... Read more

Chinese investment in New Zealand is tiny compared to Australia and needs to grow “to levels that reflect the growing commercial relationship with China,” the government says in its NZ Inc strategy for engagement with the world’s fastest-growing superpower... Read more

A last-ditch High Court challenge to the $200 million sale of Crafar Farms to Pengxin, by a group of farmers led by Sir Michael Fay, may hinge on a point of law.... Read more

A lawyer representing a group of New Zealand farmers wanting to oust a Chinese buyer of the so-called Crafar farms argued the Chinese investor is just “putting money up” and intends to be only a passive investor... Read more

The Government is building a new embassy in Beijing to house a major boost to New Zealand's representation in the Chinese capital... Read more

The receivers of South Canterbury Finance sold the failed finance company’s 33.6 percent stake in Dairy Holdings to existing shareholders and the dairy farm group’s US investors took advantage of the deal to exit their own 25 percent holding... Read more

Agribusiness mogul Alan Pye and his associates have full control of New Zealand's largest dairy farming conglomerate after South Canterbury Finance sold its $54.4 million stake in the $535 million business yesterday... Read more

Chinese majority-owned dairy business Synlait Milk has been given the green light by the Overseas Investment Office to buy the land on which its factory rests for about $1.1 million... Read more

The volume of trading in shares and bonds on the NZX jumped last month in a sign the local exchange may be heading for a stronger year in 2012 as the local economy picks up pace... Read more

The NZ dollar slipped against the greenback after a strong performance during the week... Read more

Air New Zealand has not achieved its growth forecasts set by outgoing chief executive Rob Fyfe, but the airline has outperformed nearly all competitors through the global financial crisis, an analyst says... Read more

Air New Zealand chief executive Rob Fyfe is leaving the airline and while his destination is unknown, he is in demand.... Read more

Christchurch International Airport is just days away from opening the next significant stage of its nearly $240 million integrated terminal project.... Read more

The construction sector is likely to be the foundation of healthy growth in the New Zealand economy over the next two years, with rebuilding after Christchurch’s earthquakes only part of the lift... Read more

Christchurch business incubator powerHouse has ambitious plans to create 50 multimillion-dollar international companies in Christchurch by 2020... Read more

Warehouse Group, the country’s biggest listed retailer, cut its guidance on adjusted profit for the current financial year, blaming a squeeze on margins in recent months... Read more

Lombard Finance & Investments issued the offer documents that have landed it in trouble in recognition that it wasn’t “business as usual”, according to the defence... Read more

Justice Robert Dobson has reserved his decision after defence counsel for the directors of Lombard Finance & Investments concluded their summing up yesterday... Read more

Up to nine rigs are likely to be drilling simultaneously in Taranaki this year as the exploration industry ramps up its search for new supplies of oil and gas – and every well will be fracked.... Read more

West Coast-Tasman MP Damien O'Connor says Solid Energy's decision to buy back Cargill's 49 per cent share of the Spring Creek underground mine is driven by the National Government's desire to "sell off New Zealand".... Read more

Zespri has appointed former judge and mediator Sir Peter Trapski to investigate claims a board member is associated with the "illegal" grafting of a new gold kiwifruit variety.... Read more

New Zealand recorded its biggest-ever net loss of migrants to Australia in 2011, underlining the appeal of life across the Tasman... Read more

Short-term visitor numbers hit an all-time monthly high in December, according to Statistics New Zealand... Read more

The picture Bridgecorp painted for investors about aspects of its financial position was "materially misleading", the High Court heard... Read more

The 180 staff out of a job following the collapse of furniture maker Criterion will receive no redundancy pay.... Read more

Printer PMP has written down the value of Gordon and Gotch, New Zealand’s largest magazine distributor and says its New Zealand printing business is encountering difficult market conditions... Read more

The Serious Fraud Office spent $1.3 million on consultants and contractors in the most recent financial year - up from less than $100,000 three years ago... Read more

An IT firm created by a Kiwi is sticking to its hybrid model of being US-based for sales while having a group of developers in Christchurch.... Read more

Startup business telephone systems company Phone VoIP was born out of the Canterbury earthquakes with its founders saying it should do well in an environment where fibre is making inroads into the traditional copper telephony links... Read more

More property investors are set to return to Auckland and will eventually branch out to other centres, according to BNZ economist Tony Alexander... Read more

The Auckland property market saw its strongest January in four years with prices reaching the highest average ever for the month, according to Barfoot & Thompson... Read more

Fran O'Sullivan. Labour leader David Shearer went up in my estimation when he declared Waitangi Day a politics-free zone, "a time when we come together as a nation to celebrate our cultural diversity and everything that's so great about New Zealand"... Read more

Sharechat Comment. Auckland International Airport (NZX: AIA ) will likely be a real beneficiary of the Rugby World Cup (RWC) when it reports it full year results later in the year and the airport has shown good traffic growth numbers over the key RWC months of September and October 2011... Read more

Brian Gaynor. The changing of the guard was announced at three big organisations during the week... Read more

John Roughan. The global financial crisis didn't happen yesterday - it just feels like it. More than three years on, economies are still in shock. If the oracles are right we have entered a fourth year of flat business life... Read more

Australian Market Report. Shares edged lower to a weaker finish as investors remained cautious ahead of the release of key US employment data... Read more

Staff at Westpac face a second wave of job losses as the bank tries to cut costs... Read more

Westpac chief Gail Kelly defends the bank's decision to axe up to 560 jobs and will not rule out further cuts as the bank's profits are squeezed by a slowdown in lending... Read more

Unions call on governments to convince banking giant to abandon its plans to send hundreds of jobs off-shore... Read more

The summer lull will be a fading memory next week when Australia's business and finance calendar kicks into overdrive.... Read more

The Australian dollar strengthened against the US dollar after a report showed employers in the world’s biggest economy added more jobs than forecast... Read more

The Reserve Bank is expected cut its interest rate again as inflation eases, local employment growth slows and fears over a European recession grows... Read more

Gina Rinehart joins the ranks of Australia's media barons after becoming the biggest shareholder in Fairfax Media... Read more

Billionaire Gina Rinehart's move to gain control of Fairfax Media may be part of a broader strategy to combine Fairfax Media's radio network with Macquarie Radio Network, which is controlled by close friend and advertising veteran John Singleton, according to a report by The Australian... Read more

The NSW Supreme Court has refused to grant billionaire Gina Rinehart a new suppression order on her legal stoush with her children over the family's trust fund, leading to the release of a series of emails showing the extent of the family battle... Read more

It is 20 years since mining magnate Lang Hancock's widow, Rose, summoned journalists to the gate of her flamboyant mansion, and dispensed copies of her recently departed husband's will.... Read more

Australia will be a crucial part of the resources empire that is set to emerge from a $82 billion marriage of the Swiss firms Xstrata and Glencore, and analysts say the new entity could look to further expand its local presence through mergers and acquisitions... Read more

The possibility of a merger between Xstrata and Glencore could result in a combined company with a strong enough balance sheet and desire for acquisitions to threaten the dominance of BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, and even produce a second run at Anglo American, according to reports by The Australian and The Australian Financial Review... Read more

Royal Dutch Shell confirmed that it plans to offload its $6.7 billion stake in Woodside Petroleum, but only if Shell can garner “the right price” for its stake, according to a report by The Australian... Read more

Mining magnate Clive Palmer's company China First was expecting to announce a draft agreement with QR National Ltd on a rail line between the Galilee Basin and Abbot Point this week, before the plan was quashed by QR reaching a similar agreement with the Queensland government, according to The Australian newspaper... Read more

Holden has announced a jump in car sales just days after axing its afternoon general assembly shift at its Adelaide factory... Read more

Shares in Magma Metals have skyrocketed after nickel miner Panoramic Resources launched a $40 million takeover bid for the base metals explorer... Read more

Some economic observers question the value of corporate donations to political parties.... Read more

The equivalent population of a New Zealand city has moved to Australia over the past year... Read more

Competition between the big supermarket chains is fiercer than ever, but shoppers remain cautious... Read more

Coles again rejects calls for the Federal Government to appoint a supermarket ombudsman to enforce a fair trading code of conduct... Read more

A syndicate of banks that secured an $800 million charge over assets of ABC Learning just months before the childcare empire collapsed has failed in its bid to keep confidential thousands of documents sought by the litigation funder, IMF... Read more

Nicole Perrin, the former wife of one-time Billabong chief executive Matthew Perrin, successfully fought off Commonwealth Bank's bid to claim her Gold Coast mansion after her husband admitted to forging her signature on bank mortgage documents... Read more

Observers say the high number of sick days taken by Australian workers is linked to workplaces where there is less flexibility.... Read more

Matthew Ng, the Australian entrepreneur sentenced to 13 years in a Chinese jail, has won a second chance at freedom after a Guangdong court granted him the right to an appeal.... Read more

The world's largest refinery for rare earth metals has risen out of the red mud of a coastal swamp at the Malaysian city of Kuantan and has just gained a temporary licence to begin operating - a step that could help break China's near monopoly on rare earths but also worsen an emerging glut of some of these strategic minerals... Read more

Ron Sayers, the founder and managing director of mining services provider Ausdrill, faces a charge of conspiracy to defraud the Commonwealth... Read more

Dick Smith fears for our obsession with the bottom line.... Read more

Too much debt may be bad for business, but the business of collecting it can be a nice little earner.... Read more

Austar United Communications Ltd is seeking to delay extraordinary shareholder meetings on its proposed merger with Foxtel, to allow time for the Australia Competition and Consumer Commission to complete its review of the deal... Read more

A federal court injunction stopping tyre king Bob Jane from using his name in new business ventures has been overturned.... Read more

The Fair Work Ombudsman has launched a new program aimed at bringing some of Australia's largest franchisors up to speed on workplace laws.... Read more

Sales of new vehicles in Australia rebounded in January, with sales of sport utility vehicles surging by almost 30 per cent in a sign consumers felt confident enough to spring for big ticket items... Read more

The head of Western Power, Doug Aberle, has brought his retirement forward after almost 40 years of service with the utility... Read more

An analyst who has been reviewing Forestry Tasmania's operations believes the company's future lies in tapping into the Chinese woodchip market.... Read more

Tasmanian airline TasAir Pty Ltd has gone into voluntary liquidation.... Read more

Ian McIlwraith. Gina Rinehart and Clive Palmer have every right to make their voices heard... Read more

Elizabeth Knight. Gina Rinehart is unlikely to make a full bid for Fairfax, but she may want to wield power in the boardroom... Read more

Michael Pascoe. It’s peak RBA speculation season, but a couple of major furphies are going round about what will or will not concern the central bank on Tuesday... Read more

Marcus Padley. Before we have to read another opinion about the market, let us get a few things clear... Read more

Stephen Bartholomeusz. The prospect of a Glencore-Xstrata tussle is tantalising and if it ends in a merger, it could lead to a new mining house in the same league as BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto... Read more

Ross Gittins. When I was studying economics at university in the mid-1960s, I wasn't quite sure what a ''model'' was. These days, politicians and business people are always using the word, and most of us think we know what they mean... Read more

Gareth Hutchens. How much do you think the price of gold will rise in the next few years?... Read more

Bill Evans. Despite some improvement in market conditions, bank funding issues and a slowing global economy leave ample room for the RBA to cut rates again next week... Read more

Ian Verrender. For a nation that has become one of the richest on the planet, Australians have become among the most sullen... Read more

Stuart Washington. A well-known star of the Australian small screen, notorious for his poor personal habits, received his last rites during the week. To be fair, Louie the Fly has been biting the dust regularly since he first appeared in 1957... Read more

Michael West. The good news is the US economy is displaying signs of recovery, albeit a tepid one. It will need to recuperate to meet its interest bills alone. The bad news is that Europe seems to be getting worse, although bond yields have been coming down from red-alert levels thanks to the bellicose stimulus by the central bank... Read more

US Market Report. A surge in hiring in the world's largest economy last month drove U.S. stocks higher on Friday, with the Nasdaq hitting an 11-year high as optimism grew that the labor market is on a steady path to recovery... Read more

World Market Report. An updated report of the worlds' latest market movements... Read more

The US economy created 243,000 jobs in January, while the unemployment rate fell to 8.3%, official figures show... Read more

The eurozone's service sector grows for the first time in four months, although Spain and Italy continue to struggle... Read more

After a blockbuster January for both equities and bonds - rallies that caught many in the market by surprise - investors will be paying keen attention to the world's central banks in the coming week for signs of continued easy money.... Read more

John Taylor, founder of currency-hedge fund FX Concepts LLC, said he’s betting against the dollar after Federal Reserve policy makers extended their pledge to keep interest rates close to zero and indicated they’re prepared to make additional asset purchases... Read more

Stock-picking once again matters on Wall Street. After a year in which stocks moved in near-lockstep regardless of individual merit, the herd mentality is crumbling away... Read more

New orders for U.S. factory-made products posted a second straight monthly rise in December and business capital spending also picked up, a government report on Friday showed... Read more

The price of gas around Europe has risen sharply due to increased demand as a result of the cold weather and reports of reduced supply from Russia... Read more

Goldman Sachs Group Inc was ordered by a federal judge to face a securities class-action lawsuit accusing it of defrauding investors about a 2006 offering of securities backed by risky mortgage loans from a now-defunct lender... Read more

It's the year's hottest initial public offering, but some wealth managers find themselves having a hard time recommending Facebook to their clients.... Read more

Facebook has finally filed for an IPO, but it likely won't start trading for months. For those who can't wait to gamble on the stock market, bookies are accepting bets.... Read more

Apple is granted a suspension of a sales ban imposed on some of its iPads and iPhones in Germany.... Read more

Motorola forces some 3G iPhones and iPads to be pulled from Apple's German online store after enforcing a patent injunction... Read more

Japanese electronics giant Panasonic has forecast a record annual net loss of 780bn yen ($10.2bn) for the year to March... Read more

Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom's bail application appeal has been rejected in New Zealand... Read more

Senior Iranian lawmakers are considering a boycott of Samsung, the South Korean electronics and appliance manufacturer, because of a controversial Israeli ad that pokes fun at the nuclear crisis, state-run Press TV of Iran said Friday... Read more

New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman on Friday sued three major U.S. banks, accusing them of fraud for using an electronic mortgage database that resulted in deceptive and illegal practices, including false documents in foreclosure proceedings... Read more

International Business Machines Corp. almost doubled the salary of Virginia “Ginni” Rometty after promoting her as the chief executive officer of the world’s largest computer-services provider at the start of the year... Read more

Aiming to restore voters' faith in Congress, the US Senate overwhelmingly approved a bill Thursday that makes clear it's illegal for members of Congress, their staffs and many executive-branch employees to trade stocks and other securities based on inside information learned on the job.... Read more

More people will be making their homes among the banks and insurance companies of central London as a shrinking financial industry and the prospect of leasing out buildings for free prompts landlords to convert offices into luxury apartments.... Read more

Hungarian airline Malev ceases trading after 66 years after being ordered by the EU to repay state aid it has received... Read more

Bank of America Corp., the second- largest U.S. lender by assets, may sell all its offices as part of the company’s effort to cut costs, sparing only its headquarters in North Carolina and New York City... Read more

Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing’s Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. agreed to buy Orange Austria in a deal valued at 1.3 billion euros ($1.7 billion), adding to more than $31 billion of investments in overseas mobile-phone operations... Read more

Investments in commodities are expanding at the quickest pace in six years on signs of rising economic growth, even as JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. warn that some prices have rallied too fast... Read more

Already one of the cheapest major mining companies, Anglo American Plc is becoming an even more likely takeover target with Xstrata Plc and Glencore International Plc’s potential merger threatening to leave it dwarfed by three of its closest rivals... Read more

A study into mine nationalization ordered by South Africa’s ruling African National Congress proposes a 50 percent resource-rent tax rather than taking over operations, a party official who has seen the document said... Read more

Hot girls and funny animals are, once again, the theme of upcoming US Super Bowl ads, Who would have guessed? Due to screen Feb. 5, for some, the commercials are the main draw of watching the game. This year, a 30-second spot is going for $3.5 million -- and many companies think it's worth the price... Read more

Paul La Monica. The strong January jobs report may finally put a nail in the QE3 coffin... Read more