ASB Securities Morning Brief for Monday, 15 March 2010

Embattled South Canterbury Finance could be a white knight for the 13,000 investors in Strategic Finance but a rapid rescue is unlikely, says sharebroker Chris Lee... Read more

The fate of one of New Zealand's largest KiwiSaver providers remains up in the air after Australia's competition watchdog decided it needed more time to examine the bids for Axa Asia Pacific Holdings... Read more

A controversial KiwiSaver provider is under fire for aggressively promoting products to Unitec students.... Read more

Mike Pero Mortgages is considering whether to continue with Huljich Wealth Management as its KiwiSaver provider... Read more

Payments from former Blue Chip boss Mark Bryers show he had control over large amounts of money after his finance empire collapsed - and it could have come from a secret trust he had previously distanced himself from... Read more

Talks begin in Melbourne today to lift what began as a 2001 pact between New Zealand and Singapore to a powerful "new generation" regional free trade deal that the United States has made a top trade priority... Read more

Pacific countries are clawing their way back from the recession but trade and tourism from New Zealand and Australia is expected to be lacklustre, the Asian Development Bank reports... Read more

A high-powered panel says we need to change our Kiwi mindset and put ideas to the market test sooner rather than keep pouring money into doomed projects... Read more

The round of Turitea wind farm hearings starting today are likely to be the last - and the decision could have major implications for the future of wind generation in New Zealand, an industry expert says... Read more

New Zealand's ambition of being 90 per cent reliant on renewable electricity by 2025 is a pipedream, the Institution of Professional Engineers (Ipenz) says... Read more

Yellow Pages publisher YPG is at the mercy of its bankers, sources say, as huge debts threaten to engulf its earnings... Read more

Christchurch International Airport has experienced the highest February on record for international passenger numbers, with nearly 142,000 passing through the gateway for the South Island's tourist industry... Read more

New Zealand's biggest shopping mall is planning a major expansion, including multi-storey apartments and office blocks to create a "mini CBD"... Read more

Discontent has been growing among TV3's senior executives towards the Australian "axeman" sent to run the network.... Read more

MediaWorks radio boss Sussan Turner has been elevated to group managing director of the entire media group - including TV3, C4 and the online arm. She is taking over the television arm at a critical time for all media, when radio has been relatively resilient and free-to-air television vulnerable... Read more

TVNZ staff have splashed out more than $3 million on company credit cards in the past six months - despite reports the state broadcaster is aiming to slash up to $40 million from its budget... Read more

Diligent Board Member Services has a further upside from a recent share price rise according to one analyst's recommendation paper... Read more

Vineyard and winery owners being squeezed by bargain-basement wine prices can take some cheer from the likelihood they have hit rock bottom... Read more

A Whangarei investment adviser and father-of-six is writing children's books inspired by the ideas and principles of American billionaire investor and philanthropist Warren Buffett... Read more

Phil Macalister. It was pleasing to see the NZ Property Investors Federation come out and put the issue of rent rises on the agenda this week... Read more

NZ Market Report. New Zealand shares fell Friday, as Warehouse Group posted weaker first-half operating earnings and forecast a flat full year. Pyne Gould Corp. advanced after its Marac unit gained admissions to the extended guarantee scheme... Read more

Australian Market Report. The Australian share market is expected to begin the week on a steady note with world markets maintaining their gradual rises... Read more

The sharemarket has charged 54 per cent higher in a year, and it's still not too late to join the party... Read more

A Chinese government post-mortem into the collapse of the $US19.5 billion ($A21.3 billion) Chinalco-Rio Tinto investment deal has exonerated the Australian Government and the Anglo-Australian miner.... Read more

Melbourne house prices are on fire - $1 billion worth of auctions every weekend... Read more

Australia's housing shortage has intensified, with bank lending to investors to build new housing in 2009 shrinking to the lowest share of new finance on record... Read more

The chief executive of National Australia Bank's MLC is confident the bank's plan to expand its wealth-management arm via a $13.2 billion bid for Axa Asia Pacific will succeed.... Read more

A Federal Court judge has delayed a shareholder vote on Seven Network's $3 billion merger with WesTrac while he considers recruiting an independent barrister to advise him on related-party issues... Read more

Former Macquarie Equities senior adviser Newton Chan pleaded guilty yesterday to eight counts of market manipulation of the share price of Bill Express, the listed electronic payments company that collapsed in 2008 under $250 million of debt... Read more

British expats living in Australia anxiously await a decision that could give them an extra $300 million in pension payments... Read more

Chris Bowen expects the Cooper review into the structure of the super industry to examine radical options.... Read more

There is only one thing better than one director buying shares in his own company and that's two directors doing a bit of buying... Read more

The timetable for the securities regulator taking over market supervision in Australia is running to schedule, with the passage of legislation through Federal Parliament... Read more

The Australian Securities Exchange is considering whether to take further action against a raft of companies over missed profit forecasts or surprise earnings deviations during the latest financial reporting season... Read more

Gaming firm Tatts Group is interested in rival Tabcorp's wagering business, according to chief executive Dick McIlwain... Read more

The storm that pounded Melbourne last weekend is also hurting insurers, with Insurance Australia Group yesterday lowering its earnings guidance as payouts started to climb... Read more

Brian Gilbertson is counting on a 40-year veteran to help drive his expansion plans.... Read more

Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan says the much-anticipated Henry Tax Review will be released by the May budget.... Read more

Costco has capacity to roll out two stores a year in Australia, intensifying battle with local market heavyweights Woolworths and Coles.... Read more

Coal firms meet unions today over plans to acquire some of Queensland Rail's key assets, as the slinging match between politicians and business intensifies... Read more

Exxon Mobil Corporation says it will proceed with a multi-billion dollar liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Papua New Guinea.... Read more

East Timor's president Jose Ramos-Horta says his country is serious about making sure its interests are not ignored in the development of the Greater Sunrise Gas field.... Read more

ANZ-backed E*Trade Australia is planning to undercut rival CommSec on fees for international trades, a move likely to set off a fresh market-share grab among the online brokers... Read more

Once a cash cow, Telstra's Yellow Pages are copping a battering,... Read more

Australian respiratory medical device manufacturer Resmed dragged into anti-trust case in US as an aggrieved distributor seeks access to portfolio of sleep devices to sell to US government's Department of Veterans Affairs... Read more

Singapore Airlines will use Jetstar's aggressive push into Singapore as leverage to back its bid to be allowed to fly between Australia and the United States... Read more

The New York investment bank Moelis & Company has accelerated its incursion into the Australian banking and stockbroking scene in dramatic fashion by signing up JPMorgan's Andrew Pridham... Read more

Mining junior Hot Chilli Ltd says it hopes to begin drilling at its South American prospects soon after its expected public listing next month... Read more

Ross Gittins. I have no idea whether the next rise in the official interest rate will come at the Reserve Bank board's meeting in three weeks time or a month later. But if I were governor I wouldn't be dragging my feet... Read more

David Symons. Market speculation late last week raises possibility that AWB's drawn-out negotiations to sell Geneva trading operations hit speed bump after recent staff departures... Read more

David Uren. The economic recovery remains patchy, based on the latest round of profit reports, but it is proceeding according to the textbook... Read more

Adele Ferguson. A group of victims of unscrupulous practitioners is soliciting support to run a multi-million dollar class action against the corporate regulator ASIC... Read more

U.S. Market Report. An updated report of the latest action on Wall Street... Read more

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

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao rejects criticism that Beijing keeps the yuan undervalued in order to boost exports... Read more

China is bracing for another tough year despite economic growth, but opposes foreign pressure to appreciate the value of its currency, Premier Wen Jiabao says... Read more

U.S. stocks have ended four of the last five weeks higher, leaving the Nasdaq and S&P 500 at 18-month highs and the Dow industrials not far from such levels... Read more

The longest-ever gain in futures linked to the Standard & Poor's 500 Index shows growing investor confidence in the U.S. economy.... Read more

Google has drawn up detailed plans for the closure of its Chinese search engine and is now "99.9 per cent" certain to go ahead as talks over censorship with the Chinese authorities have reached an apparent impasse, according to a person familiar with the company's thinking... Read more

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s Richard Fuld exuded confidence as he briefed analysts on June 16, 2008, four days after demoting his firm's finance chief in the wake of a $US2.8 billion quarterly loss... Read more

A new bill to tighten regulation of US banks is due to be unveiled, but it may struggle to get backing in the Senate... Read more

U.K. Transport Secretary Lord Adonis attacks the planned strike by British Airways cabin crew staff, calling it "totally unjustified"... Read more

Market abuse in the UK's financial services sector is at an "unacceptably high level", the head of the City watchdog has said... Read more

Is the Federal Reserve forever blowing bubbles? With interest rates hovering at historic lows, some economists and investors fear the Fed's easy-money policy could create another asset bubble. But others don't see a need to hit the panic button just yet... Read more

European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said Greece's plan to cut the euro-area's largest budget deficit will win the support of investors and credit-rating companies... Read more

Cnooc Ltd., China's biggest offshore oil explorer, agreed to buy a 50 percent stake in rival Argentine producer Bridas Corp. for $US3.1 billion, adding 318 million barrels of reserves as Chinese fuel demand surges... Read more