|
ASB Securities Morning Brief for Saturday, 24 July 2010
New Zealand Headlines A form of financial lockjaw has settled in, as big assets like farms, primary processors, financiers and hotels hunt for new owners... Read more Don't blame the banks for our financial inertia, look to the board rooms and our lack of savings. That is the message from David McLean, Westpac's general manager of wealth, insurance, private and institutional banking... Read more Auckland International Airport, New Zealand’s busiest gateway, is benefiting from a rebound in passengers from Asia, suggesting the region’s population is more confident to fly with the end of the swine flu pandemic.... Read more Xero shares leaped 12.77 per cent as investors reasoned that if Sam Morgan puts more money into a company it must be a winner... Read more A new shareholder for South Canterbury Finance could be found within weeks as market sources suggest a private equity investor is ready to stump up $100 million for a majority stake... Read more The New Zealand dollar surged above 72 US cents as better-than-expected data in the US and Europe stoked investors’ confidence in the global economy, while American companies keep releasing strong earnings for the second quarter... Read more Kingfish, Fisher Funds’ investment vehicle for NZX companies, is looking to raise some $25 million in the next two years through a warrant issue to investors.... Read more Wine companies' profits and future survival are under pressure with the continuing high dollar, especially against sterling, making depressed export markets even tougher... Read more Air New Zealand released an aggressive attack on Auckland International Airport's buy-in to Queenstown Airport, calling the deal "shoddy" and saying airlines should be allowed to invest in the airport as well... Read more Boeing's hi-tech Dreamliner will fly New Zealand's skies from next year... Read more Employers have long complained that hiring somebody is the most dangerous business decision they can make.... Read more The government's new draft Energy Efficiency Strategy retains the 90% goal for renewable energy but strips out all reference to on-farm energy efficiency, in its rewrite of the 2007 strategy led by former Greens co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons... Read more As the baby boomers bound towards retirement, experts agree NZ can't afford to pay superannuation from the age of 65. But a nervous Government does not want to engage. Will the next generation all end up working till age 70?... Read more Auckland's secretive multimillionaire Spencer family have been banned from building two sleek new architect-designed houses on their $75 million Waiheke Island estate... Read more Inland Revenue has set up its own rich list, ranking the wealthiest individuals according to their risk of tax avoidance, with property developers high on the list for a tax review.... Read more Small retailers can expect more pain in the coming year as retail spending stays low and rents increase to keep up with inflation... Read more Home owners planning to make a quick buck renting their houses during the Rugby World Cup need to be careful - the taxman is watching you.... Read more The Inland Revenue Department's focus on the property market has not let up due to the recession... Read more The Residential Tenancies Amendment Act was passed by Parliament yesterday, with no last-minute changes to what was previously on the table... Read more Problem tenants who leave without paying their rents now face a fine of up to $1000 under tougher new laws, which also provide bigger fines for harassing neighbours... Read more Brian Gaynor. Two developments this week, the proposed acquisition of a 51 per cent stake in Synlait Milk by a Chinese company and the takeover offer for NZ Farming Systems Uruguay (NZFSU), underline the inadequacies of our capital markets... Read more Daily Sharechat. The weakness in Opus International Consultants' share price presents an opportunity, says First NZ Capital analyst Kar Yue Yeo... Read more NZ Market Report. New Zealand stocks rose for the third time in four sessions, as a slew of positive corporate results on Wall Street helped bolster sentiment for equities worldwide. Rakon, AMP, and Air New Zealand led the market up... Read more
Australian Headlines Australian Market Report. Australian sharemarket jumped to a four-week high yesterday as financials, materials and energy stocks led broad-based gains... Read more A criminal investigation into key executives involved in the collapse of the electronic payments company Bill Express, is under way... Read more A steady run of good news against a backdrop of improving global optimism saw the Australian dollar soar to 10-week highs this week, before the release of the results of stress tests being conducted on European banks... Read more As political debate rages over climate change, population and migration, businesses are concerned over the lack of discussion on the direction of the Australian economy.... Read more Australia's export prices surged by the most on record last quarter as Asian demand fuelled huge increases for iron ore and coal, a bonanza for the economy that also underlines the risk of further rises in interest rates... Read more Michael Larkin, the last chief executive of Babcock & Brown, has admitted the financial group was hugely indebted during its collapse.... Read more When former Babcock & Brown chief Phil Green fronted a liquidator’s hearing in the Federal Court into last year’s $3billion corporate collapse, it took just minutes to strip away appearances and reveal the private reality of what had been a very public face.... Read more Corporate raider Nicholas Bolton has lost his legal battle with internet domain-name regulator auDA over a security breach at his domain-name business... Read more Billions of dollars in planned investment that has been frozen by carbon policy uncertainty is set to remain under a cloud, despite the government's latest moves to curb emissions... Read more Glenn Stevens and John Laker are flying to Switzerland this weekend to be briefed on proposed global banking capital rules... Read more National Australia Bank has returned fire at its Sydney rivals... Read more Commercial property rents will double and residential property prices will rise by up to 40 per cent during the next four to five years, economists say... Read more Figures closely associated with Trio Capital had direct links to the Michael McGurk saga, including the notorious incident when goons armed with sledgehammers attacked a car driven by Maurice Terreiro... Read more Seven Group Holdings has received a market boost from a strong quarterly result by US construction and mining equipment giant Caterpillar.... Read more Qantas executives yesterday had yet to hear from British Airways about its move to make the Australian carrier party to a British lawsuit.... Read more Australians' desire to take advantage of historically low fares for international travel has helped Sydney Airport to record a double-digit increase in its half-year earnings.... Read more David Fox can barely contain his excitement about snaring a deal to get Tiger Airways flying out of Avalon Airport.... Read more Woodside Petroleum, Australia's second-biggest oil and gas producer, said its sales rose 48 per cent in the second quarter and it "continues to ramp up" efforts to find gas to expand a liquefied natural gas project... Read more Contracting giant Leighton Holdings has raised $US350 million ($392m) in the US private placement market.... Read more OZ Minerals' takeover designs on Sandfire Resources have taken a hit after a new strategic partner emerged on its share register... Read more Improving performance in the Australian market and a pick-up in business travel are boosting earnings at travel agent Flight Centre.... Read more The wealth manager Perpetual, which is on the hunt for a chief executive, faces further top-level changes. The one-time MLC boss Peter Scott is poised to take charge as chairman this year... Read more Gas and renewable energy companies will benefit from the Gillard government's proposals... Read more Struggling medical diagnostics company Sonic Healthcare has moved to allay concerns about the performance of its offshore operations... Read more Salary earners who sacrifice part of their income towards superannuation would have thought twice about the strategy this week... Read more Copper explorer Sandfire Resources has signed a $93.9 million deal with the world's third-largest copper smelter... Read more Photon shareholders will have to wait until next week to see if the company can secure the backing of a key business unit... Read more The sale of the NSW government's waste services business, WSN Environmental Solutions, is on track to be completed by the end of the year.... Read more Michael Stutchbury. Next week's inflation release will stamp an undeniable number on the pressing election issue Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott are cynically dissembling. The June quarter Consumer Price Index will be a statistical indicator of the urban infrastructure policy failures threatening to choke the economy's growth... Read more Danny John. The management of Babcock & Brown had proposed paying a $50 million dividend from its last-ever half-year profits just as its income was collapsing and it was forced to withdraw its previous forecast of another year of record earnings in 2008... Read more Marcus Padley. Of the 32 initial public offerings this year, 22 are under water, three are breaking even and only seven have made money. This month the $1.3 billion Valemus float was pulled after the market fell 15.7 per cent between launch and listing... Read more
International Headlines 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 Seven out of 91 European banks have failed stress tests designed to assess the health of the EU's banking system... Read more German business confidence increased in July by the largest amount for 20 years, a closely-watched survey suggests... Read more The UK's economy grew at a faster-than-expected pace of 1.1% in the April to June period, official figures show... Read more Ford surprised Wall Street with a $US2.6bn profit in the last quarter as it continued to take sales from its rivals... Read more Dozens of ships in the Gulf of Mexico are preparing to leave the site of the BP oil spill as Tropical Storm Bonnie gathers pace... Read more Canadian-born media baron Conrad Black must stay in the US at least until his next court hearing on 16 August... Read more The White House said Friday it expects that unemployment will stay at or above 9% until 2012, but at the same time forecast that the economy will grow by at least 4% in 2011 and 2012... Read more Fast food giant McDonald's has reported a 12% rise in profits between April and May compared to the same period last year, as sales continued to rise... Read more A total of $US47 billion worth of deals were struck this year at Farnborough Airshow, the event's organizers announced Friday... Read more Microsoft has reported profits of $US4.52bn for the three months between April and June - up 48% on the same period last year... Read more Dell has agreed to pay $US100m to settle charges that the computer maker used accounting fraud to make it appear it was meeting analysts' profit forecasts... Read more Intel paid Dell $4 billion to steer clear of chips from rival AMD -- and then Dell lied to its investors about the money trail, according to the SEC charges Dell is paying $100 million to settle... Read more Vodafone says quarterly service revenues have risen for the first time since the global recession hit... Read more Amazon shares plunged 13% in after-hours trading after the company's second-quarter earnings came up far short of analyst expectations... Read more A Dutch court has found multinational Trafigura guilty of illegally exporting toxic waste from Amsterdam and concealing the nature of the cargo... Read more Robert Peston. On the face of it, the results of the health checks on Europe's banks are good news. Regulators will claim that the European Union's financial institutions are in better shape than many investors and creditors believe. But some will argue that the tests simply weren't demanding enough, as per my notes in recent days... Read more
|
