Construction economic rebound NZ. 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.
Bank of New Zealand senior economist Craig Ebert said the distractions of Europe's debt crisis have blinded some to the huge insurance payouts which will lead to extensive Christchurch home and non-residential construction. The country has also gone through a building slump since the global financial crisis of 2008, and even the effect of recovery from this slowdown would have a significant upward impact on the construction sector, he said. IBM helps oil companies manage data gush. IBM thinks it can make geologists and engineers more effective at mining the fast-growing wealth of data on everything from oil reservoirs to refineries to help them find, extract and process oil.
The computer services company has spent the past three years building a team of 5000 consultants, scattered around major oil basins worldwide, to help companies tackle the data explosion. Samsung replaces Nokia as leading phone maker. By Brian Corrigan Samsung became the world’s No.1 phone maker during the first quarter of 2012, with Gartner research showing that Nokia had been knocked off its perch for the first time in 14 years.
Mobile phone sales fell 2 per cent during the three-month-period to 419.1 million, the first time that sales have dropped since the second quarter of 2009. Gartner research analyst Anshul Gupta blamed the drop on an unexpected slowdown in Asia-Pacific demand, with consumers delaying purchases due to a lack of new products from leading brands. Global martphone sales continue to go from strength to strength. Apple’s sales jumped 96.2 per cent thanks largely to rapid growth in China, which is now its second biggest market behind the US. Devices running on Google’s Android operating system continue to dominate the smartphone market, accounting for 56.1 per cent of global sales.
Google Search Just Got 1,000 Times Smarter. The Google Search of the future is here.
Now. How Google search just got smarter. Knowledge Graph displays biographical information on Marie Curie in a panel next to Google’s standard results page.
Source: Google Ben Woodhead. FACEBOOK Why the IPO model is broken. Felix Salmon Tech IPOs are not always stellar performers, despite their reputation.
Chris Hondros, Getty Images As Facebook went public on Friday, it was set to be worth more than General Motors, the New York Times Company, and Sprint Nextel combined. Facebook employees spend all night programming in “Hackathon” before IPO makes them millionaires. Mark Zuckerberg (AP)
Foreign investment in China falls again. Iron ore demand to drop: Kloppers. A one-two blow from Greece and China. Greece Worries Pummel Markets. Oil prices to double by 2022, IMF paper warns. Amit Kara: German Stimulus Won't Save Europe. Why Australia won't catch the Greek disease. The best default Greece could have. Greeks withdraw €3bn in 10 days since election. Greeks are withdrawing large amounts of money fearing their country will leave the eurozone and return to the drachma.
Bankia clients pull out over 1 bln euros -report. Shares slump 2pc on mining sector declines. Australian stocks were down close to 2.1 per cent in afternoon trading with the resources-linked sectors doing it toughest on a day of broad-based declines.
At 1.50pm AEST on Wednesday, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was down 88.9 points, or 2.08 per cent, at 4,177.4 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index had fallen 89.9 points, or 2.1 per cent, to 4,226.4 points. The market opened about 1.3 per cent lower, as investors took their cues from a weak night on Wall Street and ongoing troubles in Europe, and moved further into the red during throughout the day. ■ The worst-performing sector was gold stocks, down 4.3 per cent, led by Newcrest Mining’s continuing decline, down 4.5 per cent today. ■ The metals and mining sector (down 3.7 per cent), was dominated by the downward movement of BHP Billiton (3.4 per cent so far today) and Rio Tinto, down 3.5 per cent. ■ Energy stocks fell 2.9 per cent in afternoon trading, with Woodside Petroleum down 3.3 per cent and Santos down 2.6 per cent.
Confidence ‘disappointing’: Westpac. Consumer confidence ... still surprisingly low.
Photo: Patrick Cummins Jacob Greber and Jenny Wiggins Toll Holdings chief executive Brian Kruger says conditions have never been tougher. “[I’ve] never seen or been involved in a market where there’s been so much noise from our customers about the need for us to help them manage their margin issues,” he said. Toll on Wednesday joined a growing list of companies to downgrade their profit forecasts. Goldilocks and the three economic shocks - The Drum. Updated Thu 17 May 2012, 12:10pm AEST. 2.7m Australians struggle to pay off credit. More than 2.7 million Australian consumers are finding it hard to meet their credit commitments, and many are likely to try to overcome difficulty by applying for more credit.
Data and intelligence provider Veda said on Thursday that about one in four among this group of consumers could fall into a debt spiral if Australia suffers an economic downturn. Veda's twice-yearly Australian Debt Survey found that in a time of economic stress 25 per cent of struggling consumers would seek to increase their credit card limit, mortgage or loan. In tough times, most consumers would draw upon their savings, before borrowing from family or drawing upon their superannuation. Veda said that, currently, consumer credit reports do not show a person's credit limit or if they are failing to make minimum payments on their credit cards or loans. "It makes it easier for someone already in trouble to get yet more credit, pushing further into a downward debt spiral," Veda said.
Volatility frustrates the funds. ING’s Asian Asset Management Operation Attracts Bids - Deal Journal Australia. By Alison Tudor and Prudence Ho ING Groep’s sale of its Asian investment management business has attracted bids from Japan’s Nikko Asset Management, Australia’s Macquarie Group and others, in an auction that could value the operations at around US$500 million, people familiar with the situation said Tuesday. Associated Press According to some of the people, those other bidders included Singapore’s United Overseas Bank. Forget the economy, there's blood in the water. Miners write Australia’s tax laws : Kearney. Commonwealth looking slimmer at the margins. Tasmanian deficit $283m despite higher taxes. Greece fears pushing up funding costs: CBA. CBA boss Ian Narev: “The financial strength of the group continues to enable us to take a long-term view of the business, with focus on enhancing our core capabilities of technology, a customer-focused culture and balance sheet strength, to drive customer satisfaction and good returns to our shareholders.”
Photo: Nic Walker George Liondis Commonwealth Bank of Australia has revealed that it was forced to make contingency plans in case of Greece’s exit from the euro as the debt-riddled country’s political crisis sends shockwaves reverberating through world markets. With Greece heading for fresh elections that could decide whether it remains in the euro zone, CBA chief executive Ian Narev said a retreat from the currency bloc would have a “material” impact on the global economy. Banks fund offshore investors. Banks won't break their sweet addiction. JPMorgan’s $2bn loss extraordinary: ANZ chief. Risk models pale imitations of real thing. Digital Edition. Aussie bankers are hot property abroad. Bank moves factored into RBA cut.
Scrap the big four’s ‘protected species’ status. Mark Bouris and Christopher Joye With four big banks that have a combined market captilalisation of about $250 billion, and control 80 to 90 per cent of all Australian financial transactions, and dominate the planning and funds management industries, it’s understandable they attract attention.
Suncorp’s Snowball slams budget message. Suncorp under a growing claims cost cloud.
The banking brontosaurus is nibbling at its own tail. US regulation debate a ‘banking hell’ Regulator defends higher fees. Shares down as European fears worsen. Superannuation Threat to your savings. House prices may fall further: NAB. “The reality is that house price decline does have an impact on consumer confidence” ... ABC Ken Henry itw. Former Treasury Head slams Euro and sees Aussie boon Australian Broadcasting Corporation Broadcast: 15/05/2012. Henry warns of upward pressure on ‘safe’ $A. RBA forecast raises rate cut hopes. States reel as GST slump bites. Mathew Dunckley, Michaela Whitbourn and Natalie Gerritsen State governments are reeling from a steep decline in forecast goods and services tax revenue as sluggish economic conditions create severe strains on state budgets already stretched after the global financial crisis. The expected decline could cause more job cuts in the public sector and has prompted calls for a new revenue source to supplement the GST.
Total expected federal payments to the states, including GST and grants, for the next two years have fallen by $15 billion since 2010.