Archive for the ‘Financial Today’ Category

ANZ Holds Mortgage Lending Rate Steady But Plans Staff Cuts

January 21st, 2012 Travis Brown

Mortgage holders who borrowed from Australian banking major ANZ can breathe a sigh of relief as the lender said it would hold its variable mortgage rate, however employees of the bank are not so lucky as they await news over a possible cut in jobs.

Last week, the Finance Sector Union confirmed that the lender has plans on axing hundreds of positions over the following six moths.

Leanne Shingles, communications officer for the Union, in an interview with news.com.au said that whilst ANZ had indicated there would be a number of job cuts, did not specify exactly how many, or where they would be cutting.

Some reports suggest as many as 1000 jobs would be cut at the lender.

Ms. Shingles said there was “no justification” for lenders cutting back on staff after posting record profits during the previous year.

“Whenever there is a need or a perceived need to cut costs the first thing that employers or industry do is cut jobs. There

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Tags: Rate, Rate Steady

Why the Cascade of Downgrades Has Barely Begun

January 18th, 2012 Travis Brown

If you think our politicians are often hypocritical in their denials of financial sins, take a look at what’s happened in Europe:

Just a few weeks ago, when leading European politicians feared their countries were going to lose their triple-A ratings, they reacted with anger and venom, tacitly acknowledging that the looming ratings downgrades would be tragic.

But on Friday, when the dreaded downgrades were actually announced, those very same politicians solemnly denied that the event was of any importance!

Where’s the truth?

For the best answer, you need only remember the famous 19th century refrain of Otto von Bismarck: “Never believe anything in politics until it has been officially denied.”

And for the best investment guidance, you need only refer to the early 20th century warnings of Bernard Baruch: “Never follow the crowd.”

Right now, the crowd seems to think last week’s downgrades of major European countries are a “non-event.” But here are the facts:

Fact #1
When the world’s largest countries lose their triple-A rating, it’s a watershed.

Case

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SSgA Plans Second Latin America ETF

December 29th, 2011 Travis Brown

State Street Global Advisors (SSgA), the fund provider behind the SPDR ETFs, filed paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission to bring to market an ETF that tracks an index based on publicly traded companies in Latin America. It will be SSgA’s second fund focused on the region.

The SPDR S&P MILA 40 ETF is entering a regional niche occupied by only a few funds such as the segment leader, the $1.7 billion iShares S&P Latin America 40 Index Fund (NYSEArca: ILF) and SSgA’s own $115 million SPDR S&P Emerging Latin America ETF (NYSEArca: GML), which has 107 holdings. Apart from size of the portfolio, it’s not immediately clear how SSgA’s new fund differs from GML.

Latin America has become increasingly popular among investors in the past 10 years. A huge part of that story is the ongoing rise of Brazil, which is one of the world’s biggest agricultural producers and is quickly turning into a big oil producer as well. Also, cou

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Tags: Etf

Recall: 2011 Nissan Juke for faulty turbocharger sensor bracket

December 16th, 2011 Travis Brown

Nissan North America is recalling more than 28,000 Nissan Juke sport utility vehicles for a turbocharger boost sensor bracket which may break off due to a faulty weld. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, if the bracket falls into the engine’s air inlet tube, the car may stall unexpectedly and increase the risk of a crash.

The recall affects 2011 model year Nissan Juke SUVs with turbocharger-equipped engines made from April 2010 to May 2011.

Nissan plans to contact owners to bring in their recalled 2011 Nissan Juke to local dealerships where mechanics will inspect, and if necessary, replace the air inlet tube.

According to NHTSA, Nissan will begin this notification process on Jan. 9, 2012.

For more information, consumers can call Nissan toll-free (800-647-7261) or visit the NHTSA website: .

Tags: Bracket, Nissan Juke, Sensor Bracket

How to save on finding a tenant

December 8th, 2011 admin

finding a tenantWhat do you need to do as a landlord? First of all, you need to get a good and reliable tenant. This is necessary to have an income stream which is your main goal. Finding a tenant may be necessary if you even do not have a property and only rent an apartment. This problem arises when you want to move out, but still have a few months left. So, getting an appropriate tenant is very important.

There are many ways of advertising for tenants and you need to discover what works best for you. Just put an ad in the local newspaper can work well in some places, but today more and more people use the Internet to find a home.

Ideally, you should show an apartment by yourself. It is obvious that the property should be clean and presentable to attract the best tenants and highest rent. Read all post…

Tags: inding a tenant

Monetary collusion masking a vulnerable Aussie dollar

November 30th, 2011 Travis Brown

This week global central banks announced a coordinated effort to inject liquidity into credit markets. From Reuters:

“The central banks of the United States, euro zone, Japan, Canada, Britain and Switzerland announced on Wednesday coordinated global action to provide liquidity to the financial system, lowering the price on existing dollar swaps.”

As frequently as these monetary powers must work together in world-saving plans, this is only the third instance of this particular type of announced collusion.

The first was in December 2007. The second was in September 2008.

Here is what happened then:

Not exactly the market reaction we’ve come to know from the more popular (and admittedly larger) quantitative easing measures implemented by the Federal Reserve.

Here is the QE1 and QE2 impact on the S&P 500 as a reminder:

The financial markets’ kneejerk reaction this week to the coordinated central bank action was one of optimism. But I d

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