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1 week ago | 
businessdesk.co.nz | Simon Robertson |Peter Griffin |David Chaplin |Alan Bollard
Decisional conflict: a psychological state characterised by uncertainty, discomfort, or tension that arises when an individual faces a decision, particularly one involving complex, high-stakes or value-laden options. That sounds a lot like a Brick Top (Alan Ford) speech from the 2000 movie, Snatch. You will either get it, or you won’t. The language is a bit colourful to provide links here.Where are we atAs I write (Thursday morning in New Zealand), the world’s largest index is -15% from its highs.
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2 weeks ago | 
businessdesk.co.nz | Ian Llewellyn |Simon Robertson
SHINTR Mon, Apr 07 2025 09:46 am Ongoing disclosure notice attached for Paul Newfield. Announcement PDF Markets News Markets Chance of winter energy crisis reducing Mulitple measures taken by the electricity sector to reduce the risk of extreme prices. To join your company account for BusinessDesk and enjoy full access, enter your email and we’ll send you details Your Email:
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3 weeks ago | 
businessdesk.co.nz | David Chaplin |Dileepa Fonseka |Simon Robertson |Cameron Bagrie
Community trusts are a law unto themselves.Or a law unto the Community Trusts Act 1999 that set the current ground rules for the 12 semi-autonomous charitable investment entities spread across New Zealand.The community trust dozen was originally seeded in 1988 from the sale of government shares in a string of regional banks with a brief to fund local good works (and not blow the capital).But despite creating what is now a circa $5 billion sector out of public money, the legislation affords...
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3 weeks ago | 
businessdesk.co.nz | Simon Robertson |Pattrick Smellie
By Jason Zweig If you’d bought the leading exchange-traded fund investing in long-term US Treasury bonds at its peak in August 2020, you’d have lost 41.3% by now – even after reinvesting your interest income.Two ETFs that amplify the daily returns on long-term Treasurys make that wild performance look tame.'Extra-touchy funds'Over the same period, the Direxion Daily 20+ Year Treasury Bull 3X Shares ETF, which seeks to triple the daily return of a long-term Treasury bond index, lost 90.2%,...
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3 weeks ago | 
businessdesk.co.nz | Dileepa Fonseka |Simon Robertson |Cameron Bagrie |Peter Griffin
There was an audible groan along Shortland Street and Lambton Quay last week when the Government unveiled its plans to reform the Resource Management Act. The groan is perhaps best summed up in four words: Here we go again.Or as Russell McVeagh’s lawyers put it in a note, the proposed Resource Management Act (RMA) changes mark the “return of the RMA reform roundabout”.
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3 weeks ago | 
businessdesk.co.nz | Simon Robertson |Cameron Bagrie |Peter Griffin |Brian Robins
"Okay, God, you want me to talk to you? Please send me a sign!" This is a quote from the movie Bruce Almighty, which features Jim Carrey as the lead. It’s a solid 8/10. After he yells this into his steering wheel, a truck full of literal signs (Stop, Yield, Wrong way, Dead end, etc.) pulls in front of him. He dismisses it, saying: "What’s with this guy? Can’t he see I’m in the middle of something here?!"I sometimes feel people in the investment space react to the markets in this way: the sig...
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1 month ago | 
businessdesk.co.nz | David Chaplin |Dileepa Fonseka |Maria Slade |Simon Robertson
It’s an unwritten rule of financial markets that regulators always lag industry and fraudsters in the technology race.
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1 month ago | 
businessdesk.co.nz | Dileepa Fonseka |Maria Slade |Simon Robertson |Rachael Judge
If one thing tells you how far along New Zealand has pushed its relationship with India, it’s the jokes.When Prime Minister Christopher Luxon spoke at the Raisina Dialogue in New Delhi, he joked about the cricket rivalry between the two countries, and India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar laughed along. Rewind to 2022, and the NZ-India relationship was so poor that it was fodder for a more pointed joke from Jaishankar at NZ’s expense.“New Zealand and India have a great relationship.
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1 month ago | 
businessdesk.co.nz | Maria Slade |Simon Robertson |Rachael Judge |Peter Griffin
The Awakeri Wetlands is a long-term project to turn peaty, flood-prone former farmland at Takanini, in Auckland’s south, into sites suitable for housing.At the opening of the first stage in November 2020, the council-run Our Auckland website reported that the wetland channel was much more than a large-scale piece of stormwater infrastructure; it was a re-creation of an ancient kauri swamp.This is clearly a great public asset of high ecological value, and given the $100 million-plus project is...
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1 month ago | 
businessdesk.co.nz | Simon Robertson |Rachael Judge |Peter Griffin |Cameron Bagrie
Conundrum (noun): A confusing or difficult problem or question that often seems to have no clear solution. Frank Herbert, the author of Dune, once said, “The mystery of life isn’t a problem to solve, but a reality to experience.” The situationWe have a storm brewing in Silicon Valley, and I keep trying to form views on how it will end and who the winners and losers will be. It’s all going to be great ultimately, but there will be an enormous amount of capital vaporised during the journey.
