Archive for the ‘Financial Analyst’ Category

ChCh Businesses Respond To Demand For Variety and Quality

No Comments » | Posted by Joseph Carr-Boyd
May 20 2013

A number of small businesses are using their talent and creativity to respond to the needs of the re-build arrivals and locals alike, says Donna Miles the owner of sandvich , a Christchurch-based business re-creating some of the worlds best-loved

Media Release For Immediate Release

ChCh Businesses Respond To Growing Demand For Variety and Quality

Rebuild Visitors Encourage Growth In Niche Markets
The post-earthquake creative energy in Christchurch is not limited to gap-filler projects.

A number of small businesses are using their talent and creativity to respond to the needs of the re-build arrivals and locals alike, says Donna Miles the owner of sandvich, a Christchurch-based business re-creating some of the world’s best-loved sandwiches.

She says the majority of sandvich’s clients are either well-travelled locals or new professional arrivals into the city.

“We have had a phenomenal response from day 1; 100% growth in sandwich sales in our first outlets in two local supermarkets. One of our customers, a local Engineering firm, has recently had three new employees from the U.K, U.S. and Spain; they are all very happy to have healthy and exciting takeout lunch options available to them nearby”.

Miles says there has been an equally strong response from local residents and local schools too. She say

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Demand for fixed mortgages hits all-time high

No Comments » | Posted by Joseph Carr-Boyd
May 18 2013

Borrowers have rushed to fixed-rate mortgages in unprecedented numbers in recent months, industry figures show.

The trend has not been driven by increased fears of interest rate rises but because fixed-rate mortgages have fallen so much farther than “tracker” rates in 2013, according to experts.

In the detail of figures published this week by the Council of Mortgage Lenders, it was disclosed that 83pc of new mortgages taken in the first three months of the year were on fixed rates.

That is the highest proportion since the industry began gathering such figures in 1993.

Tables: Today’s best mortgage rates (Moneysupermarket)

The figure had fallen as low as 19pc a little more than a decade ago, but it has been elevated throughout the financial crisis of recent years.

It hit 69pc last year (see chart) but has suddenly stepped even higher in recent months, reaching 84pc in March, mainly because the lowest fixed rates have almost reached parity with the cheapest tracker deals.

“Borrowers are simply asking themselves why they would want a tracker when there’s such little upside to taking one,” said David Hollingworth of mortgage broker London & Country.

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The Rise of a Stock-Market Blogger

No Comments » | Posted by Joseph Carr-Boyd
May 12 2013

Kristine Andersen likes to blog, tweet, and trade stocks. And a lot of people like to follow her—more than 64,000 at last count. Pinpointing the number of followers is an inexact science, but the sheer size of Andersen’s figures rivals those of much better-known bloggers like Henry Blodget, who claims 77,000.

Andersen is one of the more prolific bloggers on Seeking Alpha, where 1.7 million online subscribers get stock-market analysis from a very diverse group of 7,000 contributors. Many have or, like Blodget, once had jobs in finance. Some haven’t, but are well-placed to analyze industries in which they work. Still others are accountants or economists who suss out investing opportunities using financial ratios and macroeconomic indicators.

She doesn’t fit into any of those categories. Based in Santa Monica, Calif., Andersen is a mathematician who has been trading off and on for nearly 20 years. She’s a self-taught investor who churns out three blog posts a day, and has a talent for marketing, which is on display at seekingalpha.com as well as her own Website, StockMarketCookBook.com. (Blodget is on a different platform.) There Dr. Kris, as she’s known online, opines on everything from market internals to fundamental trading themes like sector rotation, while serving up investment ideas from a pink-bordered recipe menu that includes Earnings Etouffe and, of course, the daily Blue Plate Specials, for which she charges. <

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New infographic highlights people’s insurance buying habits

No Comments » | Posted by Joseph Carr-Boyd
May 10 2013

A new infographic from internet marketing specialists Speedie Consultants launches today – highlighting people’s insurance buying habits The infographic highlights key data from a study* carried out across the UK and encompassing working people of both sexes, aged 18-59+, as well as students, including:

  • men are 10% more likely to buy cover online compared to women;
  • females buy more life, travel, home and pet insurance online than men;
  • 48% of people find the insurance they need by using a search engine – compared to just 8% who see a TV advert and then go online to buy a product;
  • 13% of people want to buy online but cannot as their preferred provider doesn’t offer the facility to buy insurance online;
  • car insurance is the most popular product bought online.

Jason Hulott, Director from Speedie Consultants says: The reason why we commissioned the study was to see what drives sales, what turns off potential customers, and to see how what we learned could help insurance brokers build their business.

It will also easily highlight to a broker where else they can be marketing for new business and also motivate them to get online if they arent already.

The infographic can be viewed here:

Is it possible to live debt free?

No Comments » | Posted by Joseph Carr-Boyd
May 05 2013

This post is from staff writer Suba Iyer.

“Modern man drives a mortgaged car over a bond-financed highway on credit-card gas.” ~Earl Wilson

So far, we have lived debt free. We used to live paycheck to paycheck because our spending was out of control, but luckily we never got into debt. Once we got our act together, not having any debt was tremendously helpful in quickly building our net worth up.

A couple of weeks ago, a conversation with a fellow blogger sparked an interesting topic. In his opinion, it is impossible to live debt free before anyone turns 50. He added that, our society is credit based, and thus it is simply not possible for normal people. Some people do it, but they either have to be extreme frugalists who live like hermits or trust fund babies who had everything given to them.

I am not so sure. Is it really impossible for people who make an average living to live without any debt?

Cultivating a debt free mind set

Everywhere we turn, be it the news, the radio, the internet or friends and acquaintances, everyone will emphasize the fact that our nation has embraced debt. We are comfortable carrying debt as long as we are making payments. It is difficult to break out of that mind set and choose to be debt free. We have to break free of the ingrained tendency to think that debt will fix all problems. Ther

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MARKET CLOSE: NZ shares fall ahead of MRP sale close

No Comments » | Posted by Joseph Carr-Boyd
Apr 30 2013

May 2 New Zealand shares fell ahead of the close of the MightyRiverPower offer as investors free up funds to participate in the government sale. Skellerup Holdings dropped after cutting its annual profit guidance a second time.

MARKET CLOSE: NZ shares fall ahead of MRP sale close; Skellerup drops on guidance

May 2 – New Zealand shares fell ahead of the close of the MightyRiverPower offer as investors free up funds to participate in the government sale. Skellerup Holdings dropped after cutting its annual profit guidance a second time.

The NZX 50 Index dropped 28.55 points, or 0.6 percent, to 4574.46. Within the index, 31 stocks fell, 12 rose and seven were unchanged. Turnover was $149.5 million.

Stocks were generally weaker across Asia, with the Nikkei 225 Index down 1 percent, after a second reading on China’s HSBC Flash PMI came in weaker.

Skellerup, the industrial rubber goods maker, tumbled 10 percent to $1.33 after saying net profit would be $17 million in the year ended June 30, from a $20 million forecast in February, because drought had hurt local demand and North American and European sales were tracking below forecast.

“Whilst the very recent rain is a welcome relief for our customers and Skellerup, we will not fully recover the deferred sales within the current financial year as farmers will delay some of their buying till the new season,” chief executive David Mair said.

Diligent Board Member Services fell 6.1 percent to $6.81 and Xero declined 6 percent to $12.50 as the two tech darlings extended their retreat from record highs.

Fisher Paykel Healthcare declined about 3 percent to $2.61 and SkyCity Entertainment Group fell 2.9 percent to $4.40. Sky Net

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