Economy Watch

Kia ora. Welcome to Friday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand. I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz. Today we lead with news American households are struggling as inflation pressures consume their reserves. In the US there were 181,000 new initial jobless claims last week, about what seasonal factor...

Kia ora. Welcome to Thursday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand. I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz. Today we lead with news oil prices have tumbled as the US seems to give up on most of its stated objectives, including the promise of safe-passage for shipping , in a u-turn to extract itself from...

Kia ora. Welcome to Wednesday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand. I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz. Today we lead with news that although the US claims the ceasefire with Iran is holding and "ships are lining up to transit", in fact, very little is moving in the area between Iran's red lines. An...

Kia ora. Welcome to Tuesday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand. I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz. Today we lead with news conflict in the Persian Gulf has erupted again with attacks on US naval forces trying to open the waterway for US flagged vessels. Iran also hit the UAE. Iran also warned tha...

Kia ora. Welcome to Monday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand. I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz. Today we lead with news it has now been 66 days since the Strait of Hormuz has been largely shut and the two combatants seem to have descended into stalemate (although the Iranian's seem to have atta...

Kia ora. Welcome to Friday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand. I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz. Today we lead with news investors are ignoring big (geopolitical) risks by taking even bigger new tech risks. On Wall Street, tech firms are reporting a profit gusher. Google (+81% rise in profits),...

Kia ora. Welcome to Thursday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand. I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz. Today we lead with news financial markets are starting to see the international geopolitical risks as something that can undermine their bull run. The oil price rises caused by Trump's Gulf War are...

Kia ora. Welcome to Wednesday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand. I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz. Today we lead with news of fractures emerging in the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, and of OPEC itself. But first up today there was a dairy Pulse auction , but this one bringing few changes fro...

Kia ora. Welcome to Tuesday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand. I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz. Today we lead with news oil prices are rising as 'peace talks' stall. And the German Chancellor has said the US is being 'humiliated' by Iran. In the US, the Dallas Fed factory survey shows activity...

Kia ora. Welcome to Friday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand. I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz. Today we lead with news the breakdown of free passage in the Strait of Hormuz seems to have others considering the possibilities. Even if it isn't a formal idea, an Indonesian minister has wondered o...

Kia ora. Welcome to Thursday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand. I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz. Today we lead with news Iran has attacked three ships in Strait of Hormuz and detaining two others so far after Trump indefinitely extended is ceasefire. It is a standoff over Tehran’s closing of t...

Kia ora. Welcome to Wednesday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand. I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz. Today we lead with news the US-wished resumption of talks with Iran don't seem to be happening. The Strait of Homuz remains closed, and even if it was re-opened it is never going back to 'normal'....

Kia ora. Welcome to Tuesday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand. I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz. Today we lead with news Trump's Gulf War is back in escalation mode with the two belligerents' trading harsh rhetoric. Which of course means no oil is getting through. Kuwait has declared force maje...

Kia ora. Welcome to Monday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand. I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz. Today we lead with news expectations of an imminent resolution of the Persian Gulf standoff have stalled. Iranian officials have reversed reopening the Strait of Hormuz after the US refused to end it...

Kia ora. Welcome to Friday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand. I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz. Today we lead with news of little progress in renewed US-Iran 'peace talks'. They seem to have descended into talks about extending the ceasefire rather than resolving any issues. The Strait of Hormu...

Kia ora. Welcome to Thursday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand. I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz. Today we lead with news financial markets are betting Trump will endlessly extend the ceasefire with Iran and the crisis there will fade. Ships are getting through the Strait of Hormuz despite the...

Kia ora. Welcome to Wednesday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand. I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz. Today we lead with news the IMF has downgraded its global forecasts and said the world's economy is drifting into unpalatable conditions. A third recession since 2000 is possible, they say. The St...

Kia ora. Welcome to Tuesday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand. I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz. Today we lead with news the US blockade on the Strait of Hormuz is starting, and a notable feature is that no other country has agreed to join it. Oil prices have risen, along with prices for many o...

Kia ora. Welcome to Monday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand. I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz. Today we lead with news the US President has made ever more threats against Iran, now saying the US will blockade the Straits of Hormuz against friend and foe. The main losers will be the Gulf States...

Kia ora. Welcome to Friday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand. I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz. Today we lead with news the Middle East ceasefire deal is still an imaginary figment. Meanwhile, US real personal spending rose just +0.1% in February from January after stagnating in January. The fe...

Kia ora. Welcome to Thursday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand. I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz. Today we lead with news the US-announced ceasefire with Iran is struggling to hold, with Iran accusing the US and Israel of violations, and Iran launching attacks (counter-attacks?) on Gulf state a...

Kia ora. Welcome to Wednesday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand. I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz. Today we lead with news most things are in abeyance until noon (NZT) when the latest Trump genocidal threats on Iran come to a head. Financial markets are waiting to see how this plays out. And of...

Kia ora. Welcome to Tuesday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand. I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz. Today we lead with news most of our trading partners are coming under much heavier input cost pressure, along with supply-chain disruption. Meanwhile, US and Iran have rejected each other’s proposal...

Kia ora. Welcome to Thursday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand. I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz. Today we lead with news Trump is about to make a national address (9pm NZT) where he is expected to claim Iran wants a ceasefire (which Iran immediately said was false). Many expect he will pull th...

Kia ora. Welcome to Wednesday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand. I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz. Today we lead with news the Americans are talking up apparent signals from Tehran that will allow them to declare victory and go home. Markets are taking all this at face-value. But first today, t...