ELECTION OPENER - KEY ON POINTS.

For those oldies who, after being skinned out by finance companies, are looking for somewhere safe to tuck their savings other than under the kapok, the Government partial asset sales offer a good investment.

THe media initially tried to run the story as a wholesale sell down but its not. It offers ordinary New Zealanders a chance to make a pretty safe investment in the future of New Zealand while the government maintains control.

Thats a "win - win " as they used to say. "Mixed ownership" says John Key and that sums it up nicely.

While the flag ship power and energy companies are in the mix - we would have liked to have seen the net cast wider.

The other upside is that while the SOE's currently have one reasonably demanding shareholder - they can look to a future of more shareholders and with that comes the risks and rewards.

And lets face it the voting punters are going to be turned on by this more than Phil the Dill dying his hair.

So while Goff offers up enhanced individual elegance via the dye pot, offers up an elegant solution that's good for the country and good for Mr and Mrs Zealander.

So

Round 1 of the 2011 election bout:

Phil the Dill vs Pretty Boy Key

UNANIMOUS DECISION ON POINTS to KEY.

HUBBARDS CUPBOARD - PART DEUX

Well we hoped this wouldnt be the case but the more we read the less we like.

We reckoned that Hubbards cupboard might be bareand there might be couple of nice boxes of chockies in there but the rest of the shelves have cheap crap well past their use by date.

We are well aware of the impact that the collapse of this empire could have but we do not want to see the government bail it out.

and now NBR is reporting that Bill English is staying in NZ to keep abreast of Hubbard developments.. Well done Bill.

OLD HUBBARDS CUPBOARD IS BARE

The Alan Hubbard affair always had a whiff about it.. We think there is still a bit of the Walter Mittys about this affair. Anyway, we are pretty sure we heard a very sad collective sigh from the South Island when the news nobody really wanted to believe trickled out this morning..

There appears to be bugger all ingredients left to bake a good financial pie with in Hubbards Cupboard.

Bummer...

MA AND PA NEED ROOLS

Cactus kate and I are of the same mind. She reckons that the oldies need supervision when it comes to investments - I reckoned a while back that they also require supervison when it came to voting. So I agree with Cactus - come 65 and the aged P should be required to get permission before making any big decisions - voting and money at the top of the list.
We love our parents but a bit like women facing menopause, they make some dumb decisions so they need assistance. Its not like Cactus and me need their money - we have made our own - we just don't want to see our parent's hard earned dolleros swallowed by sharks.
My Ma and Pa played it safe and poked all their spare spondies in bloody bonus bonds and have been rewarded, they still have their money, and a bit , and have the thrill of going to the letter box and to check if they have a plain envelope that says they got a bit more . So that takes care of the lotto fixation. And at anytime they know their original investment is safe. I wont even try to talk about rates of return, NPV etc. Sadly I'm still working through the fact that my old man reckons that deep down Winston is still a good bastard.

CLUSTER FUCK ANYONE?

DOES ANYONE ELSE GET THE FEELING THAT THE DEPOSIT GUARANTEE SCHEME IS A STUFF UP?

NBR takes a look and its not good news More here

Finance companies should pay for guarantee
by Fiona Robertson | Monday October 13 2008 - 03:51pm
Including finance companies in the government’s deposit guarantee scheme is a boon for the troubled sector but it raises serious questions over the free fee ride for smaller deposit-takers.

Interest.co.nz publisher David Chaston said the guarantee was “manna from heaven” for finance companies, which have suffered full-on investor flight after recent failures in the sector.

KPMG managing partner Andrew Dinsdale said guaranteeing full deposit sums across non-banks was an “unheard of” move. “… It creates a whole series of questions.”

Finance companies could make more money by dropping deposit interest rates, as they might no longer need to offer higher rates to attract investors, Mr Dinsdale said.