Analysis and Discussion with Director Scott Licamele of Red Star Asset Management (Starting Bell)

Dr Russel Norman: Does he agree that one of the central drivers for the imbalance in foreign debt and the current account deficit in the New Zealand economy has been the housing markets speculative bubble, and will his Government support measures that tackle the bubble directly, such as a capital gains tax excluding the family home, and ring-fencing the losses from investment properties? Hon JOHN KEY: Yes, in answer to the first question. In terms of the latter question, the member will be aware that Bob Buckle is leading a tax review. I do not want to prejudge that review, because there may be all sorts of things it looks at. But I personally have stated many times, and am happy to state again today, that I do not support a capital gains tax. Hon Phil Goff: Is it also the Prime Ministers attempt to impress credit rating agencies that is the reason he is appointing Don Brash as head of the Productivity Commission, notwithstanding that that brings back an agenda that the electorate rejected decisively in 2005? Hon JOHN KEY: From my memory we lost the 2005 election by only a smidgen, so I am not quite sure that is the right assessment. I do not know whether I have missed something, but I cannot understand the Leader of the Oppositions fixation with rating agencies at the moment. When Standard and Poors upgraded us, apparently it was the guy who got it wrong with regard to Enron and should not be believed.

Feb. 8 (Bloomberg) — Paul Maco, partner at Vinson & Elkins LLP, talked with Bloomberg Law’s Lee Pacchia on Feb. 2 about financial difficulties facing state and local governments.

www.stockmarketfunding.com Bank bailouts bleeding Ireland! Ireland’s credit rating downgraded by Moody’s StockmarketFunding.com’s CEO & Chief Economic Analyst Mario Marciano alerted investors and traders over a year ago of the credit risks of the Eurozone, specifically Ireland and how the risks were systemic and would ultimately lead to debt downgrades. We highlighted the problems with the very high debt Ratio. In this video we discuss US GDP increase of 3% and how that can easily go to 0%. The support of the current banking system in Europe as made it clear that Ireland has a problem. These worldwide leaders didn’t want to do the right thing and clean up their balance sheets. They decided to bailout Greece and we told people about the longer term implications of such irrational policies. The earnings cycle in the US will go down as global spending continues to decline. This is the peek in those earnings cycle as we’ve been highlighting in recent videos. On 30 September 2008, the Irish Government declared a guarantee that intends to safeguard the Irish banking system. The Irish State guarantee, backed by taxpayer funds, covers “all deposits (retail, commercial, institutional and interbank), covered bonds, senior debt and dated subordinated debt”. As of December 2007, Ireland’s net unemployment benefits for long-term unemployed people across four family types (single people, lone parents, single-income couples with and without children) was the third highest of the OECD …

Fitch Ratings cut BP Plc’s (NYSE:BP) credit rating Tuesday to two above “junk” due to the mounting costs of the clean-up in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, as well as the company’s ability to meet future liabilities, according to a Bloomberg report. The company’s long-term issuer default and senior unsecured ratings were downgraded from AA to BBB, following a June 3rd reduction from AA+, said Fitch officials in a statement. President Obama, along with US lawmakers, have cautioned BP this week that the company needs to suspend dividends and immediately put money aside for legal issues that will most likely surface as a result of the worst oil spill in US history. Fitch officials said they would be “surprised” if BP did not suspend its quarterly payout until the full monetary damage is clear; analysts expect the clean-up costs and pending liabilities to cost up to $40 billion. A Fitch statement read: “The recent claims by US state and federal authorities that BP escrow significant sums preemptively, ahead of any agreed claims process, represent a material change in approach.” BP already has an estimated $23 billion in debt, according to data by Bloomberg. Shares of the company are trading down 1.47% Tuesday afternoon at $30.22.

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KB Home (KBH) is down 5.06% and trading at its session low of $10.30 as the housing sector slides with the broader market and KB gets an extra push from a Standard & Poor’s downgrade of its corporate credit rating. KB Home and other home builder stocks have been under selling pressure throughout the session. The Philadelphia Housing Sector Index is down 3.63%. S&P dropped its rating to B+ from BB- on the housing market’s weak rebound. S&P, however, raised KB Home’s ratings outlook to “stable” from “negative.” “Our rating on KB Home reflects our expectation that this Los Angeles-based homebuilder’s bottom line will remain under pressure through 2011, given the unsteady overall housing market recovery, KB Home’s weaker new orders, and the company’s substantial overhead costs,” said James Fielding, an S&P credit analyst, in a statement.

Fitch Ratings downgraded Ireland’s credit rating to A+ from AA- and said that it may do so again if the economy fails to recover and political support for budget cuts weakens, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The ratings agency also set its outlook to negative. The downgrade may push Ireland’s borrowing costs higher and make it more difficult for the government to meet its debt repayments without seeking help from the EU’s European Financial Stability Fund.

ukipmeps.org | http ► European Parliament, Strasbourg – 15.06.2010 ► Speaker:Godfrey Bloom MEP, UKIP (Yorkshire & North Lincolnshire), EFD group. ► Debate: Oral questions – GUE/NGL, S&D, PPE, ALDE : Commission – Credit rating agencies – O-0051/2010, O-0072/2010, O-0077/2010, O-0078/2010 ……………………………. ► Video: EbS (European Parliament) ……………………………. ► EU Member States: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Spain, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, United Kingdom

(www.abndigital.com) Credit rating has been cited by financial experts as the passport to the capital markets, against this backdrop; An international debt capital markets and ratings seminar was held in Nairobi focusing on improving credit rating.