Dec 19, 2017  -  Bitcoin: Flipping the Coin  - You must be familiar with the above quote if you’ve watched the Christian Bale movie The Big Short. Does that mean the Bitcoin is a bubble waiting to burst? Maybe. The truth is no one knows just yet. It’s difficult to assess whether something is a bubble by simply reading the news or following the market. So, let’s begin by understanding what is a Bitcoin?

Bitcoin is a decentralized, digital cryptocurrency. Confused? Let’s take an example. Let’s say that you are ordering headphones from Amazon via a seller and you want to know exactly where they’ve been before they were shipped to you. How do you find out? The answer is, you cannot. You can’t know the exact source of the product and you definitely cannot find out all the transactions related to those specific headphones.

Imagine if there was some sort of a digital ledger that could tell you all that and more? There is. Blockchain is a distributed digital ledger that stores all transactions related to a specific product or asset. But then what is a Bitcoin? Blockchain technology is what makes the Bitcoin possible.

Bitcoin is a peer to peer decentralized digital currency that is used to buy and sell products online. Decentralized means that the Bitcoin is not managed or issued by a company, government or financial institution. Bitcoin uses blockchain to store all transactions in a digital ledger which is then accessible to everyone globally using their computers. Now that you understand the basics, let’s understand why there is so much hype surrounding the Bitcoin.

1 Bitcoin costs $10,886.85 at the time of writing this article. Crazy, right? Bitcoin was worth $1 in April 2011 and now, 6 years down the line, it’s worth more than 10,000 times its original value. But, why is the price of the Bitcoin so high? Bitcoin’s growing demand and the awareness amongst the public about cryptocurrencies is causing the price of the Bitcoin to rise.

The price of the Bitcoin has been fluctuating a lot recently but some are betting that the price of the Bitcoin will rise to $40,000 by the end of 2018. People are even purchasing 5% of 1 Bitcoin so that they can sell it off and earn a profit when the price rises again. Various Bitcoin exchanges like Coinome, Zebpay, Unocoin and several others in India are currently allowing the public to purchase and sell Bitcoin also known as BTC. So, should you invest in Bitcoin? I hope I can help you answer that question by the end of this article.

Warren Buffett, one of the world’s wealthiest individuals and a person who is widely regarded as one of the best investors of his time had this to say about the Bitcoin: “It’s a mirage.”

Several others share his thoughts but does that mean that they are right? Well, they could be but it’s quite difficult to assess something like this and who knows what could happen in the future. Let’s take a look at some important points:

1. Volatility: The price of the Bitcoin has been fluctuating a lot and although it has been termed as a currency, a 15% change in price in a single day is concerning. Although, you wouldn’t be thinking about this today if you had invested in Bitcoin a few years ago because you would have been a millionaire by now.
2. Regulatory problems: Various countries such as China have imposed various restrictions to try and regulate Bitcoin and some countries have even banned the use of Bitcoin completely. Some believe that a few countries are working on their own cryptocurrency which means more regulations.
3. Bubble: Bitcoin has drawn several comparisons to other bubbles in the past specially due to the fluctuations in price and the massive hype surrounding it.
4. Legality: Although, buying or selling a Bitcoin is considered neither legal or illegal in India but the Reserve Bank of India has not declared it a currency yet.
5. Fraud: Various individuals and companies are contacting the public to ask them to invest in Bitcoin through them but because Bitcoin investments are not regulated, if you are cheated by someone you can’t do much about it.
6. Price: The golden rule of investment is to not invest an amount that you cannot afford to lose. If you want to invest in a Bitcoin then purchase a small portion of 1 BTC but do not purchase a large amount if you do not fully understand the market. Also, it would be a good idea to buy it when the price is lower than usual.
7. Future: The market cap of the Bitcoin is much higher than any currency or stock. It is used throughout the world and is truly international.
8. Wallet: After you purchase a Bitcoin online, they are stored in a virtual wallet but they are not entirely secure as the company that owns the wallet might get hacked. It’s important to remember that if you decide to buy bitcoin, do not store it with an online coin exchange platform. Instead, withdraw it and store it on a hardware or offline wallet so that it is secure.
9. Supply: The number of Bitcoin in existence is not expected to exceed 21 million and because “No one can see a bubble. That’s what makes it a bubble.” — The Big Short there is a finite number, the demand continues to grow.
10. Futures trading: Anyone who has invested in stocks before understands the meaning of futures. Futures are contracts to buy or sell something after a set period of time at a predetermined price. Why am I mentioning this here? It’s because Bitcoin futures could be a reality, in fact US regulators have given the green signal to a few companies to allow Bitcoin futures trading.

Hopefully, some of these points helped you make a decision whether you should or should not currently invest in Bitcoin. Invest wisely and only invest in something you truly understand and believe in.

Source:  FreeCodeCamp  ||  December 2, 2017   |||

Dec 19, 2017  -  The High Court has rejected NZME and Fairfax New Zealand's attempt to overturn a Commerce Commission ruling against a proposed merger of the country's dominant newspaper publishers and upheld the regulator's right to rely on the shrinking number of voices in the market.

Justice Robert Dobson and lay member Professor Martin Richardson yesterday dismissed the appeal, finding the regulator was entitled to place significant weight on the loss of media plurality if the merger went ahead, a key point of contention raised by the publishers. The court issued a media release today summarising the decision with the full judgment to follow once commercially sensitive information has been redacted.

The statement includes a comment from Justice Dobson on the issue of plurality, saying "we consider it is appropriate to attribute material importance to maintaining medial plurality" and that the risk of losing a wider voice "is clearly a meaningful one, and if it occurred, it would have major ramifications for the quality of New Zealand democracy."

The media companies appealed the decision at a hearing in October, claiming the regulator took too narrow a view in deciding a merger would create a monopoly and that the unquantified detriments were substantially outweighed by the net gains of a tie-up.

The court found the merger would restrict competition in four of the six markets tested, being the reader markets for online national news and Sunday newspapers, and in both the readers' and advertisers' markets for community newspapers in the North Island. It didn't uphold the commission's view that the advertisers' markets for Sunday newspapers faced reduced competition and dismissed the prospect of a paywall being introduced.

The court indicated the commission was entitled to costs.

NZME chief executive Michael Boggs said he was disappointed with the decision and that the company is reviewing the judgment, including the option to appeal.

Source: (BusinessDesk) and ShareChat ||  December 19, 2017   |||

Dec 18, 2017  - New Zealanders’ wealth rose at its fastest pace in a decade, mainly driven by rising property values, Stats NZ said today.  New Zealanders’ net worth rose $136 billion to $1.5 trillion in the year to 31 March 2016. The total net worth is equal to about $330,000 per person, mainly reflecting the value of property ownership.

“Net worth is the balance of what New Zealanders own over what they owe, and this is the biggest increase experienced in the last 10 years,” national accounts senior manager Gary Dunnet said.

Data used in this release comes from a range of sources, some of which is only available up to 2016. Therefore, the integrated data presented is up to the March 2016 year.

Household net worth increased 11 percent (or $134 billion). This was largely driven by rises of $84 billion in property values and $14 billion in currency and deposits, offset somewhat by additional loans of $12 billion.

Households own property worth $680 billion, about 45 percent of total household assets of $1,495 billion. The other main household assets are shares and other equity (38 percent), currency and deposits (10 percent), and insurance and pension funds (nearly 6 percent of total household assets).

From March 2015 to 2016, household deposits increased 10 percent to $154 billion, and provided an increased share of banking funding.

Financial assets, including bank deposits and shares, held by New Zealanders rose from $1,780 billion in 2007 to $2,575 billion in 2016 (up 45 percent). Most financial assets are held in equity ($1,045 billion) and loans ($769 billion).

Similarly, non-financial assets, including property, are $1,697 billion at March 2016, up 44 percent from $1,182 billion in 2007.

Dec 18, 2017  -  The boss of New Zealand’s census is confident Stats NZ's IT system is up to the job. But internal emails from October paint a shambolic picture of the $121 million project, with contractors pulled in to fix bugs in a key system, delays to crucial testing and blown budgets for individual projects. David Williams reports.

On October 20, a day after Winston Peters announced New Zealand First would form a government with Labour, the head of New Zealand’s 2018 census, Denise McGregor, emailed her staff the management team’s newly drafted list of cultural principles.

“We are one team, not a series of projects,” was the first of 11 principles inspired by a speech from legendary rugby sevens coach Gordon Tietjens. Others included “when things go wrong we collectively fix without blame”, “share the load” and “escalate early”. In a sign of the sweat being expended on Stats NZ’s momentous project, the bigwigs vowed to lead by example by having time off to “ensure we are fit for the job” and “getting out” at lunchtime.

Optimism turned to grim realism, however, in the “IT update” section of McGregor’s email, which focused on the crucial Salesforce system, used to manage field staff work. “The Salesforce issue continues to provide challenges for resolution and is impacting the delivery of the overall programme,” McGregor’s email said. “There are a number of priority one work packages blocked from completion, and a backlog of testing is starting to build.”

Salesforce testing had improved, she said. The full file of 2.1 million records – all street addresses in New Zealand – had loaded and “a number” of errors were being investigated.

Lurching from success to doom

Two hours later, McGregor wrote an unvarnished assessment to Stats NZ deputy chief executive Teresa Dickinson. The “good news”, she said via email, was that 2 million records loaded. However, 103,000 records failed and performance issues

Continue here to read the full article by David williams on Newsroom

Dec 18, 2017  -  A major report released today shows that New Zealand has a significant and growing digital skills shortage, primarily due to the speed and scale of the increase in demand for tech skills.  The report, commissioned by the New Zealand Digital Skills Forum, should sound a warning bell to industry, government and the education sector, the Forum’s chair Victoria MacLennan says. More than 120,000 people were employed in the tech sector last year and about 14,000 new jobs were created. However, only 5,090 tech students graduated in 2015, and 5,500 tech visas were granted in same period, demonstrating a shortfall. At the same time, New Zealand is facing an 11 per cent annual increase in demand for software programmer jobs, the report says. We also face a diversity challenge – in 2016, 36 per cent of tech students were female and only eight per cent were Māori “The growing skills shortage in New Zealand’s IT industry and broader economy is very real. Industry, government, and the education sector need to continue working closely together to accelerate plans and activities to address it, otherwise the future prosperity of New Zealand will suffer greatly,” MacLennan says. “However, it’s important to note the digital skills challenges our economy faces are not new and are certainly not limited to New Zealand. “This report represents a great opportunity. Technology is such an important part of day-to-day life for all New Zealanders, meaning that just about everyone has a stake in our success as we respond to the challenges of our changing digital world. “We need to continue working together to help nurture and develop local talent, and at the same time make sure that we fill any gaps from the best talent we can find worldwide. If we do this well then we have the opportunity to make New Zealand a technology powerhouse on the world stage. “The findings in this report show that the supply of people with advanced digital skills doesn’t meet demand and this gap is growing. Through the Digital Skills Forum, a collaborative group of leading tech industry and government agencies, we’re working together to address digital skills shortages. But more must be done. “There has never been a better time than now for action. Our school education sector has this year been reformed to give every Kiwi child a digital education. Through targeted reviews and industry recognition, our tertiary sector is better positioned than ever before to deliver the quality graduates needed. There are also more alternative pathways into digital roles than ever before. “As a country, we must help younger New Zealanders discover a prosperous future working in the technology roles where the median salary is $82,000, almost twice the average median salary. “Together, we need to remove barriers for our graduates finding their first job, make it easier for those seeking a career change, and improve the gender and cultural diversity in digital roles. None of us can do this on our own. “As a result of this report, we now have tangible and concrete data on the size, scale and nature of the digital skills shortage in our sector and across the New Zealand economy. This report identifies both a challenge and a massive opportunity, but it will take all of us to realise it. The New Zealand Digital Skills Forum includes NZRise, NZTech and IT Professionals NZ from the tech sector, and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, the Ministry of Education, the Department of Internal Affairs and the Tertiary Education Commission from government.

| A MakeLeomonade release  ||  Dec 18, 2017   |||

Dec 18, 2017  -  T&G Global chief executive Alastair Hulbert has resigned after four years in charge of the fruit marketer. The Auckland-based company has called in long-term BayWa collaborator Thomas Bargetzi to act as interim CEO while it looks for a new boss, T&G said in a statement.

Chair Klaus Lutz acknowledged Hulbert's "significant contribution" to the wider group during his tenure. Hulbert was promoted to chief executive in 2013, having run the company on a temporary basis with then-chief financial officer Harald Hamster-Egerer after former head Geoff Hipkins departed suddenly amid media reports of a breakdown in his working relationship with senior management.

The NZ Herald reported how Hulbert had been T&G's head of international markets before his promotion after nine years running export subsidiary Delica Global. His departure comes a day after former deputy chair John Anderson's formal retirement from T&G's board.

| Source:  FreshPlaza  ||  December 15, 2017   |||

Dec 15, 2017  -  A Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) between New Zealand and Hong Kong Customs is a step closer following the signing of an Action Plan to further progress the development of an arrangement. Customs GM Policy, Legal and Governance, Michael Papesch signed the plan on behalf of New Zealand Customs with Assistant Commissioner (Excise and Strategic Support) Mr Jimmy Tam signing on behalf of Hong Kong Customs and Excise. “It is an important milestone for both agencies. An MRA will lead to significant benefits for exporters and importers who trade between us, and include more streamlined customs procedures and improved customer experience of border services, while also providing greater assurance that risks will be managed appropriately so legitimate trade can flow more smoothly,” says Mr Papesch. “By developing and implementing an MRA we will build a closer working relationship, which will enable our agencies to collaborate more closely in the future. “In practical terms, MRAs mean that exporters who sign up to our MRA programme, the Secure Export Scheme, will be seen as a ‘low security risk’.

| SOURCE:  NZCUSTOMS  ||   December 15, 2017   |||

Dec 15 , 2017  -  New Zealand's labour force is projected to keep growing, driven by an increasing population and people working into older ages, Stats NZ said today. The labour force includes both employed and unemployed people.

Currently 2.6 million people are in the labour force. The new projections indicate a total labour force of around 3.0 million in 2030 and 3.5 million in 2068.

People aged 65 years and over (65+) will make up an increasing share of the labour force. In 1991, just 1 percent of the labour force was aged 65+. Currently the 65+ share is 6 percent; this is projected to increase to 9 percent in the late 2020s.

“The labour force will grow into the future, but at a slowing rate, reflecting what is happening with our population," population statistics senior manager Peter Dolan said.

“We are also seeing more people aged 50 and over in the labour force.”

The participation rate for people in their 50s is 85 percent in 2017. This will increase to 88 percent in 2038 and 89 percent in 2068. For people in their 60s, the participation rate is currently 59 percent, but this will rise to 64 percent in 2038 and 67 percent in 2068.

"In the long term, slower population growth and our increasingly older age structure will slow labour force growth, providing the age of eligibility for New Zealand Superannuation remains the same," Mr Dolan said.

Source:  StatsNZ follow here for graphs ||  December 15, 2017   |||

Dec 15,  2017  - Mr Renner is also President of Business Central, representing businesses in the lower North Island and upper South Island.  He replaces outgoing BusinessNZ President Tony Sewell of the Canterbury Employers’ Chamber of Commerce (CECC). 

New Vice-Presidents are Andrew Hunt of the Employers & Manufacturers' Association (EMA) and Andrew Leys of the Otago Southland Employers' Association (OSEA).

| A BusinessNZ release  ||  December 15, 2017  |||

Dec 14, 2017  -  Rubicon's proposal to sell a 45 percent stake in local Clearwood manufacturing business falls within the independent adviser's valuation range.  The forestry biotech's shareholders will vote on the transaction at a special meeting in Christchurch on Jan. 12 on whether to approve the sale of its interest in Tenon Clearwood Ltd Partnership for US$14.2 million, which is the cost of its investment in the company in April, plus its share of the reduction in the company's net debt since then. That is estimated to be worth a combined US$15.3 million. The buyers include affiliates of Rubicon's two biggest shareholders, Knott Partners and Libra Fund LP.

Rubicon's independent directors have recommended investors take the deal, with Steve Kasnet saying the deal fell within Grant Samuel's independent valuation range of the stake, the exit would provide funds to make two looming payments on its ArborGen business, and simplify the company's structure providing the opportunity to cut costs.

"We believe that these three factors – the removal of any overhang in the stock price relating to uncertainty as to the funding source of the deferred ArborGen acquisition and subordinated debt payments, simplifying Rubicon to be a pure-play on the ArborGen business, and the achievement of cost savings, will all be beneficial to building positive momentum in the RBC share price," Kasnet said in a letter to shareholders. "The sale will then make Rubicon a ‘pure-play’ for investors on the ArborGen business upside, and with Rubicon’s financials moving forward then only being ArborGen-based, investors will have greater transparency of ArborGen’s financial results."

Grant Samuel valued Clearwood at between US$51.3 million and US$61.5 million, with Rubicon's stake worth between US$13.6 million and US$18.2 million.

"In Grant Samuel’s opinion, based on the analysis of the merits outlined above, the terms of the proposed transaction are fair and reasonable to the shareholders of Rubicon not associated with Knott and Libra," the report said.

If the deal doesn't go ahead, Grant Samuel anticipates Clearwood will need more capital to reduce its level of debt.

Grant Samuel has valued the business twice in the past 12 months in relation to the sale of former NZX-listed Tenon's business sales. The most recent of those was earlier this year, ending an 18-month process run by an investment bank.

Kasnet said because the offer was the same price as the earlier transaction, the independent directors chose not to run another sales process as there was no benefit to shareholders.

Rubicon shares were unchanged at 19.5 cents, and have dropped 11 percent so far this year.

Source: Sharechat  ||  December 14, 2017   |||