Wall Street declined as disappointing earnings from Wal-Mart and a surprise drop in US industrial production exacerbated nervousness about equities trading near record highs. With about an hour of trading left in the day in New York, the Dow dropped 1.2 percent, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index shed 1.06 percent, while the Nasdaq Composite Index sank 0.98 percent. Slides …

Official Government ‘ need to know’ facts and figures from the 2014 budget. Balanced and responsible management of the New Zealand economy continues, allowing more investment in families and public assets (All figures for four years to 2017/18 unless otherwise stated). Looking ahead to the results of responsible economic management Economic growth forecast to average 2.8 per cent over the next …

Budget 2014 is first and foremost a conservative budget.  You could only be disappointed if you went into it expecting something spectacular.  This budget didn’t disappoint because we got exactly what we expected: more of the same.  This is not a budget that will change anyone’s opinion of the Government, be they friend or foe.  But it does allow the …