Stocks to Watch

Sales of residential property in New Zealand have soared to a four year high in January 2012, according to figures released by government owned property valuer Quotable Value (QV).

The rise comes as demand for limited city properties continues to increase from buyers in the migrant and first time buyer markets.

The Auckland area is one of the fastest growing city-centre residential markets and saw an increase of 2.1% over the past three months, and an increase of 5.1% over the past year.

The old Auckland City has claimed the place for the strongest performing area within Auckland, seeing a growth of 2.7% over the last three months and by 7.2% across the year as a whole.

North Shore also saw an increase in sales, at slightly lower figures of 4% over the year and 0.9% above peak.

The rest of Auckland also saw gains last year that varied between the 2.5% figure for Franklin and the 3.2% for Waitakere.

The picture for prices and sales in smaller residential areas remains less promising and falls short of the highs experienced in 2012, according to QV data.

As an example, Hamilton only experienced a 0.5% increase, falling 11% short of its 2007 high.

The sluggish upturn in sales was also the case for Rodney, which only saw a 1.6% improvement on the previous year’s figures.

Transfer Money to New Zealand

If you are thinking about investing in New Zealand, it is definitely a good idea to consider the logistics of transferring money abroad. F

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CMC Markets has been announced as the winner of best CFD provider and best spread betting company categories by members of the Trade2Win trading community. CMC which is owned by Peter Cruddas is thought to have about 75,000 clients worldwide, who placed a total of 26 million trades in 2011.

The scope of the Trade2Win Members Choice Awards, which were launched in 2003, is to provide its 252,000 members with a voice in which to recognise the innovative and high quality service and products from companies in the world of trading.

Doug Richards, Chief Executive Officer of CMC Markets stated that since launching in 1989, CMCs ultimate goal has always been to become the global leader in the online trading business.

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This deal will add power to Apache’s hold in the region, though Leo Mariani of RBC Capital Markets doesn’t think the terms of the deal are top notch:

“The ultimate price is $6,000 an acre and gas prices need to go up in the next few years for them to make money on this.”

As hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, has increased the supply of natural gas in the U.S., gas prices have fallen and will likely continue to do so.Cordillera’s development of the Anadarko basin includes a large number of fracking wells.  Fracking has been under environmental scrutiny because of claims that it causes small earthquakes and pollution to drinking water.In the acquisition, Apache will pay $2.25 billion in cash.  The additional $600 million will come from common stocks.This follows an announcement that Canadian Pembina Pipeline Corp (TSE: PPL) will purchase Provident Energy Ltd (NYSE: PVX).The consolidation of these energy companies is enabling increased domestic development, something that will decrease dependence on foreign oil, particularly from OPEC.Apache was up 0.71% on Monday to $97.49.That’s all for now,Brianna

The Spanish housing market has taken a hit since the global economic meltdown, and is showing little sign of recovery following the Euro-zone crisis.

The Fitch ratings agency believes that the property market is unlikely to grow at all in the near future, however, this is good news for investors. Those looking to secure a cheap deal could find one in Spain.

The company claims that a damaged Spanish economy could take its time before there is an improvement, meaning any growth in property value is for the short term. This may be a serious pitfall for those looking to invest and sell on at a higher value.

Spain is currently squeezed in between some battered economies. The country’s vulnerable position means that it will be struggling to avoid falling into recession.

The predicted growth rate for the Mediterranean country is 0% for 2012. Fitch, however, thinks Spain will see a 1% growth for 2013 despite earlier forecasts of 1.5%

‘Banks are unlikely to return to the cheap funding costs that were available to them in the past,’ a statement from the ratings agency Fitch claimed.

The average house price has fallen by a staggering 8.9% in the third quarter of 2011, compared to the same period in 2010. 

This is good news for those looking to make a move into the Spanish property market within the next few years. According to research from Scotiabank, property in Spain has become almost 25% cheaper than it was in 2007.

Transferring money to Spain

If you are looking to invest in Spain, think carefully about how you will be transferring money to Spain. Foreign currency exchange rates quoted by banks are almost always worse than the exchange rates available through specialist currency dealers.

So if you are looking to send money to Spain – which you will inevitably have to do if you are looking to make a property investment – be sure to compare the market before you buy your overseas currency.

As 2011 nears its end, City Indexs Chief Technical Analyst Sandy Jadeja and Neil Looker, Chief Forex Dealer at City Index summarise 2011 analysing the stock market from a technical viewpoint and delivers their thoughts on important benchmark markets like the FTSE 100, Wall Street, Gold, Crude Oil, EUR/USD for currency exchange rate and what may be in store for 2012. At the end, Simon Denham, CEO of Capital Spreads gives his reflections on what could be in store for the new year.

Sandy Jadeja, Chief Technical Analyst, City Index:

The year 2011 has definitely left a stamp on traders minds as we head into the New Year.

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WorldSpreads has released an updated version of its trading platform which is now custom optimised for mobile handsets.  With the iOS optimised mobile spread trading platform, clients can now bet on the move, permitting them to manage their dealing accounts in real-time whenever they happen, irrespective if they are at the office or travelling.

We are told that the mobile trading platform has been primarily designed with simplicity in mind while retaining all the essential features that spread traders need to be in control of their trading portfolios 24 hours a day.  The mobile platform has been optimised specifically for the iPad and iPhone and users will need iOS 4.2 or above.

From an iOS device WorldSpreads clients can:

• Access thousands of live streaming market prices.
• Monitor existing trading positions in real-time.
• Monitor profit and loss on the move
• Set or adjust limits or stops.
• Read breaking market news from Reuters
• Quickly close out or open new positions

The mobile trading platform is available free of charge to all WorldSpreads Active and Platinum spread betting account holders and there are no applications or downloads required. T

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