What New Zealand investment platforms think of Reddit’s Wall St rebellion

The recent GameStop frenzy showed how much US retail investors are prepared to lose to make Wall St burn. But are New Zealand investors motivated by the same activist zeal? Michael Andrew asked the founders of Hatch and Sharesies. There are many things in life that are very easy to dislike. For some people in … Read more

The amateur NZ traders riding the GameStop and cryptocurrency waves

three bags of cash, each with a different emblem on them: gamestop, diamond hands, and dogecoin

Last week Reddit users, including plenty in Aotearoa, took on Wall Street hedge funds. Here’s how they’re feeling now. Aucklander Zoe* is 24, a student, and she refuses to sell her GameStop shares. Her hands are so strong from holding them that, in Reddit lingo, they are made of diamonds. But she’s not holding them … Read more

Why the stock market shot up after the vaccine announcement

With a Covid-19 vaccine potentially on the horizon, here’s how the markets reacted to the news. On Tuesday, pharmaceutical company Pfizer and biotechnology company BioNTech jointly announced that one of its vaccines was found to be 90% more effective in preventing Covid-19 in participants than those who received a placebo injection. Currently, the vaccine is … Read more

How lockdown made us rethink how we save and invest

Despite the economic downturn, recent months have seen more everyday New Zealanders investing their money than ever before. But why? What with all the financial uncertainty of Covid-19, it’s a surprise anyone would choose a national lockdown as the time to start investing. But that’s exactly what 24-year-old Hanoz* did back in March. Stuck at … Read more

The Bulletin: Disconnect between unemployment and rural worker needs

Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Challenges loom in matching unemployed with rural jobs, trans-Tasman travel bubble agreed in principle, and Greens push for urgent Fair Pay Agreements. It is increasingly becoming clear that one of the country’s biggest economic challenges over the rest of the year will be matching people … Read more

Risk-averse and big on houses: Our long-running attitudes towards investing

What makes us save and invest the way we do? Jihee Junn explores how history and culture have shaped our approach to investing and why, despite our ‘rockstar economy’, many are feeling left out.  A lot of great things happened in 1987: New Zealand officially went nuclear-free, Māori became recognised as an official language, and … Read more

The Bulletin: Migrant worker exploitation cases pile up

Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Exploitation cases of migrant workers pile up, more drama around the delayed census, and Ngāpuhi hapu vote against settlement model. A man has been arrested in the Hawke’s Bay, charged with more than a dozen counts of slavery and human trafficking in the horticulture industry, reports Radio NZ. … Read more

The women wanting Kiwis to invest in the US share market

Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff, in association with Callaghan Innovation, in which host Simon Pound speaks with innovators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he talks to Natalie Ferguson and Kristen Lunman from Hatch, a new platform that allows New Zealanders to invest in US … Read more

The worst decline since the last decline: what’s going on with the stock markets?

This week’s sharemarket tumble has been an opportunity to get some of the financial industry’s favourite dramatic words – ‘bloodbath’, ‘plunge’, ‘tumble’, ‘plummet’ – back into the headlines:  But what does this mean for investors? Co-founder of Sharesies Leighton Roberts explains. For anyone following share markets or browsing the headlines, you may have heard that there’s … Read more

The Bulletin: Police and the logistics of legal weed

Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Police discuss logistics of legal weed, amount beneficiaries owe to MSD revealed, and a thorough rundown on why houses are unaffordable.  With a reeferendum coming by 2020 at the latest, the police are starting to give serious thought to how they will go about their jobs … Read more