Daily FNArena News

Wall Street gyrated wildly on Friday, ending virtually unchanged as the Fed and ECB stepped up their liquidity injections.

Central banks in the US, Japan, Australia and particularly Europe have moved to stop the credit crunch started by the subprime crunch from turning into a full-blown liquidity crisis.

OPEC comments gave traders little reason to stay long oil and the price has fallen in response but Barclays Capital suggests the uptrend remains intact.

National Australia Bank’s latest survey of the mining sector shows labour costs as the greatest issue for companies but profits are expected to remain historically high.

Last night the ECB made a startling move by injecting E95bn into the banking system as BNP Paribas froze three hedge funds through lack of liquidity. The Dow fell 387 points.

Recent economic data show gearing levels have increased for both home buyers and corporates. At the same time, interest rates have now risen and corporate borrowing spreads have widened. Not good.

With 40% of total exports coming from soft commodities a positive outlook for meat, forestry and dairy prices Macquarie suggests New Zealand’s GDP growth will continue to be solid.

Yesterday’s increase in official interest rates will hurt those with mortgages, but those complaining of doing it tough in meeting repayments need to examine their own role in the issue.

The Dow rose 153 points last night, but it wasn’t all smooth sailing.

Weekly musings from your editor. This week he shares some thoughts about a meeting with two experts out of the FNArena database of readers.