Roosting chorus: Whew. Just masks

Auckland stays out of Covid-19 lockdown, but masks may finally be mandatory on planes from Monday; ASB, ANZ and Westpac volunteer to start LVR restrictions now, rather than March;

TLDR: The Government decided against increasing Auckland’s Covid-19 alert levels after a concerning case of community transmission. Instead, finally, it will consider on Monday mandating mask use on planes and Auckland Transport.

Meanwhile, nurses are considering pulling out of MIQ facilities because of a lack of N-95 masks to stop aerosol transmission.

In the housing market and financial system, ANZ, Westpac and ASB have volunteered to limit 70% LVR lending to landlords from now, rather than the March 1 proposed earlier in the week by the Reserve Bank. Australia announced plans to remove its internal border restrictions by Christmas. The ball is in our court now.

News from our political economy today…

Bernard Hickey @bernardchickey

This is as much about lowering expectations of customers and finding a way to manage the massive amount of applications they’re getting right. Even if the banks wanted to go ballistic lending to landlords, their systems couldn’t handle it. https://t.co/uPTenfxqwh

Stuff @NZStuff

ANZ joins Westpac and ASB demanding 30 per cent deposits from investors https://t.co/vK68lv2C18

Bernard Hickey @bernardchickey

Now the Trans-Tasman bubble ball is in NZ’s court.

The Australian @australian

#BREAKING: Scott Morrison says all states - except Western Australia - have agreed to open their borders by Christmas. https://t.co/061IOSuoE6

News from the global political economy today…

Bernard Hickey @bernardchickey

If anyone in NZ thinks the global money printing and bond buying spree is coming to an end, then they need to read this from the heads of the Fed, ECB and BoE: Covid-19 is causing big eco-grief bloomberg.com/news/articles/… via @markets

bloomberg.comBloomberg - Are you a robot?

Bernard Hickey @bernardchickey

The PM has appeared via video link at a big Macron-organised conference with Xi Jinping to argue for the shoring up of multi-lateral institutions post Covid-19 and Trump

bloomberg.comBloomberg - Are you a robot?

Bernard Hickey @bernardchickey

15 Asia-Pacific nations including NZ, China and Japan (but not India) aim to clinch the world’s largest free-trade agreement (RCEP) this weekend. A nice to have, but not transformational. bloomberg.com/news/articles/… via @business

bloomberg.comBloomberg - Are you a robot?

Sebastian Payne @SebastianEPayne

🚨 Huge news tonight: Dominic Cummings, Boris Johnson's highly influential adviser, to leave No 10 by new year. Senior govt figures claim Cummings and Lee Cain have been identified in lockdown leak inquiry. Latest from @GeorgeWParker and yours truly ft.com/content/de6cd5…

ft.comSubscribe to read | Financial TimesNews, analysis and comment from the Financial Times, the worldʼs leading global business publication

Charts of the day

Bernard Hickey @bernardchickey

Turns out there is at least one highly-priced thing that can fall in price when there is a shift in demand and supply. stats.govt.nz/news/fruit-and…

Gold plated junk: Sharon Zollner at ANZ has spotted another extraordinary thing happening in the world’s bond markets. She’s (rightly) a sceptic

“Ostensibly, the current outlook is the least risky for US firms that it has ever been, even though their leverage relative to GDP is the highest ever (even before COVID smashed the denominator).” Sharon Zollner

Weekend Reads

Bernard Hickey @bernardchickey

We should prepare for a long wait before the tourists return in earnest. “It will take a good four or five years for connectivity to return to the same level we saw at the end of 2019,” said Subhas Menon, head of the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines.

bloomberg.comBloomberg - Are you a robot?

Bernard Hickey @bernardchickey

A juicy scoop. "A six-month investigation reveals that despite their licences some of the operators in this industry, including Israeli "Wolf of Wall Street" Talmor, have not just bet against their customers and won; they have rorted them out of cash on an industrial scale.

The Sydney Morning Herald @smh

'Bigger than the Wolf of Wall Street': How a shady network of brokers ran riot in Australia | @sdanck https://t.co/AWRYUB2qZ6

Businessweek @BW

The world’s major metro areas are working toward a potentially transformative vision: the 15-minute city

trib.alBloomberg - Are you a robot?

Some fun things

BUM CHILLUPS AKA SPENCER HALL @edsbs

“OHHHH GOD DAMMIIIIIIIIIIT”

Ari Berman @AriBerman

There have been more Trump aides who’ve tested positive for coronavirus since the election than documented cases of voter fraud

Have a great weekend

Ngā Mihi

Bernard