Mighty River Power shares slumped to a new low of $2.23 this morning as the local stock exchange followed world markets down, reaching its lowest point in a month.

Wall Street has declined after Fed chairman Ben Bernanke said the central bank may begin tapering its US$85 billion-a-month bond-buying program later this year.

If the market distortion is going to persist then those with the means should be buying multiple houses, they can't do anything but go up in value, writes Gareth Morgan.

The Greens back down on their print money policy is good - but co-leader Russel Norman shouldn't expect to be finance minister in a Labour-led government.

The Prime Minister John Key believes first-home buyers should be exempt from proposed restrictions to low-deposit home lending.

The Reserve Bank has kept its official cash rate unchanged at 2.5 per cent at today's monetary policy statement.

The recent drop in the value of the New Zealand dollar against the US currency could have a caught a number of companies off-guard.

An air of optimism about the US economy has put the skids under the New Zealand dollar and a drop below US78c could herald further falls, market strategists said.

The most difficult aspect of the Reserve Bank's dilemma is that the longer interest rates stay low.

The New Zealand dollar fell to a nine month low as investors concerned about global growth moved to the relative safety of US Treasuries.