Informed Uncertainty - Remember that this is all informed guesswork at best – especially now. That is, don’t for goodness sakes be running your business or personal finances on the basis of a particular set of projections (ours or others) coming true because  this is still the biggest period of economic uncertainty any of us have seen on a global basis.

Businesses started from home by new mums are a growth sector.  Online selling has provided the springboard for products designed or made by new mums and demographic changes have also boosted them. They've been given a label; mumpreneurs.

A survey of owners of small and medium businesses found nearly a third reporting a rise in revenue during the past 12 months.  Company MYOB said its latest Business Monitor nationwide survey of more than 1000 business owners showed New Zealand was not in danger of a double-dip recession, despite signs of a slow and shaky recovery.

The New Zealand dollar continued to gain some of the ground lost to the greenback last week as investors found more of their appetite for risk.  By 8am today the kiwi was buying US71.24c, up from US71.02c at 5pm yesterday.