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New Zealand stocks were down today, taking a lead from weak markets offshore.

Asian sharemarkets suffered after news that manufacturing in China had pulled back and comments from a high profile economist that the Chinese economy was struggling more than expected.

The NZX50 index was down 0.7 per cent or 25.34 points to 3449.30.

Craigs Investment Partners investment advisor Chris Timms said while there were pockets of strength on the bourse, most of the major trading companies were down.

"There have been a couple of indications the Chinese economy has slowed down - the last couple of days the data out of China hasn't been quite as good. That has taken a bit of a gloss off, but it has still been a pretty strong week in terms of the sharemarkets. People are having a breather - we've had such a good run on the markets [with the NZX at nine month highs] so there is just some profit taking on some stocks," Timms said.

"Fletcher Building is down 2.2 per cent to $6.80, that's major drag on our market. Fletcher Building is the most liquid stock in our market so if we get a bit of a sell-off overseas it seems to get sold off, and it's been quite sold off quite heavily today."

Finzsoft shares rose 2c or 5.3 per cent to 40c after restructuring its leadership team with the departure of chief executive Mark Sewell.

Under the move Andrew Holliday and Ian Wills will join the executive team as joint managing directors with immediate effect, and the CEO role will fall away. Holliday and Wills have been majority shareholders and directors of Finzsoft since they acquired 64% of the company in June 2007.

The leading decliner was investment holding company Guinness Peat Group, down 2.9 per cent to 50c. Jewellery retailer Michael Hill International fell 2.9 per cent to $1.02.

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NZ stocks down on offshore weakness

By Andrs Cardenal - March 23, 2012 | Tickers: EXPE, GOOG, PCLN, TRIP | 0 Comments

Andrs is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network -- entries represent the personal opinions of our bloggers and are not formally edited.

The world is changing very fast, and information is available in ways we couldnt even imagine a few years ago. The travel industry is being revolutionized by many of the new possibilities that internet and related technologies provide, and investors have many opportunities to benefit from these changes.

Lets assume you are considering taking a well-deserved vacation with your family and are looking for the right destination, you will also need a lot of information about how to travel, the most convenient hotels and other important aspects. There is a big chance you may choose to get into Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) and start searching for online information. Google has more than 65% of the online search market in the US, and the company leads the online advertising industry.

Google gives consumers the possibility to access many valuable services for free and monetizes the business by selling advertising. If you are planning a trip, you will probably use the Google search engine more than once, and other services like Google Earth, Google Maps and Google Images may be very helpful too. In fact, last December the company launched Google Flight Search, which represents the online giants newest push into online travel.

Competitors have complained about Google using its dominant power over online search to place its own flight search service above those of other players like Priceline (NASDAQ: PCLN) and Expedia (NASDAQ: EXPE). However, those two companies are still doing quite well when it comes to searching and booking flights, hotels and car rentals online.

These services are extremely useful for travelers; they provide an easy and convenient way to compare prices, check customers reviews and even execute online reservations in real time. Both corporate and vacation travelers are using these services every day more, and the online traveling trend is expected to get stronger in the future as more customers grow accustomed to its advantages and these businesses increase their range of services and value added.

Shares of Priceline were trading below $450 by mid-December and they recently made new all-time highs above $710. Investors may want to wait or a pullback considering the stock has been on such a strong run lately, but earnings and expectations look very strong. Priceline reported a 35.5% increase in sales for last quarter, although the company disappointed in earnings per share, guidance was much higher than expected and shares of Priceline rose by a 6.5% when it reported earnings on February 27.

Expedia has also had a big run lately; it recently hit new historical highs above $34, which is quite a rally from its price of around $28 in mid-December. The company reported some unexciting earnings per share figures in the last quarter blended with positive guidance from management. But although the recent trend in earnings looks similar for Expedia and Priceline, both companies are quite different from a long term growth perspective.

Priceline has increased earnings per share by a 65% annually over the last five years, and analysts are expecting a growth rate of more than 22.5% annually in the next five. On the other hand, Expedia shows an annual 14% growth rate for the last five years and analysts forecast a lower than 11% growth over the next five.

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3 Stocks Benefiting from the Online Travel Revolution

By John McCrank

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Discount brokerages, once the domain of do-it-yourself investors looking for cheap trades, are increasingly getting into the personal advice business, filling a void for middle-class investors left by big, traditional brokerages.

Fee-based assets at discount brokerages like Charles Schwab Corp, Fidelity Investments, TD Ameritrade, and E*Trade Financial, grew by a compound annual rate of 19 percent from 2008 to the end of 2010, versus 14 percent at so-called wirehouses such as Morgan Stanley, according to research firm Cerulli Associates.

"A large part of the growth that we've seen in these firms and also the future growth that we're projecting is going to be linked to their ability to deliver advice programs," said Katharine Wolf, associate director at Cerulli.

Even Charles "Chuck" Schwab, a pioneer in offering cut-rate commissions to people making their own investment decisions, said he uses advisers to manage his portfolio.

Much of Schwab's growth in the self-directed space came during the bull market from 1983 to 2000, when picking winning stocks was likened to throwing darts at a board. In the dozen years since then, the equity markets have been volatile, but have basically come out flat.

"Investors are increasingly saying: 'It's more complicated than simply going to a website, picking out some stocks, buying them and hoping they go up,'" Walter Bettinger, chief executive of Schwab, said in an interview.

Schwab has been offering advice to investors for the past decade, a point it has highlighted since 2005 with its "Talk to Chuck" advertising campaign.

Clients of the San Francisco company, which reported overall assets of $1.81 trillion at the end of February, have added an average of $1.5 billion a month for thelast 14 months to Schwab advisory programs, with most coming from self-directed accounts.

FILLING THE VOID

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Schwab, E*Trade et al outpacing traditional brokers

Domain Properties and the NYC hospitality sector are off to a profitable start in 2012. Recently, Domain Properties, a key player in New York City Hotel transactions, closed on the sale of the Avalon an upscale Midtown property. This transaction is just one of the latest deals involving prominent hotels in the Big Apple. Domain Properties continues to represent private investment entities, pension funds, REITs, hotel management companies, asset management firms, and sovereign funds in search of equity rich quality Hotel Properties in New York City including Developments, Acquisitions and Joint Ventures.

New York, NY (PRWEB) March 23, 2012

The recent deal involving the Avalon (unique building situated in a prime Midtown neighborhood) is the latest transaction in a vibrant NYC hotel sector. Domain Properties has just released its detailed "Beginning of the Year Report - Buying and Selling NYC Hotels in 2012" an overview of the current hospitality scene from January to March. Other notable deals include hotel sales such as Hampton Inn 35th St. Empire State Building, Novotel Hotel Times Square, Cassa Hotel & Residence, Knickerbocker Hotel, Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Hyatt Place New York Midtown South, and Wyndham Garden Hotel - Times Square, as well as Holiday Inn New York City Midtown - 31st Street (Chesapeake's Lodging Trust's first NYC hotel).

In addition, Dubai Investment Group, part of the larger Dubai Group, is selling the Jumeirah Essex House an art deco building near Central Park.

The hotel company explains that "Jumeirah remains confident in the value it brings as an internationally respected luxury hotel brand and expects that it will continue to manage the hotel after the sale of the property."

As well, InterContinental Hotels Group boss, Richard Solomons, plans to sell the landmark New York Barclay hotel. Simon French at Panmure Gordon notes, "Given the strength of the US hotel market we look for management to reaffirm its commitment to dispose of the InterContinental NY Barclay in 2012."

Indeed, this hotel sale could yield shareholders a $250 million cash return. Generally, investors around the globe have an eye on the robust demand for NYC Hotels as well as the Big Apple's record-breaking tourism statistics. Recently, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and NYC & Company (New York Citys official marketing and tourism organization) announced that the Big Apple had welcomed more visitors in 2011 than suggested by earlier projections.

In fact, last year's NYC tourism figures indicate a record-breaking 50.5 million visitors. Even between December 2011 and January-March 2012, travelers are coming to New York City the number one metropolitan U.S. tourist destination. Hotel occupancy rates increased to 85% by the end of last year. Even during the winter months, corporate groups and leisure guests choose New York City.

For complete OFF-MARKET listings of NYC hotels for sale or to have Domain Properties represent your hotel portfolio, visit http://www.Domain-Properties.com Contact Haim Yagen and get Domain Properties to work for you in one of the most exciting periods in the history of buying and selling hotels in New York City. During 2012, city hotels are expected to match or even exceed the popularity that the industry enjoyed during the previous year. That accomplishment would be an outstanding one for the Big Apple's lodging sector. NYC hotel sales demonstrated a five-year high in 2011 up 148% from 2010 and 524% over 2009.

About Domain Properties:

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Manhattan Hotel Market Report 2012 - NYC Hotel Investments - Developments & Acquisitions by Domain Properties

For immediate release

23 March 2012

Top Level Domain Holdings Limited

("TLDH", the "Company" or "Group")

TLDH to apply for .music

The Directors of Top Level Domain Holdings Limited (AIM:TLDH.L), the only publicly traded company focused exclusively on acquiring and operating new generic top-level domains ("gTLDs"), are pleased to announce that it has signed a joint venture agreement with LHL TLD Investment Partners of Beverly Hills California ("LHL") to apply for the .music top level domain under the gTLD programme being run by the Internet's governing body, Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers ("ICANN"). ICANN has formally opened the application window under which organisations can apply for the right to own and operate a new generic top level domain.

LHL consists of a number of leading music industry figures including artists, managers, music producers and lawyers. TLDH's wholly owned registry services business, Minds + Machines, will provide back-end registry services and TLDH will co-invest alongside LHL in the joint venture.

Antony Van Couvering, CEO of TLDH, said:

"We're thrilled to be working with leading music artists and professionals. This partnership brings financial weight and industry expertise to the table and confirms the value which we see in .music."

On the 21 February 2012, the Company announced that it had already applied for 40 gTLD Application Slots on behalf of itself and its clients. The Company will be applying for a further batch of Application Slots before the Application Window closes on 12 April 2012.

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Top Level Domain Hdg - TLDH to apply for dot music