Gas project on hold … again: For the second time six months the Japanese group, Inpex, has postponed a final decision on the huge Ichthys LNG project off the Northern Territory coast.  Inpex announced Darwin as the base for the project in late 2008, a year later it delayed the final decision until late this year or early 2011. Now according to reports from the recent Australian Oil and Gas Conference, it is now delayed until late next year. The first delay was ostensibly due to rising costs of construction, but oil industry analysts say it was more to do with the rapid emergence of an LNG glut in Asia thanks to the impact of the recession in Japan, Korea and Taiwan.  The Inpex project is huge, media estimates put it at $A20 to $A24 billion, which would be the size of the North West Shelf. An industry informant says announcement of the delay is being held back until May to coincide with the presentation of Inpex’s 2009 results in Japan.

Easter fun: What would happen if they released the major economic figure of the month and there was no one there to trade off the result? Never happen, holidays mean no figures? Well not in America where the March employment and jobless data will be re-released at 8.30pm Friday, US time, just in time to catch the Easter buns and church brigade, instead of the market punters, urgers and their analyst mates. The jobs figures are tipped to be the best in 30 months, a forecast 190,000-200,000 new jobs are forecast. With no trading until next Monday the long Easter weekend could be very nerve wracking, so expect many investors to avoid going long over the holiday, just in case there’s a hiccup in the figures.

More Easter fun: So bullish are most US forecasters that some believe 300,000-400,000 jobs could be created, drowning out the pessimists who reckon the number could be small, fewer than 50,000. Government jobs are expected to account for the bulk of the growth, thanks to the once-in-a-decade census, which requires taking on hundreds of thousands of temporary workers. While any job is good, they will only last several months. That’s why the Fed is not bullish on employment. This will be a one-off distorting factor that could very well fool those looking for any sort of improvement.

Bank busts continue: Four small US banks failed on Friday, after the market closed; that’s 41 for the year. Two banks in Georgia (37 since mid-2007, the most in any state), one in Utah and one in Florida. All small and all ignored by the market. But the bleeding goes on.

Easter bonds: But watch US bond yields, it’s about time there was another outbreak of fear and loathing to scare investors. It’s not that there’s anything new, rates were about 3.90% in the middle of last year, but eased as it became apparent the recovery would be much slower and that the Fed would keep its key rates at a record low for “an extended period”. But last week, the yield on 10-year bonds jumped from 3.65% to a peak of 3.93% on Thursday. On Friday it closed easier at 3.87%. The Fed completes its bond-buying program this week, which has included acting as the life-support system for the staggering US housing sector. Who will support it once the Fed goes away for Easter and doesn’t return?

Chinese bubble busting $1: For the second time this month the Chinese government has moved to tighten its control over bank lending, especially to property. The first move came with the release earlier this month of news that the price commercial and residential property in China’s 70 largest cities rose by 10.7% in February from the same month in 2009. That was up from the 9.5% year-on-year gain in January. Friday night regulators told banks to take more care when making real-estate loans and the country’s Banking Regulatory Commission teamed  with land authorities to crack down on irregularities in land use.

Chinese bubble busting #2: Banks have been ordered not lend to developers found by state agencies to have held land without building houses. Banks have also been told to be careful in extending new lines of credit to 78 government-controlled companies whose core business isn’t property development if they use collateral other than construction projects already in progress. And starting last Friday, personal loans of more than 300 thousand yuan may not be given to the person borrowing the money. Instead, the order from the commission said the money must be transferred to the end recipient. That is a significant extension of earlier controls.

US economy: Housing down, but not yet out, the US economy growing, consumer confidence not falling: And that was last week. Sales of new and existing homes fell and there’s the hope that the snows of January and February did it, just as the snows of February are blamed for preventing the expected jobs surge that’s now forecast for March. The economy’s third reading saw growth pegged at an annual 5.6%, down from the second estimate of 5.9% and the first of 5.7%. Inventories were the big driver, but that’s a one-trick pony for any economy. US consumer confidence didn’t fall from February, nor did it rise. US growth in 2009 contracted by 2.4%, the largest contraction in a 12-month period since 1938.

Japan still in deflation: Core consumer prices fell 1.2% from the same month in 2009, and the so-called core-core index (which excluded energy and food) fell 1.1%. Now that might be better than the 1.2% fall January, but it completed a year of actual, real price deflation.

Murdoch watch: Watch out for a proposal in the UK from the country’s media and telecoms competition regulator that would force BSkyB, 39% owned by News Corp, to cut the price it charges rivals to broadcast its Sky Sports channels. BSkyB is expected to launch an immediate legal challenge against the Ofcom ruling. Listen to James Murdoch grumble moan and groan about excessive government regulation, again.