SNB & CHF

Erik Townsend and Patrick Ceresna welcome Jeffrey Snider to MacroVoices. Erik and Jeffrey discuss gold swaps, how central banks engage in them and what has changed in gold swap markets today. They further investigate the gold bug’s conspiracy theory about “gold pukes” and what happened to gold in the 2008 crisis. They finally touch on how has the mood changed in gold starting 2017?

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) published its 2017 annual result today. The SNB confirmed a profit of CHF54.4bn in 2017. This was more than double the 2016 figure (CHF24.5bn) and its biggest profit ever. Earnings from the SNB’s foreign currency positions amounted to CHF49.7bn, its gold holdings increased in value by CHF3.1bn and its Swiss positions by CHF2bn (see Chart below). The CHF2bn profit the SNB made on its Swiss...

Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by 0.1% to 1.1704 CHF. EUR/CHF and USD/CHF(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Expectations that the European Central Bank would change its forward guidance in a substantive way had been one of the factors behind the euro’s appreciation. However, more recently, the anticipation has slackened. The last meeting took place around...

Vincenz built Raiffeisen up during his tenure as CEO (Keystone) - Click to enlarge Zurich prosecutors have opened criminal proceedings against the former chief executive of Swiss banking group Raiffeisen, Pierin Vincenz, looking into suspicions of misdealing. The bank has also joined the probe as a private complainant. “Raiffeisen is therefore making a maximum contribution to the complete clarification of...

Normally the action in the gold and silver futures markets tends to be pretty similar, since the same general forces affect both precious metals. When inflation or some other source of anxiety is ascendant, both metals rise, and vice versa. But lately – perhaps in a sign of how confused the world is becoming – gold and silver traders have diverged. Taking gold first, the speculators – who tend to be wrong at major...

For a very long time, they tried it “our” way. It isn’t working out so well for them any longer, so in one sense you can’t blame them for seeking answers elsewhere. It was a good run while it lasted. The big problem is that what “it” was wasn’t ever our way. Not really. The Chinese for decades followed not a free market paradigm but an orthodox Economics one. This is no trivial difference, as the latter is far more...

Unemployment Rate (not seasonally adjusted) Registered unemployment in February 2018 – According to SECO surveys, at the end of February 2018, 143,930 unemployed people were registered with the regional employment agencies (RAV), 5,231 fewer than in the previous month. The unemployment rate fell from 3.3% in January 2018 to 3.2% in the month under review. Compared with the same month of the previous year,...

Swiss Franc The Euro has risen by 0.21% to 1.1688 CHF. EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, March 07(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates In response to the resignation of one of the few “globalist” advisers in the US Administration, the resignation Cohn has sent ripples through the capital markets. Stocks have been marked down across the world. The prospects of a trade war...

See the introduction and the video for the terms gold basis, co-basis, backwardation and contango. Ballistically Yours One nearly-famous gold salesman blasted subscribers this week with, “Gold Is Going to Go Ballistic!” A numerologist shouted out the number $10,000. At the county fair this weekend, we ran out of pocket change, so we did not have a chance to see the Tarot Card reader to get a confirmation. Even if you...

Last April, hundreds of UN staff in Geneva from various agencies and services took part in a work stoppage over a proposed 8% cut to salaries (Keystone) - Click to enlarge Employees of the United Nations in Geneva are planning a half-day strike on Tuesday to protest against wage cuts. The work stoppage would take place during a busy week, with dozens of ministers and officials expected at various events. “We...