SNB & CHF

 Lasting Debt “Rule one: Never allow a crisis to go to waste,” said President Obama’s Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel in November of 2008. “They are opportunities to do big things.” At the time of his remark, Emanuel was eager to exploit the 2008 financial crisis to raid the public treasury. With the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in February 2009, Emanuel’s wish was granted. The Obama administration...

In an economy in which wages for 95% of households are stagnant for structural reasons, pushing inflation higher is destabilizing. The official policy goal of the Federal Reserve and other central banks is to generate 3% inflation annually. Put another way: the central banks want to lower the purchasing power of their currencies by 33% every decade. In other words, those with fixed incomes that don’t keep pace with...

Charles Hugh Smith ( Sep 11, 2017 ) - sheds interesting light upon cause of the retail apocalypse #charleshughsmithhealthcare #charleshughsmithpodcast

The Swiss Real Estate Bubble and Rents The number of empty dwellings is an important indicator for the Swiss real estate bubble. Prices of Swiss real estate had risen by 5%-8% per year between 2009 and 2014, while rents for existing contracts are regulated and have not followed this path yet. Landlords can only introduce higher prices levels for new buildings or new contracts. The reader should bear in mind that the...

– “Things have been going up for too long…” – Goldman Sachs’ CEO – Lloyd Blankfein, Goldman CEO “unnerved by market” (see video) – Bitcoin bubble is no outlier says Bank of America Merrill Lynch– Bubbles are everywhere including London property– $14 trillion of monetary stimulus has pushed investors to take more risks– We are now in a new era of bigger booms and bigger busts – BAML– “Seeing signs of bubbles in more and...

Have you ever come across a collection of metal pylons on a patch of grass next to a house and wondered what they were for? In this episode Diccon Bewes explains how democracy works when the Swiss build new homes. (Diccon Bewes for swissinfo.ch) --- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or...

Chiasso is establishing itself as a rival to Zug's Crypto Valley for fintech start-ups (Keystone) - Click to enlarge Switzerland ramped up its bid to become a global hub for financial technology (fintech) and cryptocurrency start-ups with the decision by a town on the Italian border to accept tax payments in bitcoin. Chiasso announced that it would take bitcoin to settle up to CHF250 ($265) of tax bills from the...

Summary: The dollar has been declining since the start of the year, but the causes have changed. The drag from US politics may be exaggerated, while European and Japanese politics are worrisome. The economic data may continue to be a drag on US yields, especially if core CPI slips again. The US dollar’s sell-off accelerated. It has been selling off since the start of the year. The first phase of the decline at...

Stock Markets EM FX ended the week on a mixed note, but still capped off a strong week overall. US data this week could challenge the market’s dovish take on the Fed. For now, though, the global liquidity outlook still seems to favor further gains in EM. Stock Markets Emerging Markets, September 11 Source: economist.com - Click to enlarge China China should report August new loan and money supply data this...