SNB & CHF

Financial service firms in London are preparing for the impact of Brexit. (Keystone) At the same time as big global banks are considering alternatives to London in the wake of the Brexit vote, Swiss newspaper Le Matin Dimanche reports, financial institutions are also recruiting new staff in the City. Rather than in commercial banking, however, these employees specialise in private wealth management. Here “the...

Sterling reached a new 11-month high against the dollar earlier today, but the dovish take away from the Bank of England has seen sterling reverse lower. It has now fallen below the previous day’s low, and a close below there (~$1.3190) would confirm the bearish key reversal pattern. Support near the week’s low just below $1.3100 is holding, and if that goes, the $1.30 level can be tested. A break of $1.2930, the low...

Last June in Munich, Greenpeace symbolically showcased a diesel engine in a coffin. (Keystone) After decades of rapid growth, the popularity of diesel vehicles in Switzerland is on the wane following scandals and concerns about environmental impact. The rise of diesel in Switzerland was big and it was fast: accounting for 17.8% of all cars on the road in 2002, last year diesel had more than doubled, to 36.8%, an...

Summary The Reserve Bank of India started an easing cycle by cutting all policy rates 25 bp. Bank Indonesia has tilted more dovish after signaling earlier this year that the easing cycle was over. Czech National Bank became the first in Europe to hike. Political risk is rising in Israel. President Trump signed the Russia sanctions bill. Nigeria is trying to unify its system of multiple exchange rates. Brazil President...

If our faith in the future and our resilience is near-zero, then we can’t take any chances. You’ve probably noticed how risk-averse Hollywood has become: the big summer movies are all extensions of existing franchises–mixing up the superheroes in new combinations, or remaking hit films from the past–all safe bets. The trend to “playing it safe” is not limited to Hollywood:–we see risk aversion in every sphere of the...

The US created 209k jobs in July and jobs growth in June was revised higher (+9k) to 231k. The underemployment rate was unchanged at 8.6%. United States Nonfarm payrolls The 287k nonfarm payroll growth in June (265k private sector) will ease fears that the US is headed for a recession.  That type of jobs growth, and the stronger than expected, service sector ISM earlier this week, are not consistent with a...

Wie der erste Teil darzulegen versuchte, muss einer Ausweitung der Geldmenge durch Geschäftsbanken zwangsläufig eine Vermehrung der Basisgeldmenge vorausgegangen sein. Ohne eine Entscheidung der Zentralbank, den Geschäftsbanken –vorgängig oder nachträglich – Basisgeld zur Verfügung zu stellen, ist eine jede Geschäftsbank aufgrund der gegenseitigen Konkurrenz untereinander in deren Möglichkeit, Geld zu schöpfen,...

Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by 0.15% to 1.1475 CHF. EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, August 04(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates There are some chunky option strikes that could come into play today. There are 920 mln euros struck at $1.1850 that expire today. There are A$523 mln struck at $0.7950 expiring today. There are $680 mln struck at CAD1.2550 that will be...

Introduction Being a small open economy Switzerland is highly exposed to the girations of the world economy, both through international trade and financial flows. The country’s trade surplus for instance accounted for nearly half the GDP growth between 2000 and 2007.2 While the growth contribution from trade has slowed during the global crisis, the linkages with the world economy remain important for Switzerland. This...

I suspect President Trump has been told that markets don’t like radical changes. If there is one thing that any elected official is afraid of, it’s the internet flooded with reports of grave financial instability. We need only go back a year to find otherwise confident authorities suddenly reassessing their whole outlook. On the campaign trail, candidate Trump was very harsh on Janet Yellen. Now six months into his...