SNB & CHF

The idea that interest rates have nowhere to go but up is very much like saying the bond market has it all wrong. That is one reason why the rhetoric has been ratcheted that much higher of late, particularly since the Fed “raised rates” for a third time in March. Such “hawkishness” by convention should not go so unnoticed, and yet yields and curves are once more paying little attention to Janet Yellen. When Mohamed...

The US jobs growth slowed considerably more than expected in March and the disappointment pushed the dollar and equities initially lower.  United States Nonfarm payrolls The US created 98k jobs in March, well below market expectations for around 175k jobs. Adding insult to injury, revisions to the January and February data took off another 38k job. U.S. Nonfarm Payrolls, March 2017(see more posts on U.S. Nonfarm...

Chalet apartments in Verbier – © Chechotkin | Dreamstime.com On 11 March 2012, Swiss voted to accept a law restricting the construction of secondary residences, homes that are only used occasionally by owners living somewhere else. Under the law no more than 20% of a municipality’s housing can be second homes. Those with percentages above 20% run into building restrictions. The initiative was nick named Lex Weber after...

Summary Reserve Bank of India surprised markets with the start of the tightening cycle. The Czech National Bank (CNB) ended the EUR/CZK floor. Israeli central bank said it won’t hike rates until Q2 2018. Both S&P and Fitch cut South Africa’s rating one notch to sub-investment grade BB+. Moody’s put South Africa’s Baa2 rating on review for a downgrade S&P upgraded Argentina one notch to B with stable outlook....

– Gold silver oil spike after U.S. bombs Syria– Gold and silver spike 1% as oil rises 1.4% – Gold breaks 200 day moving average, 4th week of gains– Stocks fall after U.S. strikes in Syria rattle markets – U.S. missiles hit airbase; Lavrov says no Russian casualties; Russia deploys cruise missile frigate to Syria – Russia denounces ‘aggression’ & warns of ‘considerable damage’ U.S. ties– “Aggression against a...

A Swiss television crew use a hidden camera to show the extent to which a woman was sexually harassed on the streets of Geneva. But it’s not just in western Switzerland that harassment is the order of the day for women. (RTS/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...

As world “leaders” gathered in Davos in January 2016, they did so among financial turmoil that was creating more economic havoc than at any time since the Great “Recession.” Having seen especially US QE as the equivalent of money printing, their focus was drawn elsewhere to at least attempt an explanation for the contradiction. They initially settled on the Fed’s rate hike, where terminating “ultra-loose” policies was...

The US jobs data is notoriously difficult to accurately forecast consistently. I do not claim to do so now. My intent is more modest. It is simply to point out why I there is risk that the jobs data is disappointing, especially after the stronger than expected ADP estimate. U.S. Nonfarm Payrolls, March 2017(see more posts on U.S. Nonfarm Payrolls, ) Source: investing.com - Click to enlarge The same forces that...

© Kevinbrine | Dreamstime.com The French-Swiss group, described as “disreputable” by the Ville de Paris, will not be supplying sand to the city of Paris this summer. Paris Plages (Beaches), a project that creates temporary beaches of sand along the banks of the river Seine every summer, said it would take no more sand from LafargeHolcim because of its willingness get involved in Donald Trumps’s disastrous Mexican wall...

  Counterintuitive Moves Something odd happened late in the day in Wednesday’s trading session, which prompted a number of people to mail in comments or ask a question or two. Since we have discussed this issue previously, we decided this was a good opportunity to briefly elaborate on the topic again in these pages. A strong ADP jobs report for March was released on Wednesday, and the gold price dutifully declined...