SNB & CHF

While China has been banging the nationalist drums in its government-owned tabloids, warning daily of the adverse consequences to the US from either a trade war, or from Trump’s violating the “One China” policy, a more tangible concern for deteriorating relations between China and the US is that Trump could, and most likely will, brand China a currency manipulator shortly after taking over the the Oval Office. Even Bank...

The US 10-year yield fell briefly below 1.32% last July. The yield slowly rose to reach 1.80% in mid-October. The day after the election, the yield initially slipped to almost 1.71%. This was a bit of a miscue, and the yield rose sharply to hit almost 2.64% the day after the FOMC hiked rates for the second time in the cycle on December 14. The yield backed off to hit 2.33% at the end of last week. The difference between...

Unemployment Rate (not seasonally adjusted) According to the SECO surveys, 159,372 unemployed were registered at the Regional Employment Centers (RAV) at the end of December 2016, 10,144 more than in the previous month. The unemployment rate thus rose from 3.3% in November 2016 to 3.5% in the reporting month. Switzerland Unemployment Rate Not Seasonally Adjusted December 2016(see more posts on Switzerland...

Swiss Franc EUR/CHF - Euro Swiss Franc, January 10(see more posts on EUR/CHF, ) - Click to enlarge Sterling is on the ropes following Brexit comments made by UK Prime Minister Theresa May over the weekend. It’s been a tough day’s trading for any clients holding the Pound with losses against all of the  major currencies. GBP/CHF rates have dropped by a cent and a half with the pair now trading in the mid 1.23’s,...

Summary: Part of the US Republican tax reforms call for a border adjustment. It will tax imports fully and not exports. This will likely be challenged at the WTO. Many economists say the dollar will automatically appreciate by 20%. WE are bullish the dollar but skeptical of the logic here. While hearings on US President-elect Trump’s nominees will begin this week, the Republicans are preparing dramatic changes...

Gold Price In GBP Rises 4% On Brexit and UK Economy Risks – Pound fell 2% against gold yesterday after Theresa May created Brexit concerns  – May’s ‘Hard Brexit’ denial does not calm markets growing fears – Investors concerned about lack of government strategy and uncertainty – UK Prime Minister bizarrely blames media and “those who print things” for sterling depreciation – GBP gold builds on 31% gain in 2016 with 4%...

The Pound has had its worst day in two months yesterday, with exchange rates against most of its major currencies now reaching a two month low, and Swiss Franc exchange rates reaching down to the much dearer end of the 1.20’s once more. Theresa May’s comments yesterday were inflammatory but still fairly vague. She gave little away but markets were all collectively worried enough about the potential reaction that this...

See the introduction and the video for the terms gold basis, co-basis, backwardation and contango.   Supply-Demand Fundamentals Improve Noticeably Last week was another short week, due to the New Year holiday. We look forward to getting back to our regularly scheduled market action. Photo via thedailycoin.org - Click to enlarge Gold and Silver Prices The prices of both metals moved up again this week. Something very...

The Swiss National Bank has announced 24 bn profits for 2016. Profits came from the dollar, yen and Canadian dollar, while the pound retreated by 15%. The EUR/CHF is only slightly weaker, mostly because the SNB actively supported the euro. SNB profits on USD, CAD and JPY, loses on GBP (see more posts on British Pound, Canadian Dollar, Japanese yen, SNB profit, US dollar, )FX rates for USD, JPY, EUR, GBP in 2016 with...

The Used Goods Question Retail sales in several countries like Germany, Italy, Japan and Switzerland continue to fall. In the United States they have strongly risen recently. We should remind readers, that used goods sold via Ebay or similar, are not contained in this statistics. Still they create economic value for the purchases. By mentality, Swiss, Germans or Japanese pay more attention so that used goods do not...