SNB & CHF

KOF Economic Barometer rose by 3.1 points (from revised 101.6 in September) to 104.7. It thus recovered from its recent summer trough of below the 100 points and stands as high as for the last time in January 2014. Accordingly, the outlook for the Swiss suggests above potential short-term growth rates. In October 2016, the KOF Economic Barometer, with a new reading of 104.7, pointed visibly above its long-term...

SMI A weak performance from Swiss pharma giants pulled the Swiss Market Index down again this week after investors dropped stocks in the sector on lackluster earnings reports. The peripheral European stocks and Japan managed to buck the trend this week, global stock markets remain under pressure in the run up to US election. SMI Index, October 29(see more posts on SMI Swiss Market Index, ) - Click to enlarge...

Introduction by George Dorgan My articles About meMy booksFollow on:TwitterFacebookGoogle +YoutubeSeeking AlphaCFA SocietyLinkedINEconomicBlogs Summary: Many see Yellen and Fischer at odds over benefits of high pressure economy. However, this fails to put the comments in the proper context–same message different styles. They are arguing against the doves who don’t want to hike this year. Many observers are...

Here is Part 2 of the guest essay by Zeus Y. There no longer seems to be a rational alignment between economic cost and value. This means questioning so-called conventional wisdom and critically considering whether or not to own property or even to go to college. Here are some examples: • In my own life, I owned a Florida vacant lot that would normally (and did actually significantly appreciate) in value, but the...

Retaken from Christoph Gisiger via Finanz und Wirtschaft, James Grant, Wall Street expert and editor of the investment newsletter «Grant’s Interest Rate Observer», warns of a crash in sovereign debt, is puzzled over the actions of the Swiss National Bank and bets on gold. From multi-billion bond buying programs to negative interest rates and probably soon helicopter money: Around the globe, central bankers are...

Swiss Franc EUR/CHF - Euro Swiss Franc, October 27(see more posts on EUR/CHF, ). - Click to enlarge GBP/CHF rates have levelled out over the past couple of weeks following some heavy losses earlier this month. The Pound crashed following UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s comments regarding the triggering of Article 50 early next year. Whilst we knew this was coming the timeline was shrouded in uncertainty and the...

Summary: Interest rates and 10-year break-evens are rising. Some think the CRB Index is tracing out a head and shoulders bottom. We look for inflation in non-tradable goods’ prices (think services). Bond yields are rising. The break-even rates, which compare conventional yields to the inflation-linked securities are also rising. These developments, which we do not think can be attributed to central bank...

© Perolsson | Dreamstime.com Syngenta AG shares tumbled on concern that China National Chemical Corp.’s $43 billion takeover of the Swiss herbicide and pesticide maker risks regulatory delays in the European Union. ChemChina didn’t submit so-called remedies in the EU’s early-stage review of the deal by the Oct. 21 deadline, the European Commission’s press office said by phone on Monday. Companies often decide to put off...

The Kochs are one of the foster families hosting unaccompanied underage asylum seekers in Switzerland. Many of the 5,000 young people have to stay in special asylum shelters. (SRF/swissinfo.ch) In Aargau, 30 of 240 children and adolescents are staying with a Swiss family. The Koch family in Dietwil took on an underage Afghani nine months ago. The young asylum seeker had fled his home country without his family and didn’t speak a word of German when he arrived in Switzerland. Today he...

Submitted by Koos Jansen from BullionStar.com After years of gradually securing its official gold reserves (unwinding leases) the central bank of Austria claims to have completed the audits of its 224 tonnes of gold stored at the BOE. However, it refuses to publish the audit reports and the gold bar list. What could possibly be so sensitive to hide from public eyes? After the Germans had activated a program to...