SNB & CHF

The World Bank has caught wind of the substantial deterioration over the last half of 2022. It has been widespread and sustained enough for its econometric models to put too many places around the planet on the "razor's edge of recession." And these are the optimists with what is still their most optimistic take. That's how you know there's big trouble already. Eurodollar University's Money & Macro Analysis Twitter: https://twitter.com/JeffSnider_AIP...

If one cares to look, it’s not difficult to find numerous columns written for mainstream news outlets announcing that the US Constitution has failed. This ought to raise the question of “failed to do what?” The answer depends largely on the one claiming the constitution has failed. On the Left, claims of constitutional failure generally revolve around the idea that the constitution doesn’t empower the federal government enough. For example, Chris Edelson of the...

Overview: After sharp losses yesterday, the US dollar has stabilized today arguably ahead of Fed Chair Powell’s speech at the Riksbank symposium. Yesterday’s Fed speakers stuck to the hawkish rhetoric, and this seemed to help reverse the equity market gains, though the greenback remained soft. If Powell does not push back against the easing of financial conditions, it could very well fan risk-taking appetites and lead to a further easing of financial conditions. Asia...

President Barack Obama returned from the 2010 G20 Summit held in Toronto having failed to convince world leaders that more “economic stimulus” was needed to cure what ails the world’s economies. Walking a seeming tightrope between too much spending and spiraling deficits, on the one hand, and too little spending and economic recession, on the other, world leaders reluctantly agreed to err on the side of fiscal and monetary caution and to halve deficits in three...

The rate of unemployment in Switzerland fell to 2.2% last year, the lowest rate in 20 years, according to official statistics. At the same time, trade unions complained that wages were too low for many workers and demanded more pay. On Monday, the State Secretariat for Economic affairs (Seco) said the jobless rate fell from 3% in 2021 to 2.2% last year. This corresponds to 99,577 people registered as out of work on average each month. The number of jobless...

Immigration-control advocates are ecstatic over President Biden’s visit to El Paso. Maybe — just maybe — Biden’s trip will be what finally — finally! — brings victory in the decades-long U.S. war on immigrants. Except that it won’t. The hope of the immigration-control advocates will be dashed once again. The decades-old immigration crisis, along with the deaths, suffering, and police state that come with it, will go on, notwithstanding Biden’s trip to the border....

If the Fed succeeding is a “Black Swan,” bring it on. What if the “Black Swan” of 2023 is the Federal Reserve succeeds? Two stipulations here: 1. “Black Swan” is in quotes because the common usage has widened to include events that don’t match Nassim Taleb’s original criteria / definition of black swan; the term now includes events considered unlikely or that are off the radar screens of both the media and the alt-media. 2. The definition of “Fed success” is not as...

The first week of 2023 was a “bad news is good news” from the Wall St. perspective. Evidence of a declining economy should drive stock prices lower, but since markets are so distorted by counterfeit money rather than wages and profits, stocks and bonds can’t wait to cheer until those less fortunate are in a world of hurt! . Here are several headlines just today that suggest the global economy is heading into the soup! “Samsung Profits Plunge 69% as Global Chip...

© Ocskay Mark | Dreamstime.com A sharp rise in rent in December 2022 (+1.1%) left the average Swiss rent 4.3% higher than at the beginning of 2022, according to the Swiss Real Estate Offer Index, published on 4 January 2023 by SMG Swiss Marketplace Group. This annual jump of 4.3% exceeds the annual CPI increase of 2.8% announced this week. Increases varied significantly by region. The highest rent rise was recorded in Ticino (+8.4%). The jump in Greater Zurich...

The very first warning wasn't eurodollar futures inversion back in December '21. In fact, it wasn't even the first inversion. This other one had been and from the very start it had told you how this all was going to play out. Yet, hardly anyone noticed or could interpret its valuable signal. That's because hardly anyone understands inflation. Especially the Fed. Eurodollar University's Money & Macro Analysis Twitter: https://twitter.com/JeffSnider_AIP https://www.eurodollar.university...