SNB & CHF

Realising that you need to protect your portfolio from financial systemic risks is a tricky thing. Because, not only have you identified that all is not well in the economy but you now need to make a decision about how best to protect your investments. In all likelihood, this is why you own or are thinking about owning gold bullion. Have you ever asked yourself? What problem does gold solve in today’s environment? Should I own gold ETFs or gold bullion? What is and...

"Emerging markets burn through currency reserves as crisis risks grow," notes the Wall Street Journal. But what sticks in Mr. Jeff Snider's craw is that there's no mention as to why this is. To ask the question would move the Federal Reserve out of the media's glowing spotlight. ****EP. 289 REFERENCES**** Emerging markets burn through currency reserves as crisis risks grow: https://on.wsj.com/3RZdWbM The Infatuation With Fanciful Stories of Fascinating Bank Reserves:...

Ermotti also called into question the need for 24 cantonal banks. Keystone / Elia Bianchi Having two big players like UBS and Credit Suisse provides no “compelling” economic benefit for Switzerland, Sergio Ermotti has told the NZZ am Sonntag newspaper. “The strength of the country’s financial centre is its diversification, which is much more important than the number of big banks,” the former UBS CEO said in an interview published on Sunday. In the last ten years,...

Swiss pharmaceuticals giant Novartis is currently restructuring its business. © Keystone / Urs Flueeler Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis is investing $300 million ($288 million) in biotherapeutics development, which includes a new $100 million biologics hub at its home base in Basel. A further $110 million will be spent on research and production at a Novartis site in Slovenia and $60 million in Austria, the company announced on Monday. Biotherapeutics is a...

Overview: The firmer than expected US CPI set off a major reversal of the recent price action. It is a two-prong issue. The first is about inflation and the squeeze on the cost-of-living. The second, and more powerful in the capital markets is how the Fed is likely to respond. This drove US stocks and bonds lower and lifted the dollar broadly. Asia Pacific bourses were a sea of red. Most major markets were off 1-2%, while the Nikkei, the Hang Seng, and Australia’s...

13.09.2022 – The Producer and Import Price Index fell in August 2022 by 0.1% compared with the previous month, reaching 109.6 points (December 2020 = 100). Lower prices were seen in particular for petroleum products, basic metals and semi-finished metal products. In contrast, chemical products became more expensive. Compared with August 2021, the price level of the whole range of domestic and imported products rose by 5.5%. These are the results from the Federal...

This is the story of a man, an intellectual, born after World War I, who spent studying his university years in New York and became acquainted and studied under German Jewish émigré who fled the Nazi regime in Germany, later becoming mentor and protégé. That man belonged to the political Right, taught in two different universities during his lifetime, the first one in the Eastern United States, the second in the Western part of the country, was cast out of more...

Ladies and Gentlemen I welcome you all to the ceremony of the Carl Menger Award, given by the Verein für Socialpolitik. I do so in the name of the sponsors of the award, namely the Deutsche Bundesbank, the Oesterreichische Nationalbank and the Swiss National Bank, as well as on behalf of the selection committee. This important award is given in recognition of outstanding research work relating to monetary economics and monetary policy. The city selected as the venue...

Deepfakes werden immer detailverliebter. Inzwischen fällt es zusehends schwerer die Fakes von authentischen Aufnahmen zu unterscheiden. Dies hat leider auch die Tür geöffnet für Betrugsfälle, bei denen Prominente wie Elon Musk vermeintliche Crypto-Angebote bewerben. Crypto News: Vorsicht bei Elon Musk Deepfake Cryptocoin-BetrugIm Cryptomarkt ist der Name Elon Musk wohl der einflussreichste. Daher überrascht es nicht, dass vor allem Musk immer wieder in Deepfakes...

A study by the Federal Reserve finds that quantitative tightening has a statistically significant effect on rates and yields. Too bad the effect is IMMATERIAL in the EXTREME! Also, same study notes that quantitative easing is similarly a big, 'nothing burger' (their words; ok, ok - my words). ****EP. 288 REFERENCES**** How Many Rate Hikes Does Quantitative Tightening Equal?: https://bit.ly/3BwhD3y The Infatuation With Fanciful Stories of Fascinating Bank Reserves: https://bit.ly/3xcXyMT...