SNB & CHF

It is estimated that about a third of the oil traded globally is bought and sold in Switzerland. Keystone/Sergey Ponomarev Switzerland will decide case by case whether to curtail traders’ purchases from Russia’s state-controlled companies under European Union sanctions. The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) which is in charge sanctions confirmed the Swiss policy to follow in principle the EU measures, which aim to limit commodity deals to those deemed...

Overview: Benchmark 10-year bonds yields in the US and Europe are at new highs for the year.  The US yield is approaching 2.90%, while European rates are mostly 5-8 bp higher.  The 10-year UK Gilt yield is up nine basis points to push near 1.98%. The higher yields are seeing the yen’s losing streak extend, and the greenback has jumped 1% to around JPY128.45  The dollar is trading lower against the other major currencies but the Swiss franc. The dollar-bloc currencies...

Zurzeit würde wohl nichts die Mass Adoption mehr fördern, als wenn Amazon Zahlungen mit Cryptocoins akzeptierte. Doch Amazons CEO macht der Crypto-Community wenig Hoffnung, wenn es um eine baldige Implementierung von Zahlungen mit Bitcoin und Co. geht. Crypto News: Zahlungen mit Cryptocoins auf Amazon noch weit entferntOffenbar gibt es derzeit keine Pläne, Zahlungen mit Cryptocoins auf Amazon zu akzeptieren. CEO Andy Jessy sprach auf CNBC über den Cryptomarkt und...

Should streaming services like Netflix be forced to support filmmakers in the countries where they operate? Under the the so-called “Lex Netflix” law, they will be required to invest 4% of their Swiss turnover in local productions. The youth wings of Switzerland’s major centre right and rightwing political parties have criticised the law and collected enough signatures to force a national referendum on May 15. They fear the law could drive up subscription prices for...

When the system can’t borrow more and distribute the insolvency, it implodes I started writing about debt saturation back in 2011. The basic idea is we can continue to borrow and spend as long as one of two conditions hold: 1) real (inflation-adjusted) income is rising, so there’s more income to service additional debt, or 2) the cost of borrowing declines so the same income can support more debt. After 13 long years of declining interest rates and stagnant...

Students and expanding companies are demanding more blockchain courses at Swiss universities. © Keystone / Christian Beutler The rapidly expanding Swiss blockchain industry is facing growing pains: a limited supply of qualified workers to fill the expanding number of job vacancies. Universities are stepping up to meet the challenge by designing new courses around blockchain and decentralised finance. Blockchain is the digital system that powers bitcoin and other...

At the end of March this year the difference between the yield on the ten-year Treasury bond and the yield on the two-year Treasury bond fell to 0.010 percent from 1.582 percent at the end of March 2021. Many analysts believe that a change in the shape of the yield spread provides an indication regarding where the economy is heading in the months ahead, with an increase in the yield spread raising the likelihood of a possible strengthening in economic activity in the...

The government’s latest report puts the twelve-month official consumer price inflation rate at 8.5 percent, the highest since December 1981: As economists debate the causes of, and cure for, this price inflation, it’s worth recounting which schools of thought saw it coming. Although individuals can be nuanced, generally speaking the Austrians have been warning that the Fed’s reckless policies threaten the dollar. In contrast, as I will document in this article, two...

Zoltan Pozsar says a commodity-based, China-led monetary order—Bretton Woods III—is upon us, resulting in the decline of the US dollar and escalating repudiation of US Treasuries. This is not going to happen! China doesn't want it; neither do exporters nor commodity producers. ----EP. 217 REFERENCES---- (Credit Suisse) Bretton Woods III: https://bit.ly/38H76q8 (Credit Suisse) Money, Commodities, and Bretton Woods III: https://bit.ly/3jK2YI4 (Credit Suisse) The Big $hort:...

Overview: With many financial centers, especially in Europe, closed for the long holiday weekend, risk-appetites remain in check. Most Asia Pacific markets fell, and poor earnings from Infosys and Tata Consultancy, saw India pace the decline with a 2% drop. US futures are also trading with a heavier bias.  Interest rates remain firm. The US 2- and 10-year yields are up a couple of basis points to 2.47% and 2.85% respectively. China’s GDP inexplicable rose though...