SNB & CHF

There are numerous articles mentioning that Saudi Arabia may use the yuan, China’s domestic currency, for its oil exports. How much does Saudi Arabia export to China? According to the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development, the kingdom’s main exports are to China ($45.8B), India ($25.1B), Japan ($24.5B), South Korea ($19.5B), and the United States ($12.2B). Exports of crude oil reached $145 billion in total. Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest oil...

There’s an old Wall Street maxim that the cure for high commodity prices is high commodity prices. As prices rise two things will generally limit the scope of the increase. Demand will wane as consumers just use less or find substitutes. Supply will also increase as the companies that extract these raw materials open new mines, grow more crops or drill new wells. The combination of those two will act to bring prices back down until the process reverses. As prices...

First quarter of 2022 Report submitted to the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank for its quarterly assessment. The appraisals presented here are based on discussions between the SNB’s delegates for regional economic relations and company managers throughout Switzerland. In its evaluation, the SNB aggregates and interprets the information received. A total of 241 company talks were conducted between 18 January and 8 March. Key points • Companies saw turnover...

I realize that I shouldn’t be surprised at the way the crisis in Ukraine has divided our societies or at the blind fanaticism the conversations around it have provoked. After all, virtually every other development of consequence has tuned out exactly the same. From covid to the economy and from freedom of speech to science itself, rational, respectful and productive debates are nowhere to be found. Dogma, propaganda, and zealotry have prevailed, with the unrelenting...

Vulnerabilities have increased and Swiss real estate market Swiss apartments overvalued by 10% to 35% SNB continues to monitor developments in real estate market It is not roll of monetary policy to curb risk to financial system The  USDCHF  is trading back below its 100 hour moving average at 0.93129 and its 200 hour moving average at 0.93304. However at the low today, the pair did find support against what has been a swing area between 0.9293 and 0.92964. The...

The Swiss central bank says it is to enhance flexibility in steering money market interest rates This will be added to the SNB’s monetary policy repertoire moving forward but not before some test operations are conducted. For the time being, the central bank implements monetary policy by setting the SNB policy rate so this just adds to the tools they can play around with. However, I still see the key policy rate as being the main weapon in the armory. The full...

28.03.2022 – For the entire Swiss economy (private and public sectors together), the gross monthly median wage for a full-time job was CHF 6665 in 2020. The gap between the highest and lowest earners in the wage pyramid remained stable overall between 2008 and 2020. The Swiss wage landscape continues to be characterised by major differences between the economic sectors and regions. More than a third of employees (36.3%) received bonuses and one in ten people...

Can Russia Evade Sanctions via the Gold and Bitcoin Trades? [embedded content] [embedded content] You Might Also Like Gold Price Today – Gareth Soloway 2022-03-24 Dave Russell of GoldCore TV welcomes back Gareth Soloway of InTheMoneyStocks.com where we ask if the bull market for stocks is back and if $2,500 on gold is still on the cards for 2022? The Fed Has No Idea...

Most people believe lending is associated with money. But there is more to lending. A lender lends savings to a borrower as opposed to “just money.” Let us explain. Take a farmer, Joe, who has produced two kilograms of potatoes. For his own consumption, he requires one kilogram, and the rest he agrees to lend for one year to another farmer, Bob. The unconsumed kilogram of potatoes that he agrees to lend is his savings. By lending a kilogram of potatoes to Bob, Joe...

To begin with, the economy today is absolutely nothing like it had been almost thirty years ago. That fact in and of itself should end the discussion right here. However, comparisons will be made and it does no harm to review them. I’m talking about 1994, or, more specifically, the eleven months between late February 1994 and early February 1995. Fearing inflation (the only time in its history, including much of the Great Depression, the Fed didn’t fear inflation...