SNB & CHF

Paul Buitink talks to Jeff Snider of Alhambra Investments. Jeff explains how Russia, despite the sanctions, is still using the eurodollar system to transact internationally, for example by using off-shore banks across the world and middle-men in China and India. Not being part of Swift is difficult but doesn't stop them from using the eurodollar system. Jeff comments on the ruble exchange rate and how the threat of stopping gas or payments provide for mutually assured destruction between...

Der Support bröckelte in den vergangenen Tagen weiter, so dass Bitcoin erst unterhalb von 30K wieder stabil wurde – der Markt reagierte mit Panik. Doch es gibt auch gute Nachrichten, die man erkennt, wenn man sich die langfristigen Daten des BTC-Preises ansieht. Bitcoin News: Bitcoin Crash sorgt für Panik im MarktAktuell ist der Bitcoin nur noch 28.400 US-Dollar wert. Ein neues Jahrestief vom Wochenanfang wurde damit nochmals unterboten. Doch die allgemeine Panik des...

Overview: Global equities are bleeding lower. Several large markets in the Asia Pacific region, including Hong Kong, Taiwan, and India are off more than 2%. Japan and Australian bourses fell by more than 1.5%. Europe's Stoxx 600 is off more than 2% and giving back the gains recorded in the past two sessions plus some. US futures are extending yesterday's loses. The sharp sell-off of equities has given the sovereign bond market a strong bid. The 10-year US Treasury...

The bond market is allegedly populated by the “smart” set, whereas those trading equities derided as the “dumb” money (not without some truth). I often wonder if it’s either/or. The fixed income system just went through this scarcely three years ago, yet all signs and evidence point to another repeat. So, how smart can Eurobond agents really be if they’ve gone and done it again? What is it? Let’s roll the clock back to the landmine of 2018. Collateral shortage,...

The origins of the federal student loan program are well documented and follow a similar trajectory to most government subsidy programs in American history. Each previous government subsidy program has had a history of mismanagement, inefficiency, backwards incentives, and inflationary pressure via creation and distribution of new dollars in exchange for goods and services at rates below their market value. The federal takeover of student loans is a subsidy because...

“We live in a time where few understand how things get made. It is fine to not know where stuff comes from, but it isn’t fine to not know where stuff comes from while dictating to the rest of us how the economy should be run.” —Doomberg Eighty-five percent of human energy usage comes from burning things. Either plants or trees grown in a geologically recent past or plants or trees (and decomposed animals) from ancient times. Solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, etc.—all...

[This foreword to Henry Hazlitt’s Failure of the New Economics (available at mises.org free in PDF, ebook, and audiobook) was first published in National Review, August 15, 1959.] For most people, economics has ever been the “dismal science,” to be passed over quickly for more amusing sport. And yet, a glance at the world today will show that we pass over economics at our peril. The influence of economic ideas on human history, especially political history, has been...

The most recent macroeconomic figures show that the Chinese slowdown is much more severe than expected and not only attributable to the covid-19 lockdowns. The lockdowns have an enormous impact. Twenty-six of 31 China mainland provinces have rising covid cases and the fear of a Shanghai-style lockdown is enormous. The information coming from Shanghai proves that these drastic lockdowns create an enormous damage to the population. Millions of citizens without food or...

Are the industrial commodities starting to get a whiff of demand side rejection? Short run trends suggest that this could be the case. From copper to iron and the highest (formerly) of the high flyers, aluminum, this particular group has been exhibiting a rather synchronized setback going back to the end of March, start of April. This despite supply bottlenecks and production shortfalls which continue to plague each. Copper has now fallen to its lowest since last...

Overview: Risk appetites are improving on the margin. Asia Pacific stocks still fell after the sharp losses on Wall Street on Monday. Still, China, Taiwan and Indian equities traded higher. Europe's Stoxx 600 is snapping a four-day 6.5%+ slide and is up around 1.2% in late European morning turnover. US equity futures are up over 1%. The 10-year Treasury yield that pushed to 3.20% yesterday is a little above 3% now. European benchmark yields are 5-7 bp lower and the...