SNB & CHF

Is there anyone left out there who doesn’t know the rate of economic growth is slowing? The 10 year Treasury yield has fallen 45 basis points since peaking in mid-March. 10 year TIPS yields have fallen by the same amount and now reside below -1% again. Copper prices peaked a little later (early May), fell 16% at the recent low and are still down nearly 12% from the highs. Crude oil has recently joined in, falling 7% from its recent high. Energy stocks are in a full...

Maintaining the illusion of confidence, permanence and stability serves the interests of those benefiting from the bubbles and those who prefer the safety of the herd, even as the herd thunders toward the precipice. The misconception that collapse is an all or nothing phenomenon is common: Either the system rights itself with a bit of money-printing and rah-rah or it collapses into post-industrial ruin and gangs are battling over the last stash of canned beans....

Wenn die Federal Reserve, das amerikanische Pendant zur Schweizerischen Nationalbank (SNB), die Zinsen erhöht, dann kann dies Menschen in der Schweiz mit eigenem Haus oder eigener Wohnung direkt Geld kosten. Aber warum eigentlich? Die Fed ist weit weg und die Schweiz hat ja ihre eigenen Zinsen. Ganz so einfach ist es nicht. Die in der Regel monatlich fälligen Zinsen für den Kauf eines eigenen Hauses oder einer Eigentumswohnung sind von mehreren Faktoren beeinflusst....

Authored by Jeffrey Snider via RealClearMarkets Why doesn’t the market care about these inflation reports? First, by writing “market” I mean actual markets in bonds. Despite now three huge CPI’s in a row in the US, and an equal number of PPI’s even more obscene than those have been, bond yields are falling. In some places in the bond market, on the verge of tanking. This is the opposite of what’s supposed to happen; presuming you believe, like...

According to a report by the newspaper Le Matin, some testing centres in Switzerland are charging for rapid antigen tests despite the federal government announcing it would cover the cost of these tests. © Seventyfourimages | Dreamstime.com With many holiday destinations still requiring negative Covid-19 tests as a condition of entry, those heading across borders for the summer holidays will need to get tested before heading to the airport or getting on the road or...

The River Aare at a weir just before flowing into Lake Biel on Friday. Lake Biel is threatening to reach a record level. Keystone / Jean-christophe Bott Lakes and rivers in central Swiss cantons such as Bern and Lucerne have reached dangerous levels, and more rain is forecast for Thursday and Friday. On Wednesday authorities in canton Bern said water levels on Lake Thun, Lake Biel and in the city of Bern would significantly exceed flood limits in the coming days....

Conservatives and progressives are at it again. They are attacking each other big time over whether Critical Race Theory should be taught in secondary schools and colleges and universities. The fundraising appeals are flying, as each side exhorts people to send in their donations to support whichever side is sending out the fundraising appeal. Yawn!  The controversy is no different in principle from one that entails, say, whether students should wear uniforms in...

Normally, those who borrow must pay out more money than they are lent in the form of interest and repayments. Currently, for the Swiss government it is the other way around. Lenders are paying the Swiss federal government to give it money. © Valeriya Luzina | Dreamstime.com On 14 July 2021, the Swiss Confederation announced the success of its latest issue of government bonds. The government recently issued bonds with a face value of CHF 934 million in return for CHF...

Picasso’s ‘Fillette au béret’ before being auctioned in Sweden in 2016 TT News Agency via AFP / Pontus Lundahl Fans of Pablo Picasso will soon be able to own a share in one of his paintings for less than $6,000 (CHF5,500) – although that won’t actually buy them the right to see the work, which will be stored under lock and key in Switzerland. Fillette au béret (Young girl with a beret) is being sold – or “tokenised” – via the blockchain in what Sygnum, the digital...

This second part of the series about the Principles of Economics treats Menger’s exposition of the economy. In continuation of the first part, which covered the general concept of goods, the part on the economy treats the role of economic goods in relation to human wants. Based on the original version in German, published in 1871 as Grundsätze der Volkswirthschaftslehre, the following exposition tries to capture the spirit of the work, with all direct quotes in the...