SNB & CHF

On Wednesday, a mob apparently composed of Trump supporters forced its way past US Capitol security guards and briefly moved unrestrained through much of the capitol building. They displayed virtually no organization and no clear goals. The only deaths were on the side of the mob, with one woman—apparently unarmed—shot dead by panicky and trigger-happy capitol police, with three others suffering non-specific “medical emergencies.” Yet, the media response has been to...

Between November 1998 and February 1999, Japan’s government bond (JGB) market was utterly decimated. You want to find an historical example of a real bond rout (no caps nor exclamations necessary), take a look at what happened during those three exhilarating (if you were a government official) months. The JGB 10-year yield had dropped to a low of just 77.2 bps during the depths of 1998’s Asian Financial Crisis (or “flu”, so noted for its regional contagious dollar...

Is the nine-month copper price blastoff due to monetary reasons (central bank printing, government budget deficits) or fundamental reasons (supply and demand)? Jeff Snider explains the fundamental backdrop (along with speculative fever) but dismisses monetary motives. ----------SPONSOR---------- But first, this from Eurodollar Enterprises! Friends, are you confused by the financial press? Are the pretty people on Bloomberg speaking in paradox? Are the esteemed pages of The Economist...

© Sylvain Robin | Dreamstime.com Despite the economic impacts of the coronavirus, significantly fewer Swiss companies went bankrupt in 2020 than the year before, according to the business data company Bisnode. During 2020, 3,811 Swiss companies filed for bankruptcy, 19% fewer than in 2019. Sectors that experienced the greatest fall in bankruptcies include artisans (-174 bankruptcies), hotels and restaurants (-124), retailers (-68) and wholesalers (-66). The slowdown...

Is it a race against time? Or is it trying to set aside today so as to focus entirely on a specific kind of tomorrow? It’s easy to do the latter especially when today is what it is; you can’t change what’s already gone on. You can, however, think that today won’t impede or even impact a much better tomorrow yet to be determined, especially when the heavy hand of government is anticipated to intervene after sunset. On the one side, more fiscal “stimulus” is purported...

The 1920s featured political détente, debt liquidations by prior consumer price inflation, an introductory stalling of monetary inflation, a German economic miracle, and a broad-based technological revolution. The 2020s have none of these. This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon. Narrated by Michael Stack. Reincarnation of the Roaring Twenties—one century on from the 1920s—is the lead speculative narrative this new year on Wall Street,...

In the Ruins of Neoliberalism: The Rise of Antidemocratic Politics in the West by Wendy Brown Columbia University Press, 2019 viii + 248 pages Wendy Brown, a well-known political theorist who teaches at UC Berkeley, does not like Friedrich Hayek very much. She in part blames him and others as well, including Milton Friedman and James Buchanan, for policies that have led to the bad state of the world in general and America in particular today. In the Ruins of...

The US dollar set for further dramatic declines? Negative interest rate policy spreading Increased global liquidity in attempt to ignite a recovery Democrats’ win paves way for massive stimulus packages Gold and silver set to rally strongly in a perfect storm As the current wave of Covid19 strongly takes hold, it has devastated the lives of individuals and families and created an uneasy anxiousness not just in individuals but also in financial markets. It has turned...

Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by 0.32% to 1.0825 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, January 8(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: The global equity rally picked up this week as it closed in 2019. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained today and is up in nine of the past 10 sessions. It has fallen only in one week since the end of October. South Korea’s Kospi led today’s advance with a nearly 4% rally on the back...

Confederation and cantons to receive distribution of CHF 4 billion According to provisional calculations, the Swiss National Ban k will report a profit in the order of CHF 21 billion for the 2020 financial year. The profit on foreign currency posi ti ons amounted to CHF 13 billion. A valuation gain of CHF 7 billion was recorded on gold holdings. The net r esult on Swiss franc posit ions amounted to over CHF 1 billion. The allocation to the provisions for currency...