le News

20 Minutes. A court in the canton of St. Gallen sentenced a cheese vendor to three years in prison, half of it behind bars. © Marco Guidi The man was judged guilty of fraudulently using Switzerland’s world-famous Emmental cheese brand and other crimes. In addition to prison, the cheese seller was ordered to pay CHF 1 million in relation to illegal cheese sales – 3,500 tonnes of cheese pretending to be Emmental was sold – and other forms of fraud including breach of trust, unlawful business...

U.S. index futures point slightly lower open. Asian shares rose while stocks in Europe fell as energy producers got caught in a downdraft in oil prices and reversed an earlier gain after Goldman unexpectedly warned that WTI could slide below $40 absent "show and awe" from OPEC. The dollar rose, hitting a four-month high against the yen and bonds and top emerging market currencies were back under pressure on Tuesday, following last week’s hawkish rhetoric from central bankers. Nonetheless,...

Via FinancialSense.com, One of the world's most powerful supercomputers, retrofitted for trading the stock market, appears to be betting on a crash in the months ahead. The Financial Crisis Observatory (FCO) at ETH Zurich released its latest Global Bubble Status Report on July 1st. As we discussed with FCO’s director, Didier Sornette, on our podcast in May, they use one of the world’s leading supercomputers to monitor global markets each day for two distinct bubble-like...

A survey shows that 71% of those working in German-speaking Switzerland would change jobs if they could. Dream jobs vary significantly by gender. © Digitalstormcinema | Dreamstime.com The survey, conducted by Marketagent.com on behalf of XING Switzerland, questioned around 1,000 employees in German-speaking Switzerland between the ages of 18 and 65. If age and and education could be ignored, 71% of the group said they would switch jobs. Dream jobs for men, in order of popularity, include:...

Recent analysis by Credit Suisse, London Business School and Cambridge Judge Business School shows the Swiss franc’s enduring strength. © Sergey Kuzmin – Dreamstime.com The reports says that for a small country with just 0.1% of the world’s population and less than 0.01% of its land mass, Switzerland punches well above its weight financially. The country has had the world’s lowest 117-year average annual inflation rate of just 2.2%. This low inflation is one of the phenomena that has given...

By Bill Harby Congratulations Moudon. This enchanting hamlet is the newest official member of a coterie of beautiful historic Swiss villages. Moudon, Vaud. Source: Roland Zumbühl of Picswiss Generally, the Swiss don’t like to brag. Even when it comes to cheeses, chocolate and direct democracy, they’re more likely to just offer you a taste and let you decide for yourself. But when it comes to the many historic villages that dot the countryside, the taciturn Swiss can get quite gabby. They even...

Swiss Rail plans to test a new smartphone app that will charge you when you arrive. The app will automatically search for the cheapest fare once the journey has ended, promising users the lowest possible fare. David Schweizer © SBB CFF FFS The new app, which will be added to Mobile Preview, will be tested in 2018. Two companies, Lezzgo and Fairtiq, already offer a similar service. Their apps track your phone and require you to check in and check out when you reach your final destination. If...

Swiss Rail plans to test a new smartphone app that will charge you when you arrive. The app will automatically search for the cheapest fare once the journey has ended, promising users the lowest possible fare. David Schweizer © SBB CFF FFS The new app, which will be added to Mobile Preview, will be tested in 2018. Two companies, Lezzgo and Fairtiq, already offer a similar service. Their apps track your phone and require you to check in and check out when you reach your final destination. If...

The Swiss government announced plans to reduce the discounts offered to those willing to risk paying the first chunk of their annual medical bills. It also plans to adjust deductibles in line with shifts in medical costs. This will be discussed until 19 October 2017. © Scanrail | Dreamstime.com Switzerland’s compulsory basic health insurance can be bought from a range of private insurance companies, however these companies must work within rules set by the government, who set both the size of...

After the Swiss public voted in favour of a new energy strategy on 21 May 2017, the government has been busy fine tuning its plans. © Silvanbachmann | Dreamstime.com Switzerland has only constructed 34 wind turbines over the last 20 years, which produce around 0.15% of the nation’s electricity, according to three experts at EPFL and UNIL, two universities in Lausanne. These experts say around 100 high-potential locations could accommodate 700 turbines. Together they could generate 7 percent...