le News

Investec Switzerland. TAG Heuer is opening an office in Silicon Valley, marking the first time a big Swiss watchmaker has expanded into the cradle of the U.S. technology sector and cementing its smartwatch alliance with Google and Intel Corp. © Tomnex | Dreamstime.com The office, which opened Nov. 1 and is located on Intel’s campus in Santa Clara, California, will house about a dozen research and development employees, according to Chief Executive Officer Jean-Claude Biver....

Investec Switzerland. The SMI is set to finish the week notably lower as investors continue to dump equities amid worries about the implications of next week’s US election, the trajectory of interest rates and mixed corporate earnings. © Daniel Raustadt | Dreamstime.com Until a week ago the market had confidently calculated a Clinton win but new FBI investigations appear to have put Trump firmly back in the race. The MSCI All Country World Index sank to its lowest level...

Investec Switzerland. The promise of snow across the Alps this weekend won’t be enough to lift the gloom at some of Europe’s top ski resorts as the pound’s post-Brexit slide dents British bookings. © Gerd Kohlmus | Dreamstime.com Jon Fricker, a property developer in Beaconsfield, west of London, said some of his friends would probably back out of their annual piste reunion if the cost of a long weekend in the Portes du Soleil ski area straddling the border between France and...

Investec Switzerland. Swiss talks with the European Union about immigration restrictions mustn’t be impacted by the U.K.’s decision to leave the bloc, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said. © Joachim Eckel | Dreamstime.com “In the EU, we should carry on negotiations with Switzerland in the same way as we would have if there were no question on Britain,” Merkel said after a meeting with Swiss President Johann Schneider-Amman in Berlin on Wednesday. “Switzerland has a right as...

Submitted by Ronan Manly, BullionStar.com News has just emerged in the gold market that the giant Swiss precious metals refiner Argor-Heraeus has held discussions to be acquired, and that the likely outcome is an acquisition by a private equity group. This private equity group is believed to be London-based WRM CapInvest, part of Zurich headquartered WRM Capital. Other interested buyers are also believed to have examined a bid for Argor-Heraeus, including Japanese refining group Asahi...

Investec Switzerland. The Swiss franc climbed on Wednesday as global stocks fell and demand for haven assets increased on growing concerns that the U.S. presidential race had tightened. © Valeriya Potapova | Dreamstime.com The franc reached its strongest level versus the euro since June and advanced against the dollar. Demand for havens is being stoked after an ABC poll showing Republican candidate Donald Trump narrowly ahead in the U.S. presidential race a week before the...

Investec Switzerland. The Swiss franc climbed on Wednesday as global stocks fell and demand for haven assets increased on growing concerns that the U.S. presidential race had tightened. © Valeriya Potapova | Dreamstime.com The franc reached its strongest level versus the euro since June and advanced against the dollar. Demand for havens is being stoked after an ABC poll showing Republican candidate Donald Trump narrowly ahead in the U.S. presidential race a week before the...

Investec Switzerland. Risks to the Swiss property market remained elevated in the three months through September, according to UBS Group AG’s quarterly index. “While the buy-to-rent price ratio reached an all-time high, moderate mortgage growth and the slightly-improved economy prevented imbalances in the owner-occupied housing market from widening,” it said in a report. By Catherine Bosley (Bloomberg) Exposed regions include: Lake Geneva, Basel, Zurich, Zug, Luzern and...

Investec Switzerland. Risks to the Swiss property market remained elevated in the three months through September, according to UBS Group AG’s quarterly index. “While the buy-to-rent price ratio reached an all-time high, moderate mortgage growth and the slightly-improved economy prevented imbalances in the owner-occupied housing market from widening,” it said in a report. By Catherine Bosley (Bloomberg) Exposed regions include: Lake Geneva, Basel, Zurich, Zug, Luzern and...

In 1941, George de Mestral, while hunting in the Jura, with his son and dogs, noticed how the plant burdock stuck with microscopic hooks to his trousers and to the ears of one of his dogs. Fifteen years later the strong-willed Vaud handy man had turned his observation into something: Velcro ®. Wild burdock_© Olga Budonna | Dreamstime.com He carried his hunting trip observation around in his head for ten years before realizing it could be used as an alternative to a zip, an earlier american...