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In the third quarter of 2016, Swiss exports reached CHF 52.5 billion, 8.1% higher than they were for the same period in 2015, according to statisticians in Bern. Industries contributing to the rise were jewellery and precious metals (+21%) and pharmaceuticals (+17%). The industry showing the most negative shift was watchmaking (-8%). © Filmfoto | Dreamstime.com Stronger pharmaceuticals exports were behind 80% of the rise. Exports to North America (+24%) lead the way. Despite a decline in...

Investec Switzerland. The Swiss Market Index is set to finish the week largely unchanged while global stocks gain on positive US third quarter earnings results, favourable central bank statements and a rallying oil price. The S&P 500 saw its biggest advance since September on Wednesday after US banking giants Citigroup, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo all posted better-than-expected quarterly results.  Stocks also received a boost after a gage of core US...

Investec Switzerland. Roche Holding AG’s third-quarter revenue rose 4.5 percent as its trio of breast-cancer therapies offset stagnating sales of some of its older drugs. Sales climbed to 12.5 billion Swiss francs ($12.6 billion), the Basel, Switzerland-based company said in a statement on Thursday. That compared with the 12.6 billion-franc average estimate of nine analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Roche doesn’t report third-quarter earnings. The world’s biggest...

Investec Switzerland. Nestle SA forecast the slowest full-year sales growth in more than a decade as food companies worldwide struggle against consumer resistance to price increases. Revenue will gain about 3.5 percent on an organic basis in 2016, the Vevey, Switzerland-based maker of Nespresso coffee said Thursday, abandoning a goal for an increase of about 4.2 percent. Growth in the consumer-goods industry is “relatively fragile,” Chief Financial Officer Francois-Xavier...

Investec Switzerland. The Swiss Market Index is set to finish the week lower, but outperforming global stocks, thanks to a strong week of luxury good stocks. © Kiankhoon | Dreamstime.com Global stocks fell to their lowest levels since July on Thursday as investors rushed to the safety of government bonds, yen and gold after renewed concerns over weakness in the Chinese economy and as the Federal Reserve considers raising interest rates. Data showed that Chinese exports...

20 Minutes. Residents of German-speaking Switzerland appear to doing less shopping across the border, something that has also been observed in Geneva. © Jochenschneider | Dreamstime.com According to the newspaper the Handelszeitung, Swiss cross-border shopping peaked in 2015 and local customs posts have seen a decline in VAT and duty collected since March. At the border in Kreuzlingen, near Lake Constance, VAT and import duty collected was down 10%. At the Lörrach bei Riehen crossing near...

20 Minutes. Visa quotas for non-EU workers will rise next year. The increased quotas will include 3,000 B-permits and 4,500 L-permits, 1,000 more than this year. These limits are still lower than in 2014, when Swiss politics turned against the free movement of workers from the EU. 2014 quotas of 3,500 B-permits and 5,000 short-term L-permits, were reduced to 2,500 (B) and 4,000 (L), after a referendum to limit immigration was accepted by 50.3% of Swiss voters in February 2014. These lower...

It has never been more important to own gold as part of a diversified portfolio. The form your gold investment takes is just as important as owning it in the first place. ETFs and pooled gold may not be functional in extreme markets and may themselves be subject to systemic risk events. Fifty gram gold bars sit across a one kilo gold bar at bullion dealers Goldcore, in London, U.K., on Thursday, March 11, 2010. Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg We are living in extraordinary times...

In Romania, 96.1% of the population owns the home they live in. In Switzerland the percentage is 37.4%. © Dirima | Dreamstime.com Home ownership rates vary significantly across the country. The lowest rates are found in the canton of Basel-City (16.0%) and Geneva (18.3%). Relative to these two cities, home ownership abounds in Valais (57.2%), the highest. Vaud (31.4%), Zurich (28.5%), Bern (39.9%), and Luzern (34.8%) are all in between. In addition, there is a correlation between age and...

    The Education Bubble: Is A Harvard MBA Worth $500,000? Written by Peter Diekmeyer   College students are back at their desks this month facing bleak prospects. With tightening job markets leaving kids with no place else to go, universities continue to jack up fees.   The upshot is growing signs that America is in the midst of an “education bubble,” just as big as those in stock, bond, and real estate markets.   Case in point: four years at Harvard University...