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Investec Switzerland. Swiss stocks fell significantly this week, underperforming global equities, amid renewed global growth worries and a poor performance from financial heavyweights. Stock markets across the world tumbled after weaker-than-expected manufacturing data out of China revived fears around global growth prospects. © Huating | Dreamstime.com In the US, the future path of interest rate hikes remained in focus. Two regional Federal Reserve presidents said...

Investec Switzerland. The main players in Europe’s most hostile bid situation are digging in. Saint-Gobain said last week that its bitterly contested plan to take control of building materials rival Sika was still a strategic priority — even though the Swiss target’s board and minority shareholders are prepared for a multi-year fight. There are peaceful ways out of the situation, if only emotion wasn’t involved. © Zepherwind | Dreamstime.com Sika is controlled by...

Investec Switzerland. Swiss equities are expected to finish lower this week, underperforming global stocks after the Federal Reserve and the bank of Japan held off on policy changes, mirroring last weeks “wait and see” stance of the European Central Bank. © G0d4ather | Dreamstime.com U.S. central bankers skipped an interest-rate hike on Wednesday for the third straight meeting since kicking off its tightening cycle last year. According to the Banks statement, the Fed...

Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. Swiss watch exports posted the biggest quarterly drop since 2009 as the industry faces declining demand across all its main markets. © Ateliermadman | Dreamstime.com Shipments fell 8.9 percent in the first quarter, adjusted for working days, according to data from Switzerland’s customs office. Exports declined 16 percent in March to 1.5 billion francs ($1.5 billion), the lowest level for that month in five years, the Federation of the Swiss Watch...

Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. The east German village of Glashuette doesn’t look like much: just a handful of streets stretching up and down a narrow valley from a bare station platform, where trains depart once an hour for the 45-minute trip to Dresden. Scratch a bit deeper, though, and you’ll find that the town of 7,000 is home to the greatest concentration of world-class watchmakers outside of Switzerland – with a business that’s growing even as Swiss producers retrench. A....

Submitted by Mac Slavo via SHTFPlan.com, Astute observers of financial markets, especially in the precious metals sector, have long argued that small concentrations of major market players have been manipulating asset prices. Last week those suspicions were confirmed when Deutsche Bank, one of the world’s leading financial institutions, not only admitted to regulators that they have been involved in the racket, but that they were prepared to turn over records implicating many of...

Investec Switzerland. The SMI continued its struggling upward trend this week and is expected to finish slightly higher on Friday, in-line with global equity markets. Stocks held on to early gains despite concerns that the European Central Bank (ECB) and People’s Bank of China may roll back stimulus measures as the global recovery continues. © Photomall | Dreamstime.com The increase in oil prices, signs of a stabilizing economy in China and brighter corporate earnings...

Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. Roche Holding AG said its most advanced experimental drug to harness the immune system in the fight against cancer may win U.S. regulatory approval this year, becoming the first such treatment to help the roughly 430,000 people diagnosed annually with bladder cancer. © Daniel Schreurs | Dreamstime.com The medicine, called atezolizumab, may generate around $3 billion in sales by 2020, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. It will face competition from...

Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. The Swiss National Bank could reduce the amount of leeway it grants banks on its negative deposit rate in a bid to prevent an already “significantly overvalued” franc from strengthening, President Thomas Jordan said. © Peterpolak | Dreamstime.com Still, reducing the threshold — currently 20 times an institution’s minimum reserves — isn’t an imminent step, Jordan said in an interview with Bloomberg Television in Washington on Saturday, where he...

Investec Switzerland. The SMI is set to finish this week more than 2% higher, showing modest outperformance against global equity markets as cyclical companies from banks to luxury goods surged on improving investor sentiment.  European shares experienced their longest winning streak since early March this week buoyed by a strong performance from the banking sector and signs that China’s economy is finally stabilizing. © Rad100 | Dreamstime.com Global banking stocks...