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Some political parties say Switzerland needs to save, but not at the expense of farmers, reports 20 Minutes. Parties upset by planned cuts include the Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SVP), the PDC/CVP and PBD/BDP. The Swiss People’s Party in particular, has a long history of defending farmers’ interests. Some in French-speaking Switzerland still refer to it as the “parti agrarien”. Other parties such as the PLR/FDP and Socialists support the government’s plan to trim agricultural subsidies. ©...

Investec Switzerland. The SMI is expected to underperform global markets again this week after stocks lost further ground on rapidly declining global investor sentiment. Equity markets around the world tumbled as Japan, Europe and emerging Asia suffered heavy losses with global banking stocks leading falls. The Chinese year of the Monkey began with a difficult start as Hong Kong’s Hang Seng suffered the worst lunar New Year opening since 1994. © Minipig5188 |...

Investec Switzerland. European shares declined for a sixth day as investors fretted over global growth prospects. © Audiohead | Dreamstime.com For European investors trying to assess just how bad sentiment is right now, consider this: the last time stocks were this low, the region had just suffered its longest-ever recession and corporate profits were about to shrink a third year. Signs of an improving economy haven’t deterred bears from punishing the Euro Stoxx 50 Index...

Every year in the Chinese lunar calendar is associated with one of 12 animals combined with one of five elements: metal (gold), earth, water, wood or fire. This year is the year of the fire monkey and celebrations to mark the new year take place on 8 February 2016. What will the monkey do next? © Marigo20 | Dreamstime.com Fire monkeys have large personalities but are prone to irritability. Smart, courageous, ambitious, adventurous but unpredictable. The last such year was in 1956. What...

Investec Switzerland. The SMI is set to underperform global markets this week after stocks lost ground on disappointing earnings reports and gloomy economic data releases. Stock markets around the world are also set to finish the week mostly lower as the fluctuating oil price, global growth concerns and deflationary pressures continue to rattle investor confidence. © Patrick Poendl | Dreamstime.com A Bad week for Swiss banks The underperformance from Swiss equities this...

Investec Switzerland. Last October, Credit Suisse Group AG Chief Executive Officer Tidjane Thiam called two of his bank’s businesses the “ugly ducklings that no one likes.” He’s just been reminded why. © Simon Zenger | Dreamstime.com The Zurich-based lender’s units that trade corporate bonds and securitized products contributed about $500 million in so- called mark-to-market losses in the fourth quarter of 2015, according to the bank’s presentation to investors. That...

Investec Switzerland. Switzerland is welcoming ChemChina’s $43 billion takeover of Syngenta SA, the Alpine nation’s biggest-ever deal, with open arms. © Dusan Kostic | Dreamstime.com The only continental European country to strike a free-trade agreement with China, Switzerland has long been an attractive hunting ground for companies from the Asian giant. Unlike the U.S., which has blocked Chinese deals and where the ChemChina’s Syngenta purchase may face regulatory...

Switzerland was placed fourth globally in the 2016 Economic Freedom index published by the Heritage Foundation on Monday. One of only five countries declared economically free, Switzerland ranked top in Europe and was the only country in the top five not to lose any ground. In fact it improved by half a point. 178 countries were ranked and the average score was 60.7. The overall rankings can be seen here. Why did Switzerland score so well? With an overall score of 81 out of 100, Switzerland...

Investec Switzerland. UBS’s results are a reminder that even the strongest boats are being buffeted by the storm in financial markets. Tuesday’s slump in profit from both investment banking and wealth management sent the shares to the lowest in a year. It also puts in question the premium valuation the bank has enjoyed over its peers. The Swiss bank has been the model for European firms looking to reinvent themselves after the financial crisis — it moved decisively in 2012...

Investec Switzerland. The SMI is set to end the week modestly lower along with global stocks after earnings reports from pharmaceuticals heavyweights Roche and Novartis fell short of analyst’s estimates. Global markets experienced another volatile week amid ongoing speculation over whether central banks will come to the rescue of turbulent financial markets. A bad week for Novartis – © Lucaderoma | Dreamstime.com The slowdown in China and central remained central to...