SNB & CHF

If targeting political extremes generates the most profit, then that’s what these corporations will pursue. As many of you know, oftwominds.com was falsely labeled propaganda by the propaganda operation known as ProporNot back in 2016. The Washington Post saw fit to promote ProporNot’s propaganda operation because it aligned with the newspaper’s view that any site that wasn’t pro-status quo was propaganda; the...

Top Chinese leadership is taking further shape. With Xi Jinping’s continuing consolidation of power going on right this minute, most of the changes aren’t really changes, at least not internally. To the West, and to the mainstream, what the Chinese are doing seems odd, if not more than a little off. Unlike in the West, however, there is determined purpose that is in many ways right out in the open. Many here had been...

La BNS s’est arrimée à l’euro en 2011 sous le prétexte de soutenir les exportateurs suisses.Ce serait donc la raison de sa transformation en hedge fund… De notre côté, nous avons toujours soutenu depuis 2011 qu’elle n’avait  fait que suivre ses collègues dans la pratique du quantitative easing, dans le  but de soutenir les grandes banques et autres hedge funds,  en les déchargeant de leurs créances publiques à haut...

We do not like Purchasing Power or Real Effective Exchange Rate (REER) as measurement for currencies. For us, the trade balance decides if a currency is overvalued. Only the trade balance can express productivity gains, while the REER assumes constant productivity in comparison to trade partners. Who has read Michael Pettis, knows that a rising trade surplus may also be caused by a higher savings rate while the trade...

Stock Markets EM ended Friday under renewed selling pressures, and capped off a mostly softer week. COP, THB, and TWD were the best performers last week, while TRY, RUB, and ZAR were the worst. Despite a widely expected 25 bp hike, this week’s FOMC meeting still has potential to weigh on EM. Stock Markets Emerging Markets, March 14 Source: economist.com - Click to enlarge Poland Poland reports February...

Roger Federer's continued success plays a part in Rolex's image (Keystone) - Click to enlarge Swiss watch brand Rolex has topped a ranking of the world’s most reputable brands for a third year in a row. Rolex beat Danish toy firm Lego for the top spot, while Swiss food manufacturer Nestlé jumped 21 places to rank 33rd. The Reputation Institute compiled the list in its annual Global RepTrack 100external link,...

In October 2017, when Switzerland’s Federal Council announced the government would stand behind Sion’s bid for the 2026 Winter Olympics, it sparked a backlash. South Korean Winter Olympics 2018_© Zhukovsky _ Dreamstime.com - Click to enlarge A survey run by Tamedia in February 2018 suggests 59% of the Swiss public are against the bid, according to RTS. The estimated cost to Swiss taxpayers is close to CHF 1 billion....

In February 2018, it was like old times for the US industrial sectors. Prior to the 2015-16 downturn, the otherwise moribund economy did produce two genuine booms. The first in the auto sector, the other in energy. Without them, who knows what the no-recovery recovery would have looked like. They were for the longest time the only bright spots. US Industrial Production, Jan 2006 - 2018(see more posts on U.S. Industrial...

The CHF200 note will be unveiled to the public on August 15 and join the new CHF50, CHF20 and CHF10 notes of the same series already in circulation (Keystone) - Click to enlarge The Swiss National Bank (SNB) has announced that the latest addition to the new banknote series – the CHF200 note ($209) – will go into circulation on August 22. The brown note’s key motif will be physical matter. It will “showcase...

[embedded content] Bob Williams and Joseph Y. Calhoun talks about Bi-Weekly Economic Review for March 15, 2018. Related posts: Bi-Weekly Economic Review: The New Normal Continues Bi-Weekly Economic Review: Gridlock & The Status Quo Bi-Weekly Economic Review: Maximum Optimism? Bi-Weekly Economic Review: As Good As It Gets Bi-Weekly Economic...