SNB & CHF

I believe 2018 will be the year inflation arrives. The reason, as I’ve noted throughout mid-2017, is that multiple Central Banks, particularly the European Central Bank (ECB), Bank of Japan (BoJ) and Swiss National Bank (SNB) have maintained emergency levels of QE and money printing, despite the fact that globally the economy is performing relatively well. All told, in 2017 alone, these Central Banks will printed over...

Momentum in the euro area picked up further at the end of the year. The flash composite purchasing managers’ index (PMI) increased to 58.0 in December, from 57.5 in November, above consensus expectations (57.2). The improvement was once again broad-based across sectors. Both the manufacturing (+0.5 to 60.6) and services (+0.3 to 56.5) indices improved in December, with the former reaching its highest level since the...

Switzerland has a free trade agreement with China since 2014 (Keystone) - Click to enlarge A study commissioned by Switzerland Global Enterprise (SGE) indicates that China is the most attractive export destination for Swiss small and medium enterprises (SMEs). A total of 107 countries were evaluated using a set of 15 criteria that included market size, market potential, export volume and average market...

Bitcoin was on my radar far back as 2011, but for years, I didn’t think much of it. It was a curiosity. Nothing more. Sort of like the virtual money you use in World of Warcraft or something. In 2015, looking deeper, I slowly (not the sharpest tool in the shed) arrived at that “aha” inflection point that most advocates of honest money arrive at. I realized that a distributed public ledger has the power to change, well,...

The economic data over the last two weeks continued the better than expected trend. Some of the data was quite good and makes one wonder if maybe, just maybe, we are finally ready to break out of the economic doldrums. Is it possible that all that new normal, secular stagnation stuff was just a lack of animal spirits? Is it possible that the mere anticipation of tax cuts was sufficient to break us out of the 2% growth...

The 13 December Fed decision – and Chair Yellen’s last press conference – was much as expected. The Fed hiked rates 25bps, bringing the interest rate on excess reserves to 1.5%. Meanwhile, Fed officials maintained their rate-hiking forecasts for next year: three rate increases, according to the ‘dot plot’. A salient take -away from the meeting was the Fed’s relative caution about Congress’s tax-cutting plan. Even...

Charles Hugh Smith returns to share his wealth of knowledge in regards to fiat versus cryptocurrencies, crypto regulation and the potential for correction of Bitcoin. We are political scientists, editorial engineers, and radio show developers drawn together by a shared vision of bringing Alternative news through digital mediums that evangelize our civil liberties. Please subscribe for the latest shows daily! http://www.roguemoney.net https://www.facebook.com/ROGUEMONEY.NET/...

Watch this full interview with The Expert: Jeffrey Snider, exclusively on Real Vision. Learn how you can become a great investor: http://rvtv.io/2AZFpTE The flattening US yield curve is not what matters, according to monetary economics expert Jeff Snider, but the nominal level at which it flattens. He argues that if the current moves just take us back to where we were at the depths of the 2008 crisis, the US economy could now be entering a second lost decade of growth. Watch more Real...

Swiss Franc The Euro has risen by 0.48% to 1.1666 CHF. EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, December 19(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge GBP/CHF The pound has risen against the Swiss Franc as we get closer to understanding just what Brexit means for the UK and global concerns ease, weakening the Franc. The pound is essentially a barometer of progress on Brexit whilst the Swissie...

Summary Sterling is the second major currency this year after the euro (and its shadow the Danish krone). The downtrend line from mid-2014 is fraying. Is this the breakout? Sterling has trended higher against the dollar this year, and after the euro (and its Danish shadow), sterling is the strongest of the majors, with an 8.5% gain against the greenback. The gains have brought to to the trend line dawn off the...