SNB & CHF

PostFinance, the bank of the Swiss postal service, has a public service mandate to provide banking services to all residents. (Keystone) PostFinanceexternallink, one of Switzerland’s leading financial institutions, expects to cut up to 500 full-time jobs by the end of 2020. The banking division of the Post Office has launched multiple measures to counter the erosion of profit margins and the resulting decline in...

We all know the game is rigged, but strange things occasionally upset the “easy money bet.” “Reality” is in the eye of the beholder, especially when it comes to technical analysis and economic tea leaves. It seems most stock market soothsayers are seeing a breakout of the downtrend that erupted in early February, and so the path to new all-time highs is clear. Does anyone else see a giant bear flag pattern in the...

Fifty years after the first Vita Parcours outdoors fitness trail was opened, they're still very popular. The idea of physical exercise in the woods quickly caught on in Switzerland, and the 100th Vita Parcours trail was already opened five years after they were introduced. (SRF, swissinfo.ch) --- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more...

Keith Weiner explains why Krugman’s statement that, infinite debt is okay if we owe it, is false and how an endless level of debt is leading to a massive economic implosion.

Keith Weiner explains why Krugman’s statement that, infinite debt is okay if we owe it, is false and how an endless level of debt is leading to a massive economic implosion.

Neuchâtel, 6 June 2018 (FSO) – The consumer price index CPI) increased by 0.4% in May 2018 compared with the previous month, reaching 102.1 points (December 2015=100). Inflation was 1.0% compared with the same month of the previous year. These are the results of the Federal Statistical Office (FSO). The 0.4% increase compared with the previous month can be explained by several factors including rising prices for...

Every three months the rate of interest used to set Swiss rents is reviewed. If it goes down some renters have the right to request a decrease in rent. This time it remained at 1.50%. The last time it dropped was 1 June 2017 when it fell to its lowest level since 2008. The rate is based on the average Swiss mortgage rate over three months. This rate is then rounded to the nearest 0.25%. This time that rate was 1.51%,...

USD/CHF The USDCHF pair managed to break 0.9850 level and closed the daily candlestick below it, which supports the continuation of our bearish overview efficiently in the upcoming period, paving the way to head towards 0.9723 level as a next station, noting that the EMA50 supports the expected decline, which will remain valid for today conditioned by the price stability below 0.9870. Expected trading range for today...

In the last update I wondered if growth expectations – and growth – were breaking out to the upside. 10 year Treasury yields were well over the 3% threshold that seemed so ominous and TIPS yields were nearing 1%, a level not seen since early 2011. It looked like we might finally move to a new higher level of growth. Or maybe not. 10 year yields fell nearly 40 basis points in a matter of days as did TIPS yields. The...

See the introduction and the video for the terms gold basis, co-basis, backwardation and contango. Oil is Different Last week, we showed a graph of rising open interest in crude oil futures. From this, we inferred — incorrectly as it turns out — that the basis must be rising. Why else, we asked, would market makers carry more and more oil? We are grateful to Peter Tenebrarum at Acting Man and Steve Saville at The...