SNB & CHF

Milestones in the Pursuit of Insolvency A new milestone on the American populaces’ collective pursuit of insolvency was reached this week. According to a report published on Tuesday by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, total U.S. household debt jumped to a new record high of $12.84 trillion during the second quarter. This included an increase of $552 billion from a year ago. United States Consumer DebtUS consumer...

Industrial Production disappointed in the US last month, dragged down by auto production. Despite the return of an oil sector tailwind, IP was up just 2.2% year-over-year in July 2017 according to Federal Reserve statistics. It marks the fourth consecutive month stuck around 2% growth. The lack of further acceleration is unusual in the historical context, especially following an extended period of contraction. This...

Swiss Franc The Euro has risen by 0.03% to 1.1352 CHF. EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, August 21(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates The US dollar is mostly firmer against most of the major and emerging market currencies. The main impetus appears to be some position adjustment emanating from equities. The equity markets turned south in the second half of last week and...

The Sage of Omaha’s adage is “it’s far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price.” Berkshire Hathaway Welling Cash Pile, Q2 2013 - Q2 2017 - Click to enlarge But for Warren Buffett the current environment doesn’t appear to be offering up any wonderful companies at fair valuations. The situation is so bad that the cash stockpile of Berkshire Hathaway has more than...

The Swiss National Bank’s investment in US nuclear arms fabrication has soared since last year. (Keystone) A wide range of topics occupied Swiss newspapers this weekend, from Swiss investments in US arms companies and requirements for FIFA World Cup host countries, to what to do in the event of a terror attack. A critique of Geneva’s relationship with the Red Cross also made headlines. Swiss arms investments The NZZ am...

Swiss Franc Speculators were net short CHF in January 2015, shortly before the end of the peg, with 26.4K contracts. Then again in December 2015, when they expected a Fed rate hike, with 25.5K contracts. The biggest short CHF, however, happened in June 2007, when speculators were net short 80K contracts. Shortly after, the U.S. subprime crisis started. The carry trade against CHF collapsed. The...

Summary: Jackson Hole marks the end of the investors’ summer and a beginning of a challenging several weeks. The abandonment of national business leaders from Trump’s advisory board and strong words by Republican Senator Corker, followed by the dismissal of the controversial Bannon, could be a turning point. Neither Yellen nor Draghi may not even address the current policy stance as they discuss the topic at hand,...

Overview The euro has lost some momentum versus the franc, the main reason is as usual monetary policy: Draghi does not want to talk about an early end of his bond buying programming at Jackson Hole. This had been confirmed by economic data: only 1.2% core inflation compared to a long-term inflation target of 2%. Consequently the Swissie appreciated during the week. Eurozone Core Consumer Price Index (CPI) YoY, Jul...

Gold and silver rise as stocks fall sharply after Barcelona attack Gold, silver 0.6% higher in week after last weeks 2%, 5% rise Palladium +36% ytd, breaks out & reaches 16 year high (chart) Gold to silver ratio falls to mid 75s after silver gains last week Perfect storm of financial and geopolitical tensions is driving safe haven demand and should see higher prices Weekly close over $1,300 could see gold quickly...

Under the US Department of Justice’s 2013 ‘Swiss Bank Program’, 80 Swiss or Swiss-based banks paid $1.36 billion in fines for helping clients evade US taxes (Keystone) The Geneva asset management firm Prime Partners has agreed to pay $5 million (CHF4.8 million) to the United States to settle charges for tax evasion and assisting US taxpayers in opening and maintaining undeclared foreign bank accounts from 2001 to 2010....