SNB & CHF

Eleven days ago, we asked a question about Treasury bills and haircuts. Specifically, we wanted to know if the spike in the 4-week bill’s equivalent yield was enough to trigger haircut adjustments, and therefore disrupt the collateral chain downstream.  US Treasury, Jan - Sep 2017(see more posts on U.S. Treasuries, ) - Click to enlarge Within two days of that move in bills, the GC market for UST 10s had gone...

Swiss Franc The Euro has risen by 0.17% to 1.1449 CHF. EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, September 29(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Supported by a sharp rise in interest rates and ideas of tax reform, the US dollar is closing one of its best months of the year. The Dollar Index is snapping a six-month decline, and the euro’s monthly advance since February is ending....

© Jacek Chabraszewski | Dreamstime - Click to enlarge Some who move to Switzerland might not be aware that they are almost certainly required to pay one of the world’s highest broadcasting fees. An annual Swiss licence costs CHF 451.10 per household. A successful vote in 2015 changed the rules on who must pay the fee. From 2019, it will be compulsory for anyone with a primary or secondary residence in Switzerland to...

 – “Going off gold did the opposite of what many people think” – FT Alphaville – “Surprising” findings show benefits of Gold Standard–  Study by former Obama advisor in 1999 and speech by Bank of England economist in 2017 make case for gold– UK economy was ‘much less prone to extremes’ under than the gold standard – research shows– ‘Gold standard seems to have produced fewer catastrophes for Britain’ – data shows – FT...

The National Association of Realtor (NAR) reports today that sales of existing homes in the US were down 1.7% in August 2017 from July. At a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 5.35 million, that’s the lowest pace for resales since July 2016. It is yet another data point reflecting the almost certain end of “reflation” in the economic sense. US Existing Home Sales, Jan 2011 - Jul 2017(see more posts on U.S. Existing...

In September 2017, the KOF Economic Barometer increases by 1.6 points. It thus partially reverses its previous month’s decline. With a new reading of 105.8, the Barometer still points to a level clearly above its long-term average. This indicates that the outlook remains favourable – the Swiss economy should continue to grow at above average rates in the near future. In September 2017, the KOF Economic...

See the introduction and the video for the terms gold basis, co-basis, backwardation and contango. Precious Metals Supply and Demand Report The price of gold dropped $24, and that of silver 60 cents this week. This is a far cry from Sep 8, when the price of silver hit $18.21. Since then, it’s been almost all downhill. What happened? Since the beginning of last month, the price of silver had been rising and at the basis...

Swiss Franc The Euro has risen by 0.34% to 1.1453 CHF. EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, September 28(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates The US dollar is consolidating inside yesterday’s ranges against the euro and yen while extending its gains against sterling and the dollar-bloc currencies.  The sell-off in the US debt market continues to drag global yields higher.  The...

© Nik Frey | Dreamstime The UBS Global Real Estate Bubble Index 2017 describes housing in Zurich and Geneva as only moderately overvalued. The two Swiss cities rank 6th (Geneva) and 9th (Zurich) in a list of 20 selected global cities. The top eight: Toronto, Stockholm, Munich, Vancouver, Sydney, London, Hong Kong and Amsterdam are all classified as bubble risk. Only Chicago is undervalued. Since 2012 apartment price are...

A rags-to-riches career straight out of a film script: as a young man, the protagonist emigrates to Mexico. Once there, he becomes the first ever manufacturer of white chocolate and goes on to become an entrepreneur worth millions. The life of Gianfranco Arnoldi. (SRF/swissinfo.ch) Arnoldi has always been in the confectionary business. He learnt his craft at the Vanini pastry shop in Lugano and, by the age of 19, was already a chief chocolatier. Later, Arnoldi produced chocolate at the...