SNB & CHF

Switzerland is rarely out of the top three in competitiveness rankings - Click to enlarge The strong franc and corporate tax uncertainty have failed to dislodge Switzerland from second place in an annual ranking of the world’s most competitive economies. The alpine state was also judged by the Lausanne-based IMD business school to have the world’s eighth best digital capability. For the second year in a row,...

This Great Graphic, from Bloomberg, shows the correlation between the price of iron ore and the Australian dollar on a rolling 60-day basis over the past year.  The correlation is  a little more than 0.81. The relationship is the tightest since last August. This is purely directional. The correlation weakens considerably if we look at returns. When conducted on the basis of percentage change, the correlation drops to a...

Gold hits five-week high Reaches $1,273.74/oz, highest since April 25th Sterling recovers after UK polls point towards a hung Parliament Expected Fed-tightening capped gains 90-dead in Kabul, further signs of increasing tension in Middle East Trump expected to pull out of Paris Accord and Trump’s anti-Iran axis already feuding Yesterday gold hit $1,273.74/oz, a level not seen for five weeks. Analysts point to some...

When debt-asset bubbles expand at rates far above the expansion of earnings and real-world productive wealth, their collapse is inevitable. The Supernova model of financial collapse is one way to understand this. As I noted yesterday in Will the Crazy Global Debt Bubble Ever End?, I’ve used the Supernova analogy for years, but didn’t properly explain why it illuminates the dynamics of financial bubbles imploding....

Swiss Franc vs USD and EUR While the Euro traded in the range between 1.08 and 1.09, the dollar declined by nearly 3%. Swiss Franc Currency Index (3 years) The Swiss Franc index is the trade-weighted currency performance (see the currency basket)On a three years interval, the Swiss Franc had a weak performance. The dollar index was far stronger. The dollar makes up 33% of the SNB portfolio and 25% of Swiss...

There are said to be around 1,000 modern-day 'witches' living in Switzerland. One of them is Calluna, whose real name is Jacqueline Schaller, from Kallnach, in canton Bern. Swiss Public Television, SRF visited her “school for witches”. (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 articles, interviews and videos visit...

In May 2017, the KOF Economic Barometer fell by 4.7 points (from revised 106.3 in April) to a new standing of 101.6. After a slight downward correction in the last month, the indicator’s value decreased substantially this month. However, with a standing slightly above its long-term average, the Barometer is signalling solid growth rates for the Swiss economy around its long-term average. In May 2017, the KOF...

Summary The Indonesian cabinet is discussing revisions to the 2017 state budget. The Thai central bank plans to reform some FX rules. South African President Zuma survived the no confidence vote within his own ANC. Brazil’s central bank signaled a slower pace of easing ahead after it cut 100 bp again. Moody’s cut the outlook on Brazil’s Ba2 rating from stable to negative. Stock Markets In the EM equity space as...

Summary The Indonesian cabinet is discussing revisions to the 2017 state budget. The Thai central bank plans to reform some FX rules. South African President Zuma survived the no confidence vote within his own ANC. Brazil’s central bank signaled a slower pace of easing ahead after it cut 100 bp again. Moody’s cut the outlook on Brazil’s Ba2 rating from stable to negative. Stock Markets In the EM equity space as...

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 dropped 0.25% to 1.50%. - Click to enlarge The interest rate used to set the reference rate was the average rate on Swiss mortgages at 31 March 2017 of 1.61% which rounds to 1.50% under the rounding rules, which round to the nearest quarter of a...