SNB & CHF

The consumer price index (IPC) increased by 0.2% in March 2017 compared with the previous month, reaching 100.7 points (December 2015=100). Inflation was 0.6% compared with the same month the previous year. These are the results of the Federal Statistical Office (FSO). Switzerland Consumer Price Index (CPI) YoY, March 2017(see more posts on Switzerland Consumer Price Index, ) Source: investing.com - Click to...

In 2015, 21.7% of Switzerland’s population was unable to cover an unexpected expense of CHF 2,500 within a month, says a report from the Swiss Federal Statistics Office. ©-Alex-Hinds-Dreamstime.com_ - Click to enlarge Single parent families were the least able to cope with 46.1% of them falling into this camp. Single parent families were followed by single people under 65 (27.1%) and two-parent families (24.0%)....

Swiss Franc EUR/CHF - Euro Swiss Franc, April 05(see more posts on EUR/CHF, ) - Click to enlarge GBP/CHF The Swiss Franc may come under pressure tomorrow after Consumer Price Index inflation numbers are released. Inflation is expected to fall from 0.6% to 0.5% for the month of March and any weakening in the numbers could see the Swiss Franc weaken. Fridays unemployment data from Switzerland could also give a...

Looking back on late 2015, it is perfectly clear that policymakers had no idea what was going on. It’s always easy, of course, to reflect on such things with the benefit of hindsight, but even contemporarily it was somewhat shocking how complacent they had become as a global group. In the US, the Federal Reserve “raised rates” for the first time in a decade on the same day they released industrial production figures...

Personal Income growth in February 2017 was more mixed than it had been of recent months. Nominal Disposable Per Capita Income increased 3.73% year-over-year, while in real terms Per Capita Income was up 1.57%. For the former, that was among the better monthly results over the past year, while the latter was near the worst. The difference is still calculated inflation, where the rising oil component of every deflator...

  Dashed Hopes Despite widespread optimism among libertarians, classical liberals, non-interventionists, progressive peaceniks and everybody else opposed to the US Empire that some of its murderous reins may finally be pulled in with the election of Donald Trump, it appears that these hopes have now been dashed. Liberty… some of it is still above water, but definitely not as much as there could or should be.* - Click...

German precious metals group Heraeus Precious Metals (HPM), part of the Heraeus industrial group, has just announced the full acquisition of Swiss precious metals refining group Argor-Heraeus. Heraeus is headquartered in Hanau, just outside Frankfurt. Argor-Heraeus is headquartered in Mendrisio in the Swiss Canton of Ticino, beside the Italian border. The Heraeus takeover announcement, on 3 April 2017, continues a...

Summary: China’s share of global reserves is in line with expectations prior to its inclusion in the SDR. Three factors influencing allocated reserves – valuation, portfolio decisions, and China’s gradual inclusion in allocated reserves. The Swiss franc’s as a reserve asset diminished, but the “other” category appeared robust. The inclusion of the Chinese yuan in the SDR basket at the start of Q4 16 did not...

See the introduction and the video for the terms gold basis, co-basis, backwardation and contango. Orders of Preference Last week, we discussed the growing stress in the credit markets. We noted this is a reason to buy gold, and likely the reason why gold buying has ticked up since just before Christmas. Many people live in countries where another paper scrip is declared to be money — to picture the absurdity, just...

Why did Mario Draghi appeal to NIRP in June 2014? After all, expectations at the time were for a strengthening recovery not just in Europe but all over the world. There were some concerns lingering over currency “irregularities” in 2013 but primarily related to EM’s and not the EU which had emerged from re-recession. The consensus at that time was full recovery not additional “stimulus.” From Bloomberg in January...