SNB & CHF

The good news is there is a way to avoid failure and stagnation: avoid the mainstream like the plague. The mainstream became mainstream because it worked: the mainstream advice to “go to college and you’ll get a good job” worked, the mainstream financial plan of buying a house to build equity to pass on to your children worked, the mainstream of government regulation worked to the public’s advantage at modest cost to...

Summary Chinese President Xi has strengthened his grip on power. Mozambique said it is in “debt distress” and hired advisors for a debt restructuring. South Africa revised its macro forecasts in the Finance Ministry’s Medium-Term Budget Program. Chile’s ruling center-left coalition lost municipal elections. Stock Markets In the EM equity space as measured by MSCI, Poland (+3.2%), Chile (+3.1%), and Hungary...

Comments by George Dorgan My articles About meMy booksFollow on:TwitterFacebookGoogle +YoutubeSeeking AlphaCFA SocietyLinkedINEconomicBlogs The Producer Price Index (PPI) or officially named "Producer and Import Price Index" describes the changes in prices for producers and importers. For us it is interesting because it is used in the formula for the Real Effective Exchange Rate. When producers and...

Newfangled “Stimulus” In time, everything goes away. We are confident, for example, that it won’t be too long before the market cracks (please don’t hold us to this forecast, but don’t forget if it turns out to be correct!). U.S. corporate profits are falling. GDP is sinking. Productivity has slumped for the longest period since the 1970s. And going by the CAPE ratio, which looks at stock prices relative to the past...

Newfangled “Stimulus” In time, everything goes away. We are confident, for example, that it won’t be too long before the market cracks (please don’t hold us to this forecast, but don’t forget if it turns out to be correct!). U.S. corporate profits are falling. GDP is sinking. Productivity has slumped for the longest period since the 1970s. And going by the CAPE ratio, which looks at stock prices relative to the past...

Swiss Franc Currency Index The Swiss Franc showed some improvement at the end of the week, when recovered some of the losses seen this month. Trade-weighted index Swiss Franc, October 28, 2016(see more posts on Swiss Franc Index, ) - Click to enlarge Swiss Franc Currency Index (3 years) The Swiss Franc index is the trade-weighted currency performance (see the currency basket) On a three...

© Hai Huy Ton That | Dreamstime.com - Click to enlarge UBS Group AG Chief Executive Officer Sergio Ermotti pledged to continue cost cuts after profit at the wealth-management business fell and the securities unit was hurt by a slump in equities trading. Pretax profit rose 11 percent to 877 million Swiss francs ($883 million) from 788 million francs a year earlier on lower expenses, the Zurich-based bank said in a...

Comment on Swiss Franc by George Dorgan My articles About meMy booksFollow on:TwitterFacebookGoogle +YoutubeSeeking AlphaCFA SocietyLinkedINEconomicBlogs Swiss Franc and Euro  In both euro and Swiss Franc, the net short position expanded. Speculators are now net short the euro with 124K contracts and net short Swiss Franc by 18.7K contracts against the US Dollar. Register for an OANDA forex trading...

Introduction by George Dorgan My articles About meMy booksFollow on:TwitterFacebookGoogle +YoutubeSeeking AlphaCFA SocietyLinkedINEconomicBlogs Summary: Six major central banks meeting over the next six sessions. Sweden’s Riksbank is the most likely ease policy of these central banks, but it is not particularly likely. Norway is decisively on hold, as fiscal policy does some of the heavy lifting....

Introduction by George Dorgan My articles About meMy booksFollow on:TwitterFacebookGoogle +YoutubeSeeking AlphaCFA SocietyLinkedINEconomicBlogs Summary: Canada maintains inflation target of the middle of a 1-3% band. Adopts a trimmed and median core measure like Australia. Market seems to be under-estimating the risk of a BoC rate cut next year. The Canadian government renewed the Bank of Canada’s...