SNB & CHF

Following James Traub’s mind-numbingly-elitist rebuttal of the democratic rights of “we, the people” in favor of allowing “they, the elite” to ensure the average joe doesn’t run with scissors, “It’s time for the elites to rise up against the ignorant masses.” The Brexit has laid bare the political schism of our time. It’s not about the left vs. the right; it’s about the sane vs. the mindlessly angry… The Guardian’s...

  Swiss Franc and SNB interventions It was another day of heavy SNB interventions. The central bank kept the euro nearly stable. As we explained before, she recycled sterling inflows in CHF into euros. Based on the magnitude of the GBP decline against EUR (see below), we estimate 2 to 4 bn CHF interventions. Click to enlarge.   Brexit The British pound has been hammered to fresh lows just above $1.3115. The euro is...

  Low Interest Rate Persons She is a low-interest-rate person. She has always been a low-interest-rate person. And I must be honest. I am a low-interest-rate person. If we raise interest rates, and if the dollar starts getting too strong, we’re going to have some very major problems. — Donald Trump BALTIMORE – With startling clarity, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee described himself – and Fed chief...

  Net Lines It’s that dreaded day after Independence Day. The weather is gorgeous and I don’t really feel like trading either. The thought of just phoning it in had occurred to me, but as the new month just rolled over I thought I may as well take another peek at our monthly charts. Which uncovered quite some interesting perspectives that I’m eager to share. But no worries – we’re keeping it light and easy...

  Net Lines It’s that dreaded day after Independence Day. The weather is gorgeous and I don’t really feel like trading either. The thought of just phoning it in had occurred to me, but as the new month just rolled over I thought I may as well take another peek at our monthly charts. Which uncovered quite some interesting perspectives that I’m eager to share. But no worries – we’re keeping it light and easy...

Summary Sterling has fallen to $1.3050. Two real estate funds have suspended trading (liquidation). Constitutional crisis over who has authority to trigger Article 50 may have begun. Sterling is continuing to move lower. It has tested the $1.3050 area in the North American morning, having been under pressure through the Asian session and the European morning.  That the UK economy is slowing down, materially, as...

  A Growing Bullish Chorus – With Somewhat Muted Enthusiasm A few days ago a well-known mainstream investment house (which shall remain nameless) informed the world that it now expects the gold price to reach “$1,500 by early 2017”. Our first thought was: “Now they tell us!”. You won’t be surprised to learn that the same house not too long ago had its eyes firmly fixed in the opposite direction. Why are we telling you...

05.07.2016 09:15  – FSO, Tourism (0353-1606-80) Tourism accommodation statistics in May 2016 Increase in overnight stays during May 2016 Neuchâtel, 05.07.2016 (FSO) – The Swiss hotel industry registered 2.7 million overnight stays in May 2016, which corresponds to a growth of 1.3% (+35,000 overnight stays) compared with May 2015. Domestic visitors recorded 1.1 million overnight stays, representing an increase of 1.9%...

A hi-ho silver moment… Photo credit: Pat Corkery, United Launch Alliance Going Parabolic From Wednesday through Friday, the price of silver spiked massively. It ended the week about $2 higher than the previous week. The last time we recall silver price action like this was about 3 years ago, in August 2013. That one week, the price rose about $2.50. Before that was a week in August 2012, with a price gain of about...

Restless Peasants First, a few quick words on Brexit.  Being the always positive and optimistic person that I am (big grin), I see one very positive outcome of Brexit – it is a revolution without bloodshed. For once, I’m not digressing.  Brexit has a lot of parallels with housing affordability in the US.  Brexit is a clear illustration of how politicians, policy makers and the establishment have lost touch with the...