When the city of Bern tried to stop shooting practice at a summer camp, they were surprised at the backlash. Now the courses are coming back. (SRF, swissinfo.ch) Every summer, children in Swiss cities can take part in a wide range activities to keep busy during the holiday months. One course offered by Bern’s youth office and the surrounding municipalities is aimed at children from the age of five. They can do activities ranging from art to sport and nature camps. The activities on offer...
Read More »Get Your Swiss Domicile
SNBCHF offers you the possibility to obtain a Swiss domicile. Room to let in the tax haven Freienbach, Canton Schwyz. Tax Rate Corporations: 11.7% Highest Marginal Tax for Individuals: 19% Average Tax for Individuals (income 200K): 10% More details on the room. We provide additional consultancy to improve your tax situation. Contact us. Contact us
Read More »FX Daily, July 11: Dollar Extends Gains
Swiss Franc Improving US job data also helped to increase demand for EUR/CHF long. For last week’s sight deposits see here. Click to enlarge. The combination of the rebounding US job growth and gains in the S&P 500 to near record levels before the weekend is helping boost the US dollar against the major currencies, while the emerging market currencies are mixed. In addition, indications that Japan will put...
Read More »Caixin Monthly Column: Brexit
(Here is the latest monthly column I write for Caixin. It is on Brexit and I wrote it as an email to my mother. Here is the link. The text follows) To: Mother Date: July 4, 2016 Subject: Re: Did you know Britain was leaving Europe? Should I worry? Glad to see you figured out how to access your email account. I smiled when I saw your note in my inbox. Thank you, though I am not sure that Thomas Watson felt the...
Read More »New Wrinkle in European Bail-In Efforts
Summary: European Court of Justice could rule on July 19 that private investors do not have to be bailed in before public money can be used to recapitalize banks. Italy stands to gain the most, at least immediately, from such a judgment. Italian bank shares recovered after initial weakness. After the 2007-2008 bank recapitalization by governments, which means taxpayers’ money, Europe changed the rules. The...
Read More »Fat People for Trump!
Alphas and Epsilons BALTIMORE – One of the delights of being an American is that it is so easy to feel superior to your fellow countrymen. All you have to do is stand up straight and smile. Or if you really need an ego boost, just go to a local supermarket. Better yet, go to a supermarket with a Trump poster in the parking lot. Trigger warning: In the following ramble, we make fun of democracy, Trump, obesity,...
Read More »A Sense of Foreboding
See the introduction and the video for the terms gold basis, co-basis, backwardation and contango. Amerexit and Brexit… Doubts About Debt This was a shortened week, due to the American holiday of July 4, celebrating the start of the war that lead to “Amerexit”, 240 years ago. The prices of the metals were up this week, +$25 in gold and +$0.48 in silver. The gold to silver ratio dropped a fraction of a point, showing...
Read More »Cool Video: Whirlwind Discussion; UK, Politics and the Dollar
Shortly before I was on Bloomberg TV today, Leadsom withdrew from the Tory leadership context, leaving May, who favored remaining the EU, as the likely successor of Cameron. Leadsom had been trailing May even before her controversial weekend comments. Sterling shot up to almost $1.3020, and as was the case last week, there appeared to be a wall of sterling sellers lurking there. Sterling was trading below $1.29...
Read More »“The World Is Walking From Crisis To Crisis” – Why BofA Sees $1,500 Gold And $30 Silver
Gold With both stocks and US Treasury prices at all time highs the market is sensing that something has to give, and that something may just be more QE, which likely explains the move higher in gold to coincide with both risk and risk-haven assets. As of moments ago, gold rose above $1,370, and was back to levels not seen since 2014. Curiously, the move higher is taking place after Friday’s “stellar” jobs report,...
Read More »Emerging Markets: Preview of the Week Ahead
EM and other risk assets rallied on Friday after the strong US jobs data. It appears that markets are pricing in a benign backdrop for risk near-term; that is, the US economy is recovering but not by enough to warrant an imminent Fed rate hike. The July 27 meeting seems unlikely, and so the next likely window would be September 21. Yet EM typically weakens in the run-up to FOMC meetings and so investors should...
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