SNB & CHF

  It Wasn’t Supposed to Do That… When you’re a central banker in a pure fiat money system and even your ability to print your own currency into oblivion is questioned by the markets, you really have a problem. This is actually funny on quite a number of levels if one thinks about it a bit… Haruhiko Kuroda (a.k.a. Kamikaze) is such a central banker. His valiant attempts to make Japan richer by making its citizens poorer is beginning to be rejected by Mr. Market: Kuroda-san’s latest monetary...

  Bankers Hate It When You Hold Cash In an extraordinary turn of events, last week we were contacted by our local bankers. Since we were turned down for a mortgage in 1982 (our business finances were thought to be “too shaky”), we have had little truck with them. We pay cash. They mind their own business. Too many Benjamins! Photo credit: Andrew Magill / Flickr But for the first time we can recall, not just one but three suits came to visit. Personable and intelligent, they were worried...

The old head and shoulders pattern in the dollar against the yen is back in vogue.  We first pointed it out in the first week of January here. Recall the details.  The neckline is drawn around JPY116.30 and measuring objective is near JPY107.00.   That target also corresponds to a 38.2% retracement of the big Abe-inspired dollar rally (~JPY106.80).   This Great Graphic from Bloomberg shows the pattern.   We note the conflicting flows presently.  Portfolio managers continue to be large...

In what is possibly one of the under-appreciated political events of the year, the Netherlands holds a plebiscite today on an associational agreement with Ukraine that has already been approved by the Dutch parliament, the European Parliament and all other 27 EU members.   When stated so baldly, it is difficult to see what is at stake. Yet the consequences of a no vote, which seems likely,  will send reverberations throughout Dutch politics, the EU, and the geopolitical balance in...

The US dollar is better bid today but remains largely in the ranges seen in recent days.  There a few developments to note, which together are lifting European equities after Asian equities softened.   First, the API oil inventory estimate showed an unexpected fall of 4.3 mln barrels.  An increase of half the magnitude was expected.  The DOE estimate, which is considered more reliable, will be one of the North American highlights today.  Second, and also supporting the oil complex today...

Bank Bail-Ins are coming and people need to prepare by owning bullion outside the banking system. They will be counterproductive and could lead to financial collapse. "Unfortunately, we don't learn the lessons of history to our own downfall!". For more information http://www.GoldCore.com

  Poison Money BALTIMORE – We live in a world of sin and sorrow, infected by a fraudulent democracy, Facebook, and a corrupt money system. Wheezing, weak, and weary from the exertion of trying to appear “normal,” the economy staggers on. Staggering on…. Image credit: David Sidmond Last week, we gained some insight into the ailment. Something in the diagnosis has puzzled us for years: How is it possible for the most advanced economy in the history of the world to make such a mess of its...

Max Keiser interviews Mark O’Byrne about the gold and silver bullion markets, cryptobullion, the confetti masters on Wall Street and the Federal Reserve which is not federal and has no reserves.

(I have been sick with pneumonia but am just about back.  I expect to resume my commentary tomorrow.  Here is my overdue monthly column for a Chinese paper.   Thanks to everyone for their support.)Conspiracy theories have run amok.  After several years of claiming countries were engaged in currency wars, or attempts to drive their currencies down to achieve export advantage, many reporters and analysts announced a volte-face.    At the late February G20 meeting in Shanghai, a secret...

Sometimes asylum seekers go underground, as they have no hope of getting official refugee status. They’re known as “sans papiers” (without papers). (SRF/swissinfo.ch) Asylum is only granted to those who face persecution or imprisonment in their country of origin for reasons of race, religion or nationality or because of their political views. Most asylum seekers arriving in Switzerland do not meet these criteria – they are economic refugees. In 2015, roughly half of all asylum seekers...