SNB & CHF

Divers have found a historic aircraft in Lake Lucerne, which crashed in 1941 and was deemed lost – until today. (SRF/swissinfo.ch) --- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel: Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch Channel:...

A Spot of Irrational Exuberance There were some fireworks last week. Gold went up on Tuesday (it was a shortened week due to Easter Monday), from a low of $1,215 to $1,244 over the day, a move of over 2 percent. Silver moved from $15.02 to $15.44, almost 3 percent. What happened on Tuesday to drive this move down in the dollar? (We always use italics when referring to gold going up or down, because it is really the dollar going down or up). A bit of verbal puppeteering…. Janet Yellen...

  A Witless Tool of the Deep State? Finance or politics? We don’t know which is jollier. The Republican presidential primary and Fed monetary policies seem to compete for headlines. Which can be most absurd? Which can be most outrageous? Which can get more page views? Politics, led by Donald J. Trump, was clearly in the lead… until Wednesday. Then, the money world, with Janet L. Yellen wearing the yellow jersey, spurted ahead in the Hilarity Run. A coo-coo for the stock market…...

Headlines March 2016 Speculative position: Strong shift to CHF long:  +4967x 125K contracts after the Fed reduced their expectations of rate hikes for this year.Sight Deposits: SNB intervenes for 6.1 bln. CHF during the month of March. This is the higest level since January 2016.FX: EUR/CHF rose over 1.09 and touched 1.10. As I expected last week, the EUR/CHF was not reached. The dollar is getting slowly weaker, at 0.96 CHF currently. Background FX Rates, Balance of Payments and Capital...

04.04.2016 11:00  - FSO, Social Assistance (0353-1603-30) 10 years of Swiss Social Assistance Statistics Social assistance rate the same as 10 years ago Neuchâtel, 04.04.2016 (BFS) – The Swiss Social Assistance Statistics cover ten years of observation with the latest data from 2014. The social assistance rate was 3.2% in 2005 and is the same today. Over the ten year period, observations from previous years have been confirmed, with children, foreign nationals, divorced persons and those...

There were some fireworks this week. Gold went up on Tuesday (it was a shortened week due to Easter Monday), from a low of $1,215 to $1,244 over the day, a move of over 2 percent. Silver moved from $15.02 to $15.44, almost 3 percent. What happened on Tuesday to drive this move down in the dollar? (We always use italics when referring to gold going up or down, because it is really the dollar going down or up). Janet Yellen happened, that’s what. Our Federal Reserve Chair spoke to the...

The 118 church bells of St. Gallen are now to be used for a neo-romantic church bell concert. But the organisers will have to overcome a number of obstacles before the world premiere in the summer. (SRF/swissinfo) --- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube...

Faux Growth Recovery Nearly 7 years have elapsed since the official end of the Great Recession.  By now it’s painfully obvious the rising tide of economic recovery has failed to lift all boats.  In fact, many boats bottomed out on the rocks in early 2009 and have been taking on water ever since. Last week, for instance, it was reported that U.S. credit card debt topped $917 billion in the fourth quarter of 2015.  That’s up $71 billion from the year before.  Shouldn’t the economic recovery...

  Leaning Into the Wind BALTIMORE – During our lifetime, three Fed chiefs have faced a similar challenge. Each occupied the chairman’s seat at a time when “normalization” of interest rates was in order. Recently, we remembered William McChesney Martin, head of the U.S. Fed under the Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon administrations. Today, we compare Martin with two of his successors, Mr. Paul Volcker and Ms. Janet Yellen. We allow you to draw your own conclusion. Punchbowl...

The Money Market Event is the biggest feast of the Swiss National Bank and a selected list of money managers that work together with the central bank. It is initiated by important speeches and ended with a generous buffet dinner. In the first speech, Andrea Mächler addressed three points: The expansion of the SNB balances sheet as measure against the so-called “strong franc” in a historic perspective. How the SNB takes over currency risks from the private sector. Details on the balance...