SNB & CHF

Every so often, I check my investment portfolio to see how it is doing. (I stay out of stocks these days, but that is due to my personal situation and is not to be taken as investment advice.) Portfolios are collections of various financial instruments that one is holding, and one always hopes that their value will head in the right direction over time. When I purchase a financial instrument, I do so because I hope it will perform well in the future. I certainly do...

Lacking a solid team is a recipe for organizational failure, and those intending to excel in business—or any other sector—must invest in management. Considering that many professional athletes encounter bankruptcy shortly after retiring, they are a demographic that could greatly benefit from quality financial management teams. Elite athletes earn millions of dollars during a short time, but few succeed at multiplying their earnings to create wealth. An investigation...

Your cares and troubles are gone There’ll be no more from now on! Happy days are here again! The skies above are clear again Let us sing a song of cheer again Happy days are here again! Lyrics: Jack Yellen, Music: Milton Ager That’s certainly how it’s felt since the turn of the new year with the NASDAQ up nearly 15%, European stocks continuing to recover, emerging markets anticipating a Chinese recovery and a solid January for the S&P 500. Bonds have been...

Even after Friday's "stellar" payrolls in the US, markets worldwide cling to extreme levels of inversion which means radical pessimism. But why? If there is a worst case set of scenarios, these are what they would be. It's not necessarily a crash, but what more likely what comes after. Eurodollar University's Money & Macro Analysis Stock & Watson; Has the Business Cycle Changed and Why? https://www.nber.org/papers/w9127 Bernanke; The Great Moderation...

Overview: The honeymoon for risk assets that began the year ended with a bang at the end of last week with the monster US jobs report and the rebound in the service ISM. Disappointing news from several large US tech companies provided extra encouragement. The yen's weakness helped Japanese stocks today, but the other larger bourses in the Asia Pacific area were sold, with losses in Hong Kong, the CSI 300, South Korea, and Taiwan off more than 1%. Europe's Stoxx 600...

Illustrative photo taken at the Nestlé Shop in Kemptthal, Switzerland. swissinfo.ch/Dominique Soguel In response to Russia’s war on Ukraine, the Swiss multinational Nestlé announced that it would reduce its range of product in Russia to “essential” goods such as baby milk. But supermarket shelves in Moscow paint a different picture, according to the NZZ. The world’s largest food and beverage company continues to sell and produce a wide range of food products, as well...

© Keystone / Ennio Leanza Switzerland’s largest telecommunications operator, Swisscom, is changing its approach to data disclosure in order better protect its customers. The operator reserves the right, after examination, to “seal” the electronic correspondence (e-mails) of its customers until a court has decided otherwise, the NZZ am Sonntag newspaper reported. To date, the public prosecutor’s office in Switzerland can access the emails of suspects without the...

President Biden’s student debt relief proposal created a storm of controversy. That is not surprising, since it was a transparent (and apparently successful) attempt to buy the votes of an important Democratic constituency, even though it created a target-rich environment for critics. It is sharply pro-rich at the expense of those far poorer, from a party pretending to stand for the opposite. It is very costly to everyone else (the National Taxpayers Union put the...

According to Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell, disinflation is now taking hold. Yes, the very same person who had to walk back his ridiculous pronouncements in 2021 and 2022 that inflation was “transitory” now wants us to believe that inflation is in the process of steadily declining. Powell delivered a quarter-point rate hike on Wednesday. He also delivered remarks widely interpreted by markets as dovish. He suggested the Fed was close to declaring victory...

Relief is spreading among economic analysts and stock market experts. Energy prices are decreasing noticeably. The energy supply this winter seems secure; in Europe, government support for consumers and producers is available if needed. China is turning away from its zero-covid policy, and production is ramping up again. High goods price inflation is still a major concern for consumers and producers, but central banks are delivering at least some interest rate...