SNB & CHF

Now here’s the headline! Swiss National Bank loses nearly $143 billion in first nine months Reuters reported the Q3 result last week, in which Switzerland’s publicly traded central bank (SNB) suffered its largest loss in its 115-year history. The news release reads beyond belief, not because of the unprecedented amount of value that was lost, but just how nonchalantly this legal counterfeiting ring is being downplayed. The loss … was slightly more than the annual...

When the FOMC gathered at the end of October 2007, their summation of the situation and what they perceived as risks to it sound like it was written today about today - or last month, October 2022. The Fed was about to commit a crucial series of errors, something one of its members warned against. Heed this guy's warning because no one back then did; including the guy. Eurodollar University's Money & Macro Analysis Twitter: https://twitter.com/JeffSnider_AIP...

Switzerland’s recent vote on state pension reform on 25 September 2022, divided men and women, reported RTS. Photo by Vlada Karpovich on Pexels.comThe vote was split into two parts. The first asked whether the state pension age for women should rise from 64 to 65 to bring it into line with the pension age for men. The second part asked whether VAT should rise from 7.7% to 8.1% to fund a looming pension funding shortfall. According to an analysis by the survey firm...

After construction workers went out on strike for two days in French-speaking Switzerland, construction workers protested in Zurich over hours and pay on 11 November 2022, reported RTS. Photo by Rodolfo Quirós on Pexels.comWith inflation in Switzerland running at 3%, construction workers are demanding higher pay. However, the construction industry has responded with an offer of better pay tied to higher maximum hours. The industry would like maximum weekly hours to...

© Jan Gajdosik | Dreamstime.com According to the bank Raiffeisen, a future rental housing crisis is likely in Switzerland as the home vacancy rate moves below 1% in 2024, reported 20 Minutes. The combined forces of higher construction costs and higher interest rates have reduced the number of homes being built, said the bank. This combined with the continued growth of the population and a trend towards more living space is expected to create a squeeze as growth in...

In his Nations by Consent, Murray Rothbard reminds us that the concept of a nation “cannot be precisely defined; it is a complex and varying constellation of different forms of communities, languages, ethnic groups, or religions.” And yet, in most states of the world, this concept of nationality has been transformed from a group with a shared heritage, language, and history into a set of documents that needs to be processed in central facilities. Gone are the days of...

Overview:  The softer than expected US inflation figures unleashed significant market adjustment that continue to ripple through the capital markets. The modification of some of China’s Covid stance may have also fanned some optimism, but we suggest that measures are modest tweaks, and the surge in infections will prevent the end of disruptive restrictions. Although we have been arguing that a significant dollar top was being forged, the move is stretched from a...

“Democracy” is the new “revolutionary.” In the old Marxist regimes, anything that displeased the ruling communist regime was said to be contrary to “the revolution.” For example, in the Soviet Union, national leaders spoke regularly of how the nation was in the process of “a revolutionary transformation” toward a future idealized communist society. Many years after the actual revolution and coup d’etat in Russia in following the collapse of Tsarist Russia, the word...

Thrilled to release this discussion with Jeff Snider, founder of Eurodollar University and one of the foremost experts on the global monetary system. He’s widely known for his unique perspective on its misunderstood inner workings and how they impact global markets and the economy. Jeff joins me to dig into the cracks emerging within the financial system, the yield curve, fundamental drivers of the dollar/collateral shortages and much more. Enjoy! Specifically, we cover: 00:00 |...

Interview with Václav Klaus To many of us, no matter how well versed in history, in political affairs or in socioeconomic issues, the present conditions in the West, and especially in Europe, can sometimes seem like the plot of a bad movie. It is often said that history doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme, and what we’re seeing today is a great example of that. Nevertheless, one would have expected that at least some of those in charge of the “big decisions”...