SNB & CHF

Everyone caught by surprise that the infinite road actually has an end will face a bewildering transition. The End of the “Growth” Road is upon us, though the consensus continues to hold fast to the endearing fantasy of infinite expansion of consumption. This fantasy has been supported for decades by the financial expansion of debt, which enabled more spending which pushed consumption, earnings, taxes, etc. higher. All the financial games are fun but “growth” boils...

I fully realize that when it comes to Ukraine, one is supposed to focus exclusively on Russia’s invasion and not on what the Pentagon did to gin up the crisis, a crisis that has gotten us perilously close to a world-destroying nuclear war with Russia.  Nonetheless, the Pentagon’s role in this crisis needs to be emphasized, over and over again, just as the Pentagon’s role in ginning up the Cuban Missile Crisis also needs to be emphasized, over and over again. Yes,...

After falling as low as 7.30 to the dollar yesterday, this morning "someone" was selling big dollars in Hong Kong (offshore CNH). It's another way of saying de-hoarding private dollar reserves, essentially the same tactic beleaguered officials have been forced into around the world. Why? For one, the darkening outlines of global recession are being drawn much clearer using the ink of gross American demand destruction. Eurodollar University's Money & Macro Analysis Twitter:...

Last week Chinese President Xi Jinping called for accelerating the building of a world-class military while touting the fight against COVID-19 as he kicked off a Communist Party Congress by focusing on security and reiterating policy priorities. Xi, 69, won a third leadership term at the conclusion of the week-long congress that began on Sunday 16 October morning, cementing his place as China's most powerful ruler since Mao Zedong. Polaris-Live.com asked 7 experts from the United...

Overview: The US dollar is having one of toughest days of the year. It has been sold across the board and taken out key levels like parity in the euro, $1.15 in sterling, and CAD1.36. The Chinese yuan surged over 1%. Chinese officials promised healthy bond and stock markets. There is some talk that the PBOC may have intervened directly in the forex market. Large bourses in the Asia Pacific region rallied and the CSI 300 rose by 0.8%, its first gain of the week. After...

The Serb community in northern Kosovo has been instructed by the government to ditch their Belgrade-issued number plates for Kosovan ones, but for many people, this is tantamount to accepting Kosovo's independence, something Serbia has avoided since 2008. This video looks at the background to the number plates row and the chances of reconciliation. Swiss peacekeepers are present in northern Kosovo as part of NATO's KFOR mission. - swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss...

Credit Suisse is one of Switzerland’s systemically important banks. © Keystone / Christian Beutler Credit Suisse Group and the French financial prosecution office have agreed to settle a tax fraud and money laundering case in France with a €238 million (CH234 million) payment to the state, a French court heard on Monday. The settlement still needs to be approved by the court. If approved, the payment would resolve the investigation led by the France’s financial...

Swiss neobank neon’s crowdfunding campaign reached CHF 5 million of its CHF 10 million target with more than 2,000 investors participating on the first day of the campaign. The campaign, which runs from October 25 to 31, is offering two to 250 non-voting shares priced at CHF 200.00 per share. The company aims to sell a total of 50,000 shares. According to the campaign page, neon’s recent milestones include hitting 130,000 users, generating CHF 3.5 million in revenue...

German neobank N26 has launched its cryptocurrency product in Austria to enable customers to buy and sell 194 cryptocurrencies in their app. The N26 Crypto feature will be made available progressively to eligible customers in Austria over the coming weeks, as well as in other key markets over the next six months. The launch addresses strong local demand, where internal research showed that 40% of N26 users are either actively trading, or have expressed interest in...

It is a widely held belief that political inclusion has been an integral part of Swiss life since women gained the right to vote in 1971. Democracy, however, is a work in progress. To this day, some people remain excluded from Swiss political life. The move towards full democracy has happened in small, sometimes surprising, steps. One example is a historical 2020 vote in canton Geneva: 75% of voters agreed that citizens with mental or physical disabilities were entitled to full voting...