SNB & CHF

This desire for compliance and consensus dooms the autocracy to failure and collapse because dissent is the essence of evolutionary churn and adaptation..The various flavors of autocracy (theocracy, kleptocracy, dictatorship, etc.) look remarkably successful at first blush but they all share a fatal flaw. To understand the flaw we must start with the dominant dynamic of all organisms, natural selection. Things change. Those organisms which adapt quickly and...

With the Fed (sadly) taking center stage last week, and market rejections of its rate hikes at the forefront, lost in the drama was January 2022 TIC. Understandable, given all its misunderstood numbers are two months behind at their release. There were some interesting developments regardless, and a couple of longer run parts that deserve some attention. Picking up where TIC left off from December, when more indicated bad (tight money) than good (not as tight),...

The war in Ukraine and consequent threat of energy insecurity is forcing many countries to reconsider their existing policies. The ripple effect has also reached Switzerland, which is already reassessing its gas supply for the coming winter. As the largest exporter of oil and gas combined worldwide, Russia represents a critical piece of the global energy puzzle. The invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the sanctions which followed have already impacted where oil and...

Over the last couple of years we witnessed quite an extraordinary ride in gold prices. An impressive ascent until the last quarter of 2020 was followed by a pullback that scared many speculators away, which in turn transformed into a period of strength and then came another ebb… And recently, once again, we saw the yellow metal shoot up, fueled by inflation fears and the situation in Ukraine. Given that the fundamentals remain unchanged and that the only way...

Obwohl die Situation in der Ukraine keine Entspannung zeigt, konnte sich der Cryptomarkt wieder fangen. In der vergangenen Woche ging es für die meisten großen Cryptocoins deutlich nach oben – allein Bitcoin legte mehr als 10 Prozent zu. Bitcoin News: Der Markt erholt sich trotz fortschreitender Ukraine-Krise Als der Konflikt zwischen Russland und der Ukraine heiß wurde, sahen die Finanzmärkte eine große Kapitalflucht hin zu Edelmetallen – Aktienmarkt, Fiat-Währungen...

Overview: Ukraine’s Mariupol refuses to surrender as the war is turning more brutal according to reports. Iran-backed rebels in Yemen struck half of a dozen sites in Saudi Arabia, driving oil prices higher. China’s prime lending rates were unchanged. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index, which rallied more than 4% last week, traded heavily today though China and Taiwan’s markets managed to post small gains. Tokyo was closed for the spring equinox. Europe’s Stoxx 600 is steady...

Data published on 17 March 2022 showed a 15.4% jump in Swiss exports in February 2022. The sharp rise in exports when combined with a 2.9% fall in imports led to a monthly trade balance of CHF 5.7 million. This is the first time in history that Switzerland’s monthly trade balance has exceeded CHF 5 million. Photo by RODNAE Productions on Pexels.comIn February 2022, Switzerland exported CHF 24.0 billion worth of products while importing CHF 18.3 billion, creating a...

The Federal Reserve didn’t just raise the range for its federal funds target by 25 bps, upper and lower bounds, it also added the same to its twin policy tools which the “central bank” says are crucial to maintaining order in money markets thereby keeping federal funds inside the band where it is supposed to be. The FOMC voted to increase IOER from 15 bps to 40 bps, and the RRP from 5 bps to 30 bps. That RRP, or reverse repo program, is meant to be something of a...

Join Joe Salerno, David Gordon, Jeff Deist, Patrick Newman, and many more at the 2022 Libertarian Scholars Conference on Saturday, September 10th! We’ll meet at the Grand Hyatt in Nashville, Tennessee. The first Libertarian Scholars Conference was held in New York City in 1972 under the aegis of the Center for Libertarian Studies. The conference was held annually (except for 1973) throughout the 1970s in New York or Princeton, New Jersey (1977, 1978), with the 8th...

Switzerland is anchoring the European and Middle East expansion of one of the world’s fastest growing cryptocurrency exchanges. The Bermuda-based FTX group is building its regional headquarters on the foundations of a small, yet successful, Swiss company that was established just two years ago. Like many projects I encounter in “Crypto Nation” SwitzerlandExternal link, Digital Assets came together in rapid time, surfing on the rising value of bitcoin. From the...