SNB & CHF

It was last August when Jerome Powell began to admit that inflation just might be a problem. But even then, he was only willing to say that inflation would likely be “moderately” above the arbitrary 2 percent inflation standard. Back in August, low inflation—not high inflation—was still perceived to be the “problem.” But things had certainly changed by late November when Powell was forced by reality to retire “transitory” as the preferred adjective to describe price...

Overview: The markets are mostly treading water ahead of the FOMC decision later today. Tech stocks tumbled in Hong Kong and the Hang Seng fell a little more than 1%, while India was the worst performer in the region falling over 2% following an unexpected and intra-meeting hike by the Reserve Bank of India.  It raised the repo rate to 4.4% from 4.0%.  Europe's Stoxx 600 is a little lower and has been unable to close the gap from Monday created from the lower...

Petra Gerlach and Attilio Zanetti become Alternate Members of the Governing Board At its meeting of 4 May 2022, the Federal Council appointed Martin Schlegel as Vice Chairman of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank with effect from 1 August 2022. He will succeed Fritz Zurbrügg on the Governing Board when the latter steps down at the end of July 2022. Martin Schlegel has been a member of the Enlarged Governing Board and Deputy Head of Department I since 1...

The International Monetary Fund has downgraded the global economy with its latest World Economic Outlook. This is no surprise to those who have been following the monetary system's warnings since 2021. Right on cue, the United States reported economic contraction in Q4 2021. ----EP. 228 REFERENCES---- One More For Euro$ #5: The Mainstream Downgrade Parade: https://bit.ly/381wjf4 Alhambra Investments Blog: https://bit.ly/2VIC2wWlin RealClear Markets Essays: https://bit.ly/38tL5a7...

Part II of II The big picture here is clear and it is essential to understand that it represents a very significant paradigm shift. Whether it is online or offline, whether it is through a mobile app, an exchange or even through physical contracts, ownership titles to gold holdings keep changing hands. And thus, no matter the vehicle that is used to facilitate these transactions, the fact of the matter is that it acts as a gold-backed currency. This alone...

This is one of those cases when Inigo Montoya, the lovable if fictional rapscallion from the movie The Princess Bride, would pop into the scene to devastatingly deliver his now famous rebuke. Last week, China’s one-man Dear Leader said that the country was going to start up its own version of Build Back Better. Immediately cheered by the entire Western media, every single news story contained the same phrase. “All out.” Cue Mr. Montoya’s wry witticism. . Did...

Imposing economic sanctions upon Russia is tantamount to throwing gasoline on a raging fire. The sanctions will not end the Russian invasion of Ukraine and only will make things worse. Original Article: “The Economic Sanctions against Russia Are Destructive and Counterproductive: We Must Oppose Them” The Western sanctions against Russia seem to shock very few Westerners. Yet, for several reasons, these sanctions should at least be the subject of lively debate...

The price of silver has been going down, and then down some more. From over $28 a year ago, and over $26.50 a month ago, it’s now at a new low under $22.50. Four bucks down in a month. However, it’s been behaving differently than gold behind the scenes. Let’s look at the gold and silver basis charts to see. Gold Fundamentals – Gold Basis Analysis The gold basis (i.e. abundance to the market) was humming along around 0.5%. Then, as the price began to rise, it rose...

Die Kolumne «Gopfried Stutz» erschien zuerst im Credit Suisse und UBS liefern uns ein schönes Lehrstück. Die UBS verspekulierte sich in den USA derart, dass die Schweizerische Nationalbank deren faule Kredite in der Finanzkrise von 2008 übernehmen und somit die Grossbank vor dem Kollaps retten musste. Derweil vermochte die Credit Suisse die Verluste selber zu stemmen und erhielt dafür Anerkennung. Heute ist es gerade umgekehrt: Die UBS schreibt wieder ansprechende...

There have been some 1,700 cases of suspected Covid-19 loan frauds reported since the start of the pandemic. © Keystone / Ennio Leanza The number of reported suspicious financial transactions continued to rise in Switzerland in 2021, but at a lower rate than in the first year of the pandemic. Switzerland’s Money Laundering Reporting Office (MROS) saw a 12% increase of suspicious activity reports last year to reach 5,962. For the second year in a row, a significant...