SNB & CHF

© Michael Müller | Dreamstime.com Since reaching a peak in early November 2020, Covid-19 cases in Switzerland have fallen significantly. The 7-day daily average was 8,238 on 8 November 2020. By 8 February 2021, this figure was down by more than 80% at 1,437. However, according to Martin Ackermann, head of the Swiss National COVID-19 Science Task Force, now is not the time for Switzerland to relax. New faster spreading variants mean the headline case numbers are...

At a young age, circus artist Meret Ryhiner migrated to the United States to study circus arts in New York. She became a professional circus artist and eventually moved to New Orleans. This is the story of how a road accident and hurricane Katrina changed her life, as well as the lives of the people in her community. --- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on...

Invest in physical metals and earn interest on them? This is a little known business model of the US company "Monetary Metals". Precious metals are lent out and generate about 3% per year. But 13% in gold is also possible through financing for mining and non-mining companies. So far there have been no defaults on these investments, but there are risks, of course. Digital currencies are being promoted to displace paper money and prevent a bank run. Rather desperate attempts at a...

Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by 0.18% to 1.0807 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, February 9(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: The rally of US benchmarks to new record highs helped lift most Asia Pacific markets today, but the bulls are pausing in Europe, and there has been little follow-through buying of US shares. Australia, South Korea, and Indonesia did not participate in today’s regional advance led by...

The coronavirus has dominated all of our lives in recent months. Radical paths were taken by politicians in the form of lockdowns to contain the pandemic. But we should recognize that even if the coronavirus is a (major) challenge for us, we always have to keep a holistic view of world events. Just as there are epidemiological factors to consider in this crisis, there are also economic, social, cultural, political and other health factors at play. It is...

Even the feds haven’t been able to keep up. Without the government having taken over student loans in the wake of 2008-09’s Great “Recession”, there’d have been almost no additional consumer credit extended during the decade since. It’s one more facet to the recovery-less recovery; like Japan, a dominant even overbearing government influence that doesn’t stimulate anything but its own proportionally larger footprint. Given all that, the “need” for maintaining its...

First, it was 10%, then 20%, and today more than 50% of U.S. retirees pay taxes on their Social Security benefits, and the number is expected to go even higher. The cause seems to be that one government hand doesn’t know, or care, what the other government hand is doing. The rub comes because income tax brackets are adjusted for inflation each year. But income thresholds determine if you pay taxes on Social Security, and how much, haven’t been adjusted for inflation...

In the Age of Enlightenment, in the years in which the North Americans founded their independence, and a few years later, when the Spanish and Portuguese colonies were transformed into independent nations, the prevailing mood in Western civilization was optimistic. At that time all philosophers and statesmen were fully convinced that we were living at the beginning of a new age of prosperity, progress, and freedom. In those days people expected that the new political...

Israel leads the world in the race to vaccinate against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, in what some are calling the world’s leading Covid-19 vaccine experiment. 64 doses of vaccine per 100 people have been administered there, far more than in any other nation. Israel’s strategy has focused on protecting the most vulnerable first. By 6 February 2021, 80% of the population over 60 had been vaccinated, compared to less than half that percentage among those under 60 – see chart...

Unemployment Rate (not seasonally adjusted) Registered unemployment in January 2021 – According to surveys by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), 169,753 unemployed people were registered with the regional employment centers (RAV) at the end of January 2021, 6,208 more than in the previous month. The unemployment rate rose from 3.5% in December 2020 to 3.7% in the reporting month. Compared to the same month last year, unemployment increased by 48,735...