SNB & CHF

Central bankers nearly everywhere have succumbed to recovery fever. This has been a common occurrence among their cohort ever since the earliest days of the crisis; the first one. Many of them, or their predecessors, since this standard of fantasyland has gone on for so long, had caught the malady as early as 2007 and 2008 when the world was only falling apart. The disease is just that potent; delirium the chief symptom, especially among the virus’ central banker...

One of the most important principles of economics is that people respond to incentives. You get more of whatever you incentivize. You get less of whatever you disincentivize. This is irrefutable. The supplemental unemployment payment does both—it incentivizes people not to work, and simultaneously disincentivizes them from working. The number of people who have dropped out of the labor force in Colorado, those who are not actively seeking employment, remains near...

[embedded content] [embedded content] You Might Also Like SNB Sight Deposits: Inflation is there, CHF must Rise 2021-07-19 Sight Deposits have risen by +0.2 bn CHF, this means that the SNB is intervening and buying Euros and Dollars. Weekly Market Pulse: As Clear As Mud 2021-07-19 Is there anyone left out there who doesn’t know the rate of economic growth is...

Is there anyone left out there who doesn’t know the rate of economic growth is slowing? The 10 year Treasury yield has fallen 45 basis points since peaking in mid-March. 10 year TIPS yields have fallen by the same amount and now reside below -1% again. Copper prices peaked a little later (early May), fell 16% at the recent low and are still down nearly 12% from the highs. Crude oil has recently joined in, falling 7% from its recent high. Energy stocks are in a full...

Maintaining the illusion of confidence, permanence and stability serves the interests of those benefiting from the bubbles and those who prefer the safety of the herd, even as the herd thunders toward the precipice. The misconception that collapse is an all or nothing phenomenon is common: Either the system rights itself with a bit of money-printing and rah-rah or it collapses into post-industrial ruin and gangs are battling over the last stash of canned beans....

Wenn die Federal Reserve, das amerikanische Pendant zur Schweizerischen Nationalbank (SNB), die Zinsen erhöht, dann kann dies Menschen in der Schweiz mit eigenem Haus oder eigener Wohnung direkt Geld kosten. Aber warum eigentlich? Die Fed ist weit weg und die Schweiz hat ja ihre eigenen Zinsen. Ganz so einfach ist es nicht. Die in der Regel monatlich fälligen Zinsen für den Kauf eines eigenen Hauses oder einer Eigentumswohnung sind von mehreren Faktoren beeinflusst....

Authored by Jeffrey Snider via RealClearMarkets Why doesn’t the market care about these inflation reports? First, by writing “market” I mean actual markets in bonds. Despite now three huge CPI’s in a row in the US, and an equal number of PPI’s even more obscene than those have been, bond yields are falling. In some places in the bond market, on the verge of tanking. This is the opposite of what’s supposed to happen; presuming you believe, like...

According to a report by the newspaper Le Matin, some testing centres in Switzerland are charging for rapid antigen tests despite the federal government announcing it would cover the cost of these tests. © Seventyfourimages | Dreamstime.com With many holiday destinations still requiring negative Covid-19 tests as a condition of entry, those heading across borders for the summer holidays will need to get tested before heading to the airport or getting on the road or...

The River Aare at a weir just before flowing into Lake Biel on Friday. Lake Biel is threatening to reach a record level. Keystone / Jean-christophe Bott Lakes and rivers in central Swiss cantons such as Bern and Lucerne have reached dangerous levels, and more rain is forecast for Thursday and Friday. On Wednesday authorities in canton Bern said water levels on Lake Thun, Lake Biel and in the city of Bern would significantly exceed flood limits in the coming days....