SNB & CHF

© Germana Marengo | Dreamstime.com As Switzerland’s population ages the number of people paid state pension is rising relative to the number of workers funding it. Since 2014, more has been paid out than has been paid in. The most effective way to fix this imbalance is to raise the pension age. If the average life expectancy of a retiree is 15 years, then raising the pension age by one year will cut the cost by nearly 7%. Switzerland is one of a few countries that...

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...

Some 27% percent of the population over the age of 15 smokes in Switzerland. © Keystone / Melanie Duchene The Swiss parliament is currently debating tightening restrictions on advertising of tobacco products. This comes after a people’s initiative calls for a radical advertising ban to protect children. Parliament is currently discussing whether to tighten Switzerland’s current tobacco laws, which are some of the most liberal in the world. The draft bill would...

Worried about gold sentiment? Don’t be. The mainstream view of gold right now is an open yawn, and sentiment indicators for this precious metal are now at 3-year lows despite the gold highs of last August. Is this cause for genuine concern? Not at all. In fact, quite the opposite. Most investors are totally wrong about gold, and below we show rather than argue why they are missing the forest for the trees. Unlike trend chasers, speculating gamblers and gold bears,...

Like nearly all US states, Georgia imposed a stay-at-home order in March 2020 in response to demands from public health officials claiming a stay-at-home order would lessen total deaths from covid-19. But unlike most states, Georgia ended its stay-at-home order after only five weeks, and proceeded to lower other restrictions quickly. The legacy media responded with furious opposition. For example, an article in The Atlantic declared the end of Georgia’s lockdown to...

Izabella Kaminska, editor of Alphaville - the Financial Times blog, talks: financial journalism, the necessity of skepticism, public distrust of media, press reticence to cover underclass concerns, reportage to clarify versus to convince, technology's impact on news, and more! -----EPISODE 58 INTRO----- Welcome to Making Sense. Jeff Snider and I are joined by a very special guest, Izabella Kaminska who has accomplished many accomplished things, including being the editor of FT Alphaville,...

18.03.2021 – The Producer and Import Price Index remained unchanged in February 2021 compared with the previous month. The index stood at 100.3 points (December 2020 = 100). Petroleum products as well as basic metals and semi-finished metal products in particular saw higher prices, while pharmaceutical products became cheaper. Compared with February 2020, the price level of the whole range of domestic and imported products fell by 1.1%. These are the results of the...

ETF gold demand from investors has soared over the past year. The unprecedented fiscal and monetary stimulus were rolled out to tackle the effects of Covid -19. However, consumer demand, particularly but not surprisingly, jewellery demand slumped. What’s in store for gold demand fundamentals for 2021? Increased consumer demand in China and India will help support the gold price in 2021. There is little doubt that investment demand – especially into Exchange Traded...

Credit Suisse is still reeling from the collapse of Greensill Capital, a firm which it championed by helping to sell its financial products (created by ensconcing trade invoices in a complex securities wrapper). 8 months after the first reports emerged about the bank’s potential involvement in a risky “circular financing scheme” involving SoftBank and Greensill (which the bank pledged to investigate at the time), CS and its clients have been left holding the bag...

How can a small rise in bond yields scare policymakers so much? Ned Davis Research estimates that a 2% yield in the US 10-year bond could lead the Nasdaq to fall 20%, and with it the entire stock market globally. A 2% yield can cause such disruption? How did we get to such a situation? Central banks have artificially depressed sovereign bond yields for years. Now, a small rise in yields can cause a massive market slump that evolves into a financial crisis....