SNB & CHF

Switzerland’s government and health officials presented a coronavirus update yesterday. Key elements of the presentation are set out below. [embedded content]The full coronavirus press update can be viewed above in German. Closing borders is now pointless Patrick Mathys, who is leading the coronavirus response at the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH), said epidemiologically that closing the borders would achieve nothing and would not slow the spread of the...

IT IS BAD enough when individuals stockpile pasta and toilet paper. It is worse when governments put a protective ring around medical equipment. As the covid-19 pandemic leads to a rush for medical gear, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that supplies of respirators and medical masks will not keep up with demand, and soon global stocks of gowns and goggles will be insufficient too. Some governments are erecting trade barriers to safeguard their...

Can we please dispense with all notions that monetary policy works? Specifically balance sheet expansion via any scale asset purchase programs. Nowhere has that been more apparent than Japan. Go back and reread all the promised benefits from BoJ’s Big Bang QQE that were confidently written in 2013. The biggest bazooka ever conceived has fallen short in every conceivable way. Starting with the fact QQE remains ongoing approaching its seventh birthday. Over here in...

Medicare for All is listed as the top priority of Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. He describes it as a single-payer system that is “free at the point of service” as there will be no premiums, deductibles, copays, or surprise bills. It will cover more services (dental, hearing, vision, long-term care, substance abuse treatment, etc.) than what the present Medicare system covers. It will also stop the “pharmaceutical industry from ripping off the...

Many people think that investing in the United States Exchanged Traded Funds (ETFs) is dangerous. They believe that because of the U.S. Estate Tax. This tax will heavily tax the assets of a decedent. This tax means that your beneficiary will only get a portion of your estate when you decease. Because of that, many people recommend not to invest in American ETFs (or even stocks). But is that even true? Many people forget about the U.S. Switzerland double taxation...

This is the upside of hyper-litigiousness: prevention is prioritized as the most effective means of limiting future liability. Never mind prevention or vaccines; the big question is “who can we sue after this blows over to rake in millions of dollars?” Yes, this is pathetic, tragic, perverse and evil, but that’s reality in a hyper-litigious society like the U.S. Many people are struck by the apparent over-reaction of Corporate America to the Covid-19 threat, but this...

Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by 0.06% to 1.057 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, March 12(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: After the Bank of England and the UK Treasury announced both monetary and fiscal support, the focus turns to the ECB, but the proximity of the US Congressional recess (next week) without strong fiscal measures being in place sucked the oxygen away from other issues. President Trump’s...

So soll EZB-Präsidentin Christine Lagarde die EU-Regierungschefs wegen der Coronavirus-Krise vor einem extremen Schock für die Wirtschaft gewarnt haben. Ohne koordiniertes Vorgehen werde Europa ein Szenario erleben, das viele an die grosse Finanzkrise 2008 erinnern werde, sagte Lagarde am Dienstagabend laut einem Bericht der Nachrichtenagentur Bloomberg während einer Telefonkonferenz des EU-Rats. Schritte der EZB hätten wohl Folgen auf den Frankenkurs, und die...

Fears over coronavirus could boost online shopping this year. (© Keystone / Gaetan Bally) Swiss shoppers spent more than CHF10 billion ($11 billion) online last year, an increase of 8.4% from 2018, according to a study of retail habits. Electronics and fashion goods dominated orders. Food accounted for just 2.8% of the total goods consumed (up from 1.8% in 2018), but the report’s authors expect orders to increase this year with people reluctant to go to supermarkets...

The eurodollar curve’s latest twist exposes what’s behind the long end. To recap: big down day in stocks which, for the first time in a while, wasn’t accompanied by massive buying in longer maturity UST’s. Instead, these were sold, too. Rumors of parity funds liquidating were all over the place, which is consistent with this curve behavior. Let’s start with eurodollar futures; the curve had absolutely collapsed up to Monday. It was remarkable even though not...