SNB & CHF

Pressure on the dollar has resumed; October CPI data will be the US highlight; US bond market was closed yesterday but yields have eased a bit today Weekly jobless claims data will be reported; monthly budget statement for October will hold some interest; Mexico is expected to cut rates 25 bp to 4.0%; Peru is expected to keep rates steady at 0.25% UK Q3 GDP rebounded strongly but September data show a loss of momentum; Brexit talks remain unresolved; the domestic...

The Brexit deadline of December 31st, the date beyond which the transition or implementation period cannot be extended, now looms large and the dreaded “No-Deal” Brexit outcome looks increasingly possible by the day. There is plenty of brinkmanship, rhetoric and passionately held views on the Brexit issue and recent days have seen this again. It is and will continue to be a highly partisan and divisive issue. It is important to tune out the political noise and...

Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by 0.14% to 1.0788 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, November 12(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: There is a nervous calm in the capital markets today. The equity rally in the Asia Pacific region stalled to end an eight-day rally, though the Nikkei’s rally remains intact. The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 in Europe is consolidating near eight-month highs visited yesterday, and US shares...

Implications for precious metals investors As the long-awaited “second wave” of the corona pandemic sweeps through Europe, another round of severe restrictions, travel bans and rules that prevent the proper function of international business and trade threatens to once again disrupt all kinds of sectors, including the gold industry. Lockdown 2.0 Until only a couple of months ago, multiple heads of state, government officials and all kinds of experts were openly...

On Monday the dollar had a ferocious rally, moving up from 15.87mg gold to 16.77mg and from 1.21g silver to 1.32g. In mainstream terms, the price of gold dropped about a hundred bucks, and the price of silver crashed $2.20. One notion we’re hearing a lot now is, “there is no alternative to stocks.” Certainly, stocks have been rallying. They were up in Sunday evening (as we reckon it here in Arizona) trading. Then Pfizer announced good news for its COVID vaccine, and...

Switzerland is home to the headquarters of several world leaders in raw materials, such as Glencore, based in the canton of Zug. Keystone / Alessandro Della Bella Home to big players in the raw materials, food and chemicals industries, Switzerland boasts one of the world’s highest concentrations of multinational headquarters. Multinationals play an important role in the Swiss economy, providing both jobs and tax revenues. In 2018, the Federal Statistical Office found...

It does seem, at first, a huge contradiction. On the one hand, what we know so far of China’s 14th 5-year plan apparently will lean heavily on new technologies not-yet invented to rescue the country’s economy from the pit of de-globalization the eurodollar system had thrown it into years ago. If the global economy isn’t going to recover, and there’s absolutely no sign that it will, then the one seemingly logical (though far-fetched) way forward would be if the...

In such a highly polarized, politicized environment, is such a scrupulously objective study even possible? Now that we’ve had the happy-talk about Pfizer’s messenger-RNA (mRNA) vaccine (and noted that Pfizer’s CEO sold the majority of his shares in the company immediately after the happy-talk), let’s dig into messenger-RNA (mRNA) vaccines which are fast approaching regulatory approval. Some people have concluded vaccines are not safe, regardless of their source or...

Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by 0.18% to 1.0793 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, November 11(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: Investors are trying to figure out the impact of the likelihood of a vaccine. One thing that has happened is that the market perceives less chance that the UK or New Zealand will adopt negative rates, and their respective currencies are adjusting higher. Meanwhile, the equity rally...

The Swiss Bankers Association said it regretted Raiffeisen’s decision Keystone Raiffeisen, Switzerland’s third-largest banking group, says it will leave the Swiss Bankers Association (SBA) at the end of March 2021. It intends to represent its interests independently. “The banking sector and the interests of the various players in the Swiss financial centre have changed considerably in recent years,” Raiffeisen said in a statement on Tuesday. “As part of its group...