SNB & CHF

The ECB meets Thursday and is widely expected to stand pat until the next meeting. Macro forecasts won’t be updated until the December 10 meeting, but the bank will have to acknowledge the deteriorating outlook now. There’s a small risk of more jawboning against the stronger euro, but it should otherwise be an uneventful meeting. We expect the ECB to increase QE in December but another rate cut seems very unlikely, as does activation of OMT. POSSIBLE NEXT STEPS...

Increasing virus numbers have pushed European governments to once again start imposing national measures; the week is starting off on a risk-off note Today may see the official end of stimulus talks; odds for Biden victory are increasing again but is already mostly priced in US manufacturing surveys for October will continue to roll out; Chile’s referendum on a new constitution passed in a landslide Brexit negotiations have been extended; Germany’s October IFO survey...

The Democrats, Liz Cheney, and the Never Trumpers still want endless wars, and they hate Trump’s apparent lack of enthusiasm for embracing their dreams of empire. This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon. Narrated by Michael Stack. Original Article: “On Foreign Policy, Trump Is Still the Lesser Evil“. You Might Also Like Walter Berns and the Cult of “Patriotic” Sacrifice [unable...

CHEOPS is a space telescope, whose name stands for 'CHaracterizing ExOPlanet Satellite'. Unlike other missions dedicated to searching for new planets, CHEOPS points at bright stars already known to host planets. It uses ultra-high precision photometry to observe planets while orbiting their stars and accurately determines their radii. Combining the radii with the planets' masses, which have already been estimated by ground-based surveys, the scientists can draw conclusions on what these...

Swiss Franc The Euro has risen by 0.12% to 1.0727 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, October 27(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: The surging pandemic sapped the risk-taking appetites as some investors hunker down for what could be a volatile period ahead. The S&P 500 lost nearly 3% at its lows before rebounding 1% in late dealings. However, the US’s fiscal stimulus remains highly likely even if not...

Don’t expect healthcare or any other hollowed-out, heavily optimized system to function as it once did. A great many Americans will be shocked when our healthcare systems start failing because they believed the PR that “we have the finest healthcare system in the world.” The ability to deliver the finest care to a few does not translate into an ability to deliver the finest care to the many, nor does it mean the system is robust enough to withstand a tsunami. As I...

© Fabiobalbi | Dreamstime.com Numbers published today by the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) show a further 17,440 tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus in Switzerland over 72 hours, a daily average of 5,813. Last Monday, the same 72-hour figure was 8,737, roughly half this Monday’s number. Half of Switzerland’s laboratory-confirmed cases since the outbreak began in February have been recorded over the last 15 days. Hospital numbers are up too. Numbers...

Signs from last week’s SURE programme to finance partial unemployment schemes are highly encouraging for the EU’s plans for recovery fund issuance which could start, we believe, in mid-2021. Last week’s SURE issue was close to 14 times oversubscribed at a rate lower than that for French government bonds of comparable duration. We believe this sale marks the arrival of a major new sustainable asset that benefits from the highest rating. An increase in ECB bond...

[embedded content] Alhambra’s’ Bob Williams describes Charitable Remainder Trusts and how they can be used as a planning tool to create a win-win for you and charities. You Might Also Like What The PMIs Aren’t Really Saying, In China As Elsewhere China’s PMI’s continue to impress despite the fact they continue to be wholly unimpressive. As with most economic numbers in today’s stock-focused...

Does it matter if we call irreversibly comatose patients “dead?” Our guest is Doyen Nguyen, OP, MD, STD. Dr. Nguyen was previously an academic hemato-pathologist and is currently a Catholic moral theologian and bioethicist. She has authored books and articles both in medicine and in moral theology/bioethics and authored a 600-page monograph that takes a critical look at brain death from a variety of perspectives. SHOW NOTES Nguyen D. The New Definition of Death...