SNB & CHF

Is inflation on the horizon? Should bank reserve balances stored with the Federal Reserve count as "money"? According to Jeffrey Snider, head of global research at Alhambra Investment Partners, and Steven Van Metre, macro fund manager and founder of Portfolio Shield, the answer to these questions is a resounding "no." Drawing upon a data ranging from Treasury auction sales to Eurodollar futures curves, van Metre and Snider explain why low yields are, in fact, deflationary...

17.12.2020 – The construction price index recorded a decline of 0.2% between April and October 2020, reaching 99.7 points (October 2015 = 100). This result reflects a decline in building prices and a slight growth in civil engineering prices. Year on year, construction prices remained stable. These are some of the findings from the Federal Statistical Office (FSO). Development of the construction price index in Switzerland, October 2020 - Click to enlarge...

Over here, on the other side of that ocean, the US economy can only dream of the low levels Chinese industry has been putting up this late into 2020. At least those in the East are back positive year-over-year. Here in America, manufacturing and industry can’t even manage anything like a plus sign. Summer slowdown extends in Industrial Production. According to the Federal Reserve, the outfit which has kept tabs on this economic sector for more than a century, the...

The US Treasury’s latest “Macroeconomic and Foreign Exchange Policies of Major Trading Partners of the United States” report named Switzerland and Vietnam as currency manipulators. Both countries came under scrutiny in the last report and so this week’s announcement was only surprising in that it was made by a lame duck administration that will be gone in a month. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS This is the first Treasury FX report since January. In previous administrations, the...

Swiss National Bank maintains expansionary monetary policy The coronavirus pandemic is continuing to have a strong adverse effect on the economy. Against this difficult backdrop, the SNB is maintaining its expansionary monetary policy with a view to stabilising economic activity and price developments. The SNB is keeping the SNB policy rate and interest on sight deposits at the SNB at −0.75%. In light of the highly valued Swiss franc, the SNB remains willing to...

Täglich werden wir von den Medien mit Behauptungen und Schocknachrichten in die kollektive Schockstarre getrieben. Heute schauen wir uns die Zahlen zu den Ansteckungsorten an (Quelle: blick.ch): Von diesen 65’000 Personen gaben 71 Prozent, also über 46’000 Personen, den vermuteten Ansteckungsort an. Familienmitglied 29,6 Prozent Unbekannt 29,5 Prozent Anderer Kontakt 16,7 Prozent Arbeit 11 Prozent Privatfest 3,9 Prozent Bar/Restaurant 2,8 Prozent Medizinisches und...

A dirty secret of congressional military spending is that when the government allocates billions in spending, unnecessary, wasteful, and parochial interests quickly find their way into the legislation. Original Article: A dirty secret of congressional military spending is that when the government allocates billions in spending, unnecessary, wasteful, and parochial interests quickly find their way into the legislation. That’s part of the reason President Trump...

An update to an antibody study conducted by HUG and UNIGE suggests that 22% of Geneva’s population had been exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus by December 2020. The study which began earlier in the year, and involved 2,072 people, suggests the number of people infected has doubled since June 2020 when 11% of the study sample tested positive for antibodies. © Tero Vesalainen | Dreamstime.com The latest results suggest the official number of cases significantly...

We do not like Purchasing Power or Real Effective Exchange Rate (REER) as measurement for currencies. For us, the trade balance decides if a currency is overvalued. Only the trade balance can express productivity gains, while the REER assumes constant productivity in comparison to trade partners. Who has read Michael Pettis, knows that a rising trade surplus may also be caused by a higher savings rate while the trade partners decided to spend more. This is partially...

Swiss Franc The Euro has risen by 0.22% to 1.0824 . FX Rates Overview: The prospects of a UK-EU deal and US stimulus continue to underwrite risk appetites and weigh on the dollar. Equity markets are moving higher. Led by Australia and China, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose to new record highs, while Dow Jones Stoxx 600 in Europe is at its best level since February. US shares are also trading higher. Bond markets are quiet, with European yields paring yesterday’s...