SNB & CHF

It was one of the first major speeches of his tenure. Speaking to the Economic Club of Chicago in April 2018, newly crowned Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell was full of optimism. At that time, however, optimism was being framed as some sort of bad thing. This was the height of inflation hysteria, where any sort of official upgrade to the economic condition was taken as further “hawkishness.” Things were so good, they said, the situation was in danger of...

Is the room half full or half empty for blockchain property enterprises? (© Keystone / Christian Beutler) Our regular analysis of developments in the world of fintech and Crypto Nation. Property has for some time been hailed as prime real estate for blockchain disruption. The incorruptible ledger will replace mountains of paperwork while interested parties will have a sovereign claim to validate transactions in property sales. We are also told that smart contracts...

(Keystone/ Valentin Flauraud) Blockchain and cryptocurrencies seem to be all over the news, but is this a flash-in-the-pan gimmick or a real digital service that can impact on the lives of ordinary people? People have been asking us what it all means, so we’d like to give you the opportunity to send in your own questions. What is blockchain’s value proposition? Why should I cash in my “real” money for cryptocurrencies? Who or what is behind blockchain? We’ll do our...

Swiss Franc The Euro has risen by 0.08% to 1.0992 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, November 7(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: Indications that a phase one agreement between the US and China would include rolling back some existing tariffs is boosting risking appetites, sending stocks higher, and pushing up yields. However, this appears to be simply a restating of China’s views rather than a new breakthrough....

Swiss firms fear that savers and pensioners will suffer from negative interest rates. (Keystone / Gaetan Bally) A survey of Swiss companies commissioned by UBS bank concludes that negative interest rates are harming the wider economy. Switzerland’s largest bank, UBS, asked 2,500 companies about the impact of negative interest rates. “Nearly two-thirds of respondents said that the cost…for the economy outweighed their benefits overall,” UBS said in a press...

In early September, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) released figures for its non-manufacturing PMI that calmed nervous markets. A few weeks before anyone would start talking about repo, repo operations, and not-QE asset purchases, recession and slowdown fears were already prevalent. It hadn’t been a very good summer to that end, the promised second half rebound failing to materialize being more and more replaced by central banker backpedaling here as well...

USD/CHF is trading flat on the day, consolidating the gains of the last two days.  The level to beat for bulls is the 0.9940/0.9956 resistance zone. USD/CHF daily chart On the daily chart, USD/CHF is trading in a range below its 200-day simple moving average (DMA). The market is holding just above the 50 SMA today at the 0.9916 level. USD/CHF daily chart(see more posts on USD/CHF, ) - Click to enlarge USD/CHF four-hour chart USD/CHF is trading near the monthly...

Bombardier says its trains offer shorter journey times and more passenger comfort, but they have been beset by problems. Bombardier says it expects to deliver all 62 double-decker express trains ordered by Swiss Federal Railways by summer 2021. Deliveries should have been made as early as 2013 but have been fraught with technical problems. The trains were ordered in 2010 for a total of CHF 1.9 billion ($1.9 billion), making it the largest contract in the history of...

Solar energy is the main source of renewable energy in Switzerland, after hydroelectric power. But its potential is far from being exploited, according to industry experts. In 1982 Switzerland became the first country in Europe to connect a photovoltaic plant to the electricity network. Ten years later it inaugurated what at the time was the continent’s largest solar power station. And in 2015, the world’s largest off-grid solar panel system on the roof of a sports...

Eagle, ID (November 6, 2019) – Seven outstanding students beat out over 100 of their high-school and college peers in making the best case for sound money through an international, gold-backed scholarship competition… …and the winners walked away with almost $10,000 in scholarship awards for their exceptional, thought-provoking essays. For the fourth-straight year, Money Metals Exchange, the national precious-metals dealer that was recently ranked “Best in the USA,”...