SNB & CHF

Charles Hugh Smith on the Emerging Repo Crisis http://financialrepressionauthority.com/2020/01/27/the-roundtable-insight-charles-hugh-smith-on-the-emerging-repo-crisis/

Charles Hugh Smith on the Emerging Repo Crisis http://financialrepressionauthority.com/2020/01/27/the-roundtable-insight-charles-hugh-smith-on-the-emerging-repo-crisis/

The cost of renting apartments continues to rise in Swiss cities. (© Keystone / Gaetan Bally) Rental prices in Swiss cities became markedly more expensive last year even though vacancy rates are increasing in Switzerland. The latest study from real estate portal Homegate.ch reveals the disparity between urban and rural areas. Zurich saw the biggest leap in rental prices in 2019, rising 3.3% in the year. This compares to a 0.6% average rental hike across the country....

The money supply growth rate rose in December slowed after a November surge of nearly six percent. During December 2019, year-over-year growth in the money supply was at 5.53 percent. That’s down from November’s rate of 5.9 percent, but was up from December 2018’s rate of 3.90 percent. The increase in money-supply growth in December continues a sizable reversal of the trend we saw for most of 2019. In August, the growth rate hit a 120-month low, falling to the...

Philip Morris International employs some 3,000 people in Switzerland (Keystone / Laurent Gillieron) Tobacco giant Philip Morris says 265 jobs in Switzerland will be affected by restructuring plans, of which almost two-thirds of posts may be transferred to other European sites. After much uncertainty and news speculation, Philip Morris (PMI) confirmed on Monday its restructuring plans at operational centres in Lausanne and Neuchâtel in French-speaking western...

Global stocks lower on virus fears, yen appreciates, and yield curves flatten Oil prices continue to fall while gold rises Italian assets outperform on favorable election results for ruling coalition German IFO survey disappoints, trimming nascent green shoots The dollar is mixed against DM and broadly stronger against EM. On the former, the yen is outperforming (+0.4%), heading to the sixth day of consecutive appreciation, now back below the ¥109.0 level. AUD and...

The spread of the coronavirus continues and is likely to weigh on risk assets and EM.  Most markets in Emerging Asia are closed for all or part of this week due to the Lunar New Year holiday.  China has extended the holiday until February 2 as it struggles to contain the virus.  The Asian region is just starting to recover from the global trade tensions, and now it must cope with what is likely to be a sharp drop-off in tourism.  Policymakers in the region may have...

Guy Parmelin (fourth from right) was part of a government delegation accompanying Swiss President Simonetta Sommaruga to talks with Trump this week in Davos.  (Keystone) Talks with US President Donald Trump this week at WEF were useful, says Swiss Economics Minister Guy Parmelin, who is cautiously optimistic about moving trade negotiations forward. “Trump had questions for me. He asked me about trade,” said Parmelin in an interview with the Sonntagszeitung newspaper....

USD/CHF confronts near-term key resistances. The previous week’s low can lure short-term sellers. 50-day EMA, 38.2% Fibonacci retracement confluence add to the resistance. USD/CHF struggles to extend the latest recovery while trading around 0.9700 during Monday’s Asian session. 21-day EMA and 23.6% Fibonacci retracement of the pair’s declines from November 2019 to the current month low seem to restrict the immediate upside. In addition to 0.9711 immediate resistance...

The week ahead is arguably the most important here at the start of 2020. The Federal Reserve and the Bank of England meet. The US and the eurozone report initial estimates of Q4 19 GDP. The eurozone also reports its preliminary estimate of January CPI. China returns from the extended Lunar New Year celebration and reports its official PMI. Japan will report December retail sales and industrial production. These data points will provide insight into the state of the...