SNB & CHF

A miner in the Lutugina coal mine near the city of Torez in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, August 2019 Pro-Russian separatists are financing their war in Ukraine with coal deliveries to the West. Now the role of Swiss companies in Zug and Geneva is being investigated, according to a reportexternal link in the SonntagsZeitung. Fontus AGexternal link describes itself on its website as a “reliable and responsible supplier of high-grade solid fuels”, selling “coal of...

USD/CHF focuses more on China’s official PMI-led optimism that the US-China tussle. A few second-tier Swiss data can offer intermediate moves ahead of the US statistics. Trade/political news will continue driving the markets in the case of strong headlines. Technical Analysis October month high near 1.0030 can become immediate resistance ahead of May-end tops surrounding 1.0100. Alternatively, sellers will look for entry below November 08 high near 0.9980....

◆ Prudent leaders in Eastern European countries are repatriating their national gold reserves and diversifying into gold due to geopolitical risks and monetary risks posed to the dollar, euro and pound ◆ Slovakia has joined China, Russia and a host of countries buying gold or seeking to repatriate their gold from the Bank of England and the New York Federal Reserve ◆ “Brexit and the risk of a global economic crisis put Slovak gold stored in Britain in a dangerous...

© Aris Suwanmalee | Dreamstime.com Around one hospital in ten in Switzerland could end up in financial difficultly, according to a report by PWC. In addition, 37 of the 44 hospitals surveyed will not be profitable enough to remain competitive over the next five to ten years, predict the authors of the report. The shift towards more outpatient care instead of more expensive hospitalisation is still a work in progress. Substantial disincentives to make the shift have...

An aircraft from Swiss International Air Lines at Zurich Airport in summer 2019 (© Keystone / Gaetan Bally) Flughafen Zürich AG, the operator of Zurich airport, has been selected to design, develop and operate a new airport near the Indian capital after outbidding local companies. The companyexternal link said in a statement on Fridayexternal link it would develop and operate the new Noida International Airport at Jewar in Uttar Pradesh state under a 40-year...

Each party will continue to extract whatever benefits they can from the other, but the leaving is already well underway. Beneath the euphoric hoopla of a trade deal with China is the cold reality that the divorce has already happened and any trade deal just signs the decree. The divorce of China and the U.S. was mutual; each had used up whatever benefits the tense marriage had offered, and each is looking forward to no longer being dependent on the other. Any trade...

Often, government-created holidays begin with a good premise — i.e., Independence Day, Armistice Day — and get worse from there. On Independence Day, instead of celebrating armed rebellion and secession, we now sing the praises of the government. Similarly, Armistice Day — a day designed to commemorate the end of a war — became Veterans Day, a day designed to honor government employees. Thanksgiving Day, on the other hand, appears to have moved in the opposite...

Capital losses and transactions influence household financial wealth The financial assets of households were influenced by two factors in 2018: First, falling share prices led to high capital losses and, second, households grew their financial wealth through transactions. They increased their insurance and pension scheme entitlements, expanded their bank deposits and invested in securities. Overall, household financial assets fell slightly by CHF 14 billion to CHF...

The shortage of skilled workers on the Swiss job market has become even more acute this year, according to a survey. Finding suitable engineers, technical workers and fiduciaries is particularly difficult. The skilled worker shortage index(PDF), compiled annually by Adecco Switzerland in collaboration with the University of Zurich, measures the occupations in which the number of vacancies is particularly large compared with the number of job-seekers. There is an...

© Joerg Stoeber | Dreamstime.com Unemployment rose in the third quarter of 2019, however, there have never been more jobs in Switzerland. The total number of jobs in Switzerland rose to 5.137 million at 30 September 2019, a level never seen before. The figure was 1.3% higher than at 30 September 2018 and 0.3% higher than 30 June 2019. And the rise wasn’t due to shift towards part time jobs. On a full time equivalent basis (FTE) there were 1.1% more jobs at 30...