Tag Archives: Editor’s Choice

Investec Switzerland. In the last week of the year, the Swiss Market Index deepened its loss for the year as banks continued lower on low trading volumes. The SMI is set to end 2016 with an annual loss of 6.8% as banking and pharmaceutical giants pulled the index down in a year of turbulent trading. © Aprescindere | Dreamstime.com A volatile 2016 started with a brutal equity sell off as investors dumped global stocks on fears of an accelerating economic slowdown in China...

Investec Switzerland. Miners had been digging in one of Australia’s oldest collieries for almost a century until operations wound down a year ago, the victim of plunging global commodity prices. Now owner Glencore Plc is resuming output at the Queensland site, the latest sign of a profit bonanza bringing the world’s top metals and energy producers back from the brink. © Carol Buchanan | Dreamstime.com Everything from coal to iron ore to zinc soared in 2016, rebounding from...

Investec Switzerland. Ahead of the Christmas break, trading volumes were thin this week amid a lack of new market catalysts. Swiss and European equities were generally unchanged through the week, tracking global stock markets. Overall, sentiment appears to be positive as investors close their books for the year. © Gary718 | Dreamstime.com The European banking sector was this week’s main story with Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse and the world’s oldest lender, Banca Monte dei...

Investec Switzerland. Switzerland handed out about $100 million in antitrust fines against seven U.S. and European banks for participating in cartels to manipulate widely used financial benchmarks. © Ron Sumners | Dreamstime.com JPMorgan Chase & Co. was fined 33.9 million francs ($33 million) for operating a cartel with Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc for more than a year, with the aim of influencing the Swiss franc Libor benchmark, which is tied to the London interbank...

If you haven’t had a chance to go Christmas shopping don’t despair, gifts destroy value. For example, someone on a diet is unlikely to place much value on a box of chocolates. The difference between what was paid for the chocolates and what the recipient would have paid represents destroyed value. They could have been left on the shelf for someone who would have fully valued them. Economists call this deadweight loss. © Kati1313 | Dreamstime.com In a book entitled Scroogenomics, Joel...

Investec Switzerland. The number of watches Switzerland exports is on track to reach the lowest level since 1984, when digital timepieces were in vogue and Swatch Group AG had just been formed in reaction to low-cost competition. Three decades later, difficult times are back: 11-month data is due Tuesday after the value of Switzerland’s watch exports dropped 11 percent in the first 10 months of the year. Source: Bloomberg While brands like Vacheron Constantin, Cartier and...

Investec Switzerland. After three years of uncertainty, Switzerland may just have solved its immigration dispute with the European Union. © Jorisvo | Dreamstime.com Lawmakers in Bern on Friday passed a bill designed to curb EU immigration by giving locals a head start on filling job vacancies. By supporting the measure — which sidesteps quotas — they aim to prevent a deeper dispute that could cost the country crucial trade deals. “In the short term, it means that the danger...

Investec Switzerland. 2016’s December rally continued this week as Swiss and European equities outperformed global stocks. The US dollar continued to surge after the Federal Reserve increased interest rates for only the second time in a decade on Wednesday. © Elena Yakusheva | Dreamstime.com Fed Head Janet Yellen told reporters that inflation expectations have risen ‘considerably’ on the back of Donald Trump’s election win in November but added that the economic outlook...

According to UN trade statistics, the small Alpine nation exported US$ 2.4 billion1 of coffee in 2013. This figure is far higher than its cheese (US$ 615 million2) or chocolate (US$ 822 million3) exports, two far more famous Swiss exports. © Hpphoto | Dreamstime.com In 2013, Swiss coffee exports ranked 4th behind Brazil ($5.3b), Germany ($3.4b) and Vietnam ($2.9b). Ethiopia, where the coffee plant originated, trailed back in 13th place with $771 million of exports. And Italy, the European...

Investec Switzerland. The Switzerland attorney general’s office is shifting its focus to banks operating in the country as it continues to investigate Brazil’s bribery scandal, after plea deals with individual executives provided fresh insights into how the illicit funds flowed through the financial system. © Kevkhiev Yury | Dreamstime.com Attorney General Michael Lauber said in an interview that he’s reviewing how Swiss banks were used to funnel bribes to officials at the...