Investec Switzerland. While the bearish sentiment that engulfed European equities in recent weeks is being vindicated, health-care stocks are easing the pain. The region’s largest industry group headed for its biggest jump in more than 14 months, tempering losses for equity benchmarks after Donald Trump won the race to govern the region’s biggest export market. Novo Nordisk A/S and Shire Plc rose more than 5 percent, after investors punished the shares in recent weeks amid...
Read More »TAG Heuer invades Apple’s turf with Silicon Valley office
Investec Switzerland. TAG Heuer is opening an office in Silicon Valley, marking the first time a big Swiss watchmaker has expanded into the cradle of the U.S. technology sector and cementing its smartwatch alliance with Google and Intel Corp. © Tomnex | Dreamstime.com The office, which opened Nov. 1 and is located on Intel’s campus in Santa Clara, California, will house about a dozen research and development employees, according to Chief Executive Officer Jean-Claude Biver....
Read More »TAG Heuer invades Apple’s turf with Silicon Valley office
Investec Switzerland. TAG Heuer is opening an office in Silicon Valley, marking the first time a big Swiss watchmaker has expanded into the cradle of the U.S. technology sector and cementing its smartwatch alliance with Google and Intel Corp. © Tomnex | Dreamstime.com The office, which opened Nov. 1 and is located on Intel’s campus in Santa Clara, California, will house about a dozen research and development employees, according to Chief Executive Officer Jean-Claude Biver....
Read More »Swiss franc rises to strongest level since June
Investec Switzerland. The Swiss franc climbed on Wednesday as global stocks fell and demand for haven assets increased on growing concerns that the U.S. presidential race had tightened. © Valeriya Potapova | Dreamstime.com The franc reached its strongest level versus the euro since June and advanced against the dollar. Demand for havens is being stoked after an ABC poll showing Republican candidate Donald Trump narrowly ahead in the U.S. presidential race a week before the...
Read More »UBS says Swiss property market remains at risk of bubble: chart
Investec Switzerland. Risks to the Swiss property market remained elevated in the three months through September, according to UBS Group AG’s quarterly index. “While the buy-to-rent price ratio reached an all-time high, moderate mortgage growth and the slightly-improved economy prevented imbalances in the owner-occupied housing market from widening,” it said in a report. By Catherine Bosley (Bloomberg) Exposed regions include: Lake Geneva, Basel, Zurich, Zug, Luzern and...
Read More »Swiss fact: Velcro, popularised by NASA, was invented in Switzerland
In 1941, George de Mestral, while hunting in the Jura, with his son and dogs, noticed how the plant burdock stuck with microscopic hooks to his trousers and to the ears of one of his dogs. Fifteen years later the strong-willed Vaud handy man had turned his observation into something: Velcro ®. Wild burdock_© Olga Budonna | Dreamstime.com He carried his hunting trip observation around in his head for ten years before realizing it could be used as an alternative to a zip, an earlier american...
Read More »UBS reports drop in wealth profit as Ermotti lowers costs
Investec Switzerland. UBS Group AG Chief Executive Officer Sergio Ermotti pledged to continue cost cuts after profit at the wealth-management business fell and the securities unit was hurt by a slump in equities trading. Pretax profit rose 11 percent to 877 million Swiss francs ($883 million) from 788 million francs a year earlier on lower expenses, the Zurich-based bank said in a statement Friday. That compares with the 862 million-franc average of six analyst estimates...
Read More »Migros experiments with personalised discounts
Tribune de Genève. According to the NZZ am Sonntag, in September, Swiss supermarket Migros launched a new system which offers personalised discounts. The discount experiment will run for a year in stores in Geneva, Nyon, Bern and Zurich. © Hai Huy Ton That | Dreamstime.com What is it exactly? Those with Cumulus loyalty cards will receive special offers via an app on their phones or personalised discount coupons at check out. Algorithms crunch purchase history data associated with a customer’s...
Read More »Brexit brings specter of common EU tax plan, and bodes poorly for Switzerland’s immigration negotiation
Investec Switzerland. Ireland is facing another tax battle with the European Union and this time it will have to fight its own corner. © Dreamshot | Dreamstime.com Less than two months after the European Union ordered Ireland to claw back a record 13 billion euros ($14.2 billion) from Apple Inc., saying the nation illegally allowed the iPhone maker to reduce its tax rate, the European Commission will propose legislation for a Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base on...
Read More »Syngenta slumps on concern of protracted ChemChina EU review
Investec Switzerland. Syngenta AG shares tumbled on concern that China National Chemical Corp.’s $43 billion takeover of the Swiss herbicide and pesticide maker risks regulatory delays in the European Union. © Perolsson | Dreamstime.com ChemChina didn’t submit so-called remedies in the EU’s early-stage review of the deal by the Oct. 21 deadline, the European Commission’s press office said by phone on Monday. Companies often decide to put off making commitments — such as...
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