Tag Archives: Featured

Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by 0.11% to 1.1937 CHF. EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, May 11(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates The US dollar pulled back following yesterday’s slightly softer than expected CPI report and this likely marks the beginning of a new phase, with the dollar moving lower. Investors have learned over the past two weeks that neither wages nor...

The US trade deficit, a sensitive political topic these days, declined sharply in March. It had expanded significantly (more deficit) in January and February, reaching nearly -$76 billion (seasonally adjusted) in the latter month, before posting -$68 billion in the latest figures. Exports rose while imports fell in March, making for the largest single month change in the trade condition in many years. That may mean...

Iran’s gold demand will probably be “strong” for the next few months and then gradually decline as U.S. sanctions start to take effect, according to the researcher who covers the country for Metals Focus Ltd. After a previous set of sanctions was imposed on Iran in 2012, it took two years for the country’s gold demand to start falling, according to data from the World Gold Council. It sank to only 45.1 tons by 2016, the...

Switzerland: A Test Bed for Radical Ideas The ‘Sovereign money’ initiative, to be voted on in June, aims at a fundamental reform of the Swiss monetary system. In a nutshell, the initiative asks that the creation of money and the granting of loans be separated by barring commercial banks from creating deposits through lending. According to the initiative’s promoters the “Swiss National Bank (SNB) should be the sole...

On Wednesday, some 40 trade union members from as far as Australia and Africa protested the Swiss-based commodities giant’s treatment of workers. The demonstration took place on the occasion of Glencore’s annual general assembly in Zug, and included protestors from Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Canada, Australia, as well as other countries, according to a statementexternal link (in French) by Swiss...

Swiss Franc The Euro has risen by 0.18% to 1.1931 CHF. EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, May 10(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates The US dollar is consolidating in narrow trading against most of the major currencies as participants digest several developments ahead of what was expected to be the highlight today, the BOE meeting and US April CPI. The greenback’s...

The primary example of globally synchronized growth has been Europe. Nowhere has more hope been attached to shifting fortunes. The Continent, buoyed by the persistence of central bankers like Mario Draghi, has not just accelerated it is actually booming. Or so they say. Last September, politicians were lining up to confidently declare as much, often deploying that specific word. When Jean-Claude Juncker gave his annual...

The recent strength of the US dollar coupled with the rise of the US 10-year Treasury yield has weighed on the price of gold and silver. Since 19 April, gold has lost roughly 2.3%, while silver lost almost 4.5% in USD terms. At the start of the year, these two drivers were sending conflicting signals: higher US real rates were weighing on non-yielding gold, but the decline in the greenback was acting as a tailwind for...

- Click to enlarge «Monnaie pleine», la révolution bancaire L’initiative «Monnaie pleine», qui sera soumise au peuple le 10 juin prochain, entend radicalement transformer le système bancaire suisse. Si elle est acceptée, la BNS obtiendrait les pleins pouvoirs. Décryptage des risques et des enjeux L’initiative «Monnaie pleine», sur laquelle le peuple sera appelé à se prononcer le 10 juin prochain, demande que...

Halifax index shows property values plunged 3.1% in April Less volatile three-month measure also shows a decline U.K. home prices plunged the most in almost eight years in April, adding to signs of weakness in Britain’s property market. Values dropped 3.1 percent from March to an average 220,962 pounds ($299,140), mortgage lender Halifax said in a report Tuesday. That’s the biggest drop since September 2010. While that...