Tag Archives: Featured

While many national governments, such as the US and UK, regularly spend more than they collect, Switzerland managed a CHF 2.8 billion surplus in 2017. In addition, CHF 2 billion of withholding tax is expected, which would push the surplus up to CHF 4.8 billion. © Jean-michel Feinen | Dreamstime.com - Click to enlarge Most of the CHF 71 billion collected came from VAT (29%) and federal income tax (32%). Other big...

Ridiculous Minutia Jerome Powell, the new Chairman of the Federal Reserve, just completed his third week on the job.  He’s hardly had enough time to learn how to operate the office coffee maker, let alone the all-in-one printer.  He still doesn’t know what roach coach menu items induce a heinous gut bomb. Photo credit: A. Brandon / AP - Click to enlarge The perpetually slightly worried looking new Fed chairman...

Neuchâtel, 26 February 2018 (FSO) – In the 4th quarter 2017, total employment (number of jobs) rose by 0.8% in comparison with the same quarter a year earlier (+0.4% with previous quarter). In full-time equivalents, employment in the same period rose by 0.6%. The Swiss economy counted 9000 more vacancies than in the corresponding quarter of the previous year (+16.8%) and the employment outlook indicator is also...

Swiss Franc The Euro has risen by 0.14% to 1.1529 CHF. EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, February 26(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates The US dollar has begun the new week on heavy footing. It is being sold against virtually all the currencies, major and emerging market currencies. There is one exception, and although the local market is not open, the Mexican peso is...

A good year for Swiss hotels, 2017 is when the Bürgenstock Resort (pictured) opened above Lake Lucerne. (© KEYSTONE / EQ IMAGES / Melanie Duchene) - Click to enlarge After several difficult years, the Swiss hotel industry is recovering. There were 37.4 million overnight stays in 2017 – 5.2% more than in the previous year and nearly as many as the record years of 1990 and 2008. The increase came from locals...

Whipsawed Frank Roellinger has updated us with respect to the signals given by his Modified Ned Davis Method (MDM) in the course of the recent market correction. The MDM is a purely technical trading system designed for position-trading the Russell 2000 index, both long and short (for details and additional color see The Modified Davis Method and Reader Question on the Modified Ned Davis Method). The Nasdaq pillar…...

There are three distinct classes of drivers in the week ahead. The first is high frequency data. The most important of the economic reports include the preliminary estimate of the February inflation in the euro area, the US January income, and consumption data alongside the Fed’s preferred inflation measure, the core PCE deflator, and Japanese retail sales and industrial production figures. The second group of drivers...

Stock Markets EM FX ended Friday on a mixed note and capped off a soft week overall. Best performers last week were ZAR, CLP, and PHP while the worst were TRY, ARS, and IDR. Fed Chief Powell’s testimony to Congress will likely draw market attention back to Fed policy. Stock Markets Emerging Markets, February 21 Source: economist.com - Click to enlarge Singapore Singapore reports January IP and is expected to...

The Federal Council believes that the change would not increase the risk of crime. (Keystone) - Click to enlarge The deadline of 20 years to exchange recalled banknotes should be abolished, the Federal Council suggested on Wednesday. The current system, which was introduced in 1921, operates under the assumption that discontinued notes which are not returned to the bank within the exchange deadline have...

Switzerland’s transport authority (OFT) recently gave Domo Swiss Express SA, a Zurich-based bus company, a green light to run three routes across Switzerland. Domo bus_source_Facebook_Domo.Reisen - Click to enlarge The first will run from Zurich to Lugano, via Basel and Luzern, the second from St. Gallen to Geneva airport, via Zurich and Bienne, and the third from Chur to Sion, via Zurich and Bern. Services are...