Tag Archives: Featured

US futures are set for a sharply lower open (at least in recent market terms) following a steep decline in European stocks and a selloff in Asian shares, following yesterday’s sharp escalation in the war of words between the U.S. and North Korea. In a broad risk-off move U.S. Treasuries rose, the VIX surged above 12 overnight, while German bund futures climbed to the highest level in six weeks. The Swiss franc gained...

Asian tourists helped offset a stagnant European demand (Keystone) The number of overnight stays in Swiss hotels rose by 4.4% in the first half of 2017 compared to the same period the year before. Tourists from India and China were largely responsible for the increase in demand. According to figures released by Federal Statistical Office on Monday, tourists – both domestic and international – spent a total of 17.6...

Addax Petroleum in Geneva will shed more than 170 jobs as a result of the closure of its offices by the end of the year (Keystone) Chinese-owned oil and gas extractor firm Addax Petroleum is shutting its offices in the Swiss city of Geneva as well as in Aberdeen, Scotland and Houston in the United States. The company on Monday confirmed a report by the Tribune de Genève newspaper, saying its parent firm Sinopec...

The mainstream media is about to be presented with another (small) gift. In its quest to discredit populism, the condition of inflation has become paramount for largely the right reasons (accidents do happen). In the context of the macro economy of 2017, inflation isn’t really about consumer prices except as a broad gauge of hidden monetary conditions. Therefore, if inflation behaves as it is supposed to after so many...

Switzerland’s transport safety authority reports an increase in serious violations of air safety regulations that could have potentially led to collisions. Small planes with incompatible warning systems were one of the reasons behind the increase in incidents (Keystone) According the 2016 annual report of the Swiss Transportation Safety Investigation Board released end of July, the number of aviation incidents...

Around 180 poultry companies in the Netherlands have been temporarily closed, and some firms have culled their flock, after traces of insecticide fipronil were found in eggs in Belgium and the Netherlands last month (Keystone) The discount supermarket chain Aldi Switzerland is withdrawing all imported eggs from sale at its 190 stores as a precaution, it said on Friday, as a scare over possible insecticide contamination...

Silver Mining Production Plummets 27% At Top Four Silver Miners by SRSRocco Report In an interesting change of events, production at four of the top primary silver miners plummeted during the second quarter of 2017. This goes well beyond normal fluctuations in mining companies production figures during different quarterly reporting periods. The company with the least percentage decline in silver production still...

China’s export growth disappointed in July, only we don’t really know by how much. According to that country’s Customs Bureau, exports last month were 7.2% above (in US$ terms) exports in July 2016. That’s down from 11.3% growth in June, which as usual had been taken in the mainstream as evidence of “strong” or “robust” global demand. According to China’s National Bureau of Statistics, however, exports in June rose by...

Switzerland’s transport safety authority reports an increase in serious violations of air safety regulations that could have potentially led to collisions. Small planes with incompatible warning systems were one of the reasons behind the increase in incidents (Keystone) According the 2016 annual report of the Swiss Transportation Safety Investigation Board released end of July, the number of aviation incidents...

The dramatic declines in the costs of oil production will be boosting supply at the very moment that demand is falling. Over the past decade I’ve addressed what I call Head-Fakes in the cost of oil/fossil fuel: even though we know the cost of extracting and processing oil will rise over time as the easy-to-get oil is depleted, oil occasionally plummets to such low prices that we’re fooled into thinking it will remain...