Tag Archives: Featured

Across the ten years to 2008, Switzerland lost an average of 3 working days per 1,000 workers to strikes a year. This compares to 32 days in Austria, 33 days in France, and 55 days in Italy. Germany was close behind Switzerland with 4 days. The combined average for Switzerland’s neighbours: Austria, Germany, France and Italy, was 26 days. Switzerland’s 3 day average was one ninth or 11% of this. © Ifeelstock |...

The Swiss consumption indicator by UBS shows improvements. The indicator is still distant from the highs in 2012. At the time stronger growth in Emerging Markets and the weaker franc helped the Swiss economy. The UBS consumption indicator rose from 1.45 to 1.50 points in December. The positive trend of last fall continued and signalizes solid growth prospects for private consumption this year. New car registrations...

Swiss Franc EUR/CHF - Euro Swiss Franc, January 25(see more posts on EUR/CHF, ) Source: Investing.com - Click to enlarge GBP/CHF The pound is higher against the Swiss Franc as we finally get some clarity over just what Brexit means. The pound was initially expected to fall but contrary to popular expectation it found favour as Theresa May finally delivered some clarity over just what Brexit means. Most...

Donald Trump sagt den alten Eliten den Kampf an. Europas Bürokraten müssen sich warm anziehen. Kürzlich stellte der Hedgefonds-Mogul Ray Dalio eine Analyse des Führungsteams von Donald Trump ins Netz („Reflections on the Trump Presidency, One Month after the Election“). Darin fasste er die Erfahrung zusammen, die die Spitzenleute der Regierungen seit Kennedy in leitenden Positionen in den Bereichen Regierung und Militär...

Investors appreciate that a strong dollar can impact US growth through the net export component of GDP. The dollar’s appreciation can push up the price of exports and lower the cost of imports. The St. Louis Fed took a look at how the strong dollar from 2014 to the beginning of 2016 impacted the net export function of GDP. It is clear that a strong dollar in this period was associated with a drag on growth from net...

Submitted by Chris Hamilton via Econimica blog, The Maginot Line formed France’s main line of defense on its German facing border from Belgium in the North to Switzerland in the South.  It was constructed during the 1930s, with the trench-based warfare of World War One still firmly in the minds of the French generals.  The Maginot Line was an absolute success…as the Germans never seriously attempted to attack it’s...

Regular readers remember how, when we first reported around the time of our launch eight years ago that central banks buy stocks, intervene and prop up markets, and generally manipulate equities in order to maintain confidence in a collapsing system, and avoid a liquidation panic and bank runs, it was branded “fake news” by the established financial “kommentariat.” What a difference eight years makes, because today none...

See the introduction and the video for the terms gold basis, co-basis, backwardation and contango. Currency Debasement Doesn’t Make Anyone Richer The action favored bettors this holiday-shortened week (Monday was Martin Luther King day in the US), with the price of gold up 13 bucks and silver up 26 cents. We noticed a worrisome remark by newly inaugurated President Trump. The strong dollar of the past 20 years, he...

In September 1986, The Economist weekly newspaper published its first-ever “Big Mac Index”. It was a light-hearted way for the paper to gauge whether foreign currencies are over- or under-valued by comparing the prices of Big Macs around the world. In theory, the price of a Big Mac in Rio de Janeiro should be the same as a Big Mac in Cairo or Toronto. After all, no matter where in the world you buy one, a Big Mac...

Summary: Sterling retreats on court ruling but key supports hold and it recoups initial loss. The US dollar is recovering with the help of firming US yields. Investors are still anxious for details of new US government’s tax, deregulation, and infrastructure investment plans. The UK Supreme Court will hand down its ruling tomorrow on the government’s appeal of a High Court decision that recognized the right of...