Tag Archives: Featured

How about moving the power to create money from the apex of the pyramid down to its lowest level? Let’s spend a moment deconstructing the word “capitalism.” Note it contains the word Capital. So far so good. Obviously the key concept here is capital. So what is “capital”? It turns out there are multiple kinds of capital. The most familiar kinds are tangible: cash, orchards, factories, water rights, tools, and so on....

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. Major Findings • The UBS Swiss Real Estate Bubble Index stood in the...

© Syda Productions | Dreamstime.com - Click to enlarge A report published by the Swiss Federal Office of statistics, shows that only 4.3% of full-time1 workers earn less than CHF 3,000 per month2. The monthly figure is net of social security deductions, but includes one twelfth of the 13th bonus month typically paid in Switzerland. CHF 3,000 per month is CHF 36,000 a year, equivalent to US$ 36,250 or GBP 28,250,...

Swiss Franc EUR/CHF - Euro Swiss Franc, February 03(see more posts on EUR/CHF, ) - Click to enlarge FX Rates Ahead of the weekend, there are two series of economic reports. The first are Europe’s service PMI reports and the second is the US employment report.  Neither report is likely to alter views significantly, but the latter has greater potential to move the market. It is important too to recognize the...

(draft of monthly column for a Chinese paper) The cross-border movement of goods, services, and capital increased markedly for the thirty years up to the Great Financial Crisis.  Although the recovery has given way to a new economic expansion in the major economies, global trade and capital flows remain well below pre-crisis levels.  It had given rise to a sense globalization is ending. The election of Donald Trump as...

Gold hits 12-week high USD Gold price up 4.85% in last month Sabre-rattling from Trump administration set-to benefit gold Iran upset and Middle East tensions could drive oil and gold prices up. Financial Times foresees “not only currency wars but a fully fledged trade confrontation that could be disastrous for the world economy.” Royal Mint producing 50 % more gold bullion coins and bars compared to 2016 Utah moves to...

The Used Goods Question Retail sales in several countries like Germany, Japan and Switzerland continue to fall or they remain steady for years. In the United States they have strongly risen recently. We should remind readers, that used goods sold via Ebay or similar, are not contained in this statistics. Still they create economic value for the purchases. By mentality, Swiss, Germans or Japanese pay more attention so...

Swiss Franc EUR/CHF - Euro Swiss Franc, February 02(see more posts on EUR/CHF, ) - Click to enlarge GBP / CHF Sterling vs the Swiss Franc exchange rate remains tentative this morning with the release of the Brexit strategy due to come out later today. A white paper is going to be published later with MPs backing the European Bill by 498 vote against 114 last night. The bill will be debated further in parliament...

Summary: European premiums over Germany typically increase in a rising interest rate environment. France’s premium is at the most in two years. France is still set to turn back the challenge from Le Pen. The rise of interest rates in Europe have seen premiums over Germany increase.  This is not unusual.  Often the intra-European spreads are sensitive to the underlying direction of rates.  The premiums often...

Summary: Several regional Fed presidents want to begin talking about shrinking Fed’s balance sheet. Leadership does not appear to have great urgency, so don’t expect anything in this week’s statement. First step more hikes, then refrain from reinvesting payments and maturities, but slowly. The Federal Reserve meets this week, but there is, for all practical purposes, no chance that a rate hike is delivered....