© Jorisvo | Dreamstime.com After three years of uncertainty, Switzerland may just have solved its immigration dispute with the European Union. Lawmakers in Bern on Friday passed a bill designed to curb EU immigration by giving locals a head start on filling job vacancies. By supporting the measure — which sidesteps quotas — they aim to prevent a deeper dispute that could cost the country crucial trade deals. “In the...
Read More »Direct Investments in 2015
Swiss direct investment abroad Companies domiciled in Switzerland invested CHF 100 billion abroad, compared with disinvestment of CHF 1 billion the year before. Thus, Swiss direct investment abroad was significantly above the average for the past ten years. At CHF 54 billion, over half of the investment was made by finance and holding companies (2014: CHF 3 billion). Substantial fluctuations in direct investment by...
Read More »What Have the “Experts” Gotten Right? In the Real Economy, They’re 0 for 5
If the “experts” were assessed on results, they’d all be fired. The mainstream media continually hypes the authority of “experts,” i.e. people with a stack of credentials from top institutions. But does the mainstream media ever check on whether the “experts” got anything right? Let’s compare the “experts” (conventional PhD economists) diagnoses and fixes with the results of their policies. Let’s stick to the big...
Read More »Fed Rate Hike Causes Gold Price Drop
See the introduction and the video for the terms gold basis, co-basis, backwardation and contango. Rate Hike Heeded by Gold, Ignored by Stocks The price action was not what most of those in the gold community hoped for (or predicted). The price of gold dropped another $24 and that of silver nearly a whole dollar. The big news of course is that the Fed hiked rates another 25 basis points. So far, stock market...
Read More »FX Daily, December 19: EUR/CHF Dives under 1.07
Swiss Franc Once again a line in sand for the Swiss National Bank is broken. The EUR/CHF falls under 1.07. But trading algorithms are like this: When the EUR/USD is falling, then the EUR/CHF must follow. The SNB decided not to intervene any more at 1.07. Two potential reasons: We doubted that Swiss inflation might overtake European inflation in 2019 or 2020. Interventions at higher levels are risky, given that stock...
Read More »Toward A New World Order, part III
A new world order is coming of age and the transition is painful to accept for a Western middle class with a deep-seated sense of entitlement. We showed how the West feels threatened globally in Toward a New World Order and followed up explaining how this translate into domestic politics in Toward a New World Order Part II. We will now continue this series by showing how gross economic mismanagement have created the...
Read More »SRG verstösst erneut gegen das Online-Werbeverbot
Von Lucien Looser – Anfangs Jahr berichtete die Zürcherin, wie auf SRF.ch im Rectangle-Banner ein Audi A4 prangerte, Link hier. Obwohl sich unser Redakteur an das Bundesamt für Kommunikation (BAKOM) wandte, scheint die SRG uneinsichtig und versucht es nun auf einem anderen...
Read More »Weekly Speculative Positions: Short CHF Close to Records of 2015
Speculators appeared mostly interested in reducing exposure in the run-up to the US jobs data and the Italian referendum. They liquidated gross longs in the currency futures market and covered shorts. Of the eight currencies we track there were two exceptions, the Japanese yen and the Swiss franc. Swiss Franc Speculators were net short CHF in January 2015, shortly before the end of the peg, with 26.4K...
Read More »FX Weekly Preview: Twas the Week Before Christmas, Amidst Powerful Trends
Summary: The Nikkei, the dollar-yen and 10 yr US yield have risen nine of the past 11 weeks. The Dollar Index and 2 yr US yields have risen while gold has sold off in eight of past 11 weeks. Issue in next two weeks, profit-taking or trend extension? Spoiler alert: I expect some profit-taking. The capital markets have been buffeted by political developments and central bank policies. The direct influence of high...
Read More »Are You a Deplorable? Take This Quiz to Find Out
Regardless of your ethnicity, class or religion, if you perceive the institutions that govern American life as corrupted, riddled with favoritism and spin or as broken, you’re a Deplorable. Are you a Deplorable? The answer might surprise you. Take this short quiz to find out. 1. If you agree with this characterization of American Elites: “The self-satisfied cosmopolitan culture that sprang up among the affluent 20% or...
Read More »