But, but, but… growth, and inflation, and supply cuts, and growth again… Well that de-escalated quickly… As Libya restarts exports and The Fed sends the dollar soaring so WTI crude prices just broke back to a $49 handle for the first time since Dec 8th. WTI CrudeWTI Crude - Click to enlarge “The OPEC cuts are going to prevent some of the mega-glut,” said Olivier Jakob, managing director at Petromatrix GmbH in Zug,...
Read More »The Seasonal Trends of Precious Metals
Long Term Seasonal Price Trends Prices in financial and commodity markets are exhibiting seasonal trends. This applies to the precious metals gold, silver, platinum and palladium as well. Platinum Crystal, image via shapeways.com - Click to enlarge The chart below depicts the seasonal trends of the gold price over a time period of 45 years. Gold prices typically experience a seasonal rally in the second half of the...
Read More »FX Daily, December 14: Markets Quietly Edge into FOMC Meeting
Swiss Franc EUR/CHF - Euro Swiss Franc, December 14(see more posts on EUR/CHF, ) - Click to enlarge The Pound is entering mid-December in the same fashion it begun the month after having a very strong November as well. After being buoyed by Donald Trump’s victory and the High Courts ruling that parliamentary approval is needed before invoking Article 50, the Pound has been boosted further after economic data...
Read More »Friction and Gravity
See the introduction and the video for the terms gold basis, co-basis, backwardation and contango. A Lawsuit Makes Waves The price action was mixed last week. Those hoping for dollar declines in gold terms were disappointed. However, silver gave them a sop as the price of the buck declined by one one-hundredth of a gram of silver. In Monetarist terms, gold went down $18 and silver up 11 cents. Monetarism, in its...
Read More »Friction and Gravity
See the introduction and the video for the terms gold basis, co-basis, backwardation and contango. A Lawsuit Makes Waves The price action was mixed last week. Those hoping for dollar declines in gold terms were disappointed. However, silver gave them a sop as the price of the buck declined by one one-hundredth of a gram of silver. In Monetarist terms, gold went down $18 and silver up 11 cents. Monetarism, in its...
Read More »Swiss banks probed at home over Brazil’s ‘Carwash’ bribe scandal
© Kevkhiev Yury | Dreamstime.com - Click to enlarge The Switzerland attorney general’s office is shifting its focus to banks operating in the country as it continues to investigate Brazil’s bribery scandal, after plea deals with individual executives provided fresh insights into how the illicit funds flowed through the financial system. Attorney General Michael Lauber said in an interview that he’s reviewing how Swiss...
Read More »Swiss banks probed at home over Brazil’s ‘Carwash’ bribe scandal
© Kevkhiev Yury | Dreamstime.com - Click to enlarge The Switzerland attorney general’s office is shifting its focus to banks operating in the country as it continues to investigate Brazil’s bribery scandal, after plea deals with individual executives provided fresh insights into how the illicit funds flowed through the financial system. Attorney General Michael Lauber said in an interview that he’s reviewing how Swiss...
Read More »Swiss Producer and Import Price Index, November 2016: +0.1 percent MoM, -0.6 percent YoY
The Producer Price Index (PPI) or officially named "Producer and Import Price Index" describes the changes in prices for producers and importers. For us it is interesting because it is used in the formula for the Real Effective Exchange Rate. When producers and importers profit on lower price changes when compared to other countries, then the Swiss Franc reduces its overvaluation. The Swiss PPI values of -6% in 2015...
Read More »Swiss Producer and Import Price Index, November 2016: +0.1 percent MoM, -0.6 percent YoY
The Producer Price Index (PPI) or officially named "Producer and Import Price Index" describes the changes in prices for producers and importers. For us it is interesting because it is used in the formula for the Real Effective Exchange Rate. When producers and importers profit on lower price changes when compared to other countries, then the Swiss Franc reduces its overvaluation. The Swiss PPI values of -6% in 2015...
Read More »“Fake News”, Censorship, Darwin and Democracy
Censorship is not helpful to democracy–rather, it is the death of democracy. The mainstream media is awash with hyper-active headlines about “fake news.” How can we make sense of this sudden obsession? Perhaps we can start by separating “news” from “analysis” from “commentary.” “News” is “he said this, she did that, this happened.” Analysis tries to make sense of trends that are apparent in the news longer-term–for...
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