Tag Archives: Featured

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index rose to 0.27 in July with all four categories of indicators rising. The 3 month average was unchanged at -0.09. That indicates growth is slightly below trend and is far from the recession threshold of -0.7. The index had been down for two consecutive months and both May and June were revised slightly lower. The data in August so far has been positive as well, particularly the production data with IP last week surprising to...

Overview: The euro traded below parity for the second time this year and sterling extended last week’s 2.5% slide. While the dollar is higher against nearly all the emerging market currencies, it is more mixed against the majors. The European currencies have suffered the most, except the Norwegian krone. The dollar-bloc and yen are also slightly firmer. The week has begun off with a risk-off bias. Nearly all the large Asia Pacific equity markets were sold. Chinese...

History never repeats itself. Man always does. Voltaire Mark Twain is credited with a similar saying, that history doesn’t repeat but it rhymes. Of course, there is scant evidence that Clemens said anything of the sort just as Voltaire may or may not have penned the quote above. But both men were much wittier than I – than most – so I’ll take them both as being representative if not genuine. I have been a professional investor for now over 30 years and I have seen...

Electricity pylons and power supply lines in central Switzerland (archive picture) Keystone / Alessandro Della Bella The Swiss government and cantons are aiming to be prepared for “extreme scenarios” in the face of possible energy shortages this winter, a top cantonal security official says. For example, a power grid shutdown or blackout would have far-reaching consequences, Fredy Fässler, the president of the Conference of Cantonal Justice and Police Directors, said...

The misconception that money and natural resources are wealth is rampant among intellectuals and other educated individuals, and even economists. Prevailing monetary and economic policy choices reflect this entrenched misconception. Consider the fact that since the 2008 Great Recession, leading central banks have injected trillions of dollars, euros, yens, etc., into economies and have monetized record-setting levels of government debt under the assumption that more...

History: Regulation of Communications A hundred years of the public interest standard has been applied to radio and television, with the explicit goal of protecting free speech. The very opposite was the case, as John Samples and Paul Matzko have clearly shown. A 1920–30s radio host, Bob Shuler, had exposed the Julian Petroleum Corporation’s defrauding of investors, and subsequently accused the district attorney and city prosecutor of negligence. Shuler also exposed...

After a record year 2021, the venture capital (VC) market for blockchain investment is slowing down significantly in 2022 amid uncertain macroeconomic conditions and financial markets turmoil. In Q2 2022, VC investors scaled back cryptocurrency investments due to macroeconomic pressures, concerns about valuations and market volatility. Global funding fell and the number of mega-rounds of US$100 million and up shrank, putting pressure on startup valuations and slowing...

Bisher gab es nur positive Signale im August zu vermelden. Doch innerhalb der letzten zwei Tage verlor der BTC mehr als 13 Prozent seines Wertes. Der gesamte Markt brach in ähnlichen Dimensionen ein, wodurch die positive Entwicklung der letzten Wochen fast vollständig aufgezehrt wurde. Bitcoin News: Bitcoin-Preis stürzt abIn der Nacht zum Freitag startete ein großer Sell-Off den Kursabsturz. Die Cryptobörsen sahen zuletzt einen deutlichen Inflow an Kapital, so dass...

For many, this will be the last week of the summer. However, in an unusual twist of the calendar, the US August employment report will be released on September 2, the end of the following week, rather than after the US Labor Day holiday (September 5).  The main economic report of the week ahead will be the preliminary estimate of the August PMI. The policy implications are not as obvious as they may seem. For example, in July, the eurozone composite PMI slipped...

Overview:  The dollar is on fire. It is rising against all the major currencies and cutting through key technical levels like a hot knife in butter. The Canadian dollar is the strongest of the majors this week, which often outperforms on the crosses in a strong US dollar environment. It is off 1.5% this week. The New Zealand dollar, where the RBNZ hiked rates this week by 50 bp, is off the most with a 3.5% drop. Emerging market currencies are mostly lower on the...