Tag Archives: Featured

After consultation with the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), the Swiss National Bank has submitted a proposal to the Federal Council requesting that the sectoral countercyclical capital buffer (CCyB) be reactivated. The buffer is to be set at 2.5% of risk-weighted exposures secured by residential property in Switzerland (cf. appendix). The SNB’s proposal envisages a deadline for compliance with the increased CCyB requirements of 30 September...

Die Vereinigten Staaten weisen sinkende Ölreserven auf. Dies führt zu einem Druck auf die Preise. Trotz eines Anstiegs der Rohölvorräte im jüngsten EIA-Bericht sind die kommerziellen Erdölvorräte in den USA in den meisten Wochen der letzten anderthalb Jahre zurückgegangen und liegen unter dem saisonalen Durchschnitt der letzten fünf Jahre und sogar unter dem Fünfjahresdurchschnitt vor der Pandemie. Der kontinuierliche Rückgang der US-amerikanischen Erdölvorräte im...

We do not like Purchasing Power or Real Effective Exchange Rate (REER) as measurement for currencies. For us, the trade balance decides if a currency is overvalued. Only the trade balance can express productivity gains, while the REER assumes constant productivity in comparison to trade partners. Who has read Michael Pettis, knows that a rising trade surplus may also be caused by a higher savings rate while the trade partners decided to spend more. This is partially...

The clear winners in inflation are those who require little from global supply chains, the frugal, and those who own their own labor, skills and enterprises. As the case for systemic inflation builds, the question arises: who wins and who loses in an up-cycle of inflation? The general view is that inflation is bad for almost everyone, but this ignores the big winners in an inflationary cycle. As I’ve explained here and in my new book Global Crisis, National Renewal,...

© Sudok1 | Dreamstime.com On 25 January 2022, a study published by Zurich University Hospital found that 97% of Covid-19 ICU patients since the start of Switzerland’s Covid-19 vaccination campaign were unvaccinated. The study evaluated hospital data from 964 Covid-19 patients who were treated in intensive care units in Swiss hospitals in the nine months since the start of Switzerland’s vaccination campaign. Of these only 33 (3%) were vaccinated with one of the two...

The Fed’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) released a new statement today purporting to outline the FOMC’s plans for the next several months. According to the committee’s press release: With inflation well above 2 percent and a strong labor market, the Committee expects it will soon be appropriate to raise the target range for the federal funds rate. The Committee decided to continue to reduce the monthly pace of its net asset purchases, bringing them to an end...

Swiss Franc The Euro has risen by 0.04% to 1.0378 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, January 26(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: After a slow and mixed start in Asia, where Australia and India are on holiday, equity markets have turned higher. Europe’s Stoxx 600 is up around 1.9% near midday in Europe, which if sustained would be the biggest gain of the year. US futures are snapping backing too, with the...

© Zsv3207 | Dreamstime.com This week, Switzerland’s government set a date for the introduction of more generous tax deductions for childcare. From 1 January 2023, parents will be able to deduct up to CHF 25,000 per child in childcare costs from their annual taxable income, reported RTS. Currently, the maximum is CHF 10,100 per child. The change is the result of a new law that was created in autumn last year. Only external expenses incurred for the care of children...

Weltweit versuchen Staaten den Cryptomarkt in den Griff zu bekommen. Die dezentralen Cryptocoins sorgen vor allem in kleinen Ländern für eine Kapitalflucht, welche die ohnehin wacklige Stabilität zahlreicher nationaler Währungen bedroht. Pakistan versucht es nun mit einem kompletten Verbot des Marktes. Crypto News: Pakistan will Cryptomarkt komplett aussperren Die Strategie Pakistans ist es, den Markt einfach auszusperren und so für eine komplette Verbannung zu...

We’ve been here before, near exactly here. On this side of the Pacific Ocean, in the US particularly the situation was said to be just grand. The economy was responding nicely to QE’s 3 and 4 (yes, there were four of them by that point), Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke had said in the middle of 2013 it was becoming more than enough, creating for him and the FOMC coveted breathing space so as to begin tapering both of those ongoing programs.A full and complete...