Tag Archives: Featured

A childhood pastime – playing the Maggi aviator board game. swissinfo.ch Switzerland is the home of many major multinational companies, many of which date back to the late 19th century, the high tide of colonialism. But is there a link between the rise of great Swiss corporate names and European colonial expansion? The issue turns out to be a complex one. I found a board game a few weeks ago in the apartment that belonged to my grandmother. I vaguely remembered it...

The dollar continues to soften as risk-off sentiment ebbs; the first presidential debate will take place tonight House Democrats have staked out their latest position at $2.2 trln; there is a fair amount of US data out today; Brazil has come under renewed pressure from fiscal concerns The pound continues to outperform as comments from the latest Brexit talks remain skewed to the positive side; latest eurozone CPI and retail sales readings have started coming out...

While the silver price was dropping recently, we published analyses here and here. At that time, we saw a basis that fell with price, but which recovered during “off” days. In short, there was not much of a decrease in abundance of the metal to the markets commensurate with the price drops. On Monday, the price went up from about $22.95 to about $23.70, a gain of 3.3%. Let’s look at the intraday price and basis action. There are several trends. The day begins with...

The economic data over the last month continued to improve but the breadth of improvement has narrowed. Additionally, while most of the economic data series are still improving, the rate of change, as Jeff pointed out recently, has slowed. I guess that isn’t that surprising as the initial phase of the recovery comes to an end. 2nd quarter was a giant downdraft and 3rd quarter saw an initial rapid climb out the giant hole dug by the shutdowns (an own goal of epic...

The employment recovery in the United States is as impressive as the collapse due to the lockdowns. In April I wrote a column stating that “The U.S. Labor Market Can Heal Quickly,” and the improvement has been positive. Very few would have expected the unemployment rate to be at 8.4 percent in August after soaring to almost 15 percent in the middle of the pandemic. This means that the unemployment rate is in August 2020 lower than what analysts projected for the end...

Swiss Franc The Euro has risen by 0.05% to 1.0787 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, September 29(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: A consolidative tone continues across the capital markets. Equities have lost their momentum. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index was mixed, while Europe’s Dow Jones Stoxx 600 is paring yesterday’s sharp 2.2% gain. US shares are little changed but mostly softer. Benchmark 10-year yields are...

28.09.2020 – The results of the national accounts published by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) have been revised upwards. New data series are available for the period 1995 to 2019. This revision was carried out in collaboration with the sector responsible for quarterly estimates at SECO, provides methodological improvements and takes into consideration new data. It was carried out in coordination with European countries and results in a gross domestic product...

© Abdul Sami Haqqani | Dreamstime.com Today, Switzerland’s Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) added 18 regions to its compulsory quarantine list. Anyone arriving in Switzerland from these place from 28 September 2020 will be required by law to quarantine for 10 days. From 14 September 2020, Switzerland shifted from a system of listing entire countries to one which lists whole countries and regions within them. New additions to the list from 28 September 2020...

Virus numbers are rising across Europe and the US; the dollar is softening as risk-off sentiment ebbs It is a fairly quiet day in the US; there is a glimmer of hope about a fiscal deal in the US; recent US data support the widely held view that more stimulus is needed The final week of Brexit negotiations is upon us in Brussels and the pendulum is swinging towards optimism; Turkish assets may be one of the biggest causalities of the conflict between Armenia and...

The complete confiscation of all private property is tantamount to the introduction of socialism. Therefore we do not have to deal with it in an analysis of the problems of interventionism. We are concerned here only with the partial confiscation of property. Such confiscation is today attempted primarily by taxation. The ideological motivations of such action are immaterial. The only question of interest to us is merely: What is sought by these measures and what is...