Tag Archives: Featured

A hotel in Zurich: there are a lot less jobs going in this sector right now. Keystone / Gaetan Bally New job offers have dropped by over a quarter in Switzerland due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with hotel, restaurant, and personal services sectors worst hit. Between April and June, job postings went down by 27%, the human resources firm Adecco Switzerland reported on Tuesday. Anna von Ow, a University of Zurich researcher who worked on the report, said the collapse in...

Higher infection numbers in the US and other countries continue to fuel risk aversion across global markets; the IMF released more pessimistic global growth forecasts yesterday The US has rekindled trade provocations against China through Huawei; weekly jobless claims will be reported; regional Fed manufacturing surveys for June will continue to roll out Fitch cut Canada’s rating by a notch to AA+ with stable outlook; Mexico is expected to cut rates 50 bp to 5.0%;...

In the false religion of data, heresy is asking for data that is not being collected because it might reveal unpalatably unprofitable realities. Here’s how every modern con starts: let’s look at the data. Every modern con starts with an earnest appeal to look at the data because the con artist has assembled the data to grease the slides of the con. We have been indoctrinated into a new and false religion, the faith of data. We’ve been relentlessly indoctrinated with...

◆ World’s wealthy are being urged by their financial advisers to hold more gold as they question the strength of the stock market rally and are concerned about the long-term impact of global central banks’ cash splurge. ZURICH /LONDON (via Reuters) – As stock markets roar back from the coronavirus led rout, advisers to the world’s wealthy are urging them to hold more gold, questioning the strength of the rally and the long-term impact of global central banks’ cash...

Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by 0.17% to 1.0644 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, June 25(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: Given the huge run-up in risk assets this quarter, and the technical indicators warning of corrective forces, concerns over the new infections is pushing on an open door. The S&P 500 gapped lower yesterday and fell 2.6%, led by energy and airlines. The NASDAQ snapped an eight-day...

In spite of renewed fears of coronavirus clusters in Beijing, data last week suggested the more consumer-oriented sides of the Chinese economy were tracking improvements in industry, with a year-on-year increase in auto sales in May. UK retail sales were also encouraging, but the biggest surprise came from the US where May’s 18% rise in retail sales month on month was double analysts’ expectations. Popular metrics like pedestrian, air and auto traffic, credit card...

Roche’s HQ, overlooking the Rhine river in Basel. Keystone / Georgios Kefalas It was the start of one of the most unusual cross-cultural marriages when Roche bought a controlling stake in Chugai Pharmaceutical for $1.4bn back in 2002, promising arm’s length management. In the course of the 18 months of negotiations it took to reach a deal, Chugai, a Japanese pioneer in biotechnology, presented a single sheet of paper with a list of conditions it would not budge on,...

Zurich, June 24 2020 – UBS is investing in Rockefeller Asset Management’s Global Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Equity fund, broadening the sustainable investment opportunities that it offers to clients. UBS, the world’s largest global wealth manager, has allocated directly to the fund through its 100% sustainable multi-asset portfolio, which surpassed USD 10 billion in size earlier this year. The fund is also available to UBS Global Wealth Management...

Risk-off sentiment has picked up from reports that the US will impose new tariffs against the EU; there’s also been a messy set of headlines regarding the virus contagion outlook in the US The IMF will release updated global growth forecasts today; the dollar is benefiting from risk-off sentiment; another round of fiscal stimulus in the US is in the works Brazil announced a slew of new easing measures to improve liquidity conditions in local credit markets; Mexico...

Despite massive government and central bank stimuli, the global economy is seeing a concerning rise in defaults and delinquencies. The main central banks’ balance sheets (those of the Federal Reserve, Bank of Japan, European Central Bank, Bank of England, and People’s Bank Of China) have soared to a combined $20 trillion, while the fiscal easing announcements in the major economies exceed 7 percent of the world’s GDP according to Fitch Ratings. This is the biggest...