(Keystone / Martin Ruetschi) Swiss start-ups and young companies attracted nearly CHF2.3 billion ($2.4 billion) from deep-pocketed investors last year. The figure is nearly double the CHF1.2 billion collected in 2018 and sets a new record. New ventures in the ICT and fintech sectors received the largest slice of funding (CHF1.2 billion), but financial support for early stage biotech firms also received a significant boost (CHF625 million), according to the annual...
Read More »Foreign demand remains high for luxury Swiss-made watches
Swiss watch manufacturers exported timepieces worth over CHF21 billion ($21.7 billion) last year – the industry’s third-best result ever. Watchmaking is Switzerland’s third-biggest export sector after pharmaceutical and machine tools. Almost 95% of production is sold abroad, the majority to Asia. First the good news. Despite a complicated business year which saw a net drop in sales in Hong Kong, the main destination for Swiss-made watches, firms ended 2019 extremely...
Read More »Gold May Top $2,000 As “Prices Surge On Global Fear”
by Paul R. La Monica via CNN Business Gold was one of the few investments heading higher Monday as worries about the coronavirus outbreak led to a steep market slide. Gold is now up more than 20% in the past year, and trading near $1,600 an ounce, its highest level since 2013. Other precious metals, such as silver and platinum, have rallied too. Meanwhile, the Dow was down nearly 350 points in midday trading. Some experts wonder if gold could top $2,000 in the...
Read More »Das Internet – die dezentrale (R)Evolution
(If you want to read this text in English, please use www.deepl.com – a great translation tool that uses language semantics.) Menschen werden durch unterschiedliche Motive angetrieben. Die einen sehen das höchste Glück in der Ansammlung von materiellen Werten, und andere sind von geistigen Werten angetrieben. Eine Idee kann genauso wie eine Rolex Glücksgefühle und Ansporn auslösen. Mich persönliche treiben Ideen an. Meine Ideen basieren auf Prinzipien und Werten,...
Read More »With No Second Half Rebound, Confirming The Squeeze
It’s a palpable impatience. Having learned absolutely nothing from the most recent German example, there’s this pervasive belief that if the economy hasn’t fallen apart by now it must be going the other way. The right way. Those are the only two options for mainstream analysis (which means it isn’t analysis). You can see it in how everything is framed. When first presented with this “unexpected” globally synchronized downturn early on in 2019 (they ignored all the...
Read More »What lies ahead for gold in 2020
Over the last few months, gold’s performance has been remarkable. Many market observers and mainstream analysts have pointed to various geopolitical developments in their efforts to explain away the bullishness as a reaction to whatever happens to be in the headlines at the time. The Trump impeachment, the US-China trade war, more recently the tensions with Iran, are all among the reasons that have been put forward so far to justify the current gold rush. And yet,...
Read More »Tentative Stabilization
Risk-off continues in Asia, but moves have been less dramatic European market jittery but stable Implied rates now pricing in a full Fed cut by September The UK will announce its decision on Huawei’s access to the country’s 5G network The dollar is slightly stronger against most major currencies, so DXY continues on its very gradual grind higher. The index is up 1.6% since the start of the year. Of note, the Australian dollar is down 0.3% reaching at 3-month low at...
Read More »Zurich Airport looks to Asia to expand its airports business
(© Keystone / Christian Beutler) The company recently won a bid to build and run an airport near India’s capital and has its sights set on other emerging markets in Asia. In November 2019, Zürich Flughafen AG (Zurich Airport) won a 40-year contract to build and operate the planned Noida International Airport in Jewar, located around 80km from the country’s capital, New Delhi. With an investment of CHF650 million ($670 million) expected for the first phase of...
Read More »Swiss Trade Balance December 2019: Chemistry-pharma propels foreign trade 2019 to new heights
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...
Read More »USD/CHF Price Analysis: Bears hold the baton despite recent recovery
USD/CHF stays beyond 23.6% Fibonacci retracement but fails to clear a fortnight-long falling trend line. 200-bar SMA, 61.8% Fibonacci retracement add to resistance. USD/CHF pierces 0.9700 by the press time of early Tuesday. The pair have recently been recovering but a downward sloping trend line since January 16 caps immediate upside. Even if the buyers cross 0.9715 resistance line, 200-bar SMA and 61.8% Fibonacci retracement of its December 24, 20119 to January 16,...
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