Tag Archives: Featured

Maybe it was a sign of things to come, a warning how it wasn’t going to go as planned. Then again, when it comes to something like quantitative easing there really is no plan. Other than to make it sound like there is one, that’s really the whole idea. Not what it really is and what it actually does, to make it appear like there’s substance to it. After experimenting with NIRP for the first time and then adding a bunch of sterilized asset purchases in 2014, Europe’s...

The Swiss canton of Vaud has managed to balance its 2020 budget with a small surplus of 76,000 francs. This is the 14th time in row that the canton’s budget has been in the black. Vaud’s parliament building At the same time planned spending is up by 2.43%, well ahead of Swiss inflation – prices were lower in September 2019 than they were in September 2018. A tax rate rise is planned and some complain the canton’s taxpayers are getting a raw deal. The canton expects...

USD/CHF seesaws around 23.6% Fibonacci retracement after witnessing multiple failures to cross 1.0030. A nine-day-old rising trend-line, followed by a confluence of 200-HMA/50% Fibonacci retracement limits near-term declines. Despite witnessing pullbacks from 1.0030, USD/CHF is yet to slip beneath key supports as it clings to 0.9985 during early Friday. The pair seesaws near 23.6% Fibonacci retracement of its upswing from last Tuesday and can revisit 38.2% Fibonacci...

Around one in seven Swiss say they have been hacked at some time or another. (Keystone / Sascha Steinbach) Hackers successfully attacked the website of the Swiss Consumer Protection Foundation last month, placing links to fake stores within the agency’s online shopping pages. The hack was detected within two hours and the malicious links were removed, said the foundationexternal link, which regularly warns consumers about online fraud. The agency said it was unlikely...

While the world’s attention was fixated on US$ repo for once, the Bank of Japan held a policy meeting and turned in an even more “dovish” performance. Likely the global central bank plan had been to combine the Fed’s second rate cut with what amounted to a simultaneous Japanese pledge for more “stimulus” in October. Both of those followed closely an ECB which got itself back in the QE business once more. But all that likely coordinated “accommodation” was spoiled...

Canton Obwalden’s low tax rates attract companies and millionaires (Keystone) European Union finance ministers are set to remove Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from the bloc’s lists of countries deemed to act as tax havens, an EU document said. On October 10 they are expected to remove Switzerland from the grey list that includes countries that have committed to change their tax rules to make them compliant with EU standards. Switzerland has delivered...

Joint research activities will be carried out at the Novartis Campus in Basel, Switzerland, at the Novartis Global Service Center in Dublin, Ireland, and at Microsoft Research Lab in Cambridge, Britain. (© Keystone / Georgios Kefalas) Swiss pharmaceutical firm Novartis and computer giant Microsoft have signed a five-year partnership deal aimed at transforming the Basel-based pharma’s business – from finance to manufacturing – using artificial intelligence. The new...

For the second time this week, the ISM managed to burst the bond bear bubble about there being a bond bubble. Who in their right mind would buy especially UST’s at such low yields when the fiscal situation is already a nightmare and becoming more so? Some will even reference falling bid-to-cover ratios which supposedly suggests an increasing dearth of buyers. Bid-to-cover, however, is irrelevant. That only tells you about one part of the buying equation, the number...

Is blockchain being used as a gimmick in achieving sustainable development goals? (Keystone / Un Photo/loey Felipe Handout) Our regular analysis of developments in the world of fintech and Crypto Nation. All eyes were on Libra at the Blockchain 4 Impact summit in Geneva last week. But the Facebook stablecoin project was only one part of a two-day event asking the question: Can blockchain help meet Sustainable Development Goalsexternal link? The question of blockchain...

Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by 0.37% to 1.0913 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, October 4(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: The recovery of US shares yesterday signaled today’s fragile stability. Gains in Japan, Australia, and Taiwan blunted the losses elsewhere in the region, including a 1% slide in Hong Kong. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell for the third week. China’s markets have been closed since...