Tag Archives: Featured

President Trump moved recently to nominate an avowed sound money advocate, Judy Shelton, to the Federal Reserve Board. That triggered a flurry of superficial and derisive references in the controlled media to Shelton’s past support of a gold standard. For example, CBS News described her as “a believer in the return to the gold standard, a money policy abandoned by the U.S. in 1971.” According to the story, “mainstream...

Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by 0.35% at 1.1024 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, July 19(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: Comments underscoring the importance of acting preemptively by two Fed officials sent the dollar reeling and helped lift equities after the S&P fell to a two and a half week low. The decline in rates and the US shooting down of an...

Industrial production rebounded in May. But a closer look shows that the improvement was narrowly spread, and euro area manufacturing faces numerous challenges ahead. After two consecutive months of contraction, euro area industrial production (IP, excluding construction) rose by 0.9% month on month (m-o-m) in May, above consensus expectations. Production of consumer goods surged in May. Output of capital goods and...

The likelihood of active FX intervention by the US authorities remains low but is increasing and the Trump administration can be expected to continue to pressure the Fed to cut rates. The Trump administration has been focusing on the US’s trade deficit with some of its main trading partners such as China and Germany. A strong dollar is exacerbating this deficit and has visibly exasperated President Trump. Indeed, the...

US Senator Rand Paul had managed to block the agreement for 10 years. The United States Senate on Wednesday ratified a double-taxation agreement (DTA) with Switzerland, ending years of stalemate. The agreement, which required two-thirds of votes, was accepted by a large majority, according to the US Senate websiteexternal link. This accord, designed to meet international standards on the exchange of bank data, had been...

Von Raoul Merz – Wer glaubt, Staatsunternehmen sollten sich politisch neutral verhalten, erlebt in Zürich ein Wunder… Nein, eigentlich nicht, in Zürich ist alles möglich. Scham und Moral existieren nicht. Als Vorbild dient Berlin. Also überrascht es niemanden, wenn die ewz auf der linken...

Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by 0.09% at 1.107 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, July 18(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: Profit-taking continues to weigh on global equities earnings concerns saw the biggest drop in the S&P 500 in three weeks. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell for the fourth consecutive session. The Nikkei gapped lower for the second...

The pound to Swiss Franc exchange rate has been on steady decline since May when it peaked at 1.3397. Since then, it has fallen to 1.2245 as Brexit uncertainties continue to weigh on sterling, with the market feeling the prospect of a no-deal Brexit has increased. The franc has also risen in value owing to its status as a safe haven currency, and the continued fears over the global economy. Swiss Franc enjoying the...

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...

© Sebnem Ragiboglu | Dreamstime.com The Swiss bank UBS estimates there could be a shortfall of 500,000 workers in Switzerland in the coming 10 years as the baby boomer generation retires. However, the bank predicts the shortfall will not be even across all industries. Some sectors are expected to stagnate. Workers in these industries might find it harder to find work. Demand for workers is expected to be high in the...