Tag Archives: Featured

The prospect of diminishing returns for classic, and previously highly effective, 60/40 portfolios (60% equities, 40% bonds) is leading to changes in strategic asset allocation. Efforts to improve prospects include identifying macroeconomic regimes to guide investments and refining how diversification is understood. Interest in endowment-style investing is also growing as private assets are incorporated into strategic...

In May 2018, the European Parliament found that it was incredibly popular. Commissioning what it calls the Eurobarameter survey, the EU’s governing body said that two-thirds of Europeans inside the bloc believed that membership had benefited their own countries. It was the highest showing since 1983. Voters in May 2019 don’t appear to have agreed with last year’s survey. For the first time since 1979, Social Democrats...

(Keystone / Jean-christophe Bott) In a comparison of European solar and wind power generation, Switzerland ranks near the bottom. Per year and inhabitant, Switzerland produces 250 kilowatt hours of solar (236kWh) and wind (14kWh) power – the amount needed to power a dishwasher, roughly. This puts Switzerland in 25th place when compared with the 28 European Union nations, according to a study published by the Swiss...

Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by 0.20% at 1.1222 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, May 29(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: The slump in equities continues after the poor showing in the US yesterday. Nearly all bourses in Asia Pacific and Europe are lower. Indonesia is the notable exception as domestic operators re-position after the election. Foreign investors...

In order to benefit from the free internet service on the trains, travellers must have a mobile phone, download the “FreeSurf SBB” application and have a Swiss SIM card from Salt or Sunrise. - Click to enlarge The Swiss Federal Railways has started testing free mobile internet based on 3G/4G coverage on the main train routes. However, it does not cover all Swiss operators. The state-owned company has started testing...

Switzerland’s GDP rose by 0.6% in the 1st quarter of 2019. Growth was driven primarily by increasing domestic demand. Foreign trade also provided positive impetus. Value added grew in most sectors. Switzerland Gross Domestic Product (GDP) QoQ, Q1 2019(see more posts on Switzerland Gross Domestic Product, ) Source: investing.com - Click to enlarge Switzerland’s GDP rose by 0.6% in the 1st quarter of 2019, after...

That nothing is truly “free” will be another lesson of the S-Curve. I often refer to the S-Curve because Nature so often tracks this curve of ignition, rapid expansion, stagnation and decline. One lesson of the S-Curve is that the human bias to keep doing more of what worked so well in the past leads to doing more of what failed even as results turn negative. The dynamic in play is diminishing returns: the yield on the...

The New Annual Gold Report from Incrementum is Here We are happy to report that the new In Gold We Trust Report for 2019 has been released today (the download link can be found at the end of this post). Ronnie Stoeferle and Mark Valek of Incrementum and numerous guest authors once again bring you what has become the reference work for anyone interested in the gold market. Gold in the Age of Eroding Trust This year’s...

Last week, we wrote about the impossibility of China nuking the Treasury bond market. Really, this is not about China but mostly about the nature of the dollar and the structure of the monetary system. We showed that there are a whole host of problems with the idea of selling a trillion dollars of Treasurys: Yuan holders are selling yuan to buy dollars, PBOC can’t squander its dollar reserves If it doesn’t buy another...

Swiss Franc The Euro has risen by 0.20% at 1.1259 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, May 28(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: The euro initially reacted positively to the EU Parliament elections. The populists did not do quite as well as many expected. The two main groupings failed to secure a majority, but with the help of the Liberals, and possibly the Greens,...