Tag Archives: Featured

Poor economic data and soft inflation saw several central banks, including the Federal Reserve and European Central Bank, take a dovish turn in March. Contrary to expectations that interest rates would rise as the G3 central banks were no longer adding to their balance sheets on a combined basis. The sharp drop in interest rates and the flattening of curves in March is one of the key factors shaping the investment...

Andreas Meyer_© CFF_SBB_FFS Switzerland’s government recently voted for a ceiling on the salaries of those managing public companies such as Swisscom, Swiss Post, Skyguide and Swiss Rail. In response, the board of Swiss Rail wrote to the Federal Council requesting it to soften its position. From 2020, the company wants to pay its nine senior managers CHF 5.89 million, including a salary of more than CHF 1 million to...

Swiss Franc The Euro has risen by 0.20% at 1.1188 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, April 01(see more posts on EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: Better than expected German retail sales ad employments reports at the end of last week has been followed by gains in China’s official PMI  and Caixin’s manufacturing reading. However, the spillover from China was limited in Asia....

01.04.2019 – Turnover in the retail sector fell by 0.2% in nominal terms in February 2019 compared with the previous year. Seasonally adjusted, nominal turnover rose by 0.2% compared with the previous month. These are provisional findings from the Federal Statistical Office (FSO). Real turnover in the retail sector also adjusted for sales days and holidays fell by 0.2% in February 2019 compared with the previous year....

Investors have worked themselves into a lather. Equities crashed in Q4 last year amid on corporate earnings and concerns about growth. The Fed’s tightening decision in December was made unanimously. The above-trend growth, the preferred inflation measure was near target, unemployment was the lowest in a generation and real rates were historically low. There are myths in the market, like the Plunge Protection Committee,...

Those who own stocks and housing now will continue getting richer, those who don’t will be priced out of these markets. A classified Federal Reserve memo sheds new light on the Fed’s confidence in its control of the economy and the stock and housing markets. In effect, the Fed is guaranteeing that there will be no recession for another 10 years, and that stocks and housing will remain in a permanent uptrend....

The number of Swiss Abroad citizens grew by 1.1% to reach 760,200 at the end of last year. Most live in neighbouring countries and in the United States. The expatriate community accounts for 10.6% of the total number of Swiss nationals, according to official statisticsexternal link published on Thursday. Nearly three-quarters of the Swiss Abroad have dual nationality. The most significant increase compared with 2017...

Construction of residential units has also experienced a decline. (Keystone / Martin Ruetschi) A significant increase in vacant homes is predicted by Zurich Cantonal Bank. Suburbs are particularly prone to lower occupancy levels. The problem of empty housing, particularly in the urban periphery, is likely to worsen, with construction activity concentrated in areas with already high vacancy rates. Last year around 59,700...

Alhambra CEO discusses all the talk about the recent yield curve inversion and how he views it. [embedded content] Related posts: Monthly Macro Monitor – February (VIDEO) Monthly Macro Monitor – December 2018 (VIDEO) Monthly Macro Monitor – October 2018 (VIDEO) Monthly Macro Monitor – January 2019 Monthly Macro Chart Review – March (VIDEO) Monthly...

The Swiss export industry is expected to suffer from worsening international conditions. Worsening international conditions will have a negative impact on Switzerland’s export-driven economy, prompting the Swiss Economic Institute (KOF) to lower its forecast for this year. KOF on Wednesday announced it had revised its growth forecast down from 1.6% to 1% for Switzerland’s gross domestic product. However, the latest...