Tag Archives: Featured

© Disqdr | Dreamstime.com Swiss salaries have risen according to a recently published report by Switzerland’s Federal Statistical Office. The median gross monthly salary was CHF 6,5021 in 2016, CHF 313 higher than in 2014. 50% of Swiss workers earned more than this and 50% earned less. CHF 6,502 a month is an annual salary of CHF 78,024 (US$ 78,200). The extra CHF 313 is a 5% increase over two years. In real terms,...

Swiss Franc The Euro is down by 0.54% to 1.1743 CHF. This is the fifth day in sequence that the Swiss Franc appreciated. Reasons are: Weaker than expected euro zone GDP growth in Q1, in particular in Germany. However this “soft-patch” should have been clear to everybody. So it cannot be the main reason. Still the weak German GDP was the trigger for EUR weakness. A dovish European Central Bank. Already at the press...

Healthcare/sickcare will bankrupt the nation by itself. If you want to understand why the U.S. healthcare system is bankrupt, financially, morally and politically, then start with this representative anecdote from a U.S. physician. I received this report from correspondent J.F. on the topic of direct advertising of pharmaceutical products to the public (patients). As background information, pharmaceutical companies...

Welsh Gold Being Hyped Due To The Royal Wedding? – Welsh gold and the misconceptions surrounding it – GoldCore speak to China Central Television (CCTV) – Welsh gold mired in misconceptions, namely that it is ‘rarest’ and most ‘sought after’ gold in world – Investors to be reminded that all mined gold is rare and homogenous – Nothing chemically different between Welsh gold and that mined elsewhere– Investors led to...

© Ekaterina Pokrovsky | Dreamstime.com Switzerland’s Federal Council, or cabinet, plans to increase the maximum annual deduction for child care costs to CHF 25,000 per child, up from CHF 12,100. This would allow parents to deduct up to this amount from their income for federal tax purposes but would not affect canton and commune taxes. Deductions could not exceed the amount spent. The plan aims to encourage more parents...

Swiss Franc The Euro has risen by 0.02% to 1.1821 CHF. GBP and CHF The Pound has remained fairly range bound against the Swiss Franc during the last couple of weeks as the markets appear to adopting a wait and see approach as to what might happen in the medium to long term. The Pound fell marginally during this time after the Bank of England once again decided to keep interest rates on hold at a split of 7-2 in...

The risk budget changes this month as I add back the 5% cash raised in late October. For the moderate risk investor, the allocation to bonds is still 50% while the risk side now rises to 50% as well. I raised the cash back in late October due to the extreme overbought nature of the stock market and frankly it was a mistake. Stocks went from overbought to more overbought and I missed the rally to all time highs in...

In Other Global Markets the “Turn-of-the-Month” Effect Generates Even Bigger Returns than in the US The “turn-of-the-month” effect is one of the most fascinating stock market phenomena. It describes the fact that price gains primarily tend to occur around the turn of the month. By contrast, the rest of the time around the middle of the month is typically far less profitable for investors. The effect has been studied...

Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by 0.40% to 1.1804 CHF. EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, May 16(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates The US dollar is mixed today after the Dollar Index rose to new 2018 highs yesterday. It is being driven by rising US rates, which also punishes short dollar positions. The US 10-year yield rose seven basis points yesterday to nearly 3.10%. It...

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) could be moving forward in their process of raising interest rates according to current reports with the previous Q4 2019 hike predicted to become reality in Q3. This minor shift in expectations is positive for the Swiss Franc and gives the market some news to be targetting and assessing in deciding the value of the CHF. With interest rates in Switzerland having been at -0.75% since...