Tag Archives: newsletter

An ihrer ersten Sitzung im neuen Jahr hat die Europäische Zentralbank (EZB) ihren Kurs bestätigt. Das Wertschriftenkaufprogramm ist definitiv beendet. Fortan kauft sie netto keine zusätzlichen Anleihen mehr zu. Sondern sie ersetzt nur noch die bestehenden Papiere, die sie in ihrem Portefeuille hält. Läuft eine Anleihe aus, erwirbt sie mit den Mitteln vergleichbare Anleihen, mehr nicht. Der Unterschied: Bisher druckte...

I had a brief talk on the set with of Fox Business with Varney & Co today, but there is no video available. We began by talking about stocks. For several weeks, I have been suggesting to viewers that the S&P 500 could recover to 2700. Last Friday, the S&P 500 gapped higher and reached 2675. I did not like the gap and thought it would be quickly filled. That was yesterday. And after IBM earnings surprise and...

Between 1999 and 2017 the amount of organic food produced on Swiss farms more than doubled. © Stefano Ember -Dreamstime.com_ - Click to enlarge In 1999, 5.3% of Switzerland’s farm output was organic. By 2017 this figure had risen to 11.7%. In 1999, Swiss farms produced CHF 562 million worth of organic food. In 2017, they produced CHF 1.2 billion. Consumers are spending more and more on organic produce. From 1998 to...

Imagine yourself as a rural Chinese farmer. Even the term “farmer” makes it sound better than it really is. This is a life out of the 19th century, subsistence at best the daily struggle just to survive. Flourishing is a dream. Only, you can see just on the other side of the hill the bright reflective lights of one of China’s many glittering modern cities. Not only are you reminded of the stark difference between what...

Crypto Valley has attracted business delegations from many countries, such as South Korea, who watch a presentation on blockchain companies. The number of blockchain companies in Switzerland grew 20% to reach 750 in the last three months of 2018. But the market capitalisation of such firms, measured by the dollar exchange rate of tokens in circulation, more than halved as crypto-assets nose-dived in value. The uptick in...

Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by 0.14% at 1.1301 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, January 24(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: The eurozone’s preliminary composite PMI for January fell to its lowest level since July 2013. It reinforces expectations for a dovish Draghi press conference and saw the euro unwind yesterday’s gains. The US dollar is firmer against...

A recent report places Switzerland second in a ranking of 33 european countries on conditions in the youth labour market in 2016 – youth are those between 15 and 24. ©-Tea-_-Dreamstime.com_ - Click to enlarge Switzerland’s overall score of 5.67 out of 7.00 is close to Denmark’s 5.72. Switzerland’s highest scores are for employment rate (6.01) and working conditions (5.77), with education (5.36) and smoothness of...

Combine sky-high commercial rents in homogenized, gentrified urban areas and sharp declines in the incomes of the limited populace who can afford gentrified urban areas and what do you get? A number of macro dynamics have set up gentrified urban America for a big fall in the coming recession. What does gentrified mean? Gentrified means only the gentry (top 10%) can afford to enjoy the urban amenities as commercial rents...

Swiss Franc The Euro has risen by 0.03% at 1.1327 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, January 23(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: Global equities have fared better than the 1.4% slide in the S&P 500 yesterday may have implied. Asian markets were mixed, with China, Korea, Hong Kong, Thailand advancing. The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 from Europe is a little changed...

The ECB meets Thursday, and it may be best conceived as a transition meeting. It will lay the rhetorical groundwork for two things: a likely downgrade to the staff’s growth forecasts and moving toward a new round of long-term loans (targeted long-term refinance operations). Draghi’s speech last week to the European Parliament anticipated the themes he can be expected to develop in his press conference on Thursday. The...