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Novartis admitted that it had signed a one-year contract with the company of Trump’s private lawyer, Michael Cohen. (Keystone) The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) announced on Wednesday that it will not bring proceedings against Novartis in connection with the payments the Swiss pharmaceutical company made to Donald Trump’s personal lawyer. The OAGexternal link had received a criminal complaint...

We’re going to get a synchronized global dynamic, but it won’t be “growth” and stability, it will be DeGrowth and instability. To understand the synchronized global meltdown that is on tap for the 2021-2025 period, we must first stipulate the relationship of “money” to energy:“money” is nothing more than a claim on future energy. If there’s no energy available to fuel the global economy, “money” will have little value....

The Markit group that provides many of the PMI surveys noted with today’s reports that the eurozone outlook has “darkened dramatically.” This makes for a poor backdrop for the ECB, which meets next week. However, with price pressures recovering from the Easter-related distortions, the ECB is still on track to finish its asset purchases at the end of the year. This seems largely taken for granted. The real issue is when...

Portmann did not spare the foreign policy committee with his criticism about the motion about improving information for Swiss expats about banking services. (Keystone) The Swiss Abroad community has suffered a new setback in its efforts to receive improved access to banking services in Switzerland. The House of Representatives on Tuesday threw out a call on the government to ease the financial woes of expatriates by...

The consensus narrative is that with rising inflation it is understandable that next week’s meeting is live and that the confirmation of such has lifted the euro to ten-day highs, dragging the dollar broadly. However, to accept this is to accept the debasement of language. Until now, we dubbed central bank meeting that could result in action as “live.” For example, given that the Fed has not changed interest rates since...

US trade is further leveling off after several months of artificial intrusions. On the import side, in particular, first was a very large and obvious boost following last year’s big hurricanes along the Gulf Coast. Starting in September 2017, for four months the value of imported goods jumped by an enormous 8.3% (revised, seasonally-adjusted). Most of the bump related to consumer and capital goods. Since December,...

Unemployment Rate (not seasonally adjusted) Registered Unemployment in May 2018 – According to the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) surveys, at the end of May 2018, 109’392 unemployed people were enrolled in the Regional Employment Centers (RAV), 10’389 fewer than in the previous month. The unemployment rate fell from 2.7% in April 2018 to 2.4% in the month under review. Compared to the same month of the...

PostFinance, the bank of the Swiss postal service, has a public service mandate to provide banking services to all residents. (Keystone) PostFinanceexternallink, one of Switzerland’s leading financial institutions, expects to cut up to 500 full-time jobs by the end of 2020. The banking division of the Post Office has launched multiple measures to counter the erosion of profit margins and the resulting decline in...

We all know the game is rigged, but strange things occasionally upset the “easy money bet.” “Reality” is in the eye of the beholder, especially when it comes to technical analysis and economic tea leaves. It seems most stock market soothsayers are seeing a breakout of the downtrend that erupted in early February, and so the path to new all-time highs is clear. Does anyone else see a giant bear flag pattern in the...

Neuchâtel, 6 June 2018 (FSO) – The consumer price index CPI) increased by 0.4% in May 2018 compared with the previous month, reaching 102.1 points (December 2015=100). Inflation was 1.0% compared with the same month of the previous year. These are the results of the Federal Statistical Office (FSO). The 0.4% increase compared with the previous month can be explained by several factors including rising prices for...