Tag Archives: newsletter

This is how systems collapse: faith in the visible surface of abundance reigns supreme, and the fragility of the buffers goes unnoticed. I often discuss systems and systemic collapse, and I’ve drawn up a little diagram to illustrate a key dynamic in systemic collapse. The key concepts here are stability and buffers. Though complex systems are never static, but they can be stable: that is, they ebb and flow within...

See the introduction and the video for the terms gold basis, co-basis, backwardation and contango. Crude Oil Market Structure – Extremes in Speculative Net Long Positions On May 28, markets were closed so this Report is coming out a day later than normal. The price of gold rose nine bucks, and the price of silver 4 pennies. With little action here, we thought we would write 1,000 words’ worth about oil. Here is a chart...

Chers amis lecteurs, voici le drame de la Suisse. Il s’appelle « Politique monétaire non conventionnelle« . Une arme de destruction massive que personne n’ose approcher, ni même aborder! Elle consiste en l’art de se faire un bilan sans bases réelles et avec en contreparties de l’endettement! Le directoire de la BNS a réussi l’exploit de se fabriquer de toutes pièces des réserves monétaires en devises étrangères de...

We do not like Purchasing Power or Real Effective Exchange Rate (REER) as measurement for currencies. For us, the trade balance decides if a currency is overvalued. Only the trade balance can express productivity gains, while the REER assumes constant productivity in comparison to trade partners. Who has read Michael Pettis, knows that a rising trade surplus may also be caused by a higher savings rate while the trade...

© Makasanaphoto | Dreamstime.com Recent statistics show that the average full-time employee in Switzerland worked 42.6 hours a week. This is slightly less than an average Icelander (42.9) – the longest working – but 13% longer than the average in leisurely France (37.4), the european nation putting in the fewest hours. Switzerland also came second on a broader measure: average hours worked per week by everyone 15 or...

Italian politics dominated Monday’s activity. Initially, the euro reacted positively in Asia to news that the Italian President had blocked the proposed finance minister. A technocrat government would be appointed to prepare for new elections. The euro reversed course by midday in Asia, several hours before European markets opened. The move accelerated and by midday in Europe, with London markets on holiday as well as...

Scrape all this putrid excrescence off and we’re left with a non-fantasy reality: everything is getting dicier by the day. If we look beneath the cheery chatter of the financial media and the tiresomely repetitive Russian collusion narrative (that’s unraveling as the Ministry of Propaganda’s machinations are exposed), we find that America in 2018 is dicier by the day. The more you know about the actual functioning of...

  A Truism that is Demonstrably True Most people are probably aware of the adage “sell in May and go away”. This popular seasonal Wall Street truism implies that the market’s performance is far worse in the six summer months than in the six winter months. Numerous studies have been undertaken in this context particularly with respect to US stock markets, and they  confirm that the stock market on average exhibits...

More than three times as many pubs and restaurants disappeared in Switzerland last year as the year before. The catering industry points the finger at the strong franc, responsible for more bankruptcies (+4.4%) and fewer new openings (-25%). A plastic chef attracting/scaring off customers in front of a restaurant in Lucerne Some 2,220 places to eat were removed from the trade registry and 684 went bust in 2017,...

– Trump Cancels Historic Summit with North Korea – US 10-Year Falls Below 3%, Gold Jumps Back Above $1300 – “Inflation Overshoot Could Be Helpful” – Latest FOMC Minutes– Gold Demand in Turkey as Lira falls sharply, true inflation near 40%– EU Crisis Looming as Italy Plan Outright ‘Money Printing’ with ‘Mini-Bots’– Silver Trading in Tight $1 range, Pressure Building for a Breakout Weekly Report by Daniel MarchEditor...