Ski lifts in and around St Moritz in the Engadine Valley have started accepting Bitcoins as payment for passes. According to Swiss public television, SRF, and the newspaper Südostschweiz, Engadin St Moritz is the first Swiss lift company to recognise payments with cryptocurrencies. Company director Markus Meili told Südostschweiz he wasn’t worried about the Bitcoin bubble bursting – despite its value surging from...
Read More »Die Magie des gesetzlichen Zahlungsmittels
Seit der Aufhebung der Golddeckung durch Präsident Nixon im Jahre 1971 sind die meisten Währungen der westlichen Welt reines Fiatgeld. Was heisst das? Zur Beantwortung der Frage beziehe ich mich ganz bewusst – wie übrigens soweit möglich im ganzen Text – auf keine Lehrbücher oder anderes universitäres Material. In Wikipedia (Stand 3.9.2017) steht: „Fiatgeld (…) ist ein Objekt ohne inneren Wert, das als Tauschmittel...
Read More »Petro-Yuan? Really?
The launch of futures on Bitcoins was rushed so quickly through the regulatory channels that the anticipation was short-lived. And as the recent price action amply demonstrates, the existence of a derivative market has not tamed the digital token’s volatility. It is still the early days, but Bitcoin futures do not look likely to change the world. On the other hand, any day now China is expected to launch a futures...
Read More »Global macro: 10 surprises for 2018
Having laid down our expectations for the World economy in 2018, in this note we describe a number of potential surprises to the outlook. The usual suspects, or ‘known unknowns’, include a larger-than-expected fiscal boost from US tax cuts, (geo-)political risks, economic policy mistakes, inflation surprises, a financial bubble burst, or a Minsky moment in China, to name a few. We chose to include some of the...
Read More »Season’s Greetings
A Difficult, but Also Exciting Year… Dear Readers, Another year is coming to a close, and the team at Acting Man wishes you and your loved ones a Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays and all the best for the new year. You have probably noticed that your main scribe was a lot less prolific this year than he normally tends to be; unfortunately, we were held back by health-related issues. We remain among the quick though...
Read More »UBS consumption indicator: Solid private consumption in 2018
The Swiss consumption indicator by UBS shows improvements. The indicator is still distant from the highs in 2012. At the time stronger growth in Emerging Markets and the weaker franc helped the Swiss economy. At 1.67 points, the UBS consumption indicator was above its long-term average in November, indicating solid consumption growth in 2018. Thanks to solid economic growth, private consumption will likely continue...
Read More »FX Daily, December 27: What Happened on Boxing Day?
Swiss Franc The Euro has risen by 0.32% to 1.1763 CHF. EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, December 27(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates There were several developments on the day after Christmas, while many markets remained closed and investors sidelined. One of the most important developments was the euro’s complete recovery from the flash crash of nearly three...
Read More »Swiss National Bank buys paper factory for banknote production
To guarantee the smooth roll-out of its new banknote series, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) has bought a struggling paper factory in eastern Switzerland. The takeover of Landqart AG, valued at CHF21.5 million ($21.7 million), is split between the SNB (90%) and the security printing division of Swiss publisher Orell Füssli (10%). + Switzerland is rolling out a new series of banknotes with numerous security features...
Read More »Bitcoin: Attention à l’arnaque. Dossier.
C’est la monnaie préférée des pirates informatiques. Celle qu’exigent les hackers lorsqu’ils formulent une demande de rançon. Mais pas seulement ! Depuis que le bitcoin flambe (il a dépassé le 15 décembre les 17 000 dollars), de plus en plus de fonds d’investissement, alléchés par les perspectives haussières de son cours, s’y intéressent. Et de nombreux sites de commerce en ligne se mettent à facturer produits et...
Read More »Public Eye issues criminal complaint against Glencore
Glencore has denied any wrongdoing (Keystone) - Click to enlarge Swiss NGO Public Eye has filed a criminal complaint with the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland against the activities of Swiss commodities giant Glencore in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The Office of the Attorney Generalexternal link on Tuesday confirmed receipt of the complaint but said further details were currently not...
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