Tag Archives: newsletter

Eternal Spendathon The Senate just passed a 500-page tax reform bill. Assuming it lives up to its promise, it will cut taxes on corporations and individuals. Predictably, the Left hates it and the Right loves it. I am writing to argue why the Right should hate it (no, not for the reason the Left does, a desire to get the rich). US Federal Debt, 1970 - 2017The Federal debtberg has grown beyond all measure since...

We’ve had a pretty good run of data recently and with the tax bill passing the Senate one would expect to see markets react positively, to reflect renewed optimism about economic growth. We have improving economic data on pretty much a global basis. It isn’t a boom by any stretch of the imagination but there is no doubt that the rate of change has recently been more positive. We also have a change in tax policy that...

Neuchâtel, 04.12.2017 (FSO) – Gross domestic product (GDP) growth slowed between 2014 and 2015 in most cantons. Nevertheless, the cantons of Neuchâtel (+ 4.4%), Schaffhausen (+ 2.9%), Schwyz (+ 2.9%) and Zug (+ 2.8%) recorded a clearly positive development. The canton of Zurich once again made the biggest contribution to the nationwide growth. These results are based on the first estimates of the Federal Statistical...

Summary: Euro is lower for the third day, the longest downdraft in a month and a half. It violated the November uptrend. It is testing the $1.1800 area, which houses a few technical levels (retracement, moving average and congestion). The euro is losing ground for a third consecutive session.  It is the longest losing streak since the middle of October.   The Great Graphic here, created on Bloomberg, depicts...

The consumer price index (CPI) fell by 0.1% in November 2017 compared with the previous month, reaching 100.9 points (December 2015=100). Inflation was 0.8% compared with the same month of the previous year. Switzerland Consumer Price Index (CPI) YoY, Nov 2017(see more posts on Switzerland Consumer Price Index, ) Source: Investing.com - Click to enlarge Swiss Consumer Price Index in November 2017 German Text...

Neuchâtel, 05.12.2017 (FSO) – The hotel sector registered 21.3 million overnight stays in Switzerland during the summer tourist season (from May to October 2017). This represents an increase of 5.9% (+1.2 million overnight stays) compared with the same period a year earlier. With a total of 12.1 million overnight stays, foreign demand rose by 7.3% (+823,000). Domestic visitors registered a 4.0% increase (+356,000) with...

Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by -0.03% to 1.167 CHF. EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, December 06(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates The swoon in equities, perhaps sparked by a rotation spurred by potential US tax changes, is continuing today. It is providing a risk-off mood, which is expressed in the foreign exchange market as a stronger yen. The most compelling...

Thomas Klühr, the Chief Executive Officer of Swiss International Airlines, says a lower-value Swiss franc, lower fuel costs, more demand and more efficient aircraft helped boost his airline's profits in 2017. (Keystone) - Click to enlarge Switzerland’s national airline has enjoyed a profitable year and expects continued success, but its chief executive says restrictions at Zurich Airport are making it...

Beginning of Post: See the introduction and the video for the terms gold basis, co-basis, backwardation and contango. Questions and Answers A reader emailed us, to ask a few pointed questions. Paraphrasing, they are: Who cares if dollars are calculated in gold or gold is calculated in dollars? People care only if their purchasing power has grown. What is the basis good for? Is it just mathematical play for gold...

What will it take to radically reduce the cost basis of our economy? If we had to choose one “big picture” reason why the vast majority of households are losing ground, it would either be the stagnation of income or the spiraling out of control cost basis of our economy, that is, the essential foundational expenses of households, government and enterprise. Clearly, both rising costs and stagnating income cause...