Today Credit Suisse released its latest annual global wealth report, which traditionally lays out what has become the single biggest reason for the recent “anti-establishment” revulsion: an unprecedented concentration of wealth among a handful of people, as shown in Swiss bank’s infamous global wealth pyramid, an arrangement which as observed by the “shocking” political backlash of the past year, suggests that the lower...
Read More »FX Daily, November 21: Dollar Marks Time
Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by 0.17% to 1.1635 CHF. EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, November 21(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates There are a couple of exceptions to the inside trading days. First, the dovish twist to the minutes from the Reserve Bank of Australia’s recent meeting saw the Australian dollar make a marginal new five-month low of almost $0.7530 before...
Read More »Inflation and Gold – Precious Metals Supply and Demand
See the introduction and the video for the terms gold basis, co-basis, backwardation and contang Reasons to Buy Gold The price of gold went up $19, and the price of silver 42 cents. The price action occurred on Monday, Wednesday and Friday though so far, only the first two price jumps reversed. We promise to take a look at the intraday action on Friday. File under “reasons to buy gold”: A famous photograph by Henri...
Read More »Oil Trader Slams “defamatory” NGO Teport
The Paradise Papers leaks have cast a spotlight on the commodities trading business (Keystone) Commodities trading company Vitol has taken legal action against “inaccurate and defamatory” allegations made by the Swiss NGO Public Eye in the wake of the Paradise Papers revelations. Public Eye issued a press release and report on November 10 accusing four Swiss-based commodities traders, including Vitol, of doing business...
Read More »SNB: It’s A Bonfire Of The Absurdities
Authored by John Mauldin via MauldinEconomics.com, “Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.” – Ecclesiastes 1:2, King James Version (attributed to King Solomon in his old age) This week’s letter will take a look at the growing number of ridiculous, inane, and otherwise nonsensical absurdities that fill the daily economic headlines. I have gone from the occasional smile to scratching my...
Read More »Swiss Trade Balance October 2017: A Slowdown at a High Level
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...
Read More »FX Daily, November 20: German Political Impasse Roils Euro…Briefly
Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by 0.03% to 1.1649 CHF. EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, November 20(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge CHF/GBP The Swiss Franc has seen some weakness of late as risk appetite is changing which is creating less demand for the Swiss Franc. Investors for the moment are looking at the US for better returns after a run of positive economic data from the...
Read More »Stories making the Swiss Sunday papers
Good news from the Swiss watchmaking industry, plans to ban under-18s from solariums because of health risks and a warning that the Swiss railway system could face chaos in December. Nick Hayek, CEO of the Swatch Group, is upbeat about the immediate future of the Swiss watchmaking industry (Keystone) - Click to enlarge Watchmakers on the mend The Swiss watchmaking industry has made a turnaround following a...
Read More »Money and Markets Infographic Shows Silver Most Undervalued Asset
Money and Markets Infographic Shows Silver Most Undervalued Asset – Silver remains severely under owned and under valued asset – Entire silver market worth tiny $100 billion shown in one tiny square – “All of the World’s Money and Markets in One Visualization”– Must see ‘Money and Markets’ infographic shows relative size of key markets: silver bullion, gold bullion, cryptocurrencies/ bitcoin, largest companies, 50...
Read More »Industrial Production Still Reflating
Industrial Production benefited from a hurricane rebound in October 2017, rising 2.9% above October 2016. US Industrial Production, Jan 1995 - Nov 2017(see more posts on U.S. Industrial Production, ) - Click to enlarge That is the highest growth rate in nearly three years going back to January 2015. With IP lagging behind the rest of the manufacturing turnaround, this may be the best growth rate the sector will...
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