The economy no longer generates secure, purposeful jobs for the working class, and so millions of people live in a state of insecure despair. The opioid epidemic is generating a lot of media coverage and hand-wringing, but few if any solutions, and this is predictable: if you don’t face up to the causes, then you can’t solve the problem. America is steadfastly avoiding looking at the causes of the opioid crisis, which...
Read More »Tax Reform and Trump’s Chinese Trade Deficit Conundrum
Trade Deficit with China Widens on Trump’s Watch Most things come easier said than done. Take President Trump’s posture on trade with China. Trump doesn’t want a bigger trade deficit with China. He wants a smaller trade deficit with China. In fact, reducing the trade deficit with China is one of Trump’s promises to Make America Great Again. Photo credit: Jonathan Ernst / Reuters - Click to enlarge We are often...
Read More »Euro area: Business activity expanding at its fastest pace in nearly 12 years
The flash composite Purchasing Managers’ index for the euro area increased to 58.6 in January from 58.1 in December, above consensus expectations (57.9). The services sector index rose, offsetting the decline in the manufacturing index . Companies also expressed growing optimism about this year’s outlook, with business expectations up to an eight-month high. The only piece of less positive news was a modest drop in...
Read More »FX Daily, January 24: Dollar Takes Another Leg Lower
Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by 0.62% to 1.1703 CHF. EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, January 24(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge GBP/CHF in Detail Sterling has made consistent gains against the Swiss Franc over the last week and now sits at a yearly high of 1.34. These gains can be attributed predominantly due to an extremely optimistic UK growth forecast from Lord Jim...
Read More »Great Graphic: Is Aussie Cracking?
The Australian dollar bottomed in early December $0.7500 after having tested $0.8100 a couple of times in September. Since early December, however, the Australian dollar appreciated by nearly 6.5%. As it tested the $0.8000 area, the momentum faded. Yesterday it managed to close above that threshold and new buying lifted it above yesterday’s highs briefly in Asia earlier today. However, there is a growing sense that...
Read More »Switzerland ranked second-most ‘globalised’ nation
Switzerland climbed the rankings, but overall globalisation is down, the report says. (Keystone) - Click to enlarge Switzerland is the second-most globalised country in the world after the Netherlands, according to the latest edition of an index prepared by the University of Zurich. The Alpine nation has moved up from fifth place. The index prepared by the KOF Swiss Economic Instituteexternal link tracks...
Read More »Tax amnesty programme turns up billions in undeclared assets
The NZZ am Sonntag reported that many of the newly disclosed assets are being held in accounts in Liechtenstein. (Keystone) - Click to enlarge According to the results of a survey published Sunday in the NZZ am Sonntag newspaper, CHF31.7 billion ($32.9 billion) in undeclared assets have been reported to tax authorities in Switzerland over the last eight years. The cantons of Zurich (CHF6.9 billion), Ticino...
Read More »Cyber War Coming In 2018?
– Cyber war is increasing threat – Investors are not prepared for– Third most likely global risk in 2018 is cyber war say WEF – “Scale and sophistication of attacks is going to grow”– EU, US, NATO lay down ground rules for offensive cyber war– Ireland is viable target for attackers but is ‘grossly unprepared for cyber war’– UK should expect attack that cripples infrastructure within 2 years – Trump administration may...
Read More »FX Daily, January 22: Dollar Remains Heavy
Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by 0.36% to 1.1768 CHF. EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, January 22(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates The US dollar closed last week on a firm note, but it has been unable to build on its gains to start the new week. News that Germany’s SPD agreed to enter formal negotiations with Merkel’s CDU/CSU alliance saw the euro open in Asia...
Read More »Weekly Technical Analysis: 22/01/2018 – USD/JPY, EUR/USD, GBP/USD, USD/CHF
USD/CHF The USDCHF pair found solid support at 0.9564 barrier, which forced the price to rebound bullishly to approach testing the key resistance 0.9655, met by the EMA50 to add more strength to it, while stochastic shows clear overbought signals now. Therefore, these factors encourage us to continue suggesting the bearish trend in the upcoming sessions, as our next main target is located at 0.9420, noting that the...
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