Tag Archives: newsletter

20 Minutes. Visa quotas for non-EU workers will rise next year. The increased quotas will include 3,000 B-permits and 4,500 L-permits, 1,000 more than this year. These limits are still lower than in 2014, when Swiss politics turned against the free movement of workers from the EU. 2014 quotas of 3,500 B-permits and 5,000 short-term L-permits, were reduced to 2,500 (B) and 4,000 (L), after a referendum to limit...

Quiet Fascism has no purpose other than to aggregate more power, maintain its secrets and lay waste to anyone who questions its Imperial authority. So my little-visited Wikipedia entry was minding its own business, not bothering anyone, until I dared to criticize the Clinton Foundation. The next day, my Wikipedia entry was taken out and shot by a mysterious “editor.” It was just coincidence, right, that my Wikipedia...

Summary: Regardless of outcome early next week, the High Court’s decision will likely be appealed. The issue is the role of parliament. The greater the role, the greater the risk of a delay, but also a better chance to minimize a hard Brexit. The UK decision to leave the EU has been both a political and economic shock. The near-term focus now shifts to the constitutional crisis that has ensued. The key issue...

Swiss Franc EUR/CHF Overview, October 12 2016(see more posts on EUR/CHF, ) - Click to enlarge FX Rates News that UK Prime Minister May has accepted that Parliament should vote on her plan for exiting the EU stopped sterling’s headlong slide. Sterling had been pounded for roughly 8.5 cents since the start of the month including the last four sessions. The idea that parliament, where the Conservatives enjoy a...

Summary: Sterling’s decline is not longer coinciding with lower rates. Sterling’s decline is boosting inflation expectations. If the inflation expectations are realized (Sept CPI next week), it will quickly erode what ever competitive gains there may have been. Something has changed with sterling. It is not just last week’s flash crash that seems now to be more of a mark down than fat-finger, liquidity or...

Natalie Vein of BFI speaks with Doug Casey Our friend Natalie Vein recently had the opportunity to conduct an extensive interview with Doug Casey for BFI, the  parent company of Global Gold. Based on his decades-long experience in investing and his many travels, he shares his views on the state of the world economy, his outlook on critical political developments in the US and in Europe, as well as his investment...

Escaping the Hurricane BALTIMORE – Last week, we got a peek at the End of the World. As Hurricane Matthew approached the coast of Florida, a panic set in. Gas stations ran out of fuel. Stores ran out of food. Banks ran out of cash. A satellite image of hurricane Matthew taken on October 4. He didn’t look very friendly. Image via twitter.com - Click to enlarge “Evacuate or die,” we were told. Not wanting to do...

Swiss Franc EUR CHF - Euro Swiss Franc, October 11 2016(see more posts on EUR/CHF, ). - Click to enlarge FX Rates The US dollar is bid against all the major and most emerging market curerncies.  An important driver is the backing up of US rates.  The two-year yield, which is particularly sensitive to Fed policy is at it highest levbel since early June (~86 bp).  The US 10-year yield is five basis points hihger...

© Yulan | Dreamstime.com - Click to enlarge The Swiss National Bank can cut interest rates further into negative territory if needed, President Thomas Jordan said. “We have still some room to go further if necessary,” Jordan said Saturday in an interview in Washington with Bloomberg Television’s Francine Lacqua. Jordan, who is attending the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, noted...

Australian property bubble on a scale like no other Yesterday Citi produced a new index which pinned the Australian property bubble at 16 year highs: Bubble trouble. Whether we label them bubbles, the Australian economy has experienced a series of developments that potentially could have the economy lurching from boom to bust and back. In recent years these have included:  the record run up in commodity prices and...