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The prospect of Federal Reserve rate hikes continues to rattle Wall Street and cloud the outlook for precious metals. On Wednesday, the central bank strongly signaled it will raise its benchmark Fed funds rate for the first time in three years – likely at its March policy meeting. Policymakers noted that inflation is running “well above” target and also claimed a “strong labor market” justifies a degree of monetary tightening. “There’s quite a bit of room to raise...

It’s not hard to reason why there continues to be this conflict of interest (rates). On the one hand, impacting the short end of the yield curve, the unemployment rate has taken a tight grip on the FOMC’s limited imagination. The rate hikes are coming and the markets like all mainstream commentary agree that as it stands there’s nothing on the horizon to stop Jay Powell’s hawkishness. And yet, on the other hand, growth and inflation expectations, the long end could...

[caption id="attachment_858217" align="alignleft" width="400"] Exporting, or perhaps importing, on the Rhine in Basel. © Keystone / Gaetan Bally[/caption] Swiss exports climbed to record levels in 2021, with chemicals and pharma driving much of the growth. Watches, especially luxury ones, also had a good year. Exports came to a total value of CHF259.5 billion ($284.5 billion) in 2021, marking a 15.2% increase on the pandemic year 2020 and a 7% increase on...

Bob starts a series looking into Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum and, along with Prince Charles, proponent of the “Great Reset.” Mentioned in the Episode and Other Links of Interest: Klaus Schwab and Prince Charles promoting the “Great Reset” The World Economic Forum’s page on the Great Reset An example of a session from the WEF’s Davos Agenda 2021 conference The WEF’s bio for its founder, Klaus Schwab Schwab’s books The Fourth Industrial...

After consultation with the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), the Swiss National Bank has submitted a proposal to the Federal Council requesting that the sectoral countercyclical capital buffer (CCyB) be reactivated. The buffer is to be set at 2.5% of risk-weighted exposures secured by residential property in Switzerland (cf. appendix). The SNB’s proposal envisages a deadline for compliance with the increased CCyB requirements of 30 September...

Die Vereinigten Staaten weisen sinkende Ölreserven auf. Dies führt zu einem Druck auf die Preise. Trotz eines Anstiegs der Rohölvorräte im jüngsten EIA-Bericht sind die kommerziellen Erdölvorräte in den USA in den meisten Wochen der letzten anderthalb Jahre zurückgegangen und liegen unter dem saisonalen Durchschnitt der letzten fünf Jahre und sogar unter dem Fünfjahresdurchschnitt vor der Pandemie. Der kontinuierliche Rückgang der US-amerikanischen Erdölvorräte im...

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 partners decided to spend more. This is partially...

The clear winners in inflation are those who require little from global supply chains, the frugal, and those who own their own labor, skills and enterprises. As the case for systemic inflation builds, the question arises: who wins and who loses in an up-cycle of inflation? The general view is that inflation is bad for almost everyone, but this ignores the big winners in an inflationary cycle. As I’ve explained here and in my new book Global Crisis, National Renewal,...

© Sudok1 | Dreamstime.com On 25 January 2022, a study published by Zurich University Hospital found that 97% of Covid-19 ICU patients since the start of Switzerland’s Covid-19 vaccination campaign were unvaccinated. The study evaluated hospital data from 964 Covid-19 patients who were treated in intensive care units in Swiss hospitals in the nine months since the start of Switzerland’s vaccination campaign. Of these only 33 (3%) were vaccinated with one of the two...

The Fed’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) released a new statement today purporting to outline the FOMC’s plans for the next several months. According to the committee’s press release: With inflation well above 2 percent and a strong labor market, the Committee expects it will soon be appropriate to raise the target range for the federal funds rate. The Committee decided to continue to reduce the monthly pace of its net asset purchases, bringing them to an end...