Any animal raised and slaughtered in Switzerland can be labelled Swiss. However, what the animal has been fed could be from anywhere. If animals are what they eat then much of the meat and eggs labelled Swiss aren’t very Swiss. © Sergio Bertino | Dreamstime.com A key challenge for meat, dairy and egg consumers is the absence of information on labels, which is limited to provenance. Information about what an animal has been fed is not contained on the labels of meat,...
Read More »FX Daily, July 02: US Jobs and OPEC+ Day
Swiss Franc The Euro has risen by 0.14% to 1.0946 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, July 02(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: The US jobs report and OPEC+ decision are awaited. The dollar remains bid. Only the yen and Canadian dollar are showing a hint of resilience, though, on the week, the Scandis and dollar-bloc currencies are off between around 1-2%. The greenback is also firmer against the emerging...
Read More »Swiss Roaming Charges to Fall on 1 July 2021 but the Roaming Minefield Remains
On 1 July 2021, Switzerland’s revised telecommunications law came into effect. The new rules force mobile providers to make certain changes to deals they offer customers when roaming. Some of the resulting changes are positive, but not all. In addition, some operators have retained bundles that don’t comply with the new rules. © Jekaterina Voronina | Dreamstime.com The new rules force mobile operators to change for roaming calls in increments of a second instead of...
Read More »The Tyranny of the Covid-19 Eviction Moratorium
The U.S. Supreme Court recently permitted the eviction moratorium established by the Centers for Disease Control to continue, at least until July 31, when the CDC plans to lift it. The Court wrongly decided the matter. It should have immediately lifted the moratorium. Historically, governments have held “inherent” police powers to protect the health of the citizenry. But the federal government is different. It was never intended to have inherent powers. Our American...
Read More »Anyone Remember That Whole SLR Cliff?
Does anyone remember the SLR “cliff?” Of course you don’t, because in the end it didn’t seem to make any difference. For a few weeks, it was kind of ubiquitous if only in the sense that it was another one of those deep plumbing issues no one seems able to understand (forcing all the “experts” to run to Investopedia in order write something up about it). Whatever this thing was and was going to be, it sounded ridiculously earth-shattering. And then, poof, it was...
Read More »The Systemic Risk No One Sees
The unraveling of social cohesion has consequences. Once social cohesion unravels, the nation unravels. My recent posts have focused on the systemic financial risks created by Federal Reserve policies that have elevated moral hazard (risks can be taken without consequence) and speculation to levels so extreme that they threaten the stability of the entire financial system. These risks are well known, though largely ignored in the current speculative frenzy. But...
Read More »FX Daily, July 01: The Greenback is Bid to Start the Second Half
Swiss Franc The Euro has risen by 0.04% to 1.0969 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, July 01(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: Soft Asian manufacturing PMIs weighed on local shares after the S&P 500 set new record highs yesterday. European shares are recouping yesterday’s month-end losses, while US futures indices are bid. The US 10-year yield is around 1.47%, and European yields are 1-2 bp higher. The...
Read More »Swiss Consumer Price Index in May 2021: -0.6 percent YoY, +0.1 percent MoM
01.07.2021 – The consumer price index (CPI) increased by 0.1% in June 2021 compared with the previous month, reaching 101.1 points (December 2020 = 100). Inflation was +0.6% compared with the same month of the previous year. These are the results of the Federal Statistical Office (FSO).The 0.1% increase compared with the previous month is due to several factors including rising prices for fruiting vegetables. International package holidays also recorded a price...
Read More »Swiss Retail Sales, May 2021: +2.3 percent Nominal and +2.8 percent Real
01.07.2021 – Turnover adjusted for sales days and holidays rose in the retail sector by 2.3% in nominal terms in May 2021 compared with the previous year. Seasonally adjusted, nominal turnover fell by 1.9% compared with the previous month. These are provisional findings from the Federal Statistical Office (FSO). Real turnover adjusted for sales days and holidays rose in the retail sector by 2.8% in May 2021 compared with the previous year. Real growth takes...
Read More »Swiss Government Sets Sights on F-35A Fighter Jet Fleet
Switzerland looks set to choose the US option over European competitors following months of intense lobbying. Keystone / Giuseppe Lami The Swiss government wants to upgrade the country’s air defence system by buying 36 F-35A fighter aircraft from United States manufacturer Lockheed Martin and five Patriot surface-to-air missile units from another US firm Raytheon. The Federal Council (governing body) will ask parliament to approve the dual purchase on the basis that...
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