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01.10.2020 – The consumer price index (CPI) remained stable in September 2020 compared with the previous month, reaching 101.2 points (December 2015 = 100). Inflation was –0.8% compared with the same month of the previous year. These are the results of the Federal Statistical Office (FSO). The stability of the index compared with the previous month is the result of opposing trends that counterbalanced each other overall. Prices for international package holidays...

01.10.2020 – Turnover adjusted for sales days and holidays rose in the retail sector by 1.6% in nominal terms in August 2020 compared with the previous year. Seasonally adjusted, nominal turnover fell by 2.1% 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 2.5% in August 2020 compared with the previous year. Real growth takes...

The data comes just days after Swiss National Bank President Thomas Jordan signalled that even larger interventions may be on the cards in the future. Keystone / Anthony Anex The Swiss National Bank (SNB) spent CHF90 billion ($97.8 billion) in the first half of the year, more than it has spent in the past three years combined, to hold down artificially the value of the wealthy alpine state’s currency. In official data released for the first time on Wednesday, the...

Greenland’s glaciers are melting at an alarming rate and the Alpine Initiative says Manor’s “Berg” water contributes to global warming. Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. A mineral water from Greenland glaciers sold by Swiss retail chain Manor has been dubbed worst climate offender in this year’s “Devil’s Stone” award by the Swiss Alpine Initiative. Every year the Alpine Initiative asks people to vote on three candidates for the most absurd...

It’s always something. There’s forever some mystery factor standing in the way. On the topic of inflation, for years it was one “transitory” issue after another. The media, on behalf of the central bankers it holds up as a technocratic ideal, would report these at face value. The more obvious explanation, the argument with all the evidence, just couldn’t be true otherwise it’d collapse the technocracy right down to the ground. And so it was also in the bond market....

Anyone claiming they can project the trajectory of the U.S. and global economy is deluding themselves. Normalcy depends entirely on everyday life being predictable. To be predictable, life must be stable, which means that there is a high level of certainty in every aspect of life. The world has entered an era of profound uncertainty, an uncertainty that will only increase as self-reinforcing feedbacks strengthen disrupting dynamics and perverse incentives drive...

Markets have struggled to find a clear direction as they attempt to digest US election news, debate performance, the impact of increased Covid-19 restrictions in many countries and vaccine news. The charts of gold and silver reflect the battle for dominance between the Bulls and the Bears. Today’s silver chart is a bit more crowded and busy than usual. Silver has continued to close just above the major trend line support from the March lows. It is also trading below...

Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by 0.10% to 1.0779 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, October 1(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: Speculation that a new round of fiscal stimulus from the US is possible is encouraging risk-taking today.  Many large Asian centers were closed for holidays today, and a technical problem prevented the Tokyo Stock Exchange from opening. Nevertheless, the markets that were open rose by...

Zurich, 30 September 2020 – The UBS Global Real Estate Bubble Index, a yearly study by UBS Global Wealth Management’s Chief Investment Office, indicates bubble risk or a significant overvaluation of housing markets in half of all evaluated cities. Prices increased on average, with Europe showing most cities at risk The Eurozone stands out as the region with the most overheated housing markets. Munich and Frankfurt top the ranking. Paris and Amsterdam...

Millions of litres of radioactively contaminated water are stored in water tanks at the tsunami-crippled nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima, in Japan. Keystone / Kimimasa Mayama Researchers in Zurich have developed a filter membrane made of whey proteins and activated carbon that can clean contaminated radioactive water. They hope to deploy their invention at the site of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan. Four years ago, scientists at the federal...