Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by 0.48% to 1.066 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, June 17(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: Investors have not yet completely shaken off the angst that saw equities slide last week. All equity markets in the Asia Pacific region, but Japan, edged higher today, including China, India, and South Korea, where political/military tensions are elevated. Europe followed suit, and the...
Read More »SoftBank invests in Credit Suisse funds financing technology bets
SoftBank has quietly poured more than $500m into Credit Suisse investment funds. Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. SoftBank has quietly poured more than $500m into Credit Suisse investment funds that in turn made big bets on the debt of struggling start-ups backed by the Japanese technology conglomerate’s Vision Fund. SoftBank made the investment into the Swiss bank’s $7.5bn range of supply-chain finance funds, said three people familiar with...
Read More »Growing Dollar Demand, Silver Weirdness, Market Report, 15 June
The Federal Reserve has become more aggressive again, after several years of acting docile. As you can see on this chart of the Fed’s balance sheet, it has very rapidly expanded from a baseline from (prior to) 2015 through 2018, of about $4.4 trillion. After which, it had attempted to taper, getting down to $3.8 trillion last summer. Then it was obliged to reverse itself well before responding to the COVID lockdown. Since then, its balance sheet has gone vertical....
Read More »Inequality is Overstated—and Overrated
Whining and complaining about inequality is a growth industry. Thomas Piketty’s book (or perhaps a large virtue-signaling paperweight), about how the rich are getting richer, achieved bestseller status and is now a movie. Understanding the flaws in the wealth inequality argument is increasingly important, because the communist wing of the Democratic Party is now openly advocating a wealth tax. In this article I will explain why measures of wealth inequality...
Read More »Investing Fees could cost you your early retirement!
(Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links) When you are investing, you want to minimize your investing fees. It is something most people already realize. But what most people do not realize is how expensive fees can be in the long-term. In this article, we are going to see precisely how much investing fees are hurting you! Not only will we see that they are more expensive than they seem. We will also see that investing fees have a significant...
Read More »A Chinese Outbreak (of Li v. Xi, Round 2)
Here they are again, seemingly at odds over how to proceed. Reminiscent of prior battles over whether to revive the economy or just let it go where it will, it appears as if China is in for Xi vs. Li Round 2. Or is it all just clever politics? Li Keqiang may be nominally the Chinese Premier but he’s a very distant second on every list of power players. Xi Jinping holds all the top spots, including a 2017-18 consolidation of power that left Xi rivaling only Mao in...
Read More »Fintech firm Achiko hits Cayman-related compliance problems
Achiko says its Cayman issues only came to light after listing in Switzerland. Keystone / Georgios Kefalas Cayman Islands fintech company Achiko has run into “compliance issues” just months after listing on the Swiss stock exchange. The firm has called a meeting of shareholders this week to approve a plan to create a Swiss company and re-list the shares from this entity. But some shareholders are upset that they will not be able to cast their votes the annual general...
Read More »FX Daily, June 16: Correction Scenario Tested
Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by 0.39% to 1.0704 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, June 16(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: Shortly after the US stock market opened sharply lower, the Federal Reserve announced that it’s Main Street facility was up and running. US stocks never looked back. After the S&P 500 recouped its full decline, the Fed announced it would begin buying corporate bonds. Up until now,...
Read More »Supplementary accommodation: 0.7 percent increase in overnight stays in 2019, but decrease in demand for holiday homes
15.06.2020 – In 2019, supplementary accommodation posted a total of 16.7 million overnight stays, i.e. an increase of 0.7% compared with 2018. With 11.4 million units, Swiss visitors represented more than two-thirds of demand (68.6%), i.e. a rise of 2.4%. Foreign visitors registered a 2.8% decrease with 5.2 million units. With 4.4 million overnight stays (-3.8%), European visitors accounted for the majority of stays by foreign guests. These are the final results from...
Read More »Fed Chairman: “We’re Not Even Thinking About Thinking About Raising Rates”
Jerome Powell Market volatility has suddenly spiked in recent days came after the Federal Reserve vowed last Wednesday to keep its benchmark rate near zero through 2022. That’s an unusually long period for the Fed to be projecting rate policy. It reflects the fact that it will take many months and perhaps years for the tens of millions of jobs that were recently lost to return. During his press conference, Chairman Powell stumbled and stammered his way into stating...
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