Tag Archives: newsletter

(Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links) If you have been investing in Switzerland, you probably have heard about the Swiss Stamp Tax or the Swiss Stamp Duty. This Stamp Tax is a tax that is collected when you do certain transactions on the stock market. Even though this stamp tax is really simple to understand, there is a lot of confusion about it. Therefore, I wanted to cover it in detail to dispel the confusion once and for all. When you are...

The yearly growth rate of the US consumer price index (CPI) fell to 0.4 percent in April from 2 percent in April last year while the annual growth of the producer price index (PPI) plunged to –1.2 percent last month against 2.4 percent in April 2019. Furthermore, the yearly growth rate of the import price index fell to –6.8 percent in April from –0.2 percent in April last year. A general decline in the prices of goods and services is regarded as bad news since it is...

Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by 0.42% to 1.0579 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, May 22(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: The US has ratcheted up pressure on China on several fronts and has sapped risk appetites ahead of the weekend.  Equity markets are lower across the world.  Even in India, where the central bank unexpectedly cut the repo rate 40 bp, shares fell 0.7%. It was Hong Kong’s 5.5% that led the...

© Marekusz | Dreamstime.com The rate on deposits at the Swiss National Bank (SNB) is currently -0.75%. And while taking the rate further into negative territory is not the base case scenario, it cannot be excluded, according to some economists at the bank UBS. The probability that the SNB lowers rates further is not a base scenario, according to Thomas Jordan, the bank’s chief, reported the newspaper 20 Minutes. However, economists at UBS think it is possible, and...

Efforts are underway in Switzerland to accelerate the  development of sustainable aviation fuel. The aviation industry is a top greenhouse gas emitter. (Keystone) The Lufthansa Group has entered a partnership with the Swiss solar fuel developer Synhelion. The Swiss start-up is working to produce a fuel that emits 50% less CO2 by 2022 and plans to market a 100% renewable fuel in 2030. “We really have something here that demonstrates in a solid way that there is an...

If there’s been one small measure of progress, and a needed one, it has been the mainstream finally pushing commentary into the right category. Back in ’08, during the worst of GFC1 you’d hear it all described as “flight to safety.” That, however, didn’t correctly connote the real nature of what was behind the global economy’s dramatic wreckage. Flight to safety, whether Treasuries or dollars, wasn’t it. Back in March, while “it” was very obvious, even the New...

The virus news stream is mixed; the dollar has stabilized; US-China tensions continue to ratchet up We will get some more US economic data for May; weekly jobless claims are expected at 2.4 mln Eurozone and UK reported firm preliminary May PMI readings; BOE officials continue to take a very dovish tone South Africa is expected to cut rates 50 bp to 3.75%; Turkey is expected to cut rates 50 bp to 8.25% Japan and Australia reported preliminary May PMIs; Korea reported...

Crispin Odey I am writing in response to the comments you made in a letter to investors yesterday, which were widely reported. You have set the gold community afire, with claims that are not new and not true. So I shall attempt to douse the flames. As everyone knows, President Roosevelt outlawed the ownership of gold in 1933. Although gold was legalized in 1975, fears linger today that the governments may repeat this heinous act. There is no reason for this fear. In...

Economics has lost its way and the study has become both impotent and lacking in relevance. It’s easy to see how and why once we recognize that proper economic thinking takes place two steps beyond the apparent. Noneconomists typically take none of these steps, while modern economics has lost the ability to go beyond the first. This can, I think, be explained by economics’s increasing adoption of and reliance on mathematical and equilibrium models, which typically...

Swiss Franc The Euro has risen by 0.40% to 1.0634 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, May 21(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: New two and a half month highs in the S&P 500 yesterday failed to have much sway in the Asia Pacific region and Europe today as US-China tensions escalate and profit-taking set in. Perhaps it is a bit of “buy the rumor sell the fact” type of activity on the back of upticks in the...