Tag Archives: newsletter

This is how the budget process in Washington begins. Step one: the president submits his budget to Congress. Step two: Congress puts the president’s budget in a drawer somewhere and forgets about it. Step three: Congress passes a budget it likes instead. This reality, however, has been conveniently ignored in recent weeks. Some pundits and politicians have claimed that Donald Trump “gutted the CDC.” Trump has been busy “slashing the government agencies” that combat...

President Trump spoke to the nation last night and did little to calm markets; reports suggest that the Democrats are working on a bill Fed easing expectations are intensifying The ECB decision will be out at 845 AM ET; over the past 17 ECB decision days, the euro has finished lower in 11 of them Reports suggest the Bank of Japan is “likely to strengthen stimulus” next week; Australia announced details of its AUD17.6 bln stimulus plan The dollar is broadly firmer...

USD/CHF holds onto recovery gains from 23.6% Fibonacci retracement level. 50% of Fibonacci retracement, January month low on the bulls’ radars. Sellers can take entry below 0.9320. USD/CHF adds 0.22% to its previous recovery, currently crossing 10-day SMA, while trading near 0.9460 during the early Friday. The pair manages to remain positive beyond 23.6% Fibonacci retracement of its fall from November 2019. As a result, buyers can aim for further upside beyond a...

Switzerland’s government and health officials presented a coronavirus update yesterday. Key elements of the presentation are set out below. [embedded content]The full coronavirus press update can be viewed above in German. Closing borders is now pointless Patrick Mathys, who is leading the coronavirus response at the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH), said epidemiologically that closing the borders would achieve nothing and would not slow the spread of the...

IT IS BAD enough when individuals stockpile pasta and toilet paper. It is worse when governments put a protective ring around medical equipment. As the covid-19 pandemic leads to a rush for medical gear, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that supplies of respirators and medical masks will not keep up with demand, and soon global stocks of gowns and goggles will be insufficient too. Some governments are erecting trade barriers to safeguard their...

Can we please dispense with all notions that monetary policy works? Specifically balance sheet expansion via any scale asset purchase programs. Nowhere has that been more apparent than Japan. Go back and reread all the promised benefits from BoJ’s Big Bang QQE that were confidently written in 2013. The biggest bazooka ever conceived has fallen short in every conceivable way. Starting with the fact QQE remains ongoing approaching its seventh birthday. Over here in...

Medicare for All is listed as the top priority of Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. He describes it as a single-payer system that is “free at the point of service” as there will be no premiums, deductibles, copays, or surprise bills. It will cover more services (dental, hearing, vision, long-term care, substance abuse treatment, etc.) than what the present Medicare system covers. It will also stop the “pharmaceutical industry from ripping off the...

Many people think that investing in the United States Exchanged Traded Funds (ETFs) is dangerous. They believe that because of the U.S. Estate Tax. This tax will heavily tax the assets of a decedent. This tax means that your beneficiary will only get a portion of your estate when you decease. Because of that, many people recommend not to invest in American ETFs (or even stocks). But is that even true? Many people forget about the U.S. Switzerland double taxation...

This is the upside of hyper-litigiousness: prevention is prioritized as the most effective means of limiting future liability. Never mind prevention or vaccines; the big question is “who can we sue after this blows over to rake in millions of dollars?” Yes, this is pathetic, tragic, perverse and evil, but that’s reality in a hyper-litigious society like the U.S. Many people are struck by the apparent over-reaction of Corporate America to the Covid-19 threat, but this...

Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by 0.06% to 1.057 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, March 12(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: After the Bank of England and the UK Treasury announced both monetary and fiscal support, the focus turns to the ECB, but the proximity of the US Congressional recess (next week) without strong fiscal measures being in place sucked the oxygen away from other issues. President Trump’s...