Tag Archives: newsletter

◆ Global gold ETF holdings reach all time record highs, increasing by 13.4% so far in 2019 on hedging and safe haven demand ◆ Global gold ETFs, ETCs and similar products had US$3.9bn of net inflows across all regions, increasing their collective gold holdings by 75.2 tonnes(t) to 2,808t, the highest levels of all time in September ◆ Gold ETF holdings have surpassed late 2012 levels, at which time the gold price was near US$1,700/oz, 18% higher than current levels. ◆...

The new CHF100 banknote was issued on September 12, but it has not gone totally smoothly. (Keystone / Peter Klaunzer) The new CHF100 ($100) banknote, which went into circulation last month, has blocked bank ATMs in half a dozen German-speaking Swiss cantons. Bank machines belonging to the PostFinance bank do not seem to like the new blue CHF100 note, which was officially launched on September 12. “Recently, practically every time I try to withdraw money, the...

From the SNB’s press release regarding the newly established BIS Innovation Hub Centre in Switzerland: “The Swiss Centre will initially conduct research on two projects. The first of these will examine the integration of digital central bank money into a distributed ledger technology infrastructure. This new form of digital central bank money would be aimed at facilitating the settlement of tokenised assets between financial institutions. Tokens are digital assets...

Once we understand this mechanism, we understand that labor can never get ahead. I’ve been pondering a comment longtime correspondent Drew P. emailed me in response to my post, What’s Holding Up the Market?: “Our time/labor is finite, but money is infinite.” Drew explained that creating new fiat currency and injecting it into a closed system (our financial system) controls and restrains the value of our time and labor, past, present and future. This is a profound...

I’ve said all along that they would be dragged into them kicking and screaming. After all, the Federal Reserve undertook its last rate hike in December 2018 – just as the markets were making clear he was completely mistaken in his view of the economy. What followed was the ridiculous “Fed pause” which pretty much everyone outside of the central bank and the Economics profession knew wasn’t the end of it. You know the story. When he finally gave in at the end of July,...

The Swiss workforce and labour market get high marks in the index. (© Keystone / Gaetan Bally) Switzerland has slipped down a slot in the annual Global Competitiveness Index from the World Economic Forum (WEF)external link. Having come in fourth in 2018, Switzerland now follows Singapore, the United States, Hong Kong and the Netherlands. The index covers 141 countries. The world economy is not ready for a major slowdown, warns WEF. “Ten years on from the global...

Swiss Franc The Euro has risen by 0.35% to 1.0912 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, October 9(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: The 1.5% drop in the S&P 500 and the deterioration of US-China relations and the prospects of a no-deal Brexit failed did not carry over much into today’s activity. Asia Pacific equities were mostly a little lower, though China and India bucked the regional trend, while Korea was...

In the latest note to the clients, the UBS Economist Alessandro Bee indicated that he sees the Swiss National Bank (SNB) cutting interest rates next year. Key Quotes: “Both the European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve to “react to recession risks” with more rate cuts. That should force the SNB to cut rates in the spring, which is why there shouldn’t be a stronger appreciation of the franc in the next twelve months.” Meanwhile, the KOF Swiss Economic...

The dollar staged a stunning comeback yesterday as risk-off took hold on rising geopolitical risk; those risks remain high US-China tensions have risen ahead of trade talks that begin Thursday The US abruptly announced that it would withdraw its troops from northeast Syria US reports September PPI; German IP came in better than expected UK Prime Minister Johnson told Chancellor Merkel that a deal is “essentially impossible” Chinese markets re-opened for trading...

Switzerland is the only country among the 47 members of the Council of Europe which does not have a law governing political party financing. (© Keystone / Gaetan Bally) Switzerland’s biggest firms – mainly banks, pharmaceutical firms and insurance companies – donate at least CHF5 million ($5 million) a year to political parties and candidates, a survey has revealed. The poll of 140 companies by Swiss public radio RTS, published on Tuesdayexternal link, found that one...