Some two million tonnes of food is thrown away every year in Switzerland. This year’s CHF200,000 ($204,000) J.E. Brandenberger Foundation prize has been awarded to Yvonne Kurzmeyer, founder of the charity organisation Schweizer Tafel. The organisation redistributes over 4,000 tonnes of food a year to underprivileged groups in Switzerland. Kurzmeyer was awarded the prize for her outstanding achievements in the redistribution of surplus resources to benefit those in...
Read More »Our Wile E. Coyote Federal Reserve
Whatever the Fed chooses to do, it’s already failed.. Wile E. Coyote has gotten a bad rap: in all fairness, his schemes are ingenious, if overly complicated, and it’s not his fault that the Acme detonator misfires or the Road Runner doesn’t respond as predicted. Every set-up to nail the Road Runner should work. That it fails and leaves him suspended over the cliff for a woefully brief second to intuit his impending doom really isn’t his fault. Wile E. Coyote and the...
Read More »Die Nationalbank riskiert Ärger mit Donald Trump
Donald Trump (Picture: Shutterstock) Die Deviseninterventionen der Schweizerischen Nationalbank sorgen für Spannungen. Die Schweiz läuft Gefahr, von den USA als Währungsmanipulatorin gebrandmarkt zu werden. (K)ein Grund zur Sorge? In den vergangenen Wochen hat die Schweizerische Nationalbank (SNB) wiederholt am Devisenmarkt interveniert, um den Franken davor zu bewahren, noch stärker gegen die wichtigsten Handelswährungen wie Euro und Dollar zu steigen. So weit sind...
Read More »Dollar Firm Ahead of Jackson Hole
FOMC minutes were not as dovish as many had hoped; bond and equity markets are set up for a big reset Today sees the start of the annual Fed symposium in Jackson Hole; the US reports a slew of data Markit flash eurozone August PMI readings were reported; ECB publishes the account of its July 25 meeting Japan-Korea relations continue to deteriorate Indonesia delivered a dovish surprise; Mexico and Brazil report mid-August inflation data The dollar is broadly firmer...
Read More »FX Daily, August 22: Tick Up in EMU PMI Does Little, Waiting for Powell
Swiss Franc The Euro has risen by 0.17% to 1.0905 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, August 22(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: Soft data in Asia and the continued decline in the yuan (six days and counting) prevented Asian equities from following the US lead from yesterday when the S&P 500 advanced by 0.8%. European shares are paring yesterday’s 1.2% advance despite an unexpected gain in the EMU flash PMI....
Read More »Big firms required to publish gender pay gap in 2021
Women in Switzerland earn about a fifth less than men, according to the Federal Equality Office. Large companies in Switzerland will have to analyse wages of men and women starting in 2020 and make the audited results available to staff in 2021. The Federal Council agreed on Wednesday that the equal pay revision to the Gender Equality Act, passed by parliament in December 2018, will come into force on July 1, 2020. Companies will have one year to publish a gender pay...
Read More »FX Daily, August 21: European Stocks Snap Back, Market Hopeful Italian Election can be Delayed
Swiss Franc The Euro has risen by 0.27% to 1.0882 FX Rates The end of the US equity three-day advance yesterday weighed on Asia Pacific shares today. Most benchmarks fell. Better than expected trade data helped Thailand buck the trend. A firmer tone emerged in the European morning, and the Dow Jones Stoxx 600 has recouped yesterday’s losses and more. It was led higher by consumer discretionary, energy, and industrials. US shares are also trading firmer today,...
Read More »Swiss Labour Force Survey in 2nd quarter 2019: number of persons in employment rises by 1.1 percent, unemployment rate based on the ILO definition falls to 4.2 percent
20.08.2019 – The number of employed persons in Switzerland rose by 1.1% between the 2nd quarter 2018 and the 2nd quarter 2019. During the same period, the unemployment rate as defined by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) fell from 4.6% to 4.2%. The EU unemployment rate based on the ILO definition decreased from 6.8% to 6.3%. These are some of the results from the Swiss Labour Force Survey (SLFS). Download press release: 2nd quarter 2019: number of persons...
Read More »USD/CHF technical analysis: 21-DMA exerts downside pressure
USD/CHF pulls back to 23.6% Fibonacci retracement. 21-DMA limits near-term upside. Following its U-turn from the 21-day simple moving average (DMA), USD/CHF confronts 23.6% Fibonacci retracement of April-August declines as it takes the bids to 0.9793 ahead of the European session on Wednesday. While 14-bar relative strength index (RSI) shows normal condition, pair’s sustained run-up beyond 0.9800 enables it to challenge the short-term key DMA level of 0.9811. It...
Read More »Brazilian real stands out in EM currency scorecard
Prospects for emerging-market currencies look cloudy. The currencies of countries with sound external buffers and limited exposure to global trade should fare relatively better than others. In recent months, the global environment has become more challenging for EM currencies. Trade tensions have increased and are weighing on economic activity. Commodity prices have also fallen. Such developments tend to weigh on global appetite for relatively risky EM assets. More...
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