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The end of the Greek assistance program that allowed them to keep their primarily official creditors whole, and the broad expansion in the eurozone, was supposed to usher in a new period of convergence. Monetary union was once again feted as a success, and some observers were forecasting a substantial increase in the euro as a reserve asset.   Instead, the economy lost momentum, core inflation returned to its trough,...

Summary President Trump canceled the planned summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un. Malaysia’s new Finance Minister Lim was sworn in along with 13 other cabinet ministers. Philippine central bank cut reserve ratios for commercial banks by one percentage point to 18% effective June 1. The United Arab Emirates opened up its economy to more foreign investment. Brazil state-run oil company Petrobras cut the price of...

This week, the Swiss NGO Public Eye, launched a campaign for more affordable medicine in Switzerland under the slogan: protect patients, not patents. ©-Penchan-Pumila-_-Dreamstime.com_ - Click to enlarge The NGO says high prices, of cancer drugs in particular, is not only an issue affecting developing nations but wealthy ones too. It says that cancer treatments in Switzerland often cost over CHF 100,000 a year. Public...

Markit Economics released the flash results from several of its key surveys. Included is manufacturing in Japan (lower), as well as composites (manufacturing plus services) for the United States and Europe. Within the EU, Markit offers details for France and Germany. Given the nature of sentiment surveys, we tend to ignore these most months unless they suggest either pending changes or extremes. Beginning with the US,...

by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, Daily Telegraph Firebrand populists of Left and Right are poised to take power in Italy, forming the first “anti-system” government in a major West European state since the Second World War. Leaders of the radical Five Star Movement and the anti-euro Lega party have been meeting to put the finishing touches on a coalition of outsiders, the “nightmare scenario” feared by foreign investors and...

While Switzerland remains in the top five with the same other four countries in this year’s IMD World Competitiveness Ranking, it slipped from second to fifth place. ©-Kevkhiev-Yury-_-Dreamstime.com_ - Click to enlarge The United States rose from fourth to first, second and third places went to Hong Kong and Singapore, and fourth place to the Netherlands. America’s comeback was due to its economic performance and...

Industrial Production in the United States rose 3.5% year-over-year in April 2018, down slightly from a revised 3.7% rise in March. US Industrial Production, Jan 2006 - May 2018(see more posts on U.S. Industrial Production, ) - Click to enlarge Since accelerating to 3.4% growth back in November 2017, US industry has failed to experience much beyond that clear hurricane-related boost. IP for prior months,...

Gold Looks A Better Investment Than UK Property Dominic Frisby of Money Week looks at the historical relationship between UK house prices and gold (including some great charts), and concludes that your money is better off in the yellow metal than bricks and mortar. Today we return to a subject that has been a favourite of mine over the years: UK house prices – but with a twist. We don’t consider them in the debased,...

A look at different scenarios for the ECB’s exit from quantitative easing and its expected rate hiking cycle. Our baseline scenario for ECB normalisation still holds. We expect QE to end in December 2018 and a first rate hike in September 2019. The ECB is likely to wait until its 26 July meeting to make its decisions on QE and forward guidance. Still, downside risks have risen to the point where another open-ended QE...

Swiss Franc The Euro is down by 0.63% to 1.1545 CHF. This is the fifth day in sequence that the Swiss Franc appreciated. EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, May 25(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Italian stocks are flat, while most European bourses are higher, with the Dow Jones Stoxx 600 up 0.5% in late morning turnover in Europe. The benchmark is lead by real estate,...