Building a tank at the Swiss defence contractor RUAG (Keystone) Swiss companies last year exported government-approved war materiel to 64 countries with a total value of CHF510 million ($510 million), 14% more than the previous year. Germany was the largest customer, taking deliveries worth CHF118 million, followed by Denmark, the US, Romania and Italy, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) said on...
Read More »The Fate of Real Estate
For years, realtors have been waiting for more housing inventory. It had become an article of faith, what was restraining a full-blown recovery was the lack of units available. The level of resales like construction was up, but still way, way less than it was now fourteen years past the prior peak despite sufficient population growth to have absorbed the previous bubble’s overbuilding. All the way back in March 2017,...
Read More »Swiss private banking giant dips toes into crypto scene
The 125-year-old Swiss private bank is ready for some crypto action. (© Keystone / Ennio Leanza) One of Switzerland’s largest banks, Julius Baer, has entered the cryptoassets world by announcing a partnership with budding crypto bank start-up SEBA. While other Swiss banks, such as Vontobel, Falcon and Swissquote, are already active in the space, Julius Baer’s entrance has attracted particular attention. The obvious...
Read More »FX Daily, February 26: Brexit Dilution Lifts Sterling, while Yesterday’s Equity Rally Fades, Powell Awaited
Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by 0.02% at 1.1363 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, February 26(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: The increased likelihood that Brexit is delayed and the possibility of a second referendum is helping lift sterling. As has been the case for most of the time since the June 2016 referendum, the prospects of a softer and/or later...
Read More »Tourists continue to flock to Switzerland
Tourists in front of the Lion statue in Lucerne (Keystone) The number of overnight stays in Swiss hotels increased by 3.8% last year to 38.8 million. Domestic tourism also registered a rise with 17.7 million stays by Swiss guests – up 2.7% on the previous year – Switzerland Tourismexternal link said at its annual press conference on Tuesday. It also welcomed the 3.7% increase in European guests but added that in...
Read More »GERMANY: ECONOMY & SOVEREIGN BOND
After a difficult second half of 2018, the outlook for Germany’s economy and sovereign bonds turns brighter. A host of factors weighed on German growth in H2 2018: a sharp slowdown in global demand on the external side and several transitory factors on the domestic side impacted industrial activity. At the same time, the 10-year German Bund yield has been trending downward. The steep fall in the oil price in late 2018,...
Read More »Now that Housing Bubble #2 Is Bursting…How Low Will It Go?
Unless the Fed is going to start buying millions of homes outright, prices are going to fall to what buyers can afford. There are two generalities that can be applied to all asset bubbles: 1. Bubbles inflate for longer and reach higher levels than most pre-bubble analysts expected 2. All bubbles burst, despite mantra-like claims that “this time it’s different” The bubble burst tends to follow a symmetrical reversal of...
Read More »Is Lending the Root of All Evil? Report 24 Feb
Ayn Rand famously defended money. In Atlas Shrugged, Francisco D’Anconia says: “So you think that money is the root of all evil? . . . Have you ever asked what is the root of money? Money is a tool of exchange, which can’t exist unless there are goods produced and men able to produce them. Money is the material shape of the principle that men who wish to deal with one another must deal by trade and give value for value....
Read More »FX Daily, February 25: Dollar Thumped on Confirmation of Tariff Delay while Stocks Advance
Swiss Franc The Euro has risen by 0.18% at 1.1358 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, February 25(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: The extension of the US-China tariff freeze had been telegraphed, but the confirmation is the single biggest driver of the day. Equities, led by a 5%+ advance in China, have rallied in Asia and Europe. Benchmark 10-year bond yields are...
Read More »Employment Barometer in the Q4 2018: Situation Sustained
25.02.2019 – In the 4th quarter 2018, total employment (number of jobs) rose by 1.3% in comparison with the same quarter a year earlier (+0.2% with previous quarter; seasonally adjusted figures). In full-time equivalents, employment in the same period rose by 1.6%. The Swiss economy counted 12 200 more vacancies than in the corresponding quarter of the previous year (+19.6%) and the employment outlook indicator is also...
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