Justice Minister Karin Keller-Sutter and Foreign Affairs Minister Ignazio Cassis listen to the debate in the House of Representatives on Monday (Keystone) Switzerland should only make another billion-franc “cohesion” payment to the European Union if the EU doesn’t discriminate against Switzerland, parliament has agreed. The House of Representatives on Monday approved the CHF1.3 billion ($1.3 billion) that will help...
Read More »Chart(s) of the Week: Reviewing Curve Warnings
Quick review: stocks hit a bit of a rough patch right during the height of inflation hysteria. At the end of January 2018, just as the US unemployment rate had finally achieved the very center of attention, global markets were rocked by instability. Unexpectedly, of course. Over the next several weeks, share prices sagged and people blamed it on a number of things: Korean War, the unemployment rate itself (the economy...
Read More »Keynes Was a Vicious Bastard, Report 17 Mar
My goal is to make you mad. Not at me (though I expect to ruffle a few feathers with this one). At the evil being wrought in the name of fighting inflation and maximizing employment. And at the aggressive indifference to this evil, exhibited by the capitalists, the gold bugs, and the otherwise-free-marketers. So, today I am going to do something I have never done. I am going to rant! I am even going to use vulgar...
Read More »FX Daily, March 18: Equities Advance, Dollar Slips, Key Events Awaited
Swiss Franc The Euro has risen by 0.06% at 1.1348 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, March 18(see more posts on EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: The eventful week has begun off slowly. After Wall Street’s best week in four months underpinned Asian’ equities, where all the markets but Thailand, advanced, led by the nearly 2.5% rally in Shanghai. Note that New Zealand’s...
Read More »FX Weekly Preview: Three Highlights in the Week Ahead
Three events next week will shape the investment climate. The Federal Reserve meets and will update its forecasts and guidance. The British House of Commons may vote for a third time on the Withdrawal Bill before Prime Minister May heads of the EU Summit to ask for an extension of the UK leaving the EU. The eurozone sees the flash March PMI, with great hope that the green shoots of spring will be evident. There is...
Read More »Brexit update: UK parliament opts for an extension
After an eventful week in parliament, the Brexit ball is set to keep rolling as MPs move to extend the 29 March deadline. The British Parliament concluded a series of votes on Brexit this week with an intention to extend the 29 March Brexit deadline. What remains unclear at this point is whether the UK will seek a short (two months) or a longer extension (two years). It is also not clear what this extension would be...
Read More »The Coming Crisis the Fed Can’t Fix: Credit Exhaustion
Thus will end the central banks’ bombastic hubris and the public’s faith in central banks’ godlike powers. Having fixed the liquidity crisis of 2008-09 and kept a perversely unequal “recovery” staggering forward for a decade, central banks now believe there is no crisis they can’t defeat: Liquidity crisis? Flood the global financial system with liquidity. Interest rates above zero? Create trillions out of thin air and...
Read More »US lobbies Switzerland to drop Chinese telecom giant Huawei
Sunrise is working in Switzerland with Chinese tech giant Huawei on the new generation of “5G” mobile Internet connectivity. (Keystone) The US has expressed concern over the use of Chinese technology in Switzerland, suggesting it may be used for espionage, reports the Sonntagszeitung newspaper. Sonntagszeitung cited the Swiss foreign ministryexternal link as saying that the US embassy in Bern had conducted “an exchange...
Read More »US lobbies Switzerland to drop Chinese telecom giant Huawei
Sunrise is working in Switzerland with Chinese tech giant Huawei on the new generation of “5G” mobile Internet connectivity. (Keystone) The US has expressed concern over the use of Chinese technology in Switzerland, suggesting it may be used for espionage, reports the Sonntagszeitung newspaper. Sonntagszeitung cited the Swiss foreign ministryexternal link as saying that the US embassy in Bern had conducted “an exchange...
Read More »Swiss agency suspends payments to migration platform
The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) has temporarily suspended payments to a civil society platform on migration issues. Financial conflicts of interest and accusations of pro-migration bias are being investigated. On Thursday, the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) confirmed that the Swiss Civil Society Platform on Migration and Developmentexternal link will not be receiving any further...
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