London Gold Bullion Banks To “Open Vaults” In Transparency Push London’s gold bullion market, which is centuries old, is said to be seeking transparency with plans to reveal how much gold bullion is held in vaults in and around London city according to gold bullion banks. These include gold bullion bars held and controlled by the Bank of England, as reported by Henry Sanderson in the Financial Times. The move is being...
Read More »A recent purchase shows how hard it is to trust product packaging
Volkswagen shocked the world when it was revealed it was cheating on emissions tests on a grand scale. Now some television makers may be gaming the energy efficiency ratings of some of their televisions, according to the Economist. In their efforts to compete and sell more, some brands decide to cut corners. Sometime transgressions are major, like at Volkswagen. However, much of the time they are minor, perfectly legal...
Read More »Which Assets Are Most Likely to Survive the Inevitable “System Re-Set”?
Your skills, knowledge and and social capital will emerge unscathed on the other side of the re-set wormhole. Your financial assets held in centrally controlled institutions will not. Longtime correspondent C.A. recently asked a question every American household should be asking: which assets are most likely to survive the “system re-set” that is now inevitable? It’s a question of great import because not all assets...
Read More »Weekly Sight Deposits and Speculative Positions: SNB Intervenes for 2.4 bn CHF, while Speculators increase CHF Shorts
Headlines Week February 06, 2017 Recently inflation rose more quickly in the euro zone, but this was mostly caused by a temporary oil price effect. Therefore the ECB might be dovish for a longer period than the SNB. Consumer price inflation will decide who is more dovish. Ultimately inflation will depend on the two key parameters wages and rents. Rents will rise first in Switzerland, while the Euro zone has downwards...
Read More »The Central Banks Face Unwelcome Realities: Their Policies Boosted Wealth Inequality, Failed to Generate “Growth”
Rather than be seen to be further enriching the rich, I think central banks will start closing the “free money for financiers” spigots. Take a quick glance at these charts of the Federal Reserve balance sheet and bank credit in the U.S. Notice what happened to bank credit after the Fed “tapered” and stopped expanding its balance sheet? U.S. Fed Summary - Click to enlarge Bank credit exploded higher: U.S. Bank...
Read More »India: The World’s Fastest Growing Large Economy?
Popular Narrative India has been the world’s favorite country for the last three years. It is believed to have superseded China as the world’s fastest growing large economy. India is expected to grow at 7.5%. Compare that to the mere 6.3% growth that China has “fallen” to. The IMF, the World Bank, and the international media have celebrated this event. Declining commodity prices and other problems in Russia, Brazil and...
Read More »FX Weekly Review, January 30 – February 04: Reversal of Trump Reflation Trade Continues
Swiss Franc Currency Index The Swiss Franc index remained around the 2% gain that for the last month, the recovery from the Trump reflation trade. In this trade, investors preferred U.S. against European stocks. This tendency, however, is reversing now – and with it the franc recovered. Trade-weighted index Swiss Franc, February 04(see more posts on Swiss Franc Index, ) Source: market.ft.com - Click to...
Read More »The Futility of Predictions
Awesome Forecasts and the Unknowable Future Back in late 2013 I wrote a piece on human nature which was in part inspired by the bullish exuberance exhibited by a MarketWatch article predicting the DJIA at 20,000 in the near term future. Yesterday afternoon, a bit over three years later, that prediction actually became reality and I’m sure the author of that article as well as many other like minded traders popped some...
Read More »Destroying The “Wind & Solar Will Save Us” Delusion
The “Wind and Solar Will Save Us” story is based on a long list of misunderstandings and apples to oranges comparisons. Somehow, people seem to believe that our economy of 7.5 billion people can get along with a very short list of energy supplies. This short list will not include fossil fuels. Some would exclude nuclear, as well. Without these energy types, we find ourselves with a short list of types of energy — what...
Read More »Swiss real estate market UBS Swiss Real Estate Bubble Index 4Q 2016
Risks to the Swiss property market remained elevated in the three months through September, according to UBS Group AG’s quarterly index. “While the buy-to-rent price ratio reached an all-time high, moderate mortgage growth and the slightly-improved economy prevented imbalances in the owner-occupied housing market from widening,” it said in a report. Major Findings • The UBS Swiss Real Estate Bubble Index stood in the...
Read More »