Swiss Franc The Euro has risen by 0.43% to 1.1747 CHF. EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, March 26(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates After a poor start in Asia, equities recovered. The MSCI Asia Pacific initially extended last week’s losses and fell to its lowest level since February 12 before recovering to finish near its highs, 0.4% above last week’s close. European...
Read More »Swiss gold refiners accused of sourcing illegal and conflict gold
Illegal gold mining in Peru's Madre de Dios province has damaged the environment and had a negative impact on indigenous communities (Keystone) - Click to enlarge A report by the NGO Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) has accused Swiss gold refiner Metalor of procuring gold from controversial suppliers in Peru. Metalor denies the charge. The reportexternal link, released on Thursday to time with the...
Read More »Swiss government set to remove ‘mariage tax penalty’
In Switzerland, married couples file one combined tax return. Because tax rates rise in line with income it means that second incomes of married couples are taxed at a higher rate than those of single cohabitating ones. © Tero Vesalainen | Dreamstime.com - Click to enlarge Those campaigning to have this changed argue that it is unfair and acts as a disincentive for second income earners. In 1984, Switzerland’s Federal...
Read More »Decrypting the Appointment of John Bolton
So perhaps the dominant wing of the Deep State is finally willing to cut a deal with Trump. To many observers, the appointment of John Bolton as national security advisor is the functional equivalent of appointing the Anti-Christ–or maybe worse. Indeed, these observers would, when comparing the two, find grudging favor with the Anti-Christ. Bolton is a founding member of the neoliberal, neoconservative, neo-colonial...
Read More »What Fed Chair Powell Forgot to Mention
Son of the Imperial City What are the chances of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell being wrong? The chances he’ll be wrong on the economy’s growth prospects, the direction of the federal funds rate, and inflation itself? Our guess is his chances of being wrong are quite high. The new central planner-in-chief. - Click to enlarge Central banks are facing a special case of the socialist calculation problem...
Read More »Imports curdle mood of Swiss cheese producers
Despite the rise in foreign imports, the most popular cheeses are traditional varieties, such as the famous Emmental cheese. (Keystone) - Click to enlarge Switzerland may be living up to its cliché as a cheese loving nation, but a growing appetite for foreign brands has alarmed local farmers. On average the Swiss consumed 21 kilograms of cheese per person last year, compared to 18 kilograms across Europe,...
Read More »Swiss authorities say Uber drivers should be treated as ‘employees’
A 2016 taxi driver protest against Uber, in Bern. (Keystone) - Click to enlarge For the first time, the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) has clearly indicated that Uber taxi drivers should be classed as employees rather than self-employed. In an internal statement seen by the 10vor10 programme on Swiss public television, SECO gave the legal opinion that according to the conditions that...
Read More »Global Trade War Fears See Precious Metals Gain And Stocks Fall
– Market turmoil as trade war concerns deepen and Trump appoints war hawk Bolton – Oil, gold and silver jump as ‘Russia China Hawk’ Bolton appointed – Oil up 4%, gold up 2.2% and silver up 1.6% this week (see table) – Stocks down sharply – Nikkei down 4.5%, S&P 4.3% & Nasdaq 5.5% – Bolton scares jittery markets already shell-shocked by US’ tariffs against China – Currency wars and trade wars tend to proceed...
Read More »Just A Few More Pips
On Page 1, Chapter 1 of the Central Banker Crisis Handbook it states very clearly, “do not make it worse.” It’s something like the Hippocratic oath where monetary authorities must first assess what their actions might do to an already fragile system. It’s why they take great pains to try and maintain composure, appearing calm and orderly while conflagration rages all around. The last thing you want to do is confirm the...
Read More »US Stock Market – How Bad Can It Get?
SPX, Quo Vadis? Considering the Crash Potential In view of the fact that the stock market action has gotten a bit out of hand again this week, we are providing a brief update of charts we have discussed in these pages over the past few weeks (see e.g. “The Flight to Fantasy”). We are doing this mainly because the probability that a low probability event will actually happen has increased somewhat in recent days....
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