Tag Archives: newslettersent

The advent of open and transparent central banks is a relatively new one. For most of their history, these quasi-government institutions operated in secret and they liked it that way. As late as October 1993, for example, Alan Greenspan was testifying before Congress intentionally trying to cloud the issue as to whether verbatim transcripts of FOMC meetings actually existed. Representative Toby Roth (R-WI) quizzed the...

The Economist has just published its January 2018 Big Mac index, a light-hearted measure of whether currencies are under or overvalued. The underlying assumption is that a Big Mac is the same whether bought in Kiev or Chur, so any price difference must be due to the exchange rate. © Sergiomonti _ Dreamstime.com - Click to enlarge In January 2018, Swiss Big Macs were still the world’s most expensive, making the Swiss...

Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by 0.14% to 1.1773 CHF. EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, January 23(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates The US dollar has come back better bid in late Asian activity. The session highlight was the BOJ meeting. BOJ maintained forecasts and policy. There was a small tweak to the inflation assessment, noting that prices were skewed to the...

Figures published in 2017 show that only 37% of Swiss healthcare costs were covered by basic compulsory health insurance premiums. © Ognjen Stevanovic | Dreamstime.com - Click to enlarge The remaining cost was covered by the government (20%), accident and social insurance (10%), private complementary health insurance (7%), charity (1%) and out-of-pocket spending by individuals (26%). Compulsory Swiss health insurance...

Although prices vary widely depending on the type and method of transaction, some banks may earn money by adding surcharges to currency exchanges. (Keystone) - Click to enlarge A study of over 40 Swiss finance institutions has revealed ‘striking’ differences in exchange rates for banknotes and currencies as well as the addition of hefty mark-ups and fees. Online banking and insurance comparison service...

Government Shutdown Ends – Markets Ignore Looming Debt and Bond Market Threat For Now – U.S. Senate pass a temporary spending plan through Feb. 8 to end shutdown– Markets shrug off both government shutdown and re-opening– Markets, government and media ignoring worsening US debt position – Gold responding positively to U.S. dysfunction, rising US Treasury yields & weaker dollar – U.S. government national debt is...

This is one reason why I anticipate “unexpected” disruptions in the global economy in 2018. The mere mention of “central banks” will likely turn off many readers who understandably have little interest in convoluted policies and arcane mumbo-jumbo, but bear with me for a few paragraphs while I make the case for something to happen in 2018 that will impact us all to some degree. That something is the decay of the...

Entre la fin de l’année 2016 et la fin du 3ème trimestre 2017 (chiffres disponibles), les dirigeants de la BNS ont accru le volume des devises détenues par l’établissement de 65 milliards de francs environ. En 9 mois seulement…. - Click to enlarge Selon eux, ces investissements se justifient par le franc suisse qui serait trop fort face à l’euro. Et pour l’affaiblir, il faut acheter de l’euro, mécanisme qui...

The Producer Price Index (PPI) or officially named “Producer and Import Price Index” describes the changes in prices for producers and importers. For us it is interesting because it is used in the formula for the Real Effective Exchange Rate. When producers and importers profit on lower price changes when compared to other countries, then the Swiss Franc reduces its overvaluation. The Swiss PPI values of -6% in 2015...

Swiss Franc The Euro has risen by 0.23% to 1.1759 CHF. EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, January 19(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates The US dollar is broadly lower as the momentum feeds on itself. Asia is leading the way. The Japanese yen, Taiwanese dollar, Malaysian Ringgit, and South Korean won are all around 0.45% higher. Asian shares also managed to shrug off the...