Social media is becoming increasingly dominant in the Swiss media industry, controlling not only consumer habits but also the advertising market. In addition, television is dying. These are the findings of the latest “Yearbook Quality of the Media” by the University of Zurich. They are strong, they are dominant, they have money – and they are located outside the Swiss sphere of influence: the internet giants or “tech...
Read More »Russia Buys 34 Tonnes Of Gold In September
– Russia adds 1.1 million ounces to reserves in ongoing diversification from USD – 34 ton addition brings Russia’s Central Bank holdings to 1,779t; 6th highest – Russia’s gold reserves are at highest point in Putin’s 17-year reign – Russia’s central bank will buy gold for its reserves on the Moscow Exchange – Russia recognises gold’s role as independent currency and safe haven Russian Central Bank Gold Reserves, 2006 -...
Read More »Housing Isn’t Just About Real Estate
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported today that sales of existing homes (resales) were up slightly in September 2017 on a monthly basis. At a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 5.39 million last month, that was practically unchanged from the 5.35 million estimate for August that was the lowest in a year. On an annual basis, resales in September were 1.5% less than those in September 2016. It was the first...
Read More »Marc Faber, Freedom of Speech & Capitalism
Political Correctness Hampers Honest Debate What would the world be like today had Europeans never colonized Americas, Africa, the Middle East, Australia, New Zealand, and South Asia? Most of these societies would still not have discovered the wheel. It takes a huge amount of reality-avoidance and ineptitude for outsiders who travel there not to realize that a billion or more people in the Third World still wouldn’t...
Read More »FX Daily, October 26: Draghi’s Day
Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by 0.27% to 1.1656 CHF. EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, October 26(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates It is all about the ECB meeting today. The market was hoping for more details last month, but Draghi pointed to today. The broad issue is well known. While growth has been strong, price pressures are still not, according to the ECB, on a...
Read More »Wie Sozialisten den Kapitalismus prägten – Teil 3
Im zweiten Teil dieser Analyse wurde zu zeigen versucht, weshalb es für das eigentliche Verständnis unseres heutigen Geldsystems und dessen spezifischen Eigenschaften wenig sinnvoll ist, in der Kritik desselbigen zwischen Staat, Zentralbank und Geschäftsbank zu unterscheiden. Alle drei Akteure sind für die in Teil Zwei beschriebene «monetäre Revolution» unabdingbar und haben die von der natürlichen Knappheit losgelöste...
Read More »Can Switzerland Save the World?
Switzerland: Far from Flawless, but still a Unique Country – An Interview with Claudio Grass Our friend Claudio Grass has discussed Switzerland in these pages before, and on one of these occasions we added some background information on country’s truly unique political system (see “The People Against the Establishment” for the details). People are generally aware that direct democracy in the form of frequent ...
Read More »Next Wall Street Crash Looms? Lessons On Anniversary Of 1987 Crash
– Next Wall Street Crash looms? Lessons on anniversary of crash – 30 years since stock market ‘Black Monday’ crash of 1987 – Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 22.6% on October 19, 1987 – S&P 500, FTSE and DAX fell 20%, 11% & 9% respectively – Gold rose 24.5% in 1987 (see chart), acting as safe haven – Prior to crash, stocks hit successive record highs despite imbalances – Imbalances that lead to 1987 crash are...
Read More »FX Daily, October 25: Sterling and Aussie Interrupt the Waiting Game
Swiss Franc The Euro has risen by 0.32% to 1.1689 CHF. EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, October 25(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Most participants seemed comfortable marking time ahead of tomorrow’s ECB meeting, and an announcement President Trump’s nominations to the Federal Reserve. However, softer than expected Australian Q3 CPI and a stronger than expected UK Q3...
Read More »Après les Panama Papers, enquête sur Malte, « paradis fiscal méconnu ». L’Express
Il existe une armée « d’émigrés du fisc à Malte », dénonce un consortium de journalistes. Bouygues et Total figurent parmi les entreprises épinglées. Mediapart et le réseau European Investigative Collaborations (EIC) ont publié, vendredi, une longue enquête sur Malte et « les coulisses d’un paradis fiscal« . Pendant quatre mois, 49 journalistes ont décortiqué les noms des personnes et des entreprises directrices ou...
Read More »