Tag Archives: U.S. Treasuries

 As I so often write, we still talk about 2008 because we aren’t yet done with 2008. It doesn’t seem possible to be stuck in a time warp of such immense proportions, but such are the mistakes of the last decade carrying with them just these kinds of enormous costs. It has been this way from the beginning, even before the beginning as if that was possible. The Great Financial Crisis has no official start date, but we...

Swiss Franc vs USD and EUR The Swiss Franc recovered a lot of the losses that came with the French elections. That political event was mostly driven by speculators that will close their positions. We expected the EUR to trade around 1.07 to 1.0750 CHF in some time. What exactly is this “some time” remains open, but is at the latest in early 2018. Many, like Thomas Flury, currency strategist at UBS, think that the...

Swiss Franc The Swiss franc was the weakest of the majors. Its 1.7% fall was the largest in six months. Over the past month, the euro has rallied strongly against the Swiss franc. The 3.2% rally has seen the euro reach heights not see since last September. Thanks to the win of the pro-euro Macro, FX traders went long Euro and short CHF. The euro rose up to 1.0980. How long this momentum will last is still the question,...

I don’t think Milton Friedman would have made much of chess player. For all I know he might have been a grand master or something close to that rank, but as much as his work is admirable it invites too the whole range of opposite emotion. He was the champion libertarian of the free market who rescued economics from the ravages of New Deal socialism, but in doing so he simply created the avenue for where Economics of...

Closing the book on Q4 2016 balance sheet capacity is to review essentially forex volumes. The eurodollar system over the last ten years has turned far more in this direction in addition to it becoming more Asian/Japanese. In fact, the two really go hand in hand given the native situation of Japanese banks. As expected, data compiled by the Office of Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) shows the same negative tendencies...

Swiss Franc Currency Index The Swiss Franc index gained 1.5% in the last month, the biggest part of it is from the last week. Trade-weighted index Swiss Franc, May 06(see more posts on Swiss Franc Index, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge Swiss Franc Currency Index (3 years) The Swiss Franc index is the trade-weighted currency performance (see the currency basket)On a three years interval, the Swiss...

If you are a stock investor, you should be terrified. The most disconcerting words have been uttered by the one person capable of changing the whole dynamic. After spending so many years trying to recreate the magic of the “maestro”, Ben Bernanke in retirement is still at it. In an interview with Charles Schwab, the former Fed Chairman says not to worry: Dr. Bernanke noted that corporate earnings have risen at the same...

Swiss Franc Switzerland Retail Sales YoY, March 2017(see more posts on Switzerland Retail Sales, ) Source: Investing.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Many financial centers are closed for May. Japanese markets were open today, but will be closed for three sessions beginning Wednesday for the Golden Week celebrations. The US dollar is narrowly mixed. The yen is the weakest of the majors, off about 0.3% as the...

Swiss Franc Currency Index Trade-weighted index Swiss Franc, April 29(see more posts on Swiss Franc Index, ) Source: markets.fx.xom - Click to enlarge Swiss Franc Currency Index (3 years) The Swiss Franc index is the trade-weighted currency performance (see the currency basket)On a three years interval, the Swiss Franc had a weak performance. The dollar index was far stronger. The dollar makes up 33% of the...

According to the headline TIC statistics, foreign central banks have in the past six months sold the fewest UST’s since the 6-month period ended November 2015. That may indicate an easing of “dollar” pressure in the private markets due to “reflation” sentiment. They are, however, still selling. In February 2017, the latest month available, the foreign official sector disposed of another $10.7 billion (net) after -$44.9...