Swiss government forecasts 2021 deficit but no tax hikes

The coronavirus is set to knock a CHF 1 billion hole in Switzerland’s federal budget for 2021, according to a press release. Without the virus the budget was CHF 2.2 billion in the black. Post virus the budget is now CHF 1 billion in the red. The virus is expected to add CHF 2.0 billion to next years spending. The extra money is earmarked for SARS-CoV-2 tests, business loan guarantees and support to the sports sector.

Weekly SNB Sight Deposits and Speculative Positions: After SNB Meeting

Update June 29, 2020: After SNB Meeting. Sight Deposits have risen by +2.9 bn CHF, this means that the SNB is intervening and buying Euros and Dollars: The change is +2.9 bn. compared to last week.

Gold Outperforms All Assets In 2020 YTD as Enters Seasonal Sweet Spot of July, August and September

Source: Finiz.com ◆ Gold is the top performing asset in the world in the first half of 2020, outperforming all stock markets including the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq and outperforming “safe haven” U.S. government bonds (see table above).Gold had an 18% gain in dollars in the first half of 2020 as risk assets, especially stock markets, fell sharply with the S&P down 4.5% and other stock markets down more than 10% (see table). Gold...

A Review of Stephanie Kelton’s The Deficit Myth

The good news is that Stephanie Kelton has written a book on MMT that is very readable and will strike many readers as persuasive and clever. The bad news is that Stephanie Kelton has written a book on MMT that is very readable and will strike many readers as persuasive and clever. Narrated by the author.  Original Article: "A Review of Stephanie Kelton’s The Deficit Myth".

Swiss Retail Sales, May 2020: 5.6 percent Nominal and 6.6 percent Real

Turnover adjusted for sales days and holidays rose in the retail sector by 5.6% in nominal terms in May 2020 compared with the previous year. Seasonally adjusted, nominal turnover rose by 30.2% compared with the previous month.

Swiss government forecasts 2021 deficit but no tax hikes

The coronavirus is set to knock a CHF 1 billion hole in Switzerland’s federal budget for 2021, according to a press release. Without the virus the budget was CHF 2.2 billion in the black. Post virus the budget is now CHF 1 billion in the red. The virus is expected to add CHF 2.0 billion to next years spending. The extra money is earmarked for SARS-CoV-2 tests, business loan guarantees and support to the sports sector.

FX Daily, July 2: Dollar Thumped Ahead of US Jobs Report

Market optimism over the possibility of a vaccine in early 2021 overshadowed the continued surge in US cases, where the 50k-a-day threshold of new cases has been breached.  Following the NASDAQ close yesterday at record highs, global equities have advanced.  Led by Hong Kong returning from yesterday's holiday, Asia Pacific equities rallied.  Most local markets rose by more than 1%, though Tokyo and Taiwan lagged.

An Interesting Juncture in History

Just as the rewards of central-bank bubbles have not been evenly distributed, the pain created by the collapse of the bubbles won't be evenly distributed, either. We've reached an interesting juncture in history, and I don't mean the pandemic. I'm referring to the normalization of extremes in the economy, in social decay and in political dysfunction and polarization.

An Excellent Seasonal Buying Opportunity in Silver Lies Directly Ahead

Today I want to put a popular precious metal under the magnifying glass for you: silver. Silver, often referred to as the “little brother” of gold, has a particularly interesting seasonal pattern I would like to share with you.

Impressive Swiss Recovery After SNB Peg Removal

Retail data shows that the SNB peg removal in January 2015 as early as April 2015 with minimal adverse impact on the economy. Trade surplus showed that Switzerland had fully recovered its lost trade surplus in May and expectations crossed an important threshold into positive territory in June. CHF strengthened since May end, as the market caught wind of the Swiss recovery, and the Grexit would further strengthen the CHF if it were to occur.

Swiss Franc History, 2012: CHF becomes a “safe” Risk-On Currency

At the end of May, SNB president Jordan admitted that the EUR/CHF floor will not raised (here also cited by Bloomberg): “We cannot arbitrarily manipulate our currency. In an even worse crisis situation this would be disastrous and counterproductive. The floor must be legitimized. The current minimum exchange rate is realistic and has helped the Swiss economy.”

Richard Koo´s misleading take on the great recession: The final chapter – a guest post by Mark Sadowski

Weak Yen, Is it Really a Currency War?

Some journalists, like Ambrose Evans-Pritchard of the U.K.'s Telegraph and Michael Casey of the Wall Street Journal, have already claimed this to be a shot in the currency wars. Casey focuses exclusively on the BOJ activity and does not even mention GPIF.