Central Banks Buying Stocks Have Rigged US Stock Market Beyond Recovery

Central banks buying stocks are effectively nationalizing US corporations just to maintain the illusion that their “recovery” plan is working because they have become the banks that are too big to fail. At first, their novel entry into the stock market was only intended to rescue imperiled corporations, such as General Motors during the first plunge into the Great Recession, but recently their efforts have shifted to propping up the entire...

FX Daily, June 27: Euro Surges on Draghi, While Yuan Rises on Suspected PBOC Action

ECB President Draghi told the audience at the annual ECB Forum transitory factors were holding back inflation. This was quickly understood to be bullish for the euro, and it rallied from near the session lows below $1.12 to around $1.1260, a nine-day high.

What Is the Fundamental Gold Price? Precious Metals Supply and Demand [extended version]

Keith Weiner’s weekly look on Gold. Gold and silver prices, Gold-Silver Price Ratio, Gold basis and co-basis and the dollar price, Silver basis and co-basis and the dollar price.

Activist fund aims to spur ‘staid’ Nestle into action

Mark Schneider, Nestlé chief executive, addressed a conference in Berlin last week. "Size alone won't protect you from change," he told the Consumer Goods Forum and, after listing the challenges facing the industry, added that "status quo is not an option".

More Pieces of Impossible

On his company’s earnings conference call back on Valentine’s Day, T-Mobile CEO John Legere was unusually feisty. Never known for shyness, Legere had reason behind his bluster. T-Mobile had practically built itself up on price, being left the bottom tier of the wireless space practically to itself. That all changed, however, as both Verizon and Sprint were set to escalate the wireless price war.

Dudley in a Good Place

Dear Mr. Dudley, Your recent remarks in the wake of last week’s FOMC statement were notably unhelpful. In particular, your explanation that further rate hikes are needed to prevent crashing unemployment and rising inflation stunk of rotten eggs.

Swiss balance of payments and international investment position: Q1 2017

Key Figures, Current Account: +39% against Q1/2016, now +11.1 bn. CHF, Trade Balance: +78% to 10.5 bn, Services Balance: +21% to 5.5 bn, Investment Income: -50% to +2.9 bn.

Ecouter le silence des abstentionnistes! Liliane Held-Khawam

Les législatives françaises qui se sont tenues le 11 juin 2017 apportent la preuve que nous sommes bel et bien entrés dans une ère post-démocratique. Près de 52% ont refusé de se prêter au processus électoral. Pourtant ce silence crie des émotions et des opinions non relayés sur la place publique.

New Gold Pool at the BIS Switzerland: A Who’s Who of Central Bankers

A central bank Gold Pool which many people will be familiar with operated in the gold market between November 1961 and March 1968. That Gold Pool was known as the London Gold Pool.

Negative Rates: The New Gold Rush… For Gold Vaults

Negative interest rates and the populist uprising that spurred the UK to vote for Brexit and Americans to elect Trump has helped reignite a rush into physical safe haven assets like gold and silver, which however has led to a shortage of safe venues where to store the precious metals (unlike bitcoin, gold actually has a physical dimension).

The Path to Inflation: “Helicopter Money”

Yet conventional economists are virtually unanimous that deflation is the danger and inflation is a "good thing" we need to spur so servicing existing debt becomes easier for debtors. Due to the deflationary pressures of technology and stagnant wages for the bottom 90%, the consensus sees low inflation as far as the eye can see.

Time to Hedge State Reserve Funds with Gold?

Financially prudent individuals set aside surplus funds to protect against unforeseen expenditures. This way, when faced with loss of income, house repairs, car trouble, or anything else, they will have a buffer against unanticipated downturns. In the same vein, almost every state in the United States has established a “savings account” for government operations.

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. Evans-Pritchard spends most of his time talking about the bearish yen implications of the increased BOJ purchases, and mentions GPIF only at the very end of the his essay, and even then to...

Wer trägt Risiko für SNB-Schuldenberg: Banken oder Volk? Darum gehts beim Staatsfonds.

Quengelware – wer kennt sie nicht? Ware, die an den Kassen der Einkaufszentren auf Augenhöhe unerzogener Kids aufgestellt ist, damit deren Quengeln Eltern zum Kaufen drängen. Ähnlich beim Schweizer Staatsfonds. Als Quengelpolitik könnte man nämlich die Begehrlichkeiten vieler Politiker bezeichnen, die lauthals deinen solchen Fonds oder sonst etwas Unnützes fordern, um die Aufmerksamkeit der Wählerinnen und Wähler zu erheischen.

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: Volcker’s defeat of inflation strengthens dollar, weakens Swiss franc

7a) Economic Theories Overview