Weekly SNB Sight Deposits and Speculative Positions: Re-openings in the U.S.

Update May 25, 2020: Reopenings in the U.S. Sight Deposits have risen by 6.4 bn CHF, this means that the SNB is intervening and buying Euros and Dollars: The change is +6.4 bn. compared to last week. Market sentiment have become positive during the last 2 or 3 weeks. But for many conservative investors the Swiss franc still serves as safe-haven.

Weekly SNB Sight Deposits and Speculative Positions: Re-openings in the U.S.

Update May 25, 2020: Reopenings in the U.S. Sight Deposits have risen by 6.4 bn CHF, this means that the SNB is intervening and buying Euros and Dollars: The change is +6.4 bn. compared to last week. Market sentiment have become positive during the last 2 or 3 weeks. But for many conservative investors the Swiss franc still serves as safe-haven.

When Is a Capital Gain Capital Consumption? Market Report, 25 May

The price of gold dropped a few bucks this week, but the price of silver jumped about half a buck. The drumbeat for the gold bull market is well underway, and it is beginning now for silver. So let’s do a quick update on the supply and demand fundamentals.

The Folly of “Ask What You Can Do for Your Country”

Recently, I was reminded of John F. Kennedy’s most famous line, “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country,” when I heard it among several famous sound bites leading into a radio show segment. It also reminded me that we will hear it more soon, as we are approaching JFK’s May 29 birthday. However, it is worth reconsidering what it means.

Modern Monetary Theory makes inroads following coronavirus crisis

US policymakers’ bold actions in response to the coronavirus bear some traces of the free-wheeling deficits, repressed interest rates and central bank activism (money creation) that form the cornerstones of the Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) playbook.

Airfare refunds remain a sticking point

The head of a major Swiss travel agency has complained that Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) is not helping to reimburse clients fast enough. In the event of cancellations such as those prompted by the Covid-19 pandemic, Swiss package tour operators are legally obliged to provide refunds. But according to Thomas Stirnimann, the chief executive officer of Hotelplan, SWISS is not repaying the travel agents promptly.

FX Daily, May 22: US-China Escalation Sinks Hong Kong and Hits Risk Appetites

Overview: The US has ratcheted up pressure on China on several fronts and has sapped risk appetites ahead of the weekend.  Equity markets are lower across the world.  Even in India, where the central bank unexpectedly cut the repo rate 40 bp, shares fell 0.7%.  It was Hong Kong's 5.5% that led the region lower.  Europe's Dow Jones Stoxx 600 is off around 1% in late morning turnover to pare this week's gain to about 2.5%. 

The Pandemic Gives Us Permission To Get What We Always Wanted

Dear Corporate America: maybe you remember the old Johnny Paycheck tune? Let me refresh your memory: take this job and shove it. Put yourself in the shoes of a single parent waiting tables in a working-class cafe with lousy tips, a worker stuck with high rent and a soul-deadening commute--one of the tens of millions of America's working poor who have seen their wages stagnate and their income becoming increasingly precarious / uncertain while...

Gold Stocks – A Show of Strength

Gold Sector Outperforms Broad Market. The gold sector is in an uptrend since September 2018. The initially rather labored move accelerated after a secondary low was established in May 2019 and the 50-day and 200-day moving averages were breached for the second time. Last week the two moving averages were once again overcome in the course of the post-crash rebound.

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 1986-1996: Swiss real estate Boom and Bust

A critical Swiss franc history: This chapter describes the most controversial episode in the Swiss monetary history: How the Swiss National Bank helped to wreck the Swiss real estate market in the 1990s.

Minsky and Kindleberger

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.