Monthly Archive: February 2023

“Fundamentals and technical analysis are two sides of the same coin”

2023-02-07

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2023-02-07

Interview with Laurent Halmos For most die-hard physical gold investors and students of history like myself and most of my readers and clients, technical analysis is often seen as a bit of a taboo, or at best something irrelevant to our worldview and investment approach. Nevertheless, to paraphrase the old saying about politics, just because you are not interested in the charts doesn’t mean that the charts are not interested in you.  I met...

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No Turn Around, but Consolidation Featured

2023-02-07

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2023-02-07

Overview:  After large moves yesterday, the capital markets ae quieter today. Stocks are mostly firmer, and the 10-year US yield is a little softer near 3.62%. Strong nominal wage increases in Japan and a hawkish hike by the Reserve Bank of Australia helped their respectively currencies recover, though remain within yesterday's ranges. The euro briefly traded below $1.07, and sterling has been sold through $1.20. That said, a consolidative tone is...

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The most critical questions about the Swiss central bank’s huge losses

2023-02-07

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2023-02-07

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) booked a CHF132 billion ($143 billion) loss in 2022 and suspended profit-sharing transfers to the Confederation and cantons. What does that mean exactly? And how does the SNB fare in international comparison?  Fabio Canetg More from this author Last year, the SNB lost more money than ever before. And it is not alone: central banks around the world also recorded heavy losses. As a...

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Managing Money Is as Important as Making It: The Sad Case of Athletes Going Broke

2023-02-07

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2023-02-07

Lacking a solid team is a recipe for organizational failure, and those intending to excel in business—or any other sector—must invest in management. Considering that many professional athletes encounter bankruptcy shortly after retiring, they are a demographic that could greatly benefit from quality financial management teams.

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The Fed’s Portfolio Is Nonexistent: The Fed Does Not Invest. It Destroys Investments

2023-02-07

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2023-02-07

Every so often, I check my investment portfolio to see how it is doing. (I stay out of stocks these days, but that is due to my personal situation and is not to be taken as investment advice.) Portfolios are collections of various financial instruments that one is holding, and one always hopes that their value will head in the right direction over time.

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Weekly Market Pulse: Happy Days Are Here Again!

2023-02-07

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2023-02-07

Your cares and troubles are gone There’ll be no more from now on! Happy days are here again! The skies above are clear again Let us sing a song of cheer again Happy days are here again! Lyrics: Jack Yellen, Music: Milton Ager That’s certainly how it’s felt since the turn of the new year with the NASDAQ up nearly 15%, European stocks continuing to recover, emerging markets anticipating a Chinese recovery and a solid January for the S&P...

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Greenback Extends Recovery

2023-02-06

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2023-02-06

Overview: The honeymoon for risk assets that began the year ended with a bang at the end of last week with the monster US jobs report and the rebound in the service ISM. Disappointing news from several large US tech companies provided extra encouragement. The yen's weakness helped Japanese stocks today, but the other larger bourses in the Asia Pacific area were sold, with losses in Hong Kong, the CSI 300, South Korea, and Taiwan off more than 1%....

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Russian supermarket shelves are full of Nestlé products like Nescafé: report

2023-02-06

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2023-02-06

In response to Russia’s war on Ukraine, the Swiss multinational Nestlé announced that it would reduce its range of product in Russia to “essential” goods such as baby milk. But supermarket shelves in Moscow paint a different picture, according to the NZZ.

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Swisscom revises policy to boost privacy of customers

2023-02-06

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2023-02-06

Switzerland's largest telecommunications operator, Swisscom, is changing its approach to data disclosure in order better protect its customers. The operator reserves the right, after examination, to "seal" the electronic correspondence (e-mails) of its customers until a court has decided otherwise, the NZZ am Sonntag newspaper reported.

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Subsidizing Higher Education Is Not Creating Widespread External Benefits

2023-02-06

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2023-02-06

President Biden’s student debt relief proposal created a storm of controversy. That is not surprising, since it was a transparent (and apparently successful) attempt to buy the votes of an important Democratic constituency, even though it created a target-rich environment for critics.

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Gold Market Isn’t Buying Powell’s ‘Disinflation’ Declaration

2023-02-06

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2023-02-06

According to Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell, disinflation is now taking hold. Yes, the very same person who had to walk back his ridiculous pronouncements in 2021 and 2022 that inflation was "transitory" now wants us to believe that inflation is in the process of steadily declining.

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You Think the Global Economy Is Brightening? Beware: The Big Hit Is Yet to Come

2023-02-06

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2023-02-06

Relief is spreading among economic analysts and stock market experts. Energy prices are decreasing noticeably. The energy supply this winter seems secure; in Europe, government support for consumers and producers is available if needed. China is turning away from its zero-covid policy, and production is ramping up again.

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How to access information in censored countries

2023-02-05

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2023-02-05

China, Russia, Iran and other countries with dictatorships and strict regimes are increasingly blocking access to the free internet and are using the web to collect data. This guide explains how to avoid online censorship and use the internet safely and anonymously.

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The Chinese Communist Party Is Creating a Crackdown Economy

2023-02-05

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2023-02-05

True story: Many weekends during my studies in Changzhou, China, my friends and I would go out to have a drink only to realize that our favorite bar was not open that night. In fact, all of the city’s clubs would be closed. The reason? Police had decided to crack down on these nightclubs.

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Wyoming Senate Votes to Hold, Invest, and Receive Tax Payments in Gold and Silver

2023-02-05

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2023-02-05

Cheyenne, Wyoming, USA (February 2nd, 2023) – The Wyoming State Senate today voted 16-15, on a bipartisan basis, to pass a bill prompting the Wyoming state treasurer to hold gold and silver “specie” to protect the state – as well as establish a process to receive certain tax payments in specie.

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Banking secrecy exception proposed for Swiss media

2023-02-05

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2023-02-05

Swiss journalists could in future receive leaked bank data without fear of criminal prosecution if a parliamentary motion is incorporated in banking secrecy legislation.

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February 2023

2023-02-04

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2023-02-04

The new year began amid optimism among investors. Equities and bonds rallied in January, clawing back some losses from last year. The dollar traded heavily, falling against most G10 and emerging market currencies. However, after the February 1 FOMC meeting, the dollar's sell-off exhausted the near-term selling pressure. An upside correction may be seen in the first part of February. We see this as a countertrend move and expect dollar weakness to...

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US Federal Reserve Sticks To The Script But For How Long?

2023-02-04

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2023-02-04

Those watching the gold price and price of silver will have noticed the sharp uptick following the Federal Reserve’s announcement, yesterday. This was despite the Fed doing exactly what everyone expected them to do. For now, the Federal Reserve is sticking to its relatively well-telegraphed plan but how long will it be until they need to move the goalposts in order to do so?

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The Fed Is Already Flashing Signs It’s Done Raising Rates

2023-02-04

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2023-02-04

The Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) on Wednesday raised the target policy interest rate (the federal funds rate) to 4.75 percent, an increase of 25 basis points. With this latest increase, the target has increased 4.5 percent since February 2022, although this latest increase of 25 basis points is the smallest increase since March of last year.

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Corruption report: nepotism and conflicts of interest should be Switzerland’s focus

2023-02-04

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2023-02-04

The 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), published on 31 January 2023, shows that most countries are failing to stop corruption. The CPI ranks 180 countries and territories around the world by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, scoring on a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).

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