Category Archive: 1) SNB and CHF

Fighting inflation with FX, a real traders market

The much anticipated document (press release and link to full document) released by U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said the Trump administration aimed to reduce the U.S. trade deficit by improving access for U.S. goods exported to Canada and Mexico and contained the list of negotiating objectives for talks that are expected to begin in one month.

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Swiss franc more overvalued than 6 months ago according to Economist burger index

The Economist magazine’s 6-monthly Big Mac index shows the Swiss franc to be even more overvalued than it was in January 2017. The index, which compares the US$ price of a Big Mac around the world places Switzerland at the top with a price of US$ 6.74. This is 27.2% more expensive than the United States where the same burger costs US$ 5.30.

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Weekly SNB Interventions and Speculative Positions: Hawkish ECB, less SNB interventions

Hawkish comments by Mario Draghi boosted the EUR against both USD and CHF. It also reduced the need for SNB interventions. The question is how long Draghi will remain hawkish, especially next winter, when headline inflation in the euro zone may fall under 1%.

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Worin die populäre Geldschöpfungskritik irrt – Teil 1

Eine Kritik ist im Aufwind. Was vor ein paar Jahren noch als Phantasterei verrückter Verschwörungstheoretiker abgetan wurde, beschäftigte jüngst sogar die Deutsche Bundesbank. Gemeint ist die Idee des Vollgeldes und der damit zusammenhängenden Abrechnung mit unserem modernen Geldsystem.

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Swiss franc outstrips other currencies over last 117 years

Recent analysis by Credit Suisse, London Business School and Cambridge Judge Business School shows the Swiss franc’s enduring strength. The reports says that for a small country with just 0.1% of the world’s population and less than 0.01% of its land mass, Switzerland punches well above its weight financially.

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Moderne Portfoliotheorie bringt dem Anleger mehr Schaden als Nutzen

Die Bankiervereinigung zeigt in einer Studie (SBS) auf, dass einschränkende Anlagevorschriften für Pensionskassen kontraproduktiv sind. Dies deckt sich mit meinen jüngst propagierten Forderungen unter anderem in der NZZ nur scheinbar. Die SBS argumentiert nämlich auf der Basis der modernen Portfoliotheorie (MPT), die volatilitätsarme alternative Anlagen angeblich als interessante Diversifikatoren erscheinen lässt. Das ihr zugrundeliegende...

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The Swiss National Bank Owns $80 Billion In US Stocks – Here’s The Catch

Switzerland is a small country of just 8 million people, but they make an outsized impact on economics and finance and money. Because Switzerland is considered a safe haven and a well-run country, many people would like to hold large amounts of their assets in the Swiss franc. This makes the Swiss franc intolerably strong for Swiss businesses and citizens. So the Swiss National Bank (SNB) has to print a great deal of money and use nonconventional...

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Banks in Switzerland 2016

Summary of the 2016 banking year. In 2016, 226 of the 261 banks in Switzerland reported a profit, taking total profit to CHF 11.8 billion. The remaining 35 institutions recorded an aggregate loss of CHF 3.9 billion. The result of the period for all banks was thus CHF 7.9 billion.

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Vernissage der Festschrift “Monetary Economic Issues Today”, 16.06.2017

00:00 Ehrung, Thomas J. Jordan 13:15 Ansprache, Ernst Baltensperger 22:55 Ansprache, Andréa M. Maechler 30:20 Podiumsdiskussion “Aktuelle Fragen der monetären Ökonomie”

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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 stock...

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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.

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Mediengespräch – Conférence de presse – News conference – Conferenza stampa, 15.06.2017

Mediengespräch – Conférence de presse – News conference – Conferenza stampa, 15.06.2017 00:00 Einleitende Bemerkungen von Thomas Jordan, Präsident des Direktoriums der Schweizerischen Nationalbank – Remarques introductives de Thomas Jordan, président de la Direction générale de la Banque nationale suisse – Introductory remarks by Thomas Jordan, Chairman of the Governing Board of the Swiss National …

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Weekly SNB Interventions Update: Slight Rise after Weeks of Near-Zero Interventions

The pro-European politician Macron has won the French elections. His success moved the EUR/CHF up to 1.0980, mostly caused by FX speculators. But "serious" investors (not FX speculators) did not follow the political event, but focus on monetary policy. A ECB rate hike is very, very far, see why....

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“It’s A Perfect Storm Of Negativity” – Veteran Trader Rejoins The Dark Side

After many months of fighting all the naysayers predicting the next big stock market crash, I am finally succumbing to the seductive story of the dark side, and getting negative on equities. I am often early, so maybe this means the rally is about to accelerate to the upside.

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News conference Swiss National Bank, Thomas Jordan

It is a pleasure for me to welcome you to the Swiss National Bank’s news conference. I will begin by explaining our monetary policy decision and our assessment of the economic situation. I will then hand over to Fritz Zurbrügg, who will present this year’s Financial Stability Report. After that, Andréa Maechler will review developments on the financial markets. Finally, we will – as ever – be pleased to take your questions.

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SNB Monetary Policy Assessment June 2017 and Comments

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) is maintaining its expansionary monetary policy, with the aim of stabilising price developments and supporting economic activity. Interest on sight deposits at the SNB is to remain at –0.75% and the target range for the three-month Libor is unchanged at between –1.25% and –0.25%.

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News conference Swiss National Bank 2017, Fritz Zurbrügg

In my remarks today, I will present the key findings from this year’s Financial Stability Report, published by the Swiss National Bank this morning. In the first part of my speech, I will look at the situation of the big banks, focusing on the progress made in implementing the revised ‘too big to fail’ regulations (TBTF2) that came into effect almost a year ago.

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SNB Monetary Assessment June 2017, Introduction

I will begin by reviewing the situation on the international financial markets. I will then address some developments on the Swiss money and foreign exchange markets – specifically the establishment of SARON as the leading reference rate for interest rate derivatives and the adoption of a global code of conduct for foreign exchange market transactions.

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Key Events In The Coming Busy Week: Fed, BOJ, BOE, SNB, US Inflation And Retail Sales

After a tumultous week in the world of politics, with non-stop Trump drama in the US, a disastrous for Theresa May general election in the UK, and pro-establishment results in France and Italy, this is shaping up as another busy week ahead with multiple CB meetings, a full data calendar and even another important Eurogroup meeting for Greece.

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