Category Archive: 1.) English Posts on SNB

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Swiss National Bank agrees to pay out 1 billion francs annually

2016-11-12

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2016-11-12

The Swiss National Bank (SNB)
Today, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) announced a new agreement with the Federal Department of Finance, to pay the Swiss confederation and cantons CHF 1 billion per year, as was previously the case. The deal will run from 2016 to 2020, according to an official press release.

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Swiss government opposes initiative to transform monetary system

2016-11-09

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2016-11-09

SNB money supply initiative
The Swiss government urged rejection of a popular initiative that would transform the monetary system and end fractional-reserve banking, according to its dispatch to Parliament. The measure seeks to put the central bank solely in charge of money supply and forbid commercial banks from granting loans that aren’t fully backed by deposits, effectively ending the way banking has been conducted for centuries.

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We’re All Hedge Funds Now – Central Banks Become World’s Biggest Stock Speculators

2016-11-08

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2016-11-08

CBS
At first, the idea of central banks intervening in the equity markets was probably seen even by its fans as a temporary measure. But that’s not how government power grabs work. Control once acquired is hard for politicians and their bureaucrats to give up. Which means recent events are completely predictable.

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Swiss National Bank Results Q3 / 2016: Volatility of Results is Increasing

2016-11-02

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2016-11-02

Interim results of the Swiss National Bank as at 30 September 2016 The Swiss National Bank (SNB) reports a profit of CHF 28.7 billion for the first three quarters of 2016. But the volatility is rising: The SNB may lose 50 billion in one year and win 60 billion in the next year or the opposite.

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Jim Grant Puzzled by the actions of the SNB

2016-10-27

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2016-10-27

James Grant, Wall Street expert and editor of the investment newsletter «Grant’s Interest Rate Observer», warns of a crash in sovereign debt, is puzzled over the actions of the Swiss National Bank and bets on gold.

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Swiss central bank can cut rates further if needed, says bank president Jordan

2016-10-11

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2016-10-11

SNB Chairman Jordan speaks to media during a news conference in Bern
The Swiss National Bank can cut interest rates further into negative territory if needed, President Thomas Jordan said. “We have still some room to go further if necessary,” Jordan said Saturday in an interview in Washington with Bloomberg Television’s Francine Lacqua. Jordan, who is attending the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, noted that the bank has already pushed rates quite far.

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Switzerland’s central bank offers a glimpse behind the curtain

2016-10-07

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2016-10-07

SNB Behind the Curtains Thomas Jordan
The Swiss National Bank is offering a rare look into how it sets monetary policy. A video of SNB President Thomas Jordan and fellow members of the governing board shows them beginning their quarterly policy assessment discussing the state of the economy with about 30 people.

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Is Someone Trying To Buy The Swiss National Bank?

2016-10-06

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2016-10-06

By now it is well-known that as we profiled previously, one of the most ravenous buyers of US stocks in recent years, has been a central bank: the Swiss National Bank... However, it is far less known that not only is the Swiss National Bank also a publicly traded stock, but is also one of the best performing stocks in the world this year.

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Strong Swiss growth lessens chance SNB will act

2016-09-13

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2016-09-13

Swiss real GDP growth data surprised on the upside in Q2, expanding by 0.6% q-o-q (and 2.5% q-o-q annualised). In addition, growth in the three previous quarters was revised significantly higher. As a result, our GDP growth forecast for growth in Switzerland rises mechanically from 0.9% to 1.5% for 2016.

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SNB Balance Sheet Now Over 100 percent GDP

Since 2008 the balance sheet of the Swiss National Bank has risen from 28% to 102% of Swiss GDP. Balance sheets of other central banks have strongly risen, too. But there is one big difference: The risk for the SNB is far higher, the SNB nearly exclusively possesses assets denominated in volatile foreign currency.

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666: The Number Of Rate Cuts Since Lehman

2016-08-05

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2016-08-05

BofA's Michael Hartnett points out something amusing, not to mention diabolical: following the rate cuts by the BoE & RBA this week, "global central banks have now cut rates 666 times since Lehman."

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“Mystery” Buyer Revealed: Swiss National Bank’s US Stock Holdings Rose 50 percent In First Half, To Record $62BN

2016-08-05

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2016-08-05

In a month, quarter and year, in which many have scratched their heads trying to answer just who is buying stocks, as both retail and smart money investors have been aggressively selling, yesterday we got the answer.

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Swiss Franc Trade-Weighted Index, Performance Far Worse than Dollar Index

On a three years interval, the Swiss Franc had a weak performance. The dollar index was far stronger. Contrary to popular believe, the CHF index gained only 1.73% in 2015. It lost 9.52% in 2014, when the dollar strongly improved.

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SNB intervenes for 6.3 billion francs in one week, total 10bn Brexit intervention

2016-07-05

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2016-07-05

SNB intervenes for 6.3 bil francs in the week ending last Friday. Once again a record high since January 2015. The SNB raised the intervention level to 1.0850. Apparently conversion of GBP->CHF flows into GBP-> EUR flows – via EUR/CHF purchases. Speculators: are long CHF 10K contracts against USD versus 6.3K last week.

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Purchasing Power Parity, REER: Swiss Franc Overvalued?

Most economists, like the ones at the Swiss National Bank (SNB), claim that the franc is overvalued. Many use misleading Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) measures like the Big Mac index, the OECD index or the PPP based on consumer prices for computing fair values. The second big mistake is to compute the Real Effective Exchange Rate (REER) with the wrong "base year"The third error is to ignore massive Swiss current account surpluses, helped by high...

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Apple Jumps After Berkshire Reveals 9.8 Million Share Stake

2016-05-17

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2016-05-17

After three consecutive weeks of seemingly relentless bad news for Apple, moments ago the stock jumped by $2 dollars, rising from $90.5 to over $92.50. Some hope for the Swiss National Bank or will Berkshire shares sink together with Apple and the SNB?

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As Carl Icahn Was Selling Apple, This Central Bank Was Furiously Buying

2016-05-14

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2016-05-14

We hope for the sake of Swiss residents that equity markets never suffer a dramatic drop. The SNB has “invested” 20% of Swiss GDP in stocks. When will the ivory tower economists ultimately lose control of the most manipulated, centrally-planned market in history?

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SNB Increased Equities Share to 20 percent, A High Risk Game for a Conservative Investor

2016-05-08

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2016-05-08

A share of 20% equities is too much for a conservative investor. - She increases the CHF debt with continuing interventions at a pace of 10% per year. - yield on bond investments is less than 1% p.a. and equity markets might not improve a lot any more. - Expensive dollar: she bought U.S. equities when the dollar was relatively expensive.

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Gold, Bonds and Negative Interest Rates Give SNB a Q1 profit

2016-04-28

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2016-04-28

2016 Q1 Results Swiss National Bank
SNB Results Q1 2016: Two thirds of SNB profit comes from Gold. Deflation helps with higher bonds prices and profit on negative interest rates.

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Swiss National Bank: Composition of Reserves (Assets) and Investment Strategy

The Q1/2016 update on the SNB investment strategy and its assets. The Swiss National Bank is a passive conservative investor. As opposed to other investors, the exposure in currencies is as important as the strategic asset allocation according asset classes (bonds, equities, cash, real estate). The importance of currencies is one reason why the SNB is often called a hedge fund, the second the volatility of gains and losses.

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