Tag Archive: central-banks

SNB says remains prepared to intervene in FX market if necessary

2022-03-07

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2022-03-07

Franc is currently sought after as a refuge currency. Franc appreciation also reflects inflation differential between Switzerland and other countries. The franc continues to be highly valued SNB looks at overall currency situationIndividual currency pairs do not play a special role. Some verbal intervention there by the SNB but in typical cases for the franc, actions speak louder than words.

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SNB Jordan: Strong Swiss Franc limits Swiss inflation

2022-02-01

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2022-02-01

SNBs JordanStrong CHF limits swiss inflation See no sign swiss wage price cycle Inflation stubbornly above 2% would lead to policy tightening Difficult to say whether global rates have turned, much still depend on economic development CHF has remained stable in real termsAsked about real estate prices, Jordan says monetary policy aims primarily at price stabilityThe SNB is not investing in crypto currencies The USDCHF has moved...

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SNB says successfully tested use of digital currency to settle transactions with top investment banks

2022-01-15

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2022-01-15

The latest trial could see the introduction of central bank digital currency move a step closer in Switzerland. The SNB says that they integrated the digital currencies into payment systems and used them in simulated transactions involving UBS, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, and Citigroup.

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Testing The Supply Chain Inflation Hypothesis The Real Money Way

2021-12-18

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2021-12-18

Basic intuition says this is a no-brainer. Producer prices rise, businesses then pass along these higher input costs to their customers in the form of consumer price “inflation” so as to preserve profits. This is the supply chain hypothesis. Statistically, we’d therefore expect the PPI to lead the CPI.And this was expected for much of Economics’ history, taken for granted as one of those self-evident truths (kind of like the Inflation Fairy). After...

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Why Governments Hate Gold

2021-11-27

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2021-11-27

Do governments hate gold?  The answer: Yes — Governments hate gold because they cannot print it, and it is difficult for them to control.

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Why Do Central Banks Want Higher Inflation?

2021-10-23

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2021-10-23

Why do Central Banks want higher inflation? The debt ceiling debate in U.S. Congress and related political nonsense brings even more to light the exponential growth in US federal government debt. US government debt has doubled in the 10 years since the last major debacle Congress created over raising the debt ceiling back 2011.

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The Inflation Tide is Turning!

2021-10-09

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2021-10-09

In our post on January 28, 2021 “Gold, The Tried-and-True Inflation Hedge for What’s Coming!” we outlined four reasons that we expect higher inflation over the next several years.

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The Changing Role of Gold

2021-08-20

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2021-08-20

In our post on August 11 titled End of an ERA: The Bretton Woods System and Gold Standard Exchange, we discussed the significance of then-President Nixon’s action of closing the gold window thereby ending the Bretton Woods Monetary system. Under the Bretton Woods monetary system, central banks could exchange their US dollar reserves for gold. This also ended the gold fixed price of US$35 per ounce. This week we explore the two...

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A Look Back at Nixon’s Infamous Monetary Policy Decision

2021-08-17

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2021-08-17

Putting the World on a Paper Standard Half a century ago one of the most disastrous monetary policy decisions in US history was committed by Richard Nixon.  In a television address, the president declared that the nation would no longer redeem internationally dollars for gold.  Since the dollar was the world’s reserve currency, Nixon’s closing of the “Gold Window” put the world on an irredeemable paper monetary standard.

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Gold, Stocks & Commodities- A Complicated Correlation

2021-08-07

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2021-08-07

In our July 29 post titled How Gold Stacks Up Against Stocks, Property, Commodities and Big Macs! we showed readers charts of gold as a ratio to other assets and products. We discussed that gold competes with crypto and stocks for the investment dollars.

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Quantitative Easing: A Boon or Curse?

2021-07-24

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2021-07-24

Central banks’ massive Quantitative Easing (QE) programs have come under scrutiny many times since the central banks fired up the printing press and began quantitative easing programs en masse after the 2008-09 Great Financial Crisis. However, the increase in central bank assets due to quantitative easing programs during the crisis pale in comparison to the QE programs during the Covid pandemic. As economies recovered after the...

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FX Daily, January 21: It is the ECB’s Turn but Little New to be Said or Done

2021-01-21

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2021-01-21

Overview:  The S&P 500 and NASDAQ gapped higher yesterday to record-levels, and the reflation theme lifted Asia Pacific shares for the third session today.  South Korea, Taiwan, and China led the advance. 

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October Monthly

2020-10-03

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2020-10-03

After falling in July and August, the US dollar strengthened against most of the major currencies in September.  The dramatic pullback in equities seemed to have undergirded the yen's resilience, which gained a net 0.25% against the dollar.

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Game Over Spending

2020-07-13

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2020-07-13

Coming and Going Like a Wildfire. Second quarter 2020 came and went like a California wildfire.  The economic devastation caused by the government lock-downs was swift, the destruction immense, and the damage lasting.  But, nonetheless, in Q2, the major U.S. stock market indices rallied at a record pace.

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US Money Supply – The Pandemic Moonshot

2020-06-16

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2020-06-16

Printing Until the Cows Come Home… It started out with Jay Powell planting a happy little money tree in 2019 to keep the repo market from suffering a terminal seizure. This essentially led to a restoration of the status quo ante “QT” (the mythical beast known as “quantitative tightening” that was briefly glimpsed in 2018/19). Thus the roach motel theory of QE was confirmed: once a central bank resorts to QE, a return to “standard monetary policy”...

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FX Daily, March 2: Central Banks’ Words of Assurance have Short Life

2020-03-02

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2020-03-02

Overview: Comments beginning with Powell before the weekend, and BOJ and BOE earlier today promising support have saw equity markets briefly stabilize after last week's dramatic moves. The G7 will hold a teleconference this week, but speculation of a coordinated rate move does not seem particularly likely. Most of the large stock markets in the Asia Pacific region rallied, led by a 3%+ advance in China.

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Banana Republic Money Debasement In America

2019-12-16

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2019-12-16

Addicted to Spending. There are many falsehoods being perpetuated these days when it comes to money, financial markets, and the economy. But when you cut the chaff, three related facts remain: Uncle Sam needs your money. He needs a lot of your money. And he needs it bad!

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August TIC: Trying To Get Collateral Out of the Shadows

2019-10-23

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2019-10-23

US TIC, 2013-2019
The second most frustrating aspect of trying to analyze global shadow money is how the term “shadow” really applies in this case. It’s not really because banks are being sneaky, desperately maintaining their cover for any number of illicit activities they are regularly accused of undertaking. The money stays in the shadows for the simple reason central bankers don’t know their jobs; even after a somehow Global Financial Crisis in 2008, they don’t...

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US Money Supply Growth – Bouncing From a 12-Year Low

2019-10-16

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2019-10-16

US broad true money supply TMS-2, year-on-year growth w. 12-month moving average
True Money Supply Growth Rebounds in September. In August 2019 year-on-year growth of the broad true US money supply (TMS-2) fell to a fresh 12-year low of 1.87%. The 12-month moving average of the growth rate hit a new low for the move as well. The main driver of the slowdown in money supply growth over the past year was the Fed’s decision to decrease its holdings of MBS and treasuries purchased in previous “QE” operations.

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Fed Chair Powell’s Inescapable Contradiction

2019-10-14

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2019-10-14

Conflict and contradiction. These were two of the main themes reverberating around the world of centralized monetary planning this week. On Tuesday, for instance, a novel and contradictory central banker parlance – “reserve management purposes” – was birthed into existence by Fed Chair Jay Powell. We will have more on this later on. But first, to best appreciate the contradiction, we must present the conflict.

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