Tag Archive: Featured

Parallel Play or Joint Intervention?

2026-08-11

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2026-08-11

The Bank of Japan intervened in the foreign exchange market in late July. Initial indications put the operation at roughly JPY8.45 trillion, near $52.8 bln, as the dollar approached JPY164. The mechanics repeated a pattern seen in January. The Federal Reserve reportedly checked on rates, which is routine. What was not routine is that it did …

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Hope of Re-Opening the Strait of Hormuz Fades and Markets Test Resolve of Putting Floor Under the Yen

2026-08-11

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2026-08-11

US officials have been playing up the possibility of a near-term agreement with Iran.  The market remains skeptical and has extended the recovery in oil prices.  Brent futures are rising for a fifth session and reached $90 a barrel, a seven-day high. September WTI is up nearly $2 today, after rising nearly $4 yesterday and …

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Robinhood UK Users Can Now Trade More Than 50 Cryptos

2026-08-11

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2026-08-11

Robinhood has launched crypto trading in the UK with access to more than 50 digital assets. Eligible customers can trade cryptocurrencies through the Robinhood app alongside stocks, options, futures and stocks and shares ISAs. Trading is provided through Bitstamp UK, which is registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as a cryptoasset service provider. The service will begin rolling out this week and includes Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP and...

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Basel’s world-beating pharma hub fights for place in new global order

2026-08-11

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2026-08-11

The Swiss city of Basel is still one of Europe’s great pharmaceutical centres, but AI, geopolitics, new competitors and changing investment patterns are forcing it to fight harder for its place in the industry. Few cities in the world have an identity so tightly bound to an industry as Basel and pharmaceuticals. Roche and Novartis, …

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Swiss pharma companies flock to North Carolina

2026-08-11

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2026-08-11

Some 80 Swiss companies are based in the southeastern United States including Switzerland's two largest pharmaceutical firms - Roche and Novartis. The governor of North Carolina wants to attract even more. Mountains, waterfalls, Atlantic beaches - North Carolina’s natural beauty is captivating. But that’s not why Swiss companies are moving to the state. It is …

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Market Challenges US-Japan Resolve on Yen and Tehran Challenges US Resolve to Re-Open Strait of Hormuz

2026-08-10

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2026-08-10

The most important development today is the yen’s weakness. The dollar has approached JPY158.90 in the European morning, a new high for the month. Despite a hawkish sounding record of last month’s Bank of Japan meeting, the swaps market shaved the risks of a rate hike at next month’s meeting. The market is challenging the …

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Spate of GPS thefts from Swiss tractors

2026-08-09

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2026-08-09

Organised gangs are targeting GPS systems fitted to tractors and combine harvesters, leading to a surge of thefts in Switzerland. In the canton of Vaud alone, 20 cases have already been recorded in 2026 – a staggering increase compared with the average of two to six thefts per year recorded between 2021 and 2025, the … Continue reading...

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The Swiss woman who brought river swimming to Boston

2026-08-09

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2026-08-09

Renata von Tscharner brought river swimming from Bern to the United States. Over 25 years ago, she founded the Charles River Conservancy and spent almost two decades campaigning to ensure that people in Boston and Cambridge could swim in their river again. Whenever Renata von Tscharner visits Switzerland, there is one tradition she never misses: …

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Week Ahead: Soft CPI to Follow Disappointing US Jobs Report

2026-08-08

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2026-08-08

The market has not been comfortable since the Federal Reserve meeting at the end of July. Despite the lip-service paid to the Fed's price stability mandate, only three officials favored doing something (raising rates) about it. It was hardly a coincidence then that the media reported that people close to the Fed chair said that …

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Republican Party Displacement

2026-08-08

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2026-08-08

Mark Thornton explains how ideology can break the uniparty, why blocked realignment risks revolution, and why Austrian economics helps young Americans see through the crisis.

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The Hamiltonian AI Curse: How American Tech Learned to Make Its Losses Everyone Else’s Problem

2026-08-08

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2026-08-08

When government becomes involved in finance, interest groups abound, each one seeking wealth transfers to the detriment of others. This has been the case since the founding of this country, and AI is just a new chapter.

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Why a BRICS Gold Standard Is a Fiction

2026-08-08

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2026-08-08

For the past few years, we have seen claims that the BRICS countries were going to develop a gold-based trading currency and push the dollar from its reserve currency perch. However, none of the economies of these countries can operate with a currency as good as gold.

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AI Narrative Risk: The Hyperscaler Story Changes Again.

2026-08-08

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2026-08-08

🔎 At a Glance 🏛️ Market Brief - Weak Jobs Data Fuels Rally The week the labor market cracked was the week stocks had their best run since April. Friday’s close of 7,757.64 on the S&P 500 set a record, up 3.6% over five sessions. The Nasdaq Composite gained 5.2% to 26,690.62, and the Dow added roughly …

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What Did You Expect?

2026-08-07

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2026-08-07

In this week's Friday Philosophy, Dr. David Gordon takes issue with the DEI movement in higher education, pointing to the utterly absurd case of Jason Arday, a professor of the sociology of education at Cambridge University, as DEI's poster child.

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The Declaration and Dinesh D’Souza’s “Revisionist History”

2026-08-07

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2026-08-07

Dinesh D’Souza—a self-proclaimed opponent of “revisionist history”—reinterprets the Declaration of Independence through anachronism and equivocation, reading modern concepts of nationhood and equality back into 1776.

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Swiss farmers call for financial support during drought

2026-08-07

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2026-08-07

The Swiss Farmers’ Union is calling on the business community and politicians to help agriculture cope with the drought. A lack of rainfall has resulted in emergency slaughter due to a shortage of feed, a slump in milk production caused by animals suffering from the heat, and water shortages. + Swiss agriculture adapts to climate …

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Maize import duties relaxed for Swiss farmers during drought

2026-08-07

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2026-08-07

Swiss farmers will be allowed to import maize for animal feed duty-free from mid-August. The government announced the new measure to support the agricultural sector, which has been hit hard by the ongoing drought. + Sparse rainfall puts Switzerland on drought alert The relaxation of import restrictions on so-called silage maize was introduced due to …

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The Declaration and Dinesh D’Souza’s “Revisionist History”

2026-08-07

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2026-08-07

Dinesh D’Souza—a self-proclaimed opponent of “revisionist history”—reinterprets the Declaration of Independence through anachronism and equivocation, reading modern concepts of nationhood and equality back into 1776.

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Sound Money: Be Careful What You Wish For

2026-08-07

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2026-08-07

A return to sound money has become the rallying cry for a growing crowd of investors, politicians, and commentators who are, understandably, fed up. Fed up with deficits that never shrink, with a national debt north of $39 trillion, with a dollar that buys a little less every year. The pitch is elegant. Back the … Continue reading »

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AMD and SanDisk Set A High Bar For Nvidia

2026-08-07

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2026-08-07

AMD and SanDisk (SNDK) delivered earnings beats this week, yet both stocks fell. AMD posted record revenue up 50% year over year, with data center revenue more than doubling. Its CEO Lisa Su said she expects "Data Center sales to accelerate in the second half of 2026." Guidance for the current quarter came in near … Continue reading...

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