Tag Archive: Featured
Why Commies Hate Your Thanksgiving Dinner
In 1923 Lenin released a propaganda pamphlet titled Down with the Private Kitchen. It explained how private dinners with one's family are reactionary, bourgeois, and generally something requiring total destruction.
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FX Daily, December 03: Euro Rally Stalls while Brexit Concerns Trip Sterling
The selling pressure that drove the dollar lower yesterday has abated, and the greenback is paring yesterday's loss, though the dollar-bloc currencies are showing some resilience. EC negotiator Barnier briefed ministers that the same three issues that have bedeviled the trade talks with the UK remain unresolved (fisheries, level playing field, and a conflict resolution mechanism).
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BIS, Swiss National Bank and SIX announce successful wholesale CBDC experiment
Project Helvetia shows the feasibility of two proofs of concept (PoCs), using “near-live” systems to settle digital assets on a distributed ledger with central bank money.
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Dollar Plumbs New Depths With No Relief In Sight
Stimulus talks continue but the goalposts have indeed been moved; the good news is that a package before year-end is looking more likely; optimism regarding stimulus continues to buoy US yields. ISM services PMI is expected at 55.8 vs. 56.6 in October; weekly jobless claims data will be reported; Fed Beige Book report was suitably downbeat.
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Tesla Isn’t A Car Company
We have the luxury, the honor, of speaking to a lot of individual investors here at Alhambra. Whether they are clients or future clients (optimism is my default condition), the most common view of stocks is that they are overvalued and a fall – a large fall – is inevitable. And there is no stock that embodies that view more than Elon Musk’s Tesla Incorporated. It was once known as Tesla Motors but Musk changed the name in early 2017. There may...
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Double Your Gift Today!
Dr. Gary Schlarbaum, one of our generous supporters, has again offered to match all donations received through December 7. That means your $10 donation becomes $20, your $25 donation becomes $50, and so on.
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FX Daily, December 2: Euro Rally Stalls while Brexit Concerns Trip Sterling
The selling pressure that drove the dollar lower yesterday has abated, and the greenback is paring yesterday's loss, though the dollar-bloc currencies are showing some resilience. EC negotiator Barnier briefed ministers that the same three issues that have bedeviled the trade talks with the UK remain unresolved (fisheries, level playing field, and a conflict resolution mechanism).
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Issuance calendar for Confederation bonds and money market debt register claims in 2021
The Swiss National Bank (SNB) and the Federal Finance Administration (FFA) advise as follows:
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Swiss Consumer Price Index in November 2020: -0.7 percent YoY, -0.2 percent MoM
02.12.2020 - The consumer price index (CPI) fell by 0.2% in November 2020 compared with the previous month, reaching 101.0 points (December 2015 = 100). Inflation was –0.7% compared with the same month of the previous year. These are the results of the Federal Statistical Office (FSO).
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When Governments Confiscate Wealth to Fund Government Programs
The entrepreneurs try to undertake only such projects as appear to promise profits. This means that they endeavor to use the scarce means of production in such a way that the most urgent needs will be satisfied first, and that no part of capital and labor will be devoted to the satisfaction of less urgent needs as long as a more urgent need, for whose satisfaction they could be used, goes unsatisfied.
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In October, Money Supply Growth Remained Near All-Time Highs
In October, money supply growth fell slightly from September's all-time high, although growth still remains at levels that would have been considered outlandish just eight months ago. October's easing in money-supply growth comes after eight months of record-breaking growth in the US which came in the wake of unprecedented quantitative easing, central bank asset purchases, and various stimulus packages.
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FX Daily, December 1: No Follow-Through After Month-End Adjustments
The near-record rallies seen in the major equity markets in November may have contributed to the month-end drama yesterday. There has been no follow-through activity. Stocks bounced back, and the US dollar is heavy, with few exceptions.
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Switzerland GDP Q3 2020: 7.2 percent QoQ, -1.6 percent YoY
Switzerland’s GDP grew by 7.2 % in the 3rd quarter of 2020, after decreasing by a total of 8.6 % in the first half of the year. Domestic demand and parts of the service sector recovered significantly, while international developments had an adverse impact on exports.
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Gross domestic product in the 3rd quarter of 2012 - Still 2 % below pre-crisis level(PDF, 4 pages, 319 kB)...
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Five lessons from the Swiss ‘responsible business’ vote
The battle over the responsible business initiative is now over. The way the campaign was managed and how the issue was eventually decided says a lot about Switzerland.
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Switzerland and the pandemic: does the economy matter more?
For a nation that prides itself on being on the global forefront of new technologies and science, particularly health care, Switzerland has an astoundingly poor record for dealing with Covid-19. The Lake Geneva region, which borders locked-down France, ranks as one of the worst coronavirus hotspots in Europe.
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2021 is Already Optimized for Failure
One sure way to identify a system "optimized for failure" is if all the insiders are absolutely confident the system is "optimized for my success". I often discuss optimization here because it offers an insightful window into how systems become fragile and break down.
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FX Daily, November 30: Equities are Heavy and the Dollar Softer to Start New Week
Overview: Month-end profit-taking saw Asia Pacific shares tumble earlier today. Most markets are off 1-2.5% today after the MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 2.25% last week. European shares are mixed, but little changed. US shares are also trading lower.
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Swiss Retail Sales, October 2020: 2.6 percent Nominal and 3.1 percent Real
30.11.2020 - Turnover adjusted for sales days and holidays rose in the retail sector by 2.6% in nominal terms in October 2020 compared with the previous year. Seasonally adjusted, nominal turnover rose by 3.3% compared with the previous month.
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Covid Is Just the Latest Excuse for Canada’s Politicians to Violate the Constitution
In terms of their widespread application and rapid implementation, covid-19 policies have been the most egregious violations of Canada’s constitution, ever. But my opinion doesn’t matter, because judges are the only people allowed to interpret the constitution—a convenient arrangement for the government.
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