Tag Archive: Featured

Coronavirus: Switzerland seems to be fending off potential second wave

2020-10-03

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2020-10-03

The number of recorded Covid-19 cases in Switzerland has declined over the last 12 days. Over the most recent 14 days, the number of recorded cases per 100,000 in Switzerland was 59, below the figure of 60 used by the Swiss health authorities to define a region as high risk.

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Switzerland ranked sixth in digital competitiveness study

2020-10-03

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2020-10-03

The Alpine nation has slipped one place to sixth in the “World Digital Competitiveness ranking” compiled by the Lausanne-based IMD business school.

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Monthly Macro Monitor – September (VIDEO)

2020-10-03

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2020-10-03

Alhambra CEO Joe Calhoun and Alhambra's Bob Williams look at data from the past month and discuss what it means for the economy.

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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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The Urban Exodus and How Greatness Goes Bankrupt

2020-10-03

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2020-10-03

The best-case scenario is those who love their "great city" will accept the daunting reality that even greatness can go bankrupt. Two recent essays pin each end of the "urban exodus" spectrum.

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Rising Homicides This Year May Be Yet Another Side Effect of Covid Lockdowns

2020-10-03

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2020-10-03

During Tuesday's presidential debate, former vice president Biden attempted to paint Donald Trump as the bad-on-crime candidate when he claimed that crime had gone down during the Obama administration but increased during Trump's term. Whether or not this is a plausible claim depends on how one looks at the data. And given that law enforcement and criminal prosecutions for street crime are generally a state and local matter, it's unclear why any...

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FX Daily, October 2: POTUS Infected: Is this the October Surprise?

2020-10-02

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2020-10-02

Before a US election, there is often speculation of a last-minute game-changing development. News earlier today that the US President and his wife have tested positive for the Covid virus has injected a new unknown into not only the US election but the markets as well.

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Swiss Consumer Price Index in September 2020: -0.8 percent YoY, 0.0 percent MoM

2020-10-02

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2020-10-02

Switzerland Consumer Price Index (CPI) YoY, September 2020
The consumer price index (CPI) remained stable in September 2020 compared with the previous month, reaching 101.2 points (December 2015 = 100). Inflation was –0.8% compared with the same month of the previous year.

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Swiss Retail Sales, August 2020: 1.6 percent Nominal and 2.5 percent Real

2020-10-02

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2020-10-02

Switzerland Retail Sales YoY, August 2020
Turnover adjusted for sales days and holidays rose in the retail sector by 1.6% in nominal terms in August 2020 compared with the previous year. Seasonally adjusted, nominal turnover fell by 2.1% compared with the previous month.

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Swiss National Bank figures show burst of franc-dousing interventions

2020-10-02

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2020-10-02

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) spent CHF90 billion ($97.8 billion) in the first half of the year, more than it has spent in the past three years combined, to hold down artificially the value of the wealthy alpine state’s currency.

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Greenland glacier water wins environmental shame award 

2020-10-02

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2020-10-02

A mineral water from Greenland glaciers sold by Swiss retail chain Manor has been dubbed worst climate offender in this year’s “Devil’s Stone” award by the Swiss Alpine Initiative. 

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Why Aren’t Bond Yields Flyin’ Upward? Bidin’ Bond Time Trumps Jay

2020-10-02

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2020-10-02

It’s always something. There’s forever some mystery factor standing in the way. On the topic of inflation, for years it was one “transitory” issue after another. The media, on behalf of the central bankers it holds up as a technocratic ideal, would report these at face value. The more obvious explanation, the argument with all the evidence, just couldn’t be true otherwise it’d collapse the technocracy right down to the ground.And so it was also in...

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The Empire of Uncertainty

2020-10-02

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2020-10-02

Anyone claiming they can project the trajectory of the U.S. and global economy is deluding themselves. Normalcy depends entirely on everyday life being predictable. To be predictable, life must be stable, which means that there is a high level of certainty in every aspect of life.

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Where Next for Gold & Silver

2020-10-02

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2020-10-02

Silver Chart
Markets have struggled to find a clear direction as they attempt to digest US election news, debate performance, the impact of increased Covid-19 restrictions in many countries and vaccine news.

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FX Daily, October 1: Hope Springs Eternal

2020-10-01

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2020-10-01

Speculation that a new round of fiscal stimulus from the US is possible is encouraging risk-taking today.  Many large Asian centers were closed for holidays today, and a technical problem prevented the Tokyo Stock Exchange from opening.

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UBS Global Real Estate Bubble Index 2020: Munich and Frankfurt are the most overvalued housing markets globally

2020-10-01

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2020-10-01

UBS Global Real Estate Bubble Index: Overview, 2020
The UBS Global Real Estate Bubble Index, a yearly study by UBS Global Wealth Management's Chief Investment Office, indicates bubble risk or a significant overvaluation of housing markets in half of all evaluated cities.

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Zurich invention may be used in Fukushima nuclear clean-up

2020-10-01

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2020-10-01

Researchers in Zurich have developed a filter membrane made of whey proteins and activated carbon that can clean contaminated radioactive water. They hope to deploy their invention at the site of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan.

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We don’t have to kill the king, if we just can ignore the king

2020-10-01

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2020-10-01

“The right of self-determination in regard to the question of membership in a state thus means: whenever the inhabitants of a particular territory, whether it be a single village, a whole district, or a series of adjacent districts, make it known, by a freely conducted plebiscite, that they no longer wish to remain united to the state to which they belong at the time, but wish either to form an independent state or to attach themselves to some...

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What’s Zambia Got To With It (everything)

2020-10-01

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2020-10-01

Argentina Bank
As one of Africa’s largest copper producers, it seemed like a no-brainer. Financial firms across the Western world, pension funds from the US or banks in Europe, they lined up for a bit of additional yield. This was 2012, still global recovery on the horizon – at least that’s what “they” all kept saying.

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FX Daily, September 30: Nervous Calm

2020-09-30

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2020-09-30

Quarter and month-end considerations could be overwhelming other factors today.  Turnaround Tuesday saw early gains in US equities fade.  Asia Pacific shares were mixed, with the Nikkei (-1.5%) and Australia (-2.3%) bear the brunt of the selling, while China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and India rose.

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