Tag Archive: newsletter

Swiss Retail Sales, December 2018: -0.1 percent Nominal and -0.3 percent Real

2019-02-01

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2019-02-01

Switzerland Retail Sales YoY, December 2018
01.02.2019 - Turnover in the retail sector fell by 0.1% in nominal terms in December 2018 compared with the previous year. Seasonally adjusted, nominal turnover fell by 0.3% compared with the previous month. Real turnover in the retail sector also adjusted for sales days and holidays fell by 0.3% in December 2018 compared with the previous year. Real growth takes inflation into consideration.

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Half of Swiss Population Commutes Half an Hour to Work

2019-02-01

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2019-02-01

Nine out of ten employees in Switzerland – or four million people total – commuted to work last year, most of them to another municipality, and most by car. In 2017, the average one-way Swiss commute was 15 kilometres (9.3 miles) and took 30.6 minutes, reported the Federal Statistical Officeexternal link on Tuesday.

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It’s Not That There Might Be One, It’s That There Might Be Another One

2019-02-01

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2019-02-01

Lending Europe 1998-2018
It was a tense exchange. When even politicians can sense that there’s trouble brewing, there really is trouble brewing. Typically the last to figure these things out, if parliamentarians are up in arms it already isn’t good, to put it mildly. Well, not quite the last to know, there are always central bankers faithfully pulling up the rear of recognizing disappointing reality.

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FX Daily, January 31: Did Powell Toss in the Towel or was it a Tactical Retreat?

2019-01-31

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2019-01-31

Overview: The Fed's dovish tone and earnings news are the main drivers of the capital markets today, helping lift stocks, bonds, and currencies.  Large equity markets in Asia, including Japan, Hong Kong, China's CSI 300, India, and Indonesia, all rose more than 1%, putting the MSCI Asia Pacific Index in a good position to extend its rally for a fourth consecutive week. 

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Exports save the day for French GDP growth

2019-01-31

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2019-01-31

French Quarterly GDP, Q1 2016 - Q1 2018
Prospects for French economic growth are looking up, but disruptions to consumption are possible.French GDP rose by 0.3% quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) in Q4, the same pace as in Q3. The details reveal that Q4 exports surged significantly, while household consumption and investment slowed. This left growth for the year at +1.5%, following +2.3% in 2017.

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Nearly Half of Swiss Admit to Stealing

2019-01-31

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2019-01-31

Theft
Either at work, at a restaurant, on public transport or in a shop, nearly half of Swiss admit to stealing, according to a survey by moneyland.ch. 49% of the 1,500 questioned in the survey admitted to pocketing something without paying.

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So If Half of Facebook Accounts Are Fake… What Is Facebook Worth?

2019-01-31

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2019-01-31

Smartphone Addiction Tightens Its Global Grip
The social media space is absolutely ripe for a new entrant who demands arduous verification and constantly monitors its user base to eliminate cloned and fake accounts. How many accounts on Facebook are fake? Recent estimates of half could be low. Here's an experiment: open a Facebook account with a name that cannot possibly be anyone else's real name, for example, Johns XQR Citizenry.

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Swisscom Blockchain head departs abruptly

2019-01-31

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2019-01-31

Daniel Haudenschild has stepped down as Chief Executive Officer of Swisscom Blockchain with immediate effect. The state-owned telecommunications group gave no reason for the shock move by the top manager and shareholder of its blockchain advisory unit. News of Haudenshild’s departure clearly came out of the blue for the Swiss blockchain sector.

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FX Daily, January 30: She Can’t Accept No

2019-01-30

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2019-01-30

Overview: The UK Prime Minister has two weeks to strike a new deal with the EC over the Irish backstop or return to Parliament in mid-February to consider alternatives, six weeks before Brexit. Sterling has recovered about half of yesterday's drop. The Australian dollar jump back to $0.7200 was aided by the nearly 10% jump in iron ore price after Vale announced a sharp reduction in output.

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Swiss Watchmakers Celebrate a Vintage Year

2019-01-30

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2019-01-30

Swiss watch exports grew by 6.3% in 2018, breaking the CHF21 billion ($21.2 billion) mark. This increase, largely due to Asian markets, is set to continue this year despite uncertainty surrounding the Chinese economy.

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Novartis Stockpiles Drugs in UK to Ensure Supply

2019-01-30

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2019-01-30

Novartis Imports
Swiss pharmaceuticals giant Novartis says a no-deal Brexit could hurt patients and that it is stockpiling medicines in the UK to help ensure continuity of supply. In a press releaseexternal link on Friday, it said that after the British parliament’s rejection of Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal, “the risk of UK exiting the EU without a deal is increased and this will be hugely impactful for patients, particularly around the supply and...

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So You Want to Get Rich: Focus on Human Capital

2019-01-30

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2019-01-30

The rich hold assets, the poor have debt
Wealth is flowing to those who earn money from their human capital and enterprise. So you want to get rich: OK, what's the plan? If you ask youngsters how to get rich, many will respond by listing the professions the media focuses on: entertainment, actors/actresses, pro athletes, and maybe a few lionized inventors or CEOs.

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Buy Bitcoin or Gold? Bitcoin Buyers Investing In Gold In 2019

2019-01-30

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2019-01-30

Buy Bitcoin or Gold
Buy bitcoin or gold? Bitcoin buyers are investing in gold in 2019. Poll of 4,000 bitcoin buyers shows their No 1 investment in 2019 is gold. “Gold lost to bitcoin and now it’s going the other way…” says ETF strategist. “Gold is a store of value and there’s no disputing that…”

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FX Daily, January 29: Fragile Tone Persists

2019-01-29

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2019-01-29

The positive impulse in the capital markets seen last week has faded. The gap higher opening ahead of the weekend by the S&P 500 was follow by a gap lower opening yesterday. The US threatened crackdown on Huawei disrupted equities in that sector, with as many as two dozen companies on the Shenzhen exchange that were limit down (10%).

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Cool Video: Bloomberg Clip US Growth in Relative Terms

2019-01-29

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2019-01-29

Marc Chandler
With a jam-packed week for investors, and several high profile earnings reports, first look at Q4 GDP, the resumption of US-China trade talks, the FOMC meeting, and US jobs, it was a good time to be invited on the set of Bloomberg TV, with David Westin and Lisa Abramowicz. The clip here is with Matt Winkler, Editor-in-Chief Emeritus.

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Chinese Courts Frustrate Anti-Fake Watch Measures

2019-01-29

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2019-01-29

Luxury watch
The Sino-Swiss free trade agreement (FTA) is having only a limited effect on the fight against fake watches, according to a Swiss official. Steps taken by Beijing to counter fraud are often not being enforced by courts.

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Gold Consolidates Above $1,300 After 1.2 percent Gain Last Week

2019-01-29

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2019-01-29

Gold Bar CS 50g
Gold futures settled above $1,300 an ounce on Friday, with prices for the yellow metal at their highest since June as the U.S. dollar pulled back and investors eyed geopolitical turmoil and global growth worries. Rising gold prices reflect “political uncertainty” in the U.S., Eurozone, Venezuela and pockets of South America, as well as China-U.S. trade talks, said George Gero, managing director in RBC.

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Modern Monetary Theory: A Cargo Cult, Report 20 Jan 2019

2019-01-28

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2019-01-28

Gold and Silver Price
Newly elected Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently said that Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) absolutely needed to be “a larger part of our conversation.” Her comment shines a spotlight on MMT. So what is it? According to Wikipedia, it is: “a macroeconomic theory that describes the currency as a public monopoly and unemployment as the evidence that a currency monopolist is restricting the supply of the financial assets needed to pay taxes...

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FX Daily, January 28: Getting Ducks Lined Up for Later in the Week

2019-01-28

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2019-01-28

Overview: The global capital markets are consolidating ahead of this week's big events, which include the FOMC meeting, US jobs, an important Brexit vote in the UK parliament and the first look at Q4 EMU and US GDP. The US dollar is narrowly mixed. Equities are mostly lower. European benchmark 10-year yields have edged up, though the US 10-year yield is struggling to hold above 2.75%.

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FX Weekly Preview: Divergence Reinvigorated

2019-01-28

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2019-01-28

Last week the focus was on Europe. Prospects of a delay in Brexit helped extend sterling's gains to 11-week highs. Disappointing flash PMI for the eurozone and a dovish Draghi pushed the euro below $1.13 for the first time since mid-December.

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