Tag Archive: newsletter

Swiss pensioners most likely age group to be overweight

2019-06-28

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2019-06-28

Swiss seniors are much more likely to be overweight that other age categories, new statistics from the Federal Office for Public Health (FOPH) show. Some 53% of over-65-year-olds have a body mass index judged to be too high (over 25 on the BMI scale), according to the statistics released on Tuesday by the FOPH.

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Big Tech, Big Banks Push for “Cashless Society”

2019-06-28

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2019-06-28

The War on Cash isn’t a conspiracy theory. It’s an open agenda. It’s being driven by an alignment of interests among bankers, central bankers, politicians, and Silicon Valley moguls who stand to benefit from an all-digital economy. Last week, Facebook – in partnership with major banks, payment processors, and e-commerce companies – launched a digital currency called Libra.

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FX Daily, June 27: Ready. Set. Wait.

2019-06-27

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2019-06-27

Overview: The approaching month/quarter-end and the G20 meeting dominate considerations. Although the S&P 500 closed on its lows for the third consecutive session yesterday, Asia Pacific equities liked the apparent increase in the prospect of a tariff freeze between the US and China and the pullback in the Japanese yen.

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Swiss central bank asked to issue stock exchange digital currency

2019-06-27

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2019-06-27

The Swiss stock exchange wants the country’s central bank to issue a form of cryptocurrency to settle payments on its new digital securities trading platform. If the Swiss National Bank (SNB) agrees, it would represent a departure from its cautious policy on digital currencies. Stock exchange operator SIX Group revealed at the Crypto Valley Association conference that traders on its forthcoming SDX platform would be able to swap cash for a new...

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‘Mature’ Swiss crypto industry demands banking access

2019-06-27

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2019-06-27

Representatives from Switzerland’s growing cryptocurrency and blockchain sector say it has matured into a viable and respectable industry that demands to be taken seriously by banks. “The hype, nonsense and scams have gone away,” says Daniel Haudenschild, President of the Crypto Valley Association (CVA), referring to a “wild west” phase over the last two years that saw several flimsy and phony companies set up and go bust, burning millions in...

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Complaint filed against Federer and other Instagram influencers

2019-06-27

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2019-06-27

A Swiss consumer protection organisation has filed a complaint against Swiss tennis star Roger Federer and several other celebrity “influencers”, accusing them of “stealth advertising” on Instagram and other social media sites.

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Local Government Is an Engine of Inflation

2019-06-27

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2019-06-27

The Rising Wedge Model of Breakdown
Insolvency isn't restricted to private enterprise; governments go broke, too. One reason the economy is so much more precarious than advertised is inflation has pushed households and small businesses to the edge--and one engine of that inflation is local government. This is not to dump on local government, which is facing essentially unlimited demands from the public for more services while mandated cost increases in government union employee wages...

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FX Daily, June 26: Biggest Drop in the S&P 500 in June Weighs on Global Equities

2019-06-26

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2019-06-26

The S&P 500 fell nearly one percent yesterday, its steepest fall this month and this was a weight on Asia Pacific and European activity. Most markets have eased, though not as much as the US did. Hong Kong, India, and Singapore were notable exceptions in Asia, where the MSCI benchmark slipped for a second day.

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Swiss monetary policy – it’s (almost) all about the Swiss franc

2019-06-26

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2019-06-26

ECB Deposit Rate and SNB Interest Rate on Sight Deposits, 2014-2019
With the ECB and the Fed both signalling their readiness to provide further stimulus, the Swiss National Bank is unlikely to have smooth sailing over the coming months.How the Swiss National Bank (SNB) reacts to further stimulus by its US and European counterparts will be the key focus of the coming months for investors. 

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Gold boosted by dovish central banks

2019-06-26

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2019-06-26

Gold Bullion and Market Capitalisation of Global Negative Yielding Debt
Bar a further major escalation in trade tensions, it is hard to see much more upside for gold in the short term. We remain more upbeat over the medium term.The gold price soared to a fresh five-year high on 20 June following a dovish Fed monetary policy meeting. Indeed, the dovish shift among major central banks (with the sole exception of the Norges Bank) and high global uncertainty have pushed global yields lower recently, reducing the...

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Federal fat cats see bonuses fall  

2019-06-26

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2019-06-26

The salaries of top managers at Swiss government-affiliated companies shrank last year due to smaller bonuses, according to a federal report published on Friday. Top state earner, Andreas Meyer, head of Swiss Federal Railways, saw his earnings fall below CHF1 million for the first time: down to CHF987,442 ($1 million) from CHF1,007,000 in 2017, the report found.

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Cool Video: Sketch of Bullish Case for Gold

2019-06-26

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2019-06-26

I know some people who are always bullish gold. I am not. In fact, I often think I can find higher returning assets. However, I have recently have turned bullish gold, and while in Toronto on business, I was invited to the set of Bloomberg to discuss my change of heart.

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FX Daily, June 25: Heightened Political Risks Weigh on Sentiment

2019-06-25

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2019-06-25

Overview: It is far from clear that the US sanctions against nine Iranian officials, with the foreign minister to be added later brings negotiations any closer. At the same time, US officials trying to keep expectations low for the weekend meeting between Trump and Xi. The heightened political anxiety will have to make room for Fed Chairman Powell's talk in NY.

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What Gets Measures Gets Improved, Report 23 June

2019-06-25

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2019-06-25

GS Ratio, 1968-2018
Let’s start with Frederic Bastiat’s 170-year old parable of the broken window. A shopkeeper has a broken window. The shopkeeper is, of course, upset at the loss of six francs (0.06oz gold, or about $75). Bastiat discusses a then-popular facile argument: the glass guy is making money (to which all we can say is, “plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose”).

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Swiss poised to retaliate against EU stock market access

2019-06-25

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2019-06-25

The Swiss finance ministry has reaffirmed that it is ready to ban stock exchanges in the European Union from trading Swiss shares – in a worsening row with Brussels over the future of bilateral relations. “In the event of stock market equivalence not being extended, the finance ministry will activate this protective measure. [….] Consequently, trading venues in the EU would lose recognition,” the ministry said on Monday.

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Japan’s Bellwether On Nasty #4

2019-06-25

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2019-06-25

Japan Industrial Production, NSA 2009-2019
One reason why Japanese bond yields are approaching records like their German counterparts is the global economy indicated in Japan’s economic accounts. As in Germany, Japan is an outward facing system. It relies on the concept of global growth for marginal changes. Therefore, if the global economy is coming up short, we’d see it in Japan first and maybe best.

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FX Daily, June 24: Slow Start to Important Week

2019-06-24

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2019-06-24

The Trump-Xi meeting at the G20 this coming weekend and heightened tensions in the Gulf, with the US set to impose new sanctions on Iran's crippled economy are keeping investors on edge. News the opposition won the re-do of the Istanbul mayoral election has lifted the Turkish lira.

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Industry challenges blockchain during hackathon

2019-06-24

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2019-06-24

More than 200 hackers from 19 countries converged on Switzerland at the weekend to take part in the Swiss Blockchain Hackathon. Participants were challenged to come up with blockchain innovations in a variety of sectors as diverse as finance, logistics and agriculture. Switzerland has hosted numerous hackathons over the past few years, designed to stimulate digital entrepreneurship using cutting-edge technologies. Several events have already spun...

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FX Weekly Preview: Cutting to the Quick

2019-06-24

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2019-06-24

Central banks are prepared to take fresh measures to strengthen and extend the business cycle primarily because price pressures are below what their predecessors thought would be acceptable levels. Draghi, speaking for the ECB, the Federal Reserve, and the Bank of Japan ratcheted up their concerns, which, even without new initiatives, were sufficient to drive interest rates lower.

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