Tag Archive: newsletter

Coronavirus: number of tests stagnates in Switzerland

2020-06-01

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2020-06-01

The number of daily new cases has remained low in Switzerland throughout May. The highest number of new cases over this period was recorded on 1 May (119). The latest daily number, published on 29 May, was 31 new daily cases. Since the beginning of May the number has been as low as 10.

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Credit Suisse grants CHF2.8 billion in corona credit

2020-06-01

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2020-06-01

Major Swiss bank Credit Suisse has issued 15,400 emergency loans totaling CHF2.8 billion ($2.9 billion) during the coronavirus crisis, says board chairman Urs Rohner. The numbers are similar at competitor UBS.

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Personal Income and Spending: The Other Side

2020-06-01

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2020-06-01

Personal Income & Spending, 2017-2020
The missing piece so far is consumers. We’ve gotten a glimpse at how businesses are taking in the shock, both shocks, actually, in that corporations are battening down the liquidity hatches at all possible speed and excess. Not a good sign, especially as it provides some insight into why jobless claims (as the only employment data we have for beyond March) have kept up at a 2mm pace.These are second order effects.

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This Is How Systems Collapse

2020-06-01

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2020-06-01

How Systems Collapse
Flooding the financial system with "free money" only restores the illusion of stability. I updated my How Systems Collapse graphic from 2018 with a "we are here" line to indicate our current precarious position just before the waterfall: For those who would argue we're nowhere near collapse, consider that over 20% of the Federal Reserve's $2 trillion spew of free money went directly into the pockets of America's billionaires.

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Two Analogies for the Economy That the Media Keeps Getting Wrong

2020-06-01

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2020-06-01

In an attempt to maintain the lockdown and their authority over our lives, politicians, health experts, and the mainstream media have been misusing some unusual analogies to describe the current economy. By using these analogies, our political overlords hope they can continue to keep the economy shut down, force companies to produce what the government forgot to purchase before the virus hit, and toss out trillions of dollars of handouts and...

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Defining “Inflation” Correctly

2020-06-01

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2020-06-01

Inflation is typically defined as a general increase in the prices of goods and services—described by changes in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) or other price indexes. If inflation is a general rise in measured prices, then why is it regarded as bad news? What kind of damage can it inflict? Mainstream economists maintain that inflation causes speculative buying, which generates waste.

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Coronavirus: new infections in Switzerland remain low

2020-05-31

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2020-05-31

Over the last week there have been an average of 15 new SARS-CoV-2 cases a day. The first confirmed case in Switzerland was recorded on 24 February 2020. In the week that followed the number of new daily infections rose to 31. Another week later the number of new daily cases was 192.

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Saint-Gobain to drop its shareholding in Swiss chemical maker Sika

2020-05-31

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2020-05-31

The French building materials and distribution group Saint-Gobain has announced the sale of its 10.75% stake in the capital of the Swiss chemical manufacturer Sika.

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Pandemic, Economic Shutdowns, Debt Crisis and Gold At $5,000/oz

2020-05-31

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2020-05-31

Gold bull and bear markets, 1971-2020
◆ GoldCore are delighted to publish the 14th edition of the annual “In Gold We Trust” report, “The Dawning of a Golden Decade” by by our friends Ronald-Peter Stoeferle & Mark J. Valek of Incrementum AG.Gold prices should rise to over $5,000/oz and may rise as high as $9,000/oz in the coming decade and by 2030, according to the respected report.

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Dollar Firm as US-China Tensions Continue to Rise

2020-05-31

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2020-05-31

Chinese Fix Yuan, 2019-2020
Tensions between the US and China continue to rise; the dollar is finding some traction. Fed Beige Book contained no surprises; NY Fed President Williams said the Fed is “thinking very hard” about targeting yields; weekly jobless claims are expected at 2.1 mln vs. 2.438 mln last week .

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Swiss Covid-19 contact tracing app ready for privacy testing

2020-05-30

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2020-05-30

Authorities have released the source code of the SwissCovid app to the public to allow experts and hackers to detect any risks to privacy before the official launch.

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Coronavirus: Switzerland plans to lift all restrictions on Schengen movement

2020-05-30

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2020-05-30

Switzerland’s Federal Council plans to lift all travel restrictions and re-establish free movement of persons across the Schengen area no later than 6 July 2020 and possibly as early as mid June, it announced today. If the epidemiological evolution allows, restrictions on entering, working and living in Switzerland will be lifted for all Schengen states from mid-June and no later than 6 July, said the government.

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Asia Lockdowns vs. Re-Openings

2020-05-30

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2020-05-30

We apply the five-factor model used to analyse lockdowns and openings in developed markets and in Latin America to Asian Markets. It evaluates the restrictions imposed by different countries in the region, how they compare in terms of severity of lockdown, and where they are heading in the spectrum of reopening. The scale we use measures grade restrictions from 1 (open) to 4 (closed) across the following five factors: (a) schools/universities, (b)...

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Is Your Pension ‘Good as Gold’?

2020-05-30

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2020-05-30

With the current level of uncertainty in world markets we have received numerous requests for information on how self directed pension schemes (pre and post retirement) can hold gold and silver.It is accepted that if gold bullion is held via a gold certificates ( Perth Mint Certificates with GoldCore) or in Secure Storage in a variety of local or international locations with GoldCore, then it is not considered a ‘pride in possession’ article or...

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FX Daily, May 29: Month-End Profit-Taking Weighs on Equities as the Euro Pops Above $1.11

2020-05-29

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2020-05-29

Overview:  The announcement that President Trump will hold a press conference on China later today rattled investors yesterday after they had earlier shrugged off the escalation of tension between the US and China to take the S&P 500 up to its highest level in nearly three months.  The S&P 500 reversed and settled on its lows, and this carried over into today's activity, which also may be reflecting month-end adjustments.

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2021 Geneva Motor Show ‘very uncertain’ as organisers reject loan

2020-05-29

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2020-05-29

The 2021 edition of the Geneva International Motor Show remains touch and go after the organisers rejected the terms surrounding a state rescue loan. This year’s car show was cancelled four days prior to its opening due to the coronavirus outbreak, costing an estimated loss of CHF11 million ($11.3 million) for the organisers of Switzerland’s largest public event.

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Swiss have mixed feelings about working from home, according to survey

2020-05-29

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2020-05-29

Working from home is a mixed bag of pros and cons for most Swiss who were surveyed by gfs.bern in March and April 2020. But it worked for most. In 2019, before the outbreak of the corona pandemic, around 1.1 million employees in Switzerland occasionally worked from home.

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Getting A Sense of the Economy’s Current Hole and How the Government’s Measures To Fill It (Don’t) Add Up

2020-05-29

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2020-05-29

GDP Pro Forma, 2010-2020
The numbers just don’t add up. Even if you treat this stuff on the most charitable of terms, dollar for dollar, way too much of the hole almost certainly remains unfilled. That’s the thing about “stimulus” talk; for one thing, people seem to be viewing it as some kind of addition without thinking it all the way through first.You have to begin by sizing up the gross economic deficit it is being haphazardly poured into – with an additional emphasis...

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Why Congressional “Oversight” of the Bureaucracy Is No Such Thing

2020-05-29

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2020-05-29

I have long been fascinated by both public policy and the interesting crooks, crannies, and oddities found in the English language. Recently, I came across one such tidbit which connected both of those interests. Hugh Rawson, in "Janus Words—Two-faced English" on the Cambridge Dictionary blog, was discussing a number of English words that are sometimes called Janus words, after the Roman god depicted with two faces pointing in opposite directions,...

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FX Daily, May 28: Escalating Tensions, Calm Markets

2020-05-28

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2020-05-28

Overview: The US Secretary of State's announcement that the autonomy of Hong Kong could no longer be affirmed did not derail the rally in US equities. However, the threat of an executive order against social media companies may be discouraging follow-through buying, leaving US equities little changed ahead of the open. In contrast, Asia Pacific and European equities are mostly higher.

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