Tag Archive: newsletter

Swiss food-waste pioneer wins CHF200,000 prize

2019-08-23

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2019-08-23

This year’s CHF200,000 ($204,000) J.E. Brandenberger Foundation prize has been awarded to Yvonne Kurzmeyer, founder of the charity organisation Schweizer Tafel. The organisation redistributes over 4,000 tonnes of food a year to underprivileged groups in Switzerland.

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Our Wile E. Coyote Federal Reserve

2019-08-23

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2019-08-23

Whatever the Fed chooses to do, it's already failed.. Wile E. Coyote has gotten a bad rap: in all fairness, his schemes are ingenious, if overly complicated, and it's not his fault that the Acme detonator misfires or the Road Runner doesn't respond as predicted. Every set-up to nail the Road Runner should work. That it fails and leaves him suspended over the cliff for a woefully brief second to intuit his impending doom really isn't his fault.

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Die Nationalbank riskiert Ärger mit Donald Trump

2019-08-22

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2019-08-22

Die Deviseninterventionen der Schweizerischen Nationalbank sorgen für Spannungen. Die Schweiz läuft Gefahr, von den USA als Währungsmanipulatorin gebrandmarkt zu werden. (K)ein Grund zur Sorge? In den vergangenen Wochen hat die Schweizerische Nationalbank (SNB) wiederholt am Devisenmarkt interveniert, um den Franken davor zu bewahren, noch stärker gegen die wichtigsten Handelswährungen wie Euro und Dollar zu steigen.

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Dollar Firm Ahead of Jackson Hole

2019-08-22

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2019-08-22

FOMC minutes were not as dovish as many had hoped; bond and equity markets are set up for a big reset. Today sees the start of the annual Fed symposium in Jackson Hole; the US reports a slew of data. Markit flash eurozone August PMI readings were reported; ECB publishes the account of its July 25 meeting.

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FX Daily, August 22: Tick Up in EMU PMI Does Little, Waiting for Powell

2019-08-22

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2019-08-22

Overview:  Soft data in Asia and the continued decline in the yuan (six days and counting) prevented Asian equities from following the US lead from yesterday when the S&P 500 advanced by 0.8%.  European shares are paring yesterday's 1.2% advance despite an unexpected gain in the EMU flash PMI.  US shares are little changed in the European morning.

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Big firms required to publish gender pay gap in 2021

2019-08-22

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2019-08-22

Large companies in Switzerland will have to analyse wages of men and women starting in 2020 and make the audited results available to staff in 2021. The Federal Council agreed on Wednesday that the equal pay revision to the Gender Equality Act, passed by parliament in December 2018, will come into force on July 1, 2020.

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FX Daily, August 21: European Stocks Snap Back, Market Hopeful Italian Election can be Delayed

2019-08-21

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2019-08-21

The end of the US equity three-day advance yesterday weighed on Asia Pacific shares today.  Most benchmarks fell.  Better than expected trade data helped Thailand buck the trend.  A firmer tone emerged in the European morning, and the Dow Jones Stoxx 600 has recouped yesterday's losses and more.  It was led higher by consumer discretionary, energy, and industrials.

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Swiss Labour Force Survey in 2nd quarter 2019: number of persons in employment rises by 1.1 percent, unemployment rate based on the ILO definition falls to 4.2 percent

2019-08-21

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2019-08-21

Unemployed According to ILO, Q1 2014-Q2 2019
The number of employed persons in Switzerland rose by 1.1% between the 2nd quarter 2018 and the 2nd quarter 2019. During the same period, the unemployment rate as defined by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) fell from 4.6% to 4.2%. The EU unemployment rate based on the ILO definition decreased from 6.8% to 6.3%. These are some of the results from the Swiss Labour Force Survey (SLFS).

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Brazilian real stands out in EM currency scorecard

2019-08-21

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2019-08-21

EM FX Scorecard, August 21
Prospects for emerging-market currencies look cloudy. The currencies of countries with sound external buffers and limited exposure to global trade should fare relatively better than others.In recent months, the global environment has become more challenging for EM currencies. Trade tensions have increased and are weighing on economic activity. Commodity prices have also fallen.

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Nine out of ten Swiss are satisfied with their job

2019-08-21

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2019-08-21

The vast majority of Swiss people enjoy going to work. In a survey by consultants EY, 87% said they were satisfied or very satisfied with their job. Although the figure has barely changed since last year, differences between sectors persist. In the construction industry and in mechanical and systems engineering, for example, satisfaction has increased significantly.

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FX Daily, August 20: Marking Time Ahead of PMI and Powell

2019-08-20

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2019-08-20

Overview:  Global equities and bonds are firmer in quiet turnover, and the dollar is narrowing mixed in narrow ranges.  The big events of the week, the eurozone flash PMI and Powell's speech at Jackson Hole still lie ahead.  The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose for the third consecutive session, led by Korea and Australia's 1%+ gains. 

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Philipp Hildebrands Coup: Gratisgeld für EU-Bürger

2019-08-20

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2019-08-20

Vergangene Woche stellte Philipp Hildebrand, der frühere Präsident des Direktoriums der Schweizerischen Nationalbank (SNB), nun Vize-Präsident von Blackrock, auf Bloomberg ein Positionspapier vor.

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Swiss Trade Balance July 2019: foreign trade decelerates in July 2019

2019-08-20

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2019-08-20

Switzerland Trade Balance, July 2019
After shining the previous month, foreign trade turned red in July 2019. Despite a decline of 3.9% to 19.6 billion francs, exports had their second largest monthly result ever reached. Down 1.7%, imports were close to CHF 17 billion. The chemistry-pharma has greatly impacted both directions of the traffic. The trade balance is closing with a surplus of 2.7 billion francs.

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That Can’t Be Good: China Unveils Another ‘Market Reform’

2019-08-20

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2019-08-20

China Internal/External, 2014-2019
The Chinese have been reforming their monetary and credit system for decades. Liberalization has been an overriding goal, seen as necessary to accompany the processes which would keep the country’s economic “miracle” on track. Or get it back on track, as the case may be. Authorities had traditionally controlled interest rates through various limits and levers.

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Deflation Is Everywhere—If You Know Where to Look, Report 18 Aug

2019-08-19

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2019-08-19

Gold and Silver Price
At a shopping mall recently, we observed an interesting deal at Sketchers. If you buy two pairs of shoes, the second is 30% off. Sketchers has long offered deals like this (sometimes 50% off). This is a sign of deflation. Regular readers know to wait for the punchline. Manufacturer Gives Away Its Margins

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FX Daily, August 19: China’s Rate Reform Helps Markets Extend End of Last Week Recovery

2019-08-19

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2019-08-19

Overview: China announced some changes in its interest rate framework that is expected to lead to lower rates.  This helped lift equity markets, which were already recovering at the end of last week from the earlier drubbing.  Chinese and Hong Kong shares led the regional rally with 2-3% gains.  The Nikkei gapped higher for the third time in six sessions, and the first two were followed by lower gaps. 

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Emerging market sovereign debt update: yields are falling

2019-08-19

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2019-08-19

Inflation and Policy Rates Average in Some EM, 2012-2019
Yields have fallen significantly in the EM sovereign bond space in local currency; USD movements will be key to watch for going forward.Yields have fallen impressively in the emerging market (EM) sovereign bond space in local currency, reaching 5.3% on 16 August, near their all-time low of 5.2% (in May 2013). This downward movement has been partly driven by the recent policy rate cuts of some EM central banks.

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FX Weekly Preview: A Vicious Cycle Grips Markets

2019-08-19

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2019-08-19

The capital markets are in their own doom loop. Poor data from Germany and China, coupled with the escalation of the US-China trade dispute and rising tensions in Hong Kong spur concerns about the risks of a global recession. Interest rates are driven lower, and curves flatten or go inverted, spurring more concern about the outlook. The problem is that it is not clear how this vicious cycle ends.

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Swiss groundwater quality threatened by pollution

2019-08-18

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2019-08-18

Pollution from agriculture, former industrial sites and landfills is threatening Switzerland’s groundwater reserves, according to a detailed study of water quality. The water quality study from the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN), released on Thursday, said groundwater faces the greatest pressures in areas of high farming activity.

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Some Brief European Leftovers

2019-08-18

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2019-08-18

Europe Industrial Production, 2013-2019
Some further odds and ends of European data. Beginning with Continent-wide Industrial Production. Germany is leading the system lower, but it’s not all just Germany. And though manufacturing and trade are thought of as secondary issues in today’s services economies, the GDP estimates appear to confirm trade in goods as still an important condition and setting for all the rest.

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