Tag Archive: newsletter

Dollar Firm Ahead of BOE Decision

2020-01-31

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2020-01-31

The World Health Organization called an emergency meeting today; the dollar continues to climb. The FOMC meeting was a non-event; US advance Q4 GDP will be reported. Risk-off sentiment has derailed curve steepening trades. Implied rates still suggest that today’s BOE meeting is a coin toss.

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Peru cracks down on illegal gold mining

2020-01-31

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2020-01-31

Wildcat mining has devastated large chunks of the Peruvian Amazon, where gold is extracted and makes its way to the refineries and banks in Switzerland.swissinfo.ch visited the southeastern region of Madre de Dios and spoke to artisanal miners who have benefited from the gold rush to educate their families and create jobs, as well as those who have fallen afoul of the law.

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Freedom and Prosperity: The Importance of Sound Money

2020-01-31

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2020-01-31

Money and Gold
Sound money is a key to a free and prosperous society. That principle was clearly reflected in the monetary system that the Constitution established when it called the federal government into existence. Our ancestors didn’t trust government officials with power. They believed that the greatest threat to their own freedom and well-being lay not with some foreign regime but rather with their own government.

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FX Daily, January 30: Contagion Impact not Peaked, Weighs on Risk Appetites

2020-01-30

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2020-01-30

Overview: The ongoing concerns about the geometric progression of the new coronavirus continues to swamp other considerations for investors. Risk continues to be unwound, as the World Health Organization meets to decide if this is indeed a global health emergency. Several large equity markets in Asia were hit particularly hard.

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Swiss ski resort accepts bitcoin for settling tax bills

2020-01-30

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2020-01-30

The iconic ski resort of Zermatt has become the second local authority in Switzerland to allow residents to pay their tax bills using the cryptocurrency bitcoin. Zermatt, which lies in the shadow of the Matterhorn mountain, said on Tuesday that it will allow people living there to pay the whole range of taxes in bitcoin with no limit on the amount they contribute in the cryptocurrency.

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Sport generates billions for Swiss economy, study finds

2020-01-30

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2020-01-30

Sports-related activities are worth CHF22.2 billion ($22.8 billion) a year to the Swiss economy, a national report has revealed. Overall, sport accounts for 1.7% of Swiss gross domestic product (GDP), according to a report external linkby the Federal Office of Sport released on Tuesday which uses 2017 figures. This is comparable to the machine tools or metal products sectors.

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Swiss increasingly concerned about quality of the environment

2020-01-30

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2020-01-30

Dirt, noise, radiation, climate, loss of species: the Swiss population believes that environmental pollution has increased and continues to increase. Some 61% perceive this as a very serious or quite serious problem. In 2015, only 39% were so pessimistic.

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Could the Coronavirus Epidemic Be the Tipping Point in the Supply Chain Leaving China?

2020-01-30

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2020-01-30

China Share of World Exports, 2000-2018
Everyone expecting a quick resolution to the epidemic and a rapid return to pre-epidemic conditions would be well-served by looking beyond first-order effects. While the media naturally focuses on the immediate effects of the coronavirus epidemic, the possible second-order effects receive little attention: first order, every action has a consequence. Second order, every consequence has its own consequence.

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FX Daily, January 29: Escaped from a Crocodile’s Mouth, Entered a Tiger’s Mouth

2020-01-29

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2020-01-29

Overview: This colorful Malay saying captures the spirit of the animal spirits. Narrowly escaping an escalation of a trade war between the world's two largest economies, the outbreak of a deadly virus has spurred moves, especially the sell-off in stocks and rally in bonds, for which many investors seemed ill-prepared. Even though the virus contagion has not peaked, the recovery in US equities yesterday points to a break the fear and anxiety.

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“Der Euro ist wieder günstig zu haben”

2020-01-29

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2020-01-29

Vor mehr als fünf Jahren hat die Schweizerische Nationalbank (SNB) den Mindestkurs von 1.20 Franken zum Euro überraschend aufgehoben und durch Devisenmarktinterventionen und Negativzinsen ersetzt. Das Resultat war eine starke kurzfristige Aufwertung des Frankens gegenüber sämtlichen Währungen.

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Swiss venture capital funding breaks CHF2 billion barrier

2020-01-29

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2020-01-29

Swiss start-ups and young companies attracted nearly CHF2.3 billion ($2.4 billion) from deep-pocketed investors last year. The figure is nearly double the CHF1.2 billion collected in 2018 and sets a new record. New ventures in the ICT and fintech sectors received the largest slice of funding (CHF1.2 billion), but financial support for early stage biotech firms also received a significant boost (CHF625 million), according to the annual report from...

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Foreign demand remains high for luxury Swiss-made watches

2020-01-29

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2020-01-29

Swiss watch manufacturers exported timepieces worth over CHF21 billion ($21.7 billion) last year – the industry’s third-best result ever. Watchmaking is Switzerland’s third-biggest export sector after pharmaceutical and machine tools. Almost 95% of production is sold abroad, the majority to Asia.

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Gold May Top $2,000 As “Prices Surge On Global Fear”

2020-01-29

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2020-01-29

10 Year Gold Price in USD/oz, 2011-2020
Gold was one of the few investments heading higher Monday as worries about the coronavirus outbreak led to a steep market slide. Gold is now up more than 20% in the past year, and trading near $1,600 an ounce, its highest level since 2013. Other precious metals, such as silver and platinum, have rallied too. Meanwhile, the Dow was down nearly 350 points in midday trading.

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Das Internet – die dezentrale (R)Evolution

2020-01-29

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2020-01-29

Menschen werden durch unterschiedliche Motive angetrieben. Die einen sehen das höchste Glück in der Ansammlung von materiellen Werten, und andere sind von geistigen Werten angetrieben. Eine Idee kann genauso wie eine Rolex Glücksgefühle und Ansporn auslösen. Mich persönliche treiben Ideen an.

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With No Second Half Rebound, Confirming The Squeeze

2020-01-29

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2020-01-29

Germany ZEW Financial Market Survey, 2006-2019
It’s a palpable impatience. Having learned absolutely nothing from the most recent German example, there’s this pervasive belief that if the economy hasn’t fallen apart by now it must be going the other way. The right way. Those are the only two options for mainstream analysis (which means it isn’t analysis).

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Blutspuren am Obligationenmarkt

2020-01-28

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Sie können eine mündelsichere Anleihe (Obligation) bei 100 kaufen und nach Ablauf der Laufzeit wird sie bei 100 wieder zurückbezahlt. Das macht sie vermeintlich risikolos. Trotzdem können die Kurse solcher Wertpapiere „unterwegs" gewaltig schwanken. Wir zeigen diese Risiken auf und diskutieren, woher sie stammen.

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What lies ahead for gold in 2020

2020-01-28

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2020-01-28

Over the last few months, gold’s performance has been remarkable. Many market observers and mainstream analysts have pointed to various geopolitical developments in their efforts to explain away the bullishness as a reaction to whatever happens to be in the headlines at the time.

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Tentative Stabilization

2020-01-28

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2020-01-28

Implied Volatility Measures, 2018-2019
Risk-off continues in Asia, but moves have been less dramatic. European market jittery but stable. Implied rates now pricing in a full Fed cut by September. The UK will announce its decision on Huawei’s access to the country’s 5G network.

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Zurich Airport looks to Asia to expand its airports business

2020-01-28

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2020-01-28

The company recently won a bid to build and run an airport near India’s capital and has its sights set on other emerging markets in Asia. In November 2019, Zürich Flughafen AG (Zurich Airport) won a 40-year contract to build and operate the planned Noida International Airport in Jewar, located around 80km from the country’s capital, New Delhi. 

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Swiss Trade Balance December 2019: Chemistry-pharma propels foreign trade 2019 to new heights

2020-01-28

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2020-01-28

Swiss exports and imports, seasonally adjusted (in bn CHF), December 2019
Despite a climate of uncertainty linked to trade tensions and the global economy, Swiss foreign trade grew in 2019, albeit at a slower pace. Exports increased by 3.9% to 242.3 billion francs while imports increased by 1.6% to 205.0 billion francs, the two directions of traffic thus reaching an historic peak. The trade balance closed with a record surplus of 37.3 billion francs.

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