Tag Archive: newsletter

Switzerland remains world’s most attractive country for skilled workers

2020-01-24

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2020-01-24

Switzerland continues to lead the world in talent competitiveness, having held the number one spot since the annual Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI) was launched in 2013. According to the 2020 indexexternal link, the three main reasons for Switzerland’s top position are the country’s high quality of life (interesting jobs, high salaries and good career opportunities), its dual education system which combines education with vocational...

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Bitcoin Tumbles To Key Technical Level, Dalio Disses Diversification Into Digital Currency

2020-01-24

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2020-01-24

After pushing up to two-month highs over the weekend, Bitcoin is accelerating lower this morning... Breaking down from the 200DMA and testing the 100DMA... Cryptos are all lower today (and this week)...

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Virus and Trade Tensions

2020-01-24

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2020-01-24

Implied Volatility Measures, 2019-2020
Asian markets hit by a further outbreak of the coronavirus. US steps up trade rhetoric against EU and pushes back against UK digital tax plan. AUD stronger on solid Australian jobs report and pricing out of RBA easing. CAD weaker on dovish BOC communication yesterday.

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The Majority of Virginia Homicides Come from only Two Metro Areas

2020-01-24

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2020-01-24

Virginia Homicides by City
In most times and places, crime tends to be a highly localized phenomenon. I have covered this for Mises.org at the national level, pointing out that homicide rates in, say, the Mountain West and New England are far lower than homicide rates in the Great Lakes region or the South. Gun-control laws clearly don't explain these differences, since many places with rock-bottom homicide rates such as Idaho and Maine also have few controls on private gun...

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FX Daily, January 23: ECB’s Strategic Review and the Coronavirus Command Investors’ Attention

2020-01-23

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2020-01-23

The spread of the coronavirus and the lockdown in the epicenter in China has again sapped the risk-taking appetite in the capital markets. Asia is bearing the brunt of the adjustment. Tomorrow starts China's week-long Lunar New Year celebration when markets will be closed, which may have also spurred today's drama that aw the Shanghai Composite tumbled 2.75%, bringing the week's loss to 3.2%, the most in five months.

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SNB’s Jordan: Franc exchange rate is important in relation to Swiss monetary conditions

2020-01-23

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2020-01-23

Negative rates are a necessity. Negative rates have side effects, SNB trying to minimise those side effects. Balance of risks is tilted to the downside. SNB conducts independent monetary policy, does not follow the ECB. But needs to take international environment into account.

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SNB’s Maechler: SNB will not change policy after being put on watch list by US

2020-01-23

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2020-01-23

Being put on the currency manipulation watchlist by the United States will not change the Swiss National Bank's (SNB) monetary policy, SNB Governing Board member Andrea Maechler said on Wednesday, per Reuters.

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Central Banks Zoom In on CBDC

2020-01-23

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2020-01-23

According to a BIS press release, several leading central banks collaborate with the BIS on matters relating to the introduction of CBDC: The Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan, the European Central Bank, the Sveriges Riksbank and the Swiss National Bank, together with the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), have created a group to share experiences as they assess the potential cases for central bank digital currency...

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Switzerland moves closer to taxing flights

2020-01-23

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2020-01-23

A Swiss parliamentary commission, tasked with looking at the introduction of an environmental tax on flights departing from Switzerland, recently voted in favour a such a tax. A majority of 17 to 8 members voted in favour of the move. The tax would range from CHF 30 to CHF 120 per passenger depending on flight distance and class.

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Trump should be disinvited to Davos, says St. Gallen University economist

2020-01-23

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2020-01-23

Speaking to CNN Money, Markus Will, a senior economist at St. Gallen University, described Trump’s speech, in which he didn’t mention climate once, as a “contradiction to the values of Davos.” “It was a nationalistic, domestic, state of the union address from Davos rather than an improving of the state of the world speech which you should do in Davos”, he said, before adding, “you should disinvite him cordially for next year.

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Negative interest rates have cost Swiss banks CHF8 billion

2020-01-23

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2020-01-23

Swiss banks have been forced to fork out CHF8 billion ($8.3 billion) in negative interest fees since the Swiss National Bank (SNB) imposed its policy in 2015. Last year saw the heftiest annual bill of CHF2 billion, according to research from German company Deposit Solutions.

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The Big And Small of Leading Japan

2020-01-23

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2020-01-23

Japan Trade & Production, 2016-2019
In the middle of 2018, Japan, they said, was riding so high. Gliding along on the tidal wave of globally synchronized growth, Haruhiko’s courage and more so patience had finally delivered the long-promised recovery. The Japanese economy had healed to a point that its central bank officials believed it time to wean the thing off decades of monetary “stimulus.”

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FX Daily, January 22: Fragile Stability in Capital Markets even as SARS Comparisons Grow

2020-01-22

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2020-01-22

Overview: The S&P 500 lost less than 0.3% yesterday, even as the first case of the Wuhan Virus was found in the US. The relative subdued US reaction may have helped stabilize the capital markets today. Nearly all the major markets in the Asia Pacific regions rose, including more than a 1% gain in Hong Kong and South Korea. European shares are posting small gains near midday.

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Swiss firms lauded for climate protection measures

2020-01-22

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2020-01-22

Nestlé, Givaudan, Panalpina and the Bern Cantonal Bank are among 179 companies given a top “A” rating in a global survey of transparency and action on climate change. On Monday, non-profit group Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) published its study of 8,000 companies worldwide. Only 2% of them made it onto the A-list, the organisation said.

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UBS Tumbles After Biggest Swiss Bank Misses Key Targets As Investors Pull Money

2020-01-22

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2020-01-22

UBS, 2020
The rift between the US (where rates are still positive) and European banks (where rates have never been more negative) continues to grow. While US banks have so far reported mostly better than expected results for Q4, the same can not be said for Europe, where UBS shares are down 5% as the bank misses fiscal year profitability and cost targets in addition to trimming its mid-term goals.

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Neon banking app slashes fees in growth drive

2020-01-22

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2020-01-22

Swiss financial services company Neon says it will scrap card fees for customers shopping abroad to spearhead an ambitious drive to boost the number of clients to 250,000 in the next two years. The Zurich-based fintech company has laid down a challenge to foreign competitors, such as Revolut and N26, with its announcement.

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Calling Things by Their Real Names

2020-01-22

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2020-01-22

One does not need money to convey one's thoughts, but what money does allow is the drowning out of speech of those without money by those with a lot of money. In last week's explanation of why the Federal Reserve is evil, I invoked the principle of calling things by their real names, a concept that drew an insightful commentary from longtime correspondent Chad D.:

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Money, Inflation, and Business Cycles: The Cantillon Effect and the Economy

2020-01-22

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2020-01-22

Abstract: Austrian economists hold that money matters a great deal in concrete terms in the immediate short run and has permanent long-run effects. Sierońs book investigates the Cantillon effect, which indicates that money is not neutral because inevitabily it is injected unevenly, creating economic distortions. These distortions are important to the long run and the Austrian theory of the business cycle.

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Dollar Mixed as Risk-Off Impulses Spread from Virus

2020-01-21

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2020-01-21

Reports that Wuhan coronavirus continues to spread hurt risk appetite overnight. US President Trump and French president Macron agreed to take a step back from the digital tax dispute. The dollar is taking a breather today; after last week’s huge US data dump, releases this week are fairly light. The UK reported firm jobs data for November; BOJ kept policy steady, as expected.

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Central bank group to assess potential cases for central bank digital currencies

2020-01-21

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2020-01-21

The Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan, the European Central Bank, the Sveriges Riksbank and the Swiss National Bank, together with the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), have created a group to share experiences as they assess the potential cases for central bank digital currency (CBDC) in their home jurisdictions.

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