Tag Archive: newsletter

More than 100 members of Extinction Rebellion convicted in Switzerland

2019-11-10

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2019-11-10

In September 2019, groups of people belonging to the group Extinction Rebellion blocked two road bridges in Lausanne. Local police cleared the bridges by removing, in some cases carrying, protesters away. On 7 November 2019, 117 of the people involved in the bridge protests were convicted and fined for breaking Switzerland’s penal code, according to RTS.

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Red Flags Over Labor

2019-11-10

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2019-11-10

Establishment Survey; Payrolls 2010-2019
Better-than-expected is the new strong. Even I’m amazed at the satisfaction being taken with October’s payroll numbers. While you never focus too much on one monthly estimate, this time it might be time to do so. But not for those other reasons. Sure, GM caused some disruption and the Census is winding down, both putting everyone on edge. The whisper numbers were low double digits, maybe even a negative headline estimate.

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A Perfect Example of the Euro$ Squeeze

2019-11-10

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2019-11-10

Europe Industrial Production, 2007-2019
Germany’s vast industrial sector continued in the tank in September. According to new estimates from deStatis, that country’s government agency responsible for maintaining economic data, Industrial Production dropped by another 4% year-over-year during the month of September 2019. It was the fifth consecutive monthly decline at around that alarming rate.

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The Wave of Negative Rates Starts to Recede

2019-11-10

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2019-11-10

Negative yields on long-term European government bonds took financial markets by storm earlier this year but are starting to fade away as investors express renewed optimism about global economic growth. The yield on 10-year bonds issued by the French and Belgian governments turned positive Thursday for the first time since mid-July.

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Ocasio-Cortez is Wrong: We’re Not Working 80-Hour Weeks Now

2019-11-10

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2019-11-10

Average Annual Hours Worked by Persons Engaged for United States, Hours, Annual 1950-2017
It has become nearly commonplace for pundits and politicians to claim that Americans are working more than ever before; that they're working more jobs, and working longer hours — all for a lower income. During the Democratic debates this summer, for instance, Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio claimed "the economic system now forces us to have two or three jobs just to get by.” Kamala Harris made similar comments.

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Negativzinsen: Für KMU überwiegen weder Kosten noch Nutzen

2019-11-09

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2019-11-09

Schweizer Unternehmen sind wenig abhängig vom Wechselkurs, da nur die wenigsten exportieren. (Bild: Shutterstock.com/guruxox)Auch fünf Jahre nach der Einführung von Negativzinsen zur Schwächung des Frankenwechselkurses durch die Schweizerische Nationalbank (SNB) deutet nichts darauf hin, dass diese Phase der Geldpolitik bald dzu Ende gehen wird.

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Swiss payments system aims to link bitcoin and retailers

2019-11-09

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2019-11-09

Prominent European payment infrastructure provider Worldline has teamed up with financial services firm Bitcoin Suisse to allow cryptocurrency enthusiasts to spend their bitcoin in Swiss shops. Worldline last year took over SIX Payment Services, the former arm of the Swiss stock exchange group that provides payment card terminals in 85,000 Swiss retail outlets.

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Demobilising Swiss merchant navy to cost another CHF100 million

2019-11-09

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2019-11-09

Switzerland will incur a further CHF100 million ($101 million) loss as it continues to reduce its merchant shipping fleet. The ongoing bill for selling off ships and meeting their debt obligations has now risen to an estimated CHF300 million, the government has admitted.

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Geneva to ban Uber if it doesn’t change its operating model

2019-11-09

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2019-11-09

After a legal analyis the government of the canton of Geneva has decided that drivers of the ride hailing service are employees rather than independent contractors, effectively banning Uber from operating under its current model. In an interview with RTS, Mauro Poggia, a lawyer and Geneva state councillor, said that Uber is a transport company and as such must employ its drivers.

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Still Stuck In Between

2019-11-09

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2019-11-09

IHS Markit U.S. Manufacturing, 2012-2019
There wasn’t much by way of the ISM’s Manufacturing PMI to allay fears of recession. Much like the payroll numbers, an uncolored analysis of them, anyway, there was far more bad than good. For the month of October 2019, the index rose slightly from September’s decade low. At 48.3, it was up just half a point last month from the month prior

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The Sudden Need For A Trade Deal

2019-11-09

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2019-11-09

US Imports of Goods from China, NSA 1989-2019
Talk of trade deals is everywhere. Markets can’t get enough of it, even the here-to-fore pessimistic bond complex. Rates have backed up as a few whispers of BOND ROUT!!! reappear from their one-year slumber. If Trump broke the global economy, then his trade deal fixes it. There’s another way of looking at it, though. Why did the President go spoiling for trouble with China in 2018?

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Gold ETF and Central Bank Gold Buying Supports Gold Demand In Q3

2019-11-09

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2019-11-09

Gold-backed ETF Holdings hit a new record
Gold demand grew modestly to 1,107.9 tonnes (t) in Q3 thanks to the largest ETF inflows since Q1 2016. A surge in ETF inflows (258t) outweighed weakness elsewhere in the market to nudge gold demand 3% higher in Q3. Global central bank buying remained healthy but significantly lower than the record levels of Q3 2018.

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Maurice Jackson Interviews Brien Lundin and Jayant Bhandari

2019-11-09

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2019-11-09

Our friend Maurice Jackson of Proven and Probable has recently conducted two interviews which we believe will be of interest to our readers. The first interview  is with Brien Lundin, the president of Jefferson Financial, host of the famed New Orleans Investment Conference and publisher & editor of the Gold Newsletter – an investment newsletter that has been around for almost five decades, which actually makes it the longest-running US-based...

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Switzerland Unemployment in October 2019: Up to 2.2 percent, seasonally adjusted unchanged at 2.3 percent

2019-11-08

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2019-11-08

Switzerland Unemployment Rate n.s.a., October 2019
Unemployment registered in October 2019 - According to surveys by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), at the end of October 2019, 101'684 unemployed were registered at the regional employment agencies (RAV), 2 586 more than in the previous month. The unemployment rate rose from 2.1% in September 2019 to 2.2% in the month under review.

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FX Daily, November 8: Risk Appetites Satiated Ahead of the Weekend

2019-11-08

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2019-11-08

The capital markets are consolidating the recent moves ahead of the weekend. Equities are paring this week's gains, though the Nikkei, which was closed on Monday, extended its advance for the fourth consecutive session. Despite the profit-taking today, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose for the fifth week. Europe's Dow Jones Stoxx 600 is snapping a five-day rally, but it is closing in on the fifth consecutive weekly advance.

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Negative rates might go lower, says Swiss National Bank chairman

2019-11-08

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2019-11-08

Thomas Jordan, chairman of the Swiss National Bank (SNB), told the NZZ am Sonntag newspaper recently that central bank interest rates might need to go further into negative territory. Responding to growing criticism of negative central bank interest rates, Jordan said negative interest rates could continue and a further reduction is possible.

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USD/CHF extends rally to 0.9975, highest since mid-October

2019-11-08

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2019-11-08

USD/CHF daily, August - November 2019
Swiss Franc amid the worst performers on Thursday amid positive trade headlines. US dollar rises supported by higher US yields; Wall Street hits a new record. The USD/CHF pair broke to the upside after trading sideways around 0.9925 for hours. It climbed to 0.9975, reaching a three-week high. Near the end of the session, it is consolidating gains, holding above relevant short-term technical levels. 

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Using lake water to help reduce Switzerland’s carbon footprint

2019-11-08

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2019-11-08

Swiss lakes offer huge potential as renewable energy sources that can be used to cool and heat buildings. Geneva is expanding a pioneering thermal exchange project to help meet its climate goals, while other regions are taking the plunge. After transport, the second and third biggest sources of national greenhouse gas emissions are Swiss industry (20% of total in 2017) and households (18%).

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From Friends to Nemeses: JO and Jay

2019-11-08

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2019-11-08

JOLTS - Job Openings, SA 2017-2019
It was one of the first major speeches of his tenure. Speaking to the Economic Club of Chicago in April 2018, newly crowned Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell was full of optimism. At that time, however, optimism was being framed as some sort of bad thing. This was the height of inflation hysteria, where any sort of official upgrade to the economic condition was taken as further “hawkishness.”

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Is blockchain real estate in need of renovation?

2019-11-08

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2019-11-08

Our regular analysis of developments in the world of fintech and Crypto Nation. Property has for some time been hailed as prime real estate for blockchain disruption. The incorruptible ledger will replace mountains of paperwork while interested parties will have a sovereign claim to validate transactions in property sales.

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