Tag Archive: newsletter

Costs of owning a home in Switzerland set to rise for some

2018-08-31

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2018-08-31

Swiss-house
Currently, home owners in Switzerland must pay tax on fictional rent, calculated based on a home’s size and location. At the same time home owners get to deduct mortgage interest and home maintenance costs from their taxable income.

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FX Daily, August 31: Month-End Adjustments and Tentative Stabilization in Emerging Markets Ease Demand for Dollars but Not Yen

2018-08-31

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2018-08-31

The dramatic price action seen yesterday among several emerging market currencies is eased today, but here at month-end, demand for risk-assets is tentative at best. The macro backdrop, including the increase in US core inflation, expectations for continued hikes by the Federal Reserve, and unambiguous signals that trade tensions will increase in the coming weeks dampens the risk appetite.

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Why Am I Fighting for the Gold Standard?

2018-08-31

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2018-08-31

Monetary Metals
Life is good. They could not have imagined what we have now, back in the dark ages. So I have never understood why people prep for a return to the dark ages. The only thing I can think of is that they don’t really picture what life is like. 14 hours a day of back-breaking labor to eke out a subsistence living. Subject to the risks of rain, sun, and insects.

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KOF Economic Barometer: Falling

2018-08-30

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2018-08-30

In August 2018, the KOF Economic Barometer fell slightly by 1.4 points to a new reading of 100.3. It thus now pints to a level that is only marginally above its long-term average. Accordingly, in the near future Swiss growth should hover around its average over the last ten years.

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FX Daily, August 30: Brexit Optimism Underpins Sterling

2018-08-30

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2018-08-30

The US dollar is mostly firmer, while global equities are softer and bonds little changed.  The Turkish lira and South African rand remain under pressures.  However, there does not appear to be an overall theme in today's markets.   Disappointing data from Australia and New Zealand has seen the Antipodean currencies move lower.  New Zealand's business confidence fell to a ten-year low, and this sent the Kiwi tumbling.  Its nearly 0.9% fall...

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A Fake Brexit and the “Noble Dream” – Claudio Grass Speaks With Godfrey Bloom

2018-08-30

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2018-08-30

Introductory Remarks: The “Anti-Politician” Godfrey Bloom, by PT Most of our readers will probably remember former UKIP chief whip and European Parliament representative Godfrey Bloom. As far as we know, he is the only politician who ever raised the issue of the workings of the fractionally reserved central bank-directed monetary system in the EU parliament. This system is of course central to the phenomenon of the recurring boom-bust sequences...

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COMCO declines to investigate watchmakers over cartel claims

2018-08-30

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2018-08-30

The Swiss Competition Commission (COMCO) has decided not to open a formal investigation into watchmakers including Swatch, LVMH and Richemont over the supply of spare parts for independent watch repair shops.

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Swiss Job Numbers Up but too Few Qualified Workers

2018-08-29

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2018-08-29

Job-numbers-Switzerland
In the second quarter of 2018, the number of jobs in Switzerland rose to 5.048 million, a 2.1% increase on the second quarter of 2017. Regions rising the most were Lake Geneva (+3.0%), north west Switzerland (+3.0%), central Switzerland (+2.4%) and Zurich (+2.1%). Rises in job numbers in eastern Switzerland (+1.6%), Mittelland (+1.3%) and Ticino (0%) were lower.

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FX Daily, August 29: Dollar Finds Support, but Downside Correction May Not be Over

2018-08-29

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2018-08-29

The US dollar has steadied after pulling back in recent days, but the downside correction does not appear complete, and month-end flows are still a risk to picking a dollar-bottom. The Australian dollar is the weakest of the majors. The main drag is paradoxically Westpac, one of Australia's largest banks, raised the variable rate mortgage by 14 bp to 5.38%. Others are expected to follow.

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Here’s How We Ended Up with Predatory, Parasitic Elites

2018-08-29

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2018-08-29

Income Inequality, 1913 - 2012
Combine financialization, neoliberalism and moral bankruptcy, and you end up with predatory, parasitic elites. How did our financial and political elites become predatory parasites? Some will answer that elites have always been predatory parasites; as tempting as it may be to offer a blanket denunciation of elites, this overlooks the eras in which elites rose to meet existential crises. Following in Ancient Rome's Footsteps: Moral Decay,...

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Anticipating How Welcome This Second Deluge Will Be

2018-08-29

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2018-08-29

US Treasuries, Jan 2018 - Aug 2018
Effective federal funds (EFF) was 1.92% again yesterday. That’s now eight in a row just 3 bps underneath the “technically adjusted” IOER. If indeed the FOMC has to make another one to this tortured tool we know already who will be blamed for it.

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Günstig Land kaufen – Wie du profitabel kleine Grundstücke kaufst – mit Jack Bosch

2018-08-28

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Land kaufen - Dein kostenloses Immopreneur Starterpaket für Immobilieninvesotren: http://bit.ly/immobilienstarter Im heutigen Interview habe ich Jack Bosch zu Gast. Wir sprechen darüber, wie du es schaffst mit einfach Methoden Land zu kaufen und so hohe Profite mitzunehmen. Jack ist Experte für Land flipping und hat sich in den letzten Jahren ein starkes Immobilienportfolio in den USA aufgebaut. Zusätzlich ist er als Coach tätig und hilft...

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Employment Barometer in the Q2 2018: Sharp Rise in Employment in Switzerland

2018-08-28

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2018-08-28

Switzerland Employment Level, Q2 2018
In the 2nd quarter 2018, total employment (number of jobs) rose by 2.1% in comparison with the same quarter a year earlier (+0.4% with previous quarter). In full-time equivalents, employment in the same period rose by 2.0%. The Swiss economy counted 14 000 more vacancies than in the corresponding quarter of the previous year (+22.6%) and the employment outlook indicator is also indicating an upward trend (+1.1%). These are some of the findings from...

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FX Daily, August 28: Greenback Remains On Defensive

2018-08-28

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2018-08-28

Corrective forces continue to weigh on the US dollar. Sometimes the narratives drive the price action and sometimes the price action drives the narratives. Currently the latter appears to hold sway. The dollar's downside correction began around the middle of the month, well before Powell's August 24 Jackson Hole speech.

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Government Reinforces Critical Infrastructure against Cyber Attacks

2018-08-28

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2018-08-28

In the wake of several major cyber security attacks, the government has released minimum standards for companies and organisations to help protect the country’s critical energy, food, and water infrastructure. Some critics question whether a minimum standard goes far enough as basic services become increasingly dependent on digital technology.

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To Understand America’s Neofeudal Economy, Start with Extortion

2018-08-28

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2018-08-28

US Inflation, 1996 - 2016
Let's spin the time machine back to the late Middle Ages, at the height of feudalism, and imagine we're trying to get a boatload of goods to the nearest city to sell. As we drift down the river, we're constantly being stopped and charged a fee for transiting one small fiefdom after another. When we finally reach the city, there's an entry fee for bringing our goods to market.

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Another Gold Bearish Factor, Report 26 August 2018

2018-08-27

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2018-08-27

Gold and Silver Price
Last week, we said that the consensus is that gold must go down (as measured in terms of the unstable dollar) and then will rocket higher. We suggested that if everyone expects an outcome in the market, the outcome is likely not to turn out that way. We also said that this time, there is likely less leverage employed to buy gold and that gold is less leveraged as well.

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FX Daily, August 27: A Dog Day of Summer

2018-08-27

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2018-08-27

Last week's dollar losses were initially extended in Asia before it came back bid. The euro briefly poked through $1.1650 for the first time in three weeks. However, the gains were sold into, and the euro finished the Asian session near $1.16, where there is a 782 mln euro option expiring, and 2.4 bln euros struck at $1.1625.

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FX Weekly Preview: Macroeconomic Considerations

2018-08-27

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2018-08-27

The force that had pushed the US 10-year Treasury yield to 3% and the dollar above JPY113 at the start of the month, and the euro to $1.13 a couple of weeks ago has dissipated. The 10-year yield is near 2.80%. The dollar was near two-month lows against the yen a week ago, and the euro was back toward the middle of its previous $1.15-$1.18 trading range.

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Emerging Markets: Week Ahead Preview

2018-08-27

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2018-08-27

EM FX was whipsawed last week but ended on a firm note. We look past the noise and believe that the true signals for EM remain higher US interest rates and continued trade tensions, both of which are negative. Turkish markets reopen after a week off. Nothing fundamentally has changed there, and so it still poses some spillover risk to wider EM.

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