Subscribe for newsletter

Follow us in Twitter

Follow @dorgang

Gold standard and monetary metals:
Follow @kweiner01

Subscribe for browser push notifications

Follow @dorgang

Follow @snbchf

Tag Archive: Swiss National Bank

Currencies: Going cuckoo for the Swiss

2015-01-15

by The Economist

2015-01-15

CURRENCIES don't normally move that far on a daily basis—2 to 3% is a big shift. The exception is when a country on a fixed exchange rate suffers a devaluation; then a 20-30% fall is a possibility. But a 20-30% plus upward move is almost unprecedented. That, however, is what happened to the Swiss franc on January 15th, as Switzerland's central bank abandoned its policy (instituted back in 2011) of capping the currency at Sfr1.20 to the euro.

Read More »

Vieles wird teurer doch das Deflationsgespenst bleibt am Leben

2015-01-01

by Markus M. Müller

2015-01-01

Die SNB wird nicht müde, uns vor der bösen Deflation zu warnen und die Inflationserwartungen tief zu halten: SNB: «Deflationsrisiken nochmals zugenommen» – Handelszeitung, 11.12.14 Mittelfristige Inflationserwartungen weiterhin tief und stabil – SNB,...

Read More »

Swiss Balance of Payments 2014, Q1-Q3 and Implications on CHF

We judge that negative or close to zero yielding government bonds reflect three points: Risk off environment, long-run currency gains on currency with low inflation, insufficient supply of government bonds for bank refinancing purposes.

Read More »

Setting monetary policy by popular vote: Full of holes

2014-11-27

by The Economist

2014-11-27

THE Swiss franc is a volatile currency that is fast becoming worthless. That, at least, is what some members of Switzerland’s right-wing People’s Party (SVP) would have you believe. Thanks to the SVP, Switzerland will vote on November 30th on a radical proposal to boost the central bank’s gold reserves. Bigger reserves, activists argue, will make the Swiss economy more stable and prosperous. In fact the opposite is true.

Read More »

Why was the gold price so low in 1999/2000?

To find further explanations as to why the gold price was weak in the late 1990s we analyze sector balances. Effectively private spending and private debt went in two different directions: a heavy increase in private spending and debt in the US against less growth in private spending and less debt in the rest of world. This combination fostered GDP growth in the US and weakened it in other countries. Real interest rates were positive. Markets...

Read More »

History of SNB Interventions

SNB Assets vs. Liabilities source UBS with EUR/CHF FX rate

High inflows of around 400 billion francs between 2009 and 2012 in the Swiss balance of payments could only be countered with an increase in reserve assets and interventions by the Swiss National Bank. This number is far higher than the one seen during the collapse of the Bretton Woods system, when the ten times bigger Germany had to buy reserves for 71 billion German Marks (at the time around 56 billion CHF). We look at the detailed history of...

Read More »

Weltwoche nimmt Blogbeitrag zu Gold von unbequemefragen.ch auf

2014-10-16

by Markus M. Müller

2014-10-16

Da habe ich nicht schlecht gestaunt, als sich Markus Schär von der Weltwoche vorgestern Abend bei mir über Twitter gemeldet und verkündet hat, dass er bei seinem Artikel über die Goldverkäufe der SNB sehr prominent meinen Blogbeitag zitiert. Nochmals...

Read More »

Swiss Gold Referendum and SNB’s Opinion: An Exchange of Arguments

Already in 2013, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) spoke out against the gold initiative and revealed that the Swiss gold is stored mostly in Switzerland and 20% in the UK and 10% in Canada. There is no Swiss gold in the United States according to SNB chairman Jordan. In this post we provide an exchange of Jordan's arguments against the ones of the gold initiative. We also state our view that is not as strict as the one of the referendum proponents.

Read More »

Bewiesen: Die SNB verkaufte Gold, welches bei der Fed gelagert war

2014-10-08

by Markus M. Müller

2014-10-08

Endlich kommt der Beweis für meine Vermutung! Die SNB hat heute – parallel zur Propaganda des Bundesrats – ein Dokument “Goldinitiative – häufig gestellte Fragen” (PDF) ins Netz gestellt und dabei sogar interessante Fakten preisgegeben. Konkret geht ...

Read More »

Will SNB FX Investments Yield Enough Until U.S. Inflation Starts?

Yield on Investment SNB Swiss National Bank

Will the SNB be able to survive an upturn in inflation: We focus on income and yields for foreign exchange position and gold and find out if the SNB makes enough income to survive a franc appreciation.

Read More »

When FX wars become negative interest wars

2014-08-27

by Izabella Kaminska

2014-08-27

Beat Siegenthaler, FX strategist at UBS, has been wondering about what the Swiss National Bank may do if the ECB’s measures to weaken the euro begin to test its 1.20 EURCHF floor. He notes, for example, that there has already been a marked divergence...

Read More »

Swiss Franc and Swiss Economy: The Overview Questions

pictet long-term graph eur/chf, real trade

Before the upcoming SNB monetary policy assessment meeting on June 19th, rumors started the SNB could follow the ECB and set negative rates on banks' excess reserves. We would like to deliver the whole background, starting with the question why Swiss inflation has been so low in the past and why CHF always appreciated.

Read More »

The Swiss Franc, Pseudo-Mathematics and Financial Charlatanism

Swiss parliament member Lukas Reimann outlines the importance gold. In a future inflationary environment, prices of SNB holdings, the ones of German Bunds and US Treasuries will drop, while gold will appreciate.

Read More »

SNB Results Q2/2014: Draghi’s Weak Euro Policy, a Nice Gift for the SNB, for Now

2014-07-31

by George Dorgan

2014-07-31

The ECB commitment to a weak euro and the maintenance of ultra-low interest rates, was a nice (temporary) gift for the Swiss National Bank (SNB). The bank earned nearly 12 billion francs in Q2/2014.

Read More »

Swiss Franc History, 2000-2007: The sale of the Swiss gold reserves

A critical Swiss Franc History: Between 2000 and 2007, the SNB made the Swiss cantons happy and delivered some billions of francs to prop up their finances. The gains were unfortunately not caused by strong asset management capabilities, but mostly due to gold price improvements and gold sales at quite cheap prices.

Read More »