Tag Archive: Swiss National Bank

Is the Central Bank’s Rigged Stock Market Ready to Crash on Schedule?

2017-06-12

by

2017-06-12

We just saw a major rift open in the US stock market that we haven’t seen since the dot-com bust in 1999. While the Dow rose by almost half a percent to a new all-time high, the NASDAQ, because it is heavier tech stocks, plunged almost 2%.

Read More »

The SNB’s Currency Interventions

2017-06-05

by

2017-06-05

SNB Holdings, 2001 - 2017
On the FT’s Alphaville blog, Matthew Klein reviews Swiss monetary policy over the last years and its effect on the real economy. He concludes that - it seems the SNB’s relentless accumulation of foreign assets has been pointless — at best. More likely, the behaviour qualifies as predatory mercantilism at the expense of the rest of the world, especially Switzerland’s hard-hit neighbours.

Read More »

Remembering A Still Falling Hero: Small Business

2017-05-30

by

2017-05-30

On this holiday weekend known here in the U.S. as Memorial Day, I would like to make a slight turn in the narrative that many give little to no attention too, yet, is one of the most important underlying principles or fundamentals which helped shape, lift, mold, sustain, and create one of the world’s greatest economic powerhouses bar none.

Read More »

New Gold Pool at the BIS Basle, Switzerland: Part 1

2017-05-21

by

2017-05-21

“In the Governor’s absence I attended the meeting in Zijlstra’s room in the BIS on the afternoon of Monday, 10th December to continue discussions about a possible gold pool. Emminger, de la Geniere, de Strycker, Leutwiler, Larre and Pohl were present.”  

Read More »

SocGen: Beware The Ghost Of 1993

2017-05-12

by

2017-05-12

The Vix is at its lowest level since 1993, Commodities and rates are dragging the AUD down
With Monday's financial media blasting reports about the VIX collapse to levels not seen in 24 years, going all the way back to 1993, it is worth remembering that the near record low volatility collapse of 1993 did not end well either for stocks, or for bonds, with the great 1994 bond tantrum. Reminding us of that, and of broader implications for the cross-asset space, is SocGen's Kit Juckes with his overnight note, "The ghost of 1993"

Read More »

A Problem Emerges: Central Banks Injected A Record $1 Trillion In 2017… It’s Not Enough

2017-05-11

by

2017-05-11

Aggregate Balance Sheet Of Large Central Banks, 2000 - 2017
Two weeks ago Bank of America caused a stir when it calculated that central banks (mostly the ECB & BoJ) have bought $1 trillion of financial assets just in the first four months of 2017, which amounts to $3.6 trillion annualized, "the largest CB buying on record."

Read More »

“Mystery” Central Bank Buyer Revealed, Goes On Q1 Buying Spree

2017-05-08

by

2017-05-08

Nikkei 225 vs. BoJ ETF Holdings 2011-2017
In the first few months of the year, a trading desk rumor emerged that even as institutional traders dumped stocks and retail investors piled into ETFs, a "mystery" central bank was quietly bidding up risk assets by aggressively buying stocks. And no, it was not the BOJ: while the Japanese Central Bank's interventions in the stock market are familiar to all by now, and as we reported last night on sessions when the "the BoJ comes in big, the...

Read More »

Digital Swiss Francs

2017-05-05

by

2017-05-05

The Swiss National Bank held its annual general meeting of shareholders (web TV). In response to one of the questions posed by shareholders Thomas Jordan suggested (2:58–2:59) that possibly a digital Swiss Franc might be introduced sometime in the future.

Read More »

Sweden’s Gold Reserves: 10,000 gold bars (pet rocks) shrouded in Official Secrecy

2017-04-28

by

2017-04-28

In February 2017 while preparing for a presentation in Gothenburg about central bank gold, I emailed Sweden’s central bank, the Riksbank, enquiring whether the Riksbank physically audits Sweden’s gold and whether it would provide me with a gold bar weight list of Sweden’s gold reserves (gold bar holdings). The Swedish official gold reserves are significant and amount to 125.7 tonnes, making the Swedish nation the world’s 28th largest official gold...

Read More »

SNB posts 7.9 billion CHF Profit in Q1

2017-04-27

by

2017-04-27

SNB Results in the first 1 Quarters 2017: +2.2 billion CHF
The SNB reports a profit of 7.9 bn CHF, of which 2.2 bn come from the gold holdings. Given that the bank has introduced a "minimum euro rate" around 1.06-1.07, this is not very difficult. It comes at the price of continuing interventions.

Read More »

Where There’s Smoke…

2017-04-25

by

2017-04-25

Evolution of Atlanta Fed GDP, December 2016 - April 2017
Central banks around the world have colluded, if not conspired, to elevate and prop up financial asset prices. Here we'll present the data and evidence that they've not only done so, but gone too far. When we discuss elevated financial asset prices we really are talking about everything; we're talking not just about the sky-high prices of stocks and bonds, but also of the trillions of dollars’ worth of derivatives that are linked to them, as well...

Read More »

Switzerland at IMF and World Bank 2017 Spring Meetings in Washington, D.C.

2017-04-20

by

2017-04-20

Swiss National bank bern
Federal Councillor Ueli Maurer as Head of the Swiss delegation, Federal Councillor Johann N. Schneider-Ammann and Thomas Jordan, Chairman of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank, will take part in the joint Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group in Washington, D.C., from 21 to 23 April 2017. Prior to these meetings, Federal Councillor Ueli Maurer will represent Switzerland at the meeting of G20...

Read More »

Swiss Franc Exchange Rate Index

2017-04-12

by

2017-04-12

Nominal and real effective exchange rate indices of Swiss Franc
The Swiss National Bank has updated its exchange rate indices. In an SNB Economic Studies paper, Robert Müller describes how. The upshot is that the SNB considers the Swiss Franc slightly less overvalued than before.

Read More »

SNB Spent $68 Billion On Currency Manipulation In 2016

2017-03-24

by

2017-03-24

SNB Intervention, 2010 - 2017
While Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed his displeasure with China for manipulating its currency, he appears to have recently figured out that over the past 2 years Beijing has been spending hundreds of billions in dollar to strengthen, not weaken, the Yuan and to halt the ~$1 trillion in capital flight from China.

Read More »

Swiss National Bank Results 2016 and Comments

2017-03-06

by

2017-03-06

SNB Results Longterm 2016
The Swiss National Bank (SNB) reports a profit of CHF 24.5 billion for the year 2016 (2015: loss of CHF 23.3 billion). The profit on foreign currency positions amounted to CHF 19.4 billion. A valuation gain of CHF 3.9 billion was recorded on gold holdings. The profit on Swiss franc positions was CHF 1.6 billion.

Read More »

It Is Time To Short The Swiss National Bank!

2017-02-27

by

2017-02-27

SNB Balance Sheet 2009 - 2016
The current Article will take a closer look to the incredible rise of the Swiss National Bank stock and suggest why taking a short position could be the right trade at this level. The Swiss Central Bank: Mandate and Monetary Policy. According to the Swiss Federal Constitution (Art. 99) the Swiss Central Bank is an independent institution with the mandate to conduct the monetary policy in Switzerland by ensuring price stability, while taking into...

Read More »

Video: The Swiss National Bank Is Acting Like A Hedge Fund

2017-02-26

by

2017-02-26

Mario Draghi ECB SNB
We discuss the fact that Central Banks have basically morphed into Hedge Funds with similar risky investing strategies, except they buy without any regard to the underlying fundamentals of the assets they are buying. When did the Swiss Citizens say it was the proper role for the Swiss National Bank to be buying US Stocks? How is this stimulating the Swiss Economy?

Read More »

What Will Trump Do About The Central-Bank Cartel?

2017-02-14

by

2017-02-14

Euro Banks find it increasingly hard to obtain US dollar credit
The US is by far the biggest economy in the world. Its financial markets — be it equity, bonds or derivatives markets — are the largest and most liquid. The Greenback is the most important transaction currency. Many currencies in the world — be it the euro, the Chinese renminbi, the British pound or the Swiss franc — have actually been built upon the US dollar.

Read More »

Swiss National Bank’s U.S. Stock Holdings Hit A Record $63.4 Billion

2017-02-10

by

2017-02-10

Value of Swiss National Bank US Stock Holdings, June 2014 - December 2016
Being able to print your own money and buy stocks at any price sure can be fun. Just as the SNB which unlike many other (if ever fewer) central banks admits to doing just that. In its latest 13F filing, the Swiss National Bank reported that the value of its portfolio of US stocks rose again in the fourth quarter, increasing by 1.6% from $62.4 billion as of Sept. 30 to a record high $63.4 billion at the end of the year.

Read More »

Largest Retail FX Broker FXCM Banned By CFTC, Fined $7 Million For Taking Positions Against Clients

2017-02-08

by

2017-02-08

fxcm teaser
The CFTC on Monday fined Forex Capital Markets, parent FXCM Holdings LLC and founding partners Dror Niv and William Ahdout to pay $7 million to settle charges it defrauded retail foreign exchange customers and engaging in false and misleading solicitations. As part of the settlement, FXCM agreed to withdraw its registration and never seek to register with the CFTC again, effectively banning it from operating in the US.

Read More »