Post Tagged with: "Switzerland"
Where are the safe havens?
My latest post at Credit Writedowns Pro on protecting wealth in a world of recurring crisis is now up. I outlined eight principal investing risks that I see for for 2012 and strategies to avoid those risks. At the same time, the thought you should have in the back of your head is that these are just the known unknowns. But that there are unknown unknowns which create so-called Knightean Uncertainty and make this a dangerous investing climate
Full Text: Swiss National Bank Chairman, Philipp Hildebrand, resigns with immediate effect
The Swiss franc is moving up strongly on this news from the Swiss National Bank
Dollar Softer On Spain Auction, Firm Euro Zone PMI Readings
The dollar is broadly weaker as Spanish auction goes well, euro zone PMIs better than expected. SNB held policy steady with no change to EUR/CHF floor. China, Singapore data help boost sentiment; Hungary reaches deal with banks on CHF loans
Dollar Firm As Italy Yields Rise, Euro Zone IP Falls
The dollar is broadly firmer as Italian yields rise at 5-year bond auction, euro zone IP falls.Swiss data weak ahead of SNB meeting tomorrow; Norges Bank seen cutting rates 25 bp. China data gives cover for more PBOC easing; RBA suggests AUD weakness will help cushion economy
Fasten Your Seatbelts: A Week that Can Rock your World
Starting today and running through next week, there is a key event nearly every day
Full Text: FRB Statement on Coordinated Central Bank Action on Currency Swaps
“The Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan, the European Central Bank, the Federal Reserve, and the Swiss National Bank are today announcing coordinated actions to enhance their capacity to provide liquidity support to the global financial system. The purpose of these actions is to ease strains in financial markets and thereby mitigate the effects of such strains on the supply of credit to households and businesses and so help foster economic activity. “
Why the Yen is Strong
The yen and the Swiss franc were seen as safe haven currencies during the tumultuous crisis in Europe. The Swiss National Bank has effectively and apparently cheaply took the franc out of the game. This may have increased some speculative pressure toward the yen.
Yet dismissing the yen’s strength as speculative in nature makes analysis superfluous. It misses the underlying imbalance that the yen’s strength reflects
Watch Switzerland on Monday
Switzerland reports its October consumer prices on Monday. This could be important. The Swiss National Bank’s decision to cap the franc took place on the same day that the August CPI was reported (Sept 6). It showed a 0.3% month-over-month decline after a 0.8% decline in July. There are many observers who expect the SNB to lower its cap for the franc (that is raise the euro floor form CHF1.20 to CHF1.25 or higher) and see the risk of deflation as a potential trigger
Quantitative Easing!!!
The BoJ announced today that it will expand its asset purchase programme by JPY5trn (USD66bn), with all the purchases being directed at JGB’s. Add that to the GBP75bn (USD120bn) by the BoE, CHF50bn (USD57bn) by the SNB and the EUR341bn (USD477bn) expansion of the ECB balance sheet since the end of June, and it collectively adds up to USD720bn. Clearly this explains the market rally from the low
Hungary: Controversial Swiss franc loan law goes into effect
Central European borrowers loaded up on cheap Swiss franc and euro loans (mainly from Austria and Switzerland) in the lead up to the credit crisis because of higher nominal rates in central Europe. When the crisis hit, these loans became expensive overnight. In Hungary, one of the hardest hit due to currency depreciation, the government has legislated a fix that goes into effect today
Chinese shunning trade with French banks
Reuters has reported that Bank of China, a dealer in China’s foreign exchange market, has stopped doing foreign exchange forwards and swaps with several European banks. Separately, sources say the European banks involved are Societe General, Credit Agricole, and BNP Paribas, the three banks being frozen out of the US money markets. Allegedly, the bank has also stopped trading with UBS because of worries about UBS’s rogue trading losses