The Swiss franc tumbled today, as its Swiss National Bank’s (SNB) imposed a charge on deposits for two main concerns. First, they are scared of a flood of money exiting Russia buying Swiss driving the franc higher and secondly they remain terrified of anticipated pressure continuing from the Eurozone if the ECB starts full-scale money printing early next year.
While the rise in shares both in Europe and the USA are attributed to an upbeat assessment of the U.S. economy and a promise to be patience in raising rates by the Federal Reserve, in reality, capital has to go somewhere. Smart money will continue to exist sovereign debt in front of the anticipated Eurozone meltdown next year combined with falling energy and commodity prices that will hit the emerging market countries even more next year. The Russian crisis may have captured the headlines, but we are already seeing quiet cut-backs in spending in the Middle East that nobody seems to be paying attention to just yet. The US economy remains the ONLY economy holding up the world but that will not last beyond next September.
