Switzerland

Japan's Finance Ministry confirmed on Tuesday that it had conducted stealth interventions in the foreign exchange markets in November of last year in an attempt to prevent the Japanese yen from climbing any higher. The Finance Ministry reported that it secretly sold 1.02 trillion yen ($13.3...

The news of the death of North Korea's long-term dictator, Kim Jong-Il, hit the Internet late last night. North Korea has been probably the most closed society and economy in the world and the foreigners have had a very limited access to the country. Kim Jong-Il or “Dear Leader” ruled the country...

Bank of Japan governor Masaaki Shirakawa warned on Monday that a surging yen and the European Union's sovereign-debt crisis were slowing Japan's post tsunami economic recovery. The strong yen and the European financial crisis are related because as investors dump the euro, they look for what they...

Slovakia put the future of the euro in jeopardy yesterday when the tiny, poor European country voted against enhanced powers for the European Union that are needed in order to prevent a financial meltdown. Slovakia's ruling party failed to get enough votes to give the European Financial Stability...

Banking stocks across Europe have been rising since European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said that the eurozone's leaders were considering recapitalizing the region's banks. Banking stocks had already been given a boost after German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that Europe needed to...

The United States Congress moved closer to passing a bill that would punish countries that the United States accuses of keeping their currencies artificially low. The law is clearly aimed at China, which has long been accused of manipulating its currency in order to make its exports more...

The euro dropped to an 8-month low against the American dollar, as concerns over Greece's ability to pay its debts continued to put pressure on the eurozone currency. European stock markets were also down during Monday trading as investors worried about the effect that a Greek default would have on...

The government of German Chancellor Angela Merkel won a victory on Thursday when the German parliament passed a vote expanding the powers of the institution charged with saving troubled eurozone members like Greece, Ireland and Italy from default. The German Parliament overwhelmingly approved a...

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao crushed the hopes of many European optimists on Wednesday when he said while attending the World Economic Forum that it was up to European countries to "put their own houses in order" instead of hoping for cash rich China to bail them out. Premier Wen was responding in...

The markets were shocked yesterday when Switzerland's central bank announced that it was putting a ceiling on how high it would allow the Swiss franc to trade in relation to the euro. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) has warned investors for months with words and deeds that it would not allow the...

The French economy unexpectedly stagnated during the 2nd quarter, according to France's National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies, which reported that France's 2nd quarter economic growth rate was 0% and that consumer spending fell 0.9%. The news is troubling because France is the...

Switzerland's central bank is considering further measures to keep the country's currency from appreciating any further. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) has already increased liquidity and reduced interests over the last week but has warned speculators that it considers the Swiss currency to be "...

Switzerland's central bank increased its efforts to cool a rising Swiss franc that threatens the competitiveness of the country's exporters. The Swiss franc has become an even more popular safe haven currency in the aftermath of Standard & Poor's downgrade of the United States' credit rating...

The governments of Italy and Spain are breathing a sigh of relief as a bond purchasing market intervention by the European Central Bank (ECB) has pushed down yields on bonds issued by the two troubled eurozone members. The European Central Bank's previous efforts to keep the yields of troubled...

Several Asian stock market indexes hit 52-week lows during trading on Monday in Asia, the first day of trading after Standard & Poor's lowered its rating of United States government debt. While much of the selloff in Asian stocks could be blamed on the Standard & Poor's move to lower its...