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Ronald Holland is a real estate agent with Wolf's Crossing Realty and he lives at Wolf Laurel Resort in the NC mountains near Asheville. He also writes articles and edits financial newsletters and economic reports designed to help Americans preserve their wealth and financial security. Click Here To E-mail Your Questions or Comments or request a listing of mountain lots at Wolf Laurel where prices begin at under $20,000 per lot.
Has Switzerland Sold Out to Washington, London, & Wall Street? as published in Offshore Real Estate in 2002
Note, Ronald now lives at Asheville NC's Wolf Laurel Resort, where he markets ski property, homes and real estate in one of the highest elevation 4-season mountain resorts in the eastern United States. He is an internationally known financial & marketing consultant & author of 3 books and over a hundred articles & reports, a leading speaker at financial conferences in the US and abroad and editor of several internet based news sites. He invented several financial products & services including the first gold IRA account and the first Swiss franc denominated variable annuity portfolio in the US and was president of a Swiss owned investment firm licensed in 47 states.
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What Happened to Switzerland & the Swiss franc? 1. Switzerland Ended Gold Reserve Requirement Backing Swiss Franc. Switzerland voted to do away with the gold reserve requirement backing their currency. I didn't at the time and continue to feel that this was not a major factor in the strength of the Swiss franc for two reasons. (1)Gold has been weak and trending lower in value for almost two decades and (2)the value of Switzerland's currency is much more determined by the policies and targeting by the Swiss central bank than outside market forces. 2. The European Union's Euro was Created. The Euro was expected to be stronger than the dollar from the beginning and it promptly feel from 1.18 to the dollar down to near 80 cents. The Euro was weak compared to the dollar because it was pegged too high in the beginning and because of the overwhelming strength of the dollar on the back of the late ‘90's US bull market in stocks and NASD mania. This extraordinary strength of the dollar would have made the Swiss franc fall in comparison in either case but was made far worse with the Swiss National Banks’ (their central bank) decision to peg the Swiss franc to the new Euro currency. 3. The Swiss Central Bank "Unofficially" Linked the Value of the Swiss Franc to the Euro. Remember, Swiss central bankers are as corrupt as their US counterparts in the Federal Reserve system. The powerful political and financial elites of the US, Great Britain, and Germany were joined by the same elites in Switzerland, wanting Switzerland to join the EU and surrender its currency. Due to Switzerland's historical political rights of referendum and initiative they knew they had no chance to impose this on the voters so they thwarted the will of the Swiss electorate by pegging the currency value of the Swiss franc to the Euro anyway. Look at
the two charts below showing the value of the Swiss franc and Euro
verses the dollar during the last 2 years and you will see what I mean.
Now to be fair, part of the reason for this unofficial linkage was the
fear in Swiss financial circles that a weak Euro could mean a run on the
Euro, loss of confidence in the new “One Europe” currency and a flood of
foreign money into the Swiss franc.
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4.
The Once Independent Swiss National Bank is Now Just Another Central
Bank Marching Under the Lead of the US Federal Reserve.
As we all know there has been an ongoing war against gold, hard
currencies and financial privacy by the major western democracies
led by Washington during the last decade of the 20th century. The
Swiss central bank is now on call, as are the other European central
banks, to suddenly announce gold sales if its value rises above
central banker target prices or to raise or lower interest rates if
required for market and currency stability. Stability doesn't
necessarily mean safety for investors but for the political and
financial establishments that control much of the world's commerce
and investment markets.
5.
Swiss Financial Privacy & Banking Confidentiality Is Weakening Along
With Every Other Nation in the World.
Washington and London have
been leaning on and threatening every independent and dependent safe
haven in the world in order to destroy every last shred of personal,
economic and financial privacy. The horrible terrorist attack on
New York on September 11 has been used by the Washington politicians
and the financial establishment as the pretext to “blitzkrieg” the
new regulations and legislation that will effectively end most, if
not all, offshore privacy. While many pro-liberty groups and civil
libertarians, like the Sovereign Society and Congressman Ron Paul,
are speaking out against this final nail into the coffin of
financial privacy it will not matter. America is in the grip of a
war hysteria, terrorist assault and related financial crisis. It is
in times like this that civil liberties go out the window and there
isn't a thing we can do about it. Yes, much of the Moslem hatred for
America is a result of our foreign policy but we have been attacked
and thousands of innocent civilians killed therefore we must
respond.
6. The Swiss Parliament Vote To Join the United Nations & The Bankruptcy of Swiss Air. The Parliament vote is not a done deal, due again to the Swiss citizens rights to initiative and referendum, but this does worry me from a political viewpoint. The most neutral and non-aligned nation in the world joining the cesspool of the United Nations? And where were the time honored Swiss traits of conservative management and avoidance of debt that allowed Swiss Air to build up such a mountain of debt that it has been forced to file for bankruptcy? After reading these 6 points above do you find yourself wondering . . . . Has Switzerland Sold Out? No. But their politicians, central bankers and much of the business establishment have. I believe their rationale is to compete in the global export and financial markets of the 21st century; they must join with two of the three "so called super states" of the world - China, the European Union and the United States. Is this the right course of action? I don't think so. Will the independent, freedom-loving Swiss people go along with this new “one world” path for Switzerland and will it work to the benefit of Switzerland? To be very frank, this Swiss establishment sell-out of much that has made Switzerland the envy of the world (except for other national political leaders and financial competitors) and home to 35% of the world's private wealth according to many experts, certainly hasn't worked to date. All one has to do is look at the carnage of the bankruptcy of Swiss Air, the weak Swiss currency and the many merged Swiss banks to see that their attempt to emulate those in the European Union and the United States has failed to date. Will the Swiss people continue to put up with this sell out? Not if their economy continues to falter. More importantly, unlike here in the United States, there are politicians and a political party that still stands for putting Switzerland and her citizens first over the global elite's. This is the Swiss Peoples Party headed by Christoph Blocher.
What Does This Mean For
Switzerland's Future First, I must admit that I'm generally bullish on both the Swiss Franc and the Euro over the next 12-36 months. The US dollar has obviously peaked and the Swiss Franc created a double bottom in December of ‘00 and July of ‘01 at around 55 cents to the dollar. It appreciated to 63 cents just after the terrorist attack on New York City and the Pentagon and is now around 60 cents. On the down side, while both the Euro and Swiss Franc have appreciated due to today's perilous situation in the US, it is still nothing to write home about. Although I believe Switzerland's position as the world's leading safe haven for financial wealth is battered, it is still secure for US investors when compared to here in the US or the rest of the world. They still have a strong layer of asset protection, a legal system that protects and defends investor wealth instead of attacking and confiscating it. The Swiss franc and the Euro have bottomed and likely will appreciate verses the dollar, much will depend on the US war situation. The point to
keep in mind is that Switzerland’s investment management services are
still, in my opinion, the most advanced and talented in Europe.
Switzerland is one of my preferred locations to take advantage of, what
I believe, may well be a “European Renaissance” and bull market in
European equities in the coming decade.
©2006 Holland
Marketing Group. All rights reserved. |
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