Patty

Swiss National Bank, China Agree on a Currency-Swap Deal
Deal Is Key to The Development of Yuan Market in Switzerland
By Neil MacLucas and Chiara Albanese
Updated July 21, 2014 12:16 p.m. ET

URICH—The Swiss National Bank SNBN.EB -0.55% and People’s Bank of China have agreed to set up a currency swap line designed to boost trade and investment between the two countries, joining a parade of countries hoping to become offshore hubs for trading the yuan.

The Swiss and Chinese central banks said Monday that the three-year agreement will allow them to buy and sell their currencies up to a limit of 150 billion yuan, also known as renminbi, or 21 billion Swiss francs ($23.4 billion). Such swap lines allow central banks to buy currencies from one another, making it easier for banks in each country to get hold of the underlying currencies when they need them.

The deal also will allow the SNB to buy up to 2 billion francs worth of Chinese bonds, helping it diversify its foreign-exchange reserves, which have swelled to almost 450 billion francs.

"Switzerland has taken a long time to figure out how it wanted to be involved with China but it is not lagging behind now," said RongRong Huo, head of renminbi business development for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at HSBC Holdings HSBA.LN +2.03% PLC. "It has actively progressed to the second stage of the process, which is to bridge the gap between onshore and offshore markets, especially on the infrastructure side."

The Swiss franc offers China a strong haven currency as an alternative to the euro, she said.

For Switzerland, the effort to promote yuan trading "is a country push rather than a location push, as the country is actively promoting both Zurich and Geneva," Ms. Huo said.

The Swiss central bank, based in Zurich, said the agreement will further strengthen collaboration between it and its Chinese counterpart and is a "key requisite for the development of a renminbi market in Switzerland."

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Sales of U.S. New Homes Fell in June After Large Revision
By Victoria Stilwell and Nina Glinski Jul 24, 2014 12:46 PM ET

July 24 (Bloomberg) — Bloomberg’s Scarlet Fu reports that new home sales in June fell 8.1 percent to an annualized pace of 406,000, as the median home sale price also fell. She speaks on “Market Makers.”

Fewer U.S. new homes than forecast were sold in June and data for the prior month was revised down by a record, painting a troubling picture of a market struggling to gain traction.

Sales declined 8.1 percent to a 406,000 annualized pace, the fewest since March and lower than any projection in a Bloomberg survey of economists, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. That followed a May rate of 442,000 that was 12.3 percent less than estimated last month.

Restrictive lending rules, limited land supply, higher mortgage rates and more expensive properties are restraining housing, underscoring Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen’s concern that the industry is underperforming. Other data showed the fewest Americans in more than eight years filed applications for unemployment benefits last week, probably reflecting a pickup in auto-making during a typically slow time of year.

“The housing data on balance has looked weaker than some of the other indicators on the economy,” said Michelle Meyer, a senior U.S. economist at Bank of America Corp. in New York. “The tightness in credit conditions has limited the pool of prospective buyers.”

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Ve'hoe

Have you ever been on a ship that was broken deep and sinking????

The ship gets still, before it lists heavily and sinks.....

Patty

Yep and the crew have been pushing back the cruise payers for awhile to get to the life boats.