Swiss central bank urged to curb franc's rise

Submitted by Simon Black of Sovereign Man blog, Switzerland is the place that has traditionally stood above all the rest in its reputation for financial stability. Why? Because the currency was well-managed, the banking system was sound, and the country had a long tradition of treating capital well. Over the last few years, however, these advantages have collapsed.

The Swiss National Banks "expects" the Franc to depreciate, and if it doesn't it will flood the world with more Francs, if necessary, to stave off deflation.Bloomberg reports SNB Is Ready to Act on Franc If Gains Risk Deflation, Hildebrand Tells NZZSwiss central bank President Philipp Hildebrand said policy makers remain ready to act in case the franc’s strength increases the risk of deflation and threatens the country’s economy.

Lucas Papademos, the ex-technocrat prime minister of Greece says public finances face collapse. Greece’s public finances could collapse as early as next month, leaving salaries and pensions unpaid unless a stable government emerges from the June 17 election, according to Lucas Papademos, the technocrat prime minister who left office after this month’s inconclusive vote.

The world's biggest watch company Swatch is looking at building a car that runs on hydrogen and oxygen, its chief executive and chairman Nick Hayek said in an interview published Sunday."We already have a test-car with a fuel cell," Hayek told newspaper NZZ am Sonntag."Liquid hydrogen and oxygen are used as fuel, producing very efficient combustion," he said, adding that the management board of Belenos -- the Swatch subsidiary building the vehicle -- has already driven around on the prototype.

By Tom Lydon: CurrencyShares Swiss Franc Trust (FXF) was down more than 4% in early U.S. trading Thursday following reports the Swiss National Bank is considering temporarily pegging the currency to the euro.

The Swiss central bank on Wednesday took fresh measures to halt the rise of the Swiss franc, which is threatening exports and growth, by increasing liquidity after the currency strengthened to new highs."In the light of these developments, the Swiss National Bank is taking additional measures against the strength of the Swiss franc. It will again significantly increase the supply of liquidity to the Swiss franc money market," the central bank said.At 0712 GMT, the franc was changing hands at 1.0367 to the euro and 0.7225 against the dollar.

Shares in watchmaking group Swatch dropped on Tuesday after the sudden death of chairman Nicolas Hayek, widely regarded as the founding father of the fashionable Swatch plastic watch and saviour of the Swiss watch industry.Hayek, 82, died of heart failure on Monday while at work at the company he transformed into the world's biggest watchmaking group, englobing classic brands such as Breguet, Blancpain, Longines, Omega and Tissot as well as the affordable and colourful Swatch.

Michael Johnston submits:The fiscal woes of the eurozone have been well chronicled in recent weeks, with each crisis of confidence sending the common currency to new lows against the U.S. dollar. But as the turmoil in Europe has bubbled over, currencies around the globe have felt the pinch, the result of a wave of risk aversion washing over financial markets.