After the Swiss pulled the rug from under euro support at 1.2 Swiss francs, all bets were off. The euro plunged 30 percent to 85 Swiss cents, and the Swiss stock market crashed 15 percent before recovering.
What happened? Back in 2011, at the height of the euro crisis, both currencies were trading at par or one euro for one Swiss franc, the lowest ever. During normal times, one euro bought you 1.5 Swiss francs.
Because Switzerland’s economy is geared toward heavy manufacturing as well as tourism, central planners were afraid too strong a currency would endanger exports and scare people away from going skiing in the Swiss Alps.
It racked up a loss of 60 billion francs on its currency position according to Citigroup—the largest ever.
