Today's M^3 - Swiss Franc Up 5% Against the USD Over the Past Month

The flight to safety from the turmoil in Europe continues. Today's Major Market Move features the USDCHF which has fallen 5% this month:



(Click on the image for a larger view. Click here for the current performance of forex rates.)

and is down over 13% for the year:



We are a long ways away from where the Swiss bank tried to set up a fire break to keep the Franc from appreciating further. One of their major intervention efforts occurred back in May of last year where the Swiss National Bank was actively selling Francs for Euros. You can see the plateau followed by the sharp cliff:



The EURCHF was trading at around 1.40 at that time. It's now quickly approaching 1.20. So there's a lesson there for all the aspiring central bankers in the world: unilateral currency interventions rarely, if ever, work.