In the News: WSJ

Portfolio manager Axel Merk tells WSJ there may be value in the Swiss franc after SNB intervention

"...

'We're thinking about buying the Swiss franc … [but] we may wait for a few weeks,' said Axel Merk, chief investment officer at Merk Investments LLC, a Palo Alto, Calif., currency-management fund. 'If there's any sign of weakness, any sign that the political backlash [against the SNB] is getting too high, or the determination of the SNB is fading, then that's the time to revisit whether one should get back into the franc.'

Mr. Merk thinks the SNB's moves may have made the Swiss franc relatively cheap. Europe's debt crisis will continue to drive investors into the Swiss franc, he said, while currency interventions like the SNB's rarely succeed. The SNB abandoned interventions in 2009 and 2010 after racking up large paper losses..."