Currencies & Co.

Last week was less volatile, both in terms of the stocks in our portfolio and the USD/CHF pair. Our portfolio shows, just like the SMI, a slight progression, but is disadvantaged very slightly by a fall in the greenback. We are thus, since February 3, 2010, at -4.05% and the Swiss market has just returned to the positive zone, +0.05%.

With ABT we reach our first income of 2011 (CHF net 32.90), which are of course still meager given the dividend schedule of our portfolio.

The week was, however, hot for the euro and the European markets.. Taking the single currency as a reference, the performance portfolio fell to +7.17%, while the CAC 40 rose to +4.99% (still since February 3). So last week we experienced the same exchange rate phenomenon that we were more accustomed to with the CHF.

Despite the rise in prices, our Sharpe ratio with the CHF as the reference currency is still far from our target, and this will continue for as long as the portfolio performance remains negative. In euros, the ratio is still better than the CAC 40, thanks to a better profitability and significantly lower volatility (12.31% vs. 21.37%).