On January 15, 2015, the Swiss National Bank used one of its regular monetary policy announcements to reveal at 9.30 a.m. that it would be unexpectedly discontinuing its minimum exchange rate policy — a move that sent financial markets into a frenzy. For three and a half years, the Swiss had kept the franc deliberately weak, making sure €1 could buy at least 1.20 francs. Not any more. The sudden move sent the currency booming, and within 20 minutes the value of the euro plummeted against the newly strong franc. At one point less than an hour after the SNB moved, €1 fetched only 0.85 francs, a price crash of 29%. 10 ... (full story)