The Swiss National Bank recorded a profit of 30.7 billion francs ($30.1 billion) at the start of the year, reaping the rewards of the recent stock market rally. Shares comprise about a fifth of the central bank’s foreign currency portfolio. Strong gains in equities in the first quarter contributed 17.4 billion francs to the central bank’s quarterly result, which also got a boost from bond prices and gold. The SNB is a joint-stock company, with both public-sector and private shareholders, and its earnings are calculated by comparing asset prices at the start and end of each period. It’s therefore at risk of big swings ... (full story)