We can see this quite clearly when we look across the water to Europe, where the Swiss franc still resides.  And what we should remember is that when one currency has problems, another currency will surely take advantage of it on the currency converter.

It’s interesting to note that this is a good way of discerning which currencies are stronger overall than others.  If a currency like the US dollar is going through a rough patch, you can look around and see how other currencies are performing against it.  Some will be doing about the same – meaning that they’re probably having a tough time as well – and others will be doing a lot better.

And a good example in this latter category is the Swiss franc.  We can see just how much it has taken the lead against the US dollar by looking back over the past four weeks or so at the exchange rates that it has managed to garner.  Read this Reuters report to find out more information.

If we begin on the 14th September, you’ll see that the Swiss franc was bringing in 0.9622 US dollars.  Not a bad amount, but bear that in mind as we progress through this report.

For the rest of that week the franc climbed steadily against the dollar, adding in small increases every day until by Friday night it had managed to get as high as 0.9708.  But was that the limit of the heights it could reach to?

It was almost caught by surprise the following Monday, because by the day’s end things had slipped back to 0.9654.  Regaining that 0.97 exchange rate was now the foremost task of all, and this was achieved on the very next day at 0.9756.  The peak rate the following day was 0.9775, and that was as good as it got all week.

From there things slid back slightly the next day and then dropped further to close out the week on 0.9703.  Was this a sign that the US dollar had the power to fight back all of a sudden?  Or would the Swiss franc reveal itself to have a lot more in reserve than the US dollar did?

Once again, Monday proved to be a day that wasn’t the best for the franc.  That was when it got a lower exchange rate of 0.9693.  Dipping below that 0.97 rate was something that was going to last for more than a day though – to be exact it stayed below that level for a full two days in total, scoring 0.9619 on the second day.

After that we saw the biggest surprise yet.  It was back up to 0.9711 the next day, and then the 0.96 mark was ignored and passed over completely.  On the 1st October, the exchange rate all but plummeted to 0.9587.

So was this the beginning of the end of that good period for the Swiss franc?  Actually no – it managed to regain a level of 0.9622 by the next day, which finished the week on a more positive note.  And on the 6th October it finally got back into the 0.97 territory at a figure of 0.9738.

It dipped back below it briefly and marginally for the next day alone – to 0.9699 – and since then it has remained in the 0.97 region.  Except to say that for the last full day of trading that we currently have figures for (the 14th October) the Swiss franc was commanding an exchange rate of 0.9812.

So will it go higher still from this point?  There is every reason to think that the potential is there to do so.  The US dollar is not going to suddenly perk up and fight back overnight, so perhaps the Swiss franc will take full advantage and push its exchange rate performance even higher.

Whatever might happen, it will be worth keeping an eye on the figures for the next week or two at least.  If the Swiss franc can keep up the pressure we could see a figure much closer to the 1.00 mark before the year is out.  This might be unthinkable even as things stand but it may not be impossible.

So stay tuned and see what happens.  We may just have predicted a rise to come for the Swiss franc.