PrimoTenore's Blog : Opportunities in Switzerland?

This weekend, a relative mentioned a recent trip to Europe. Everyone in her group took a train ride into Switzerland just to go shopping. She said the prices were unbelievable because the dollar was much stronger there.

I guess I should have known that Switzerland hadn't adopted the Euro. They're still on the Swiss franc, which means they're free to devalue their currency as much as they like to remain competitive. And given the opacity of most of their banking and finance regulations, they're likely to be able to do so without much consequence.

So what does that mean for swiss companies? Will they benefit from seeing their products become more affordable in other markets? Surely the profits they bring home from abroad will be worth more.

In looking for opportunities among Swiss companies, I'd probably steer clear of the financials like UBS, Credit Suisse and Zurich Financial. I'd be more interested in those shipping physical product to an international customer base.

So obviously, that means Nestle (NSRGY). The three and six month charts look really strong, but just had a rough week. I might consider picking it up as long as it doesn't break the 50 day moving average at $54.

I'm also interested in Syngenta (SYT). This is almost exactly the same story. The 3 and 6 month charts show a nice momentum but the past week has it headed dangerously close to the 50 day moving average.

Is anyone else looking at Swiss stocks? What are your favorites?