Wow, what the deuce does that mean?
"the swing back and forth in the CHF (Swiss Franc) trade weighted index on SNB (non)intervention in one short week is a 11.5 sigma event, or a 1 in 1,516,122,879,893,320,000,000,000,000,000 event.......................which would occur roughly once every several trillion qunitillion years.
So the last time of such an event occurred would be quite a few millennia before the universe was created.
According to a trader friend in the foreign exchange markets, a Sigma event is a mathematical term for the probability of something occurring. A five or ten sigma means something that is five or ten times deviation from the norm.
In the words of Investopedia:
"A 3 sigma event is a statistical calculation that refers to data within three standard deviations from a mean."
And standard deviation:
A standard deviation is a statistical measurement of variability, showing how much variation exists from a statistical average. Low values indicate that the data points fall close to the mean (average); high values indicate the date is widespread and not close to the mean.
Apparently, the Swiss National Bank caused a 20 Sigma event: an event so unprecedented, that the likely hood of it ever happening is something in the region of once every one to the power of 86.
Now, as we are learning, these events are becoming more and more frequent, and the SNB have a set a precedent.
The wise gnomes of Zurich have promised they "WILL NOT TOLERATE" an exchange rate to the Euro of less than 1.20 even if it means PRINTING "UNLIMITED" Swiss Francs to buy foreign currency in order to maintain the desired rate.
Remember! This is not Zimbabwe or some other tin pot bank!
We are talking Switzerland – THE gold standard of banking has committed to UNLIMITED printing of Francs..
The economic warfare raging at central bank level and until now, behind closed doors, has become public in an earth shattering way.
As the safe havens become fewer and fewer there remains one asset class that allows you to opt out a portion of your wealth depriving the Vampire Squids the liquidity they desperately need.
Just because you may not have Swiss assets or bank accounts, do not under estimate the significance of today's events:
They rank alongside the 1987 stock market crash, the collapse of LehmanBrothers, the Assassination Archduke Ferdinand and the probability that coin collecting is just a FAD.
UPDATE:
A 20 Sigma graphic via Reuters:
