More Geekyness

To the shock of everyone, Thursday saw an explosion in the money markets. In a matter of minutes after the Swiss central bank removed the policy of keeping the franc to euro ratio at 1.20 to 1, the euro fell and the franc rose to the point that they sit this weekend almost exactly on par. Tough as it will be as a Canadian abroad (the Canadian dollar is sitting at an all time low against the franc), as a reed-maker I benefitted greatly from the volatility of the market on Friday morning.

Lorenzo Masala, a Basel reed-maker and representative of Reedsn'Stuff, was expecting me to drop off a few pieces of shaped cane for a project got a bit of a surprise. Not only did I bring him the cane he was expecting, I had the francs in hand to buy a new tip profiler. Luckily, I had bought the francs in December when the exchange-rate was more favourable. Now, with the franc on par with the euro, I saved between a quarter and a third of the value when accounting for the dollar-to-franc and franc-to-euro rates. I have been a victim of market volatility once before (2008) and I was determined not to lose out this time.

Now, as my plane lands in Malta for the beginning of EUBO 2014's final tour, I have two full boxes of finished reeds ready to go.