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The Best Investments of 2011

If your money was denominated in yen, you were in luck. Just like the two previous years, the yen was the strongest performing major currency against the U.S. dollar, up 4 percent. In fact, back in October, the greenback traded at around 75.5 yen per U.S. dollar, a record low.

In addition, the U.S. dollar index was up about 1 percent in 2011, mostly because of economic woes in the eurozone, which has taken a hit on its currency. Versus the U.S. dollar, the euro has depreciated 2 percent, followed by a 2 percent loss for the Swedish krona, and a 2 percent drop for the Canadian dollar.