Several bank C.E.O.'s have called the end of the credit crunch only to be embarrassed soon thereafter. Credit Suisse is taking the opposite tack.

"In this crisis, a number of times people have seen a light at the end of the tunnel, and it has ended up being a train coming down the tracks," Brady Dougan, the American chief executive of the Swiss bank, told reporters.

Even though Credit Suisse has taken a much-bigger-than-expected hit of $5.3 billion on its credit derivatives, leading to a loss of $2 billion in the first quarter—its first in nearly five years—analysts were largely pleased with the write-down.

"We are close to a proper cleanup in Credit Suisse, which is clearly positive on risk exposures," Kian Abouhossein, an analyst with J.P. Morgan Chase in London wrote in a note to investors, according to Dow Jones.

Mike Verdin on Breakingviews.com says Credit Suisse is in good shape should there be more turmoil in the credit markets:

"The size of the write-downs reflects not just what appear to be conservative valuations—it has marked its leveraged loans to 85 cents in the dollar compared with the 88 cents which Royal Bank of Scotland reported on Tuesday—but its enthusiasm for getting toxic assets out of its system as well."

Analysts and investors were also encouraged that one of Credit Suisse's main businesses continued to grow despite the credit crisis. Net inflows of new money into asset management rose by more than 13.5 billion Swiss francs.