Canadian Dollar Trades Equal to U.S. for First Time Since 1976
By Haris Anwar and Theophilos Argitis

Sept. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Canada's dollar traded equal to the U.S. currency for the first time in three decades, capping a five-year run on the back of booming demand for the nation's commodities.

The Canadian dollar reached $1.0002, before retreating to trade at 99.93 U.S. cents at 11:01 a.m. in New York. It has soared 62 percent from a record low in 2002. The currency last closed above par on Nov. 25, 1976, the day before the Sex Pistols punk band released their first single, ``Anarchy in the U.K.''

The move to parity marks a milestone for a currency often mocked in the U.S. as ``Monopoly money'' because of its colorful notes and diminished value. Parity also symbolizes Canada's emerging clout in a world economy increasingly short of the energy, grains and metals the country produces.

``It's a long time since those heady days,'' said Frank McKenna, 59, deputy chairman of Toronto-Dominion Bank, the country's third-biggest lender, and a former ambassador to the U.S. ``Canadians should understand that this is a badge of confidence in our country.''

Canada, the world's eighth-biggest economy, has benefited from rising demand for copper, gold, wheat and oil from neighboring U.S. and emerging economies such as India and China. The country is the world's largest producer of uranium, the second-biggest exporter of natural gas, and sits on the largest pool of oil reserves outside the Middle East. Canada is also the world's second-largest exporter of wheat, which rose to a record this month.

Last Updated: September 20, 2007 11:03 EDT

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=awhVMIymbX0w&refer=canada

Good news, makes Belize much more attractive to Canadians! Can't believe how fast it's risen. http://finance.yahoo.com/currency/convert?amt=1&from=CAD&to=USD

Good time to buy in Belize Canadians!!!!

Let me know when the Belize Dollar is at par, then we can have a party!

Would it be wise to trade u.s. dollars for another? Witch one? (pun)

Gold and silver. No pun !

Not wise to trade when low, wise to purchase when low. Wise for Canandians to purchase when high, he he, is it 420?

Great news for those in Canada. Bad news for those visiting Canada. The exchange rate USED TO almost make up for the GST and PST, now my Toronto shopping trips are gonna cost a fortune! Bummer.

Experts believe the US$ will go much lower. Saudi Arabia may be about to remove its peg to the US$, and that will have an enormous effect. It's only a good thing from a narrow personal perspective - in most respects it's liable to be catastrophic.

Can you say recession?
Not a good time to be in debt.

GOLD & SILVER !

Gold is at an all time high.....I think....I don't deal in precious metals......don't think you would want to invest in gold now.....anyone with some expertise?

Speaking as a Canadian that loves to travel and dive . . WOOOOOHOOOOOOOO!!! YAAAAAAHOOOOOOOOOOO!!

Of course, all my excitement is totally related to travel dollars. I have some overall concerns about the direction things are taking.

I've run into a lot more Canadians at the mall today. (My cat instincts tell me nothing though)

According to the local news, (Washington state), Canadians are flocking down to purchase big ticket items like automobiles....despite the duty & tax they have to pay to get them back, they're saving thousands of $$$$. Good for the Canucks....go for it!

Clover, you are supposed to use your whiskers as sensors and then you won't run into things (or people).

Loansum, on the drive home from work today, I listened to two radio reporters. One was in Washington State and the other was in Vancouver, Canada. They were going to the same stores at the same time and comparing the prices of items. Toothpaste was less expensive here but everything else in the States was significantly less expensive than in Canada. Oh, except for Starbucks Double Double Mocha Latte which was $.35 more in Canada. For example of other differences, at the Gap, a certain type of jeans were $60 in Canada $40 in US, and a pair of men's boxers with dogs on the material, were 2 for $30 in Canada and 2 for $20 in the US. It's a great time for Canadians to shop in the States.

Vehicle prices are 25% lower in the US - Hubby and I are both buying new autos and would never consider buying here - will use a broker to buy from the US and save big time.

My biggest beef is the price of books. A typical hardcover is $29.99 US and $45.99 CDN. Wassup wit dat?

Loansum, I dont pretend to be an expert in precious metals, but I have done quite a bit of research on the subject.

1. The dollar is under significant and historic selling pressure

2. Gold managed a rally yesterday in the face of a slide in
equity prices

3. Gold is almost $90 per ounce over mid August

4. Yesterday gold closed $30 per ounce over last Fridays close

5. The CBOT futures options are trading higher through next
summer

If there ever was a time to buy gold, today is the day if you havent already. I took a small position last March at $640 and a heavier position at $651 (coins, not bullion). It opened today at $756.

Silver. History says gold trades at 24 times silver. Today its around 50 times which suggest one of two things, either gold is over priced (the Bulls dont think so) or, silver is about to explode (the Bulls think so)

This is of course just my opinion and means nothing to anyone but me.

Ernie

nova, part of that's a hidden tax on publishers that's supposed to go back into grant and tax relief programmes to support Canadian author's, artists (musical as well others), films and such.

http://www.qp.gov.bc.ca/statreg/stat/I/96215_08.htm

Hey, I support 3 kids! Those artists and authors can bloody well support themselves!!! (Or get their parents to support them!!!!)

Bummer for all my friends back in Montana, used to be a nice money saver as it was customary to go across the boarder to buy school cloths and supplies. We used to go every year, a lot of us. also at Christmas we would go across and shop, guess they wont go spend any money in Canada now.

What about Euros - recently gone from 1.38 to around 1.41

Two years ago it was around 1.14! How's that for making money for nothing!

Expect some retracement, of course, once the panic subsides. Precious metals can be tricky, just like investments in mine companies. Gold fluctuates a lot.....

As far as Saudi, there is a long history there. Economic research shows that the Saudis have "a lot of US dollars." They would lose a considerable amount of value if they suddenly went to Euros. Remember - oil is bought and sold in US dollars. Just think about the currency conversions on that alone!

The reason that the Saudis didn't cut their prime rate was to show THEIR displeasure with the US cutting our prime rate.

Recession comment: Just my humble opinion from the outside looking in...Recessions happen, we're overdue. China's GDP and demand for everything from oil to metals etc. will slow down once they have completed everything they have to to look good for the olympics. Politicians in power will spend and do all they can ahead of an election. After that the party in power needs to cut the expenses in their earlier years so that anger and memories will fade later on ahead of the next election. There are so many unsold homes in the US now that not one needs to be built for a year before unsold inventory gets used up. The US economy is driven 70% by consumer spending - where does that $ come from when you can't borrow more $ against the value of your home because the house price has stagnated or gone down? Look at housing starts over the past 50 years - they last peaked at 2 million, now down to 1.5; every other time they get down below a million, there has been a recession. Hey, it may not happen, but don't use patriotism to put your head in the sand - just be prudent - pay off some of your credit cards!

"Live within you means" - something that can prove to be difficult for the Super Size It nation.

Gold and silver both good for barter

Oil & Gold Price Surprise?

By Peter Way
Block Traders Oil & Gold Monitor




The U.S. dollar’s sharp decline has kicked the commodity bull market into overdrive. And gold and oil investors are especially happy. Crude recently hit a new all-time high of $84.10 per barrel and gold traded as high as $737 an ounce – the highest price for the metal since the inflationary days of the Carter administration, as displayed by the graph below.


So what lies ahead? More record highs for gold and oil? Most likely… according to the outlook from my highly reliable sources.

I get my forecasts from the bets being made by oil traders hedging their risks. The big players in the crude oil futures pits were expecting $80+ a barrel prices weeks ago, when oil had fallen back close to $70.

The run to record highs for crude oil also has also brought boom times to the myriad companies that drill, ship, store, and refine crude oil – as well as for the services companies that do everything from underwater construction to seismic mapping and oilfield maintenance.

There have been wild swings in both crude oil itself and the share prices of companies that benefit when the prices are high.

That kind of misdirection provides great investment opportunities for alert investors - like us.

When stock prices overreact, in either direction,they often present a year’s growth in a matter of days or weeks. On the downside are buying opportunities, and on the upside are quickly-reached sell targets.

Since the last issue of Block Traders Oil & Gold Monitor, my previous recommendations have produced a cornucopia of returns. The least productive of these provided profits at an annual rate of +329%, and most are measured in 4 digits or more.

If I haven’t got you to embrace short-term investing and to give up long-term speculation, what does it take?

I recognize you have had years of indoctrination by the investment establishment, to follow a philosophy that is good for them – but maybe not for you.

Special Offer: As the economy hits the skids, smart investors are turning to oil and gold. Veteran analyst Peter Way reveals how to invest like the hedge funds do.

Many investors find it hard to put the notion of short-term opportunity into balance with a long-term risk penalty. One of our associates suggested this illustration:

Take a year’s worst losses using our short-term approach, and net them against the best gains consuming a year’s time and see if there is anything left on the plus side.

When we do that with closeouts of the Block Traders Oil & Gold Monitor’s recommendations during the year’s past 24 issues, here’s what it shows:

Worst losses: 4 held 63 days each, for a total loss of –109.3% (252 market days in a year)


Best Gains: 37 held a total of 252 days, totaling +614.2% in gains


Net result: + 503.7% of gains
That’s right, at the worst the ratio of this past year’s gains to losses is over 5 ½ times as much profit as loss.

There’s no trick here in computation or misdirection in what to look at. Where your intuition deceives you is in under-recognizing the importance of TIME in the rate of return calculation. And rate of return is how the score is kept.

The next objection of the investment establishment is likely to be:

But are there enough timely opportunities to put together a string of investments to take advantage of those returns?

During the year I identified 502 places and times to put your money to work in Oil patch and Gold stocks. There were more than 20 recommendations per issue, with an average holding period of 36 days, or longer than between three issues.

But do you want (or need) to turn over 20 holdings in your portfolio every two weeks? The history says you might want to sell and re-buy things about once in a month and a half, but not all at the same time, most likely.

With 20 candidates an issue, that easily supports a portfolio of as many as 30 holdings. More than enough for ample diversification.

If you could have used them all, closed out the recommendations that made their targets on the day they did, and marked the rest to the 8/31/07 market, your rate of return would be +53.5%.

You would have realized 71 losses and you would have had gains from over 4 times as many winners, 289,secure in your pocket at this moment.

Participants may not use the forums to post or transmit advertisements or commercial solicitations of any kind.

If your investments were making 300 to 500% returns somehow I don't think you would need to advertise ANY kind of service.

For thoes interested; gold is up almost $100 per ounce over the past 30 days and off to a good start today opening up $9.00 over yesterdays close. Silver seems to be following suit.

Gold contract futures for December doubled this morning in the 1st hour of trading.

On a positive note, only for thoes interested, Gold closed at $765.00 per ounce. If you had bought gold last Aug at $648, today that would net you $11,700 (at 100 oz} purchase. Prices reflect not depression but inflation. Its not too late !!! Look at the Futures.

Do you own a gold mine, Ernie?

Are you thinking about becoming a gold digger, SS?

Ha!

My hubby has been on the gold/silver band wagon a long time. We started buying it in bulk at $350/oz. woo hoo. 24K beats 401k

AMEN !

Dollar Lets Canadians Flock To Cross Border Shopping - And Most Pay No Duty
Monday October 1, 2007
CityNews.ca Staff

Did you make a run for the border this weekend? If you did, you weren't the only one. A quick scan of the parking lots at the big malls in Buffalo and Niagara Falls, N.Y. showed a sea of Ontario license plates, as shoppers from the Great White North took advantage of a Canadian dollar that was worth slightly more than its U.S. counterpart for the first time in more than 30 years. And if the Canuck buck continues its torrid pace, it's a trend you can expect to see growing as we head towards Christmas.

Many are sure there are bargains to be had across the great divide, and they may be right. And once they find a good deal, they may not have to pay duty on a lot of it to bring it home. According to the Canadian Border Services Agency, there are a plethora of items you can buy in the U.S. that you can declare without falling victim to that dreaded levy on the way back.

Things like cell phones, microwaves, toasters, books, cameras, certain kinds of toys, even jewelry are all exempt from the extra charge. And that applies even if you're not over there for the required 48 hours, which allows you to bring back as much as $400 duty-free. Taxes will still be required but it may be a small price to pay if you're saving big bucks elsewhere. And it's all perfectly legal.

But like all good things, there's a catch. Some items are duty-free depending on what they are and where they were made. Buy something in America manufactured in a place considered a 'favoured nation' - like China, Japan, Mexico or the U.S. - and the duty's non-existent. So be sure to check the label.

How can you tell who's most favoured and who isn't? The government has set up a website that tries to explain the sometimes convoluted rules. Or if you prefer a human voice, you can call them toll free at 1-800-461-9999. "If they know the item they're specially looking to purchase, and they want to know what duty they'll face, they should call the line," advises Border Agency spokesman Chris Williams.

So what if you prefer to shop Canadian? Consumer advocates claim Canuck competitors are going to have to realize the landscape has changed and prepare to meet customers who can get it cheaper elsewhere halfway or risk losing business to the Americans. Because when it comes to saving money, most of us think of it as a sacred duty. Especially when you don't have to pay it.

Which items are exempt from the charges? Here's a short list:
(Remember that taxes still apply and should be factored in to the purchase to determine how good a deal it really is.)

Almost anything made in the United States or Mexico
Toys, including puzzles, trains, dolls, action figures
Video games
Cellphones
Antiques
Most kinds of original art
Downhill skis and boots
Toasters
Breadmakers
Electric irons
Artificial Christmas trees
Billiard tables
Chess sets
Office furniture
SLR and instant cameras
Unset diamonds, pearls and precious stones
Golf bags made mostly of synthetics.
Books
Glassware (including crystal)
(Source: Canadian Border Services Agency)

The Loonie opened at $1.04US today!

I think its cool that the Belize dollar against the US dollar officially goes up and down weekly but for easy math the public still goes with two to one. In Guatemala last week I noticed tourist walk around with a calculator in their hand.

When I first came to Belize 6 years ago I was given (after charges) about US$1:35 to each GB£. Now I'm getting just over US$2. That's a 48% increase!

Walmart announced today that they're (finally) lowering prices on a large number of products to match the prices in the US - including the cost of books! (Personal Woo Hoo here!!!). Zellers said they'll do the same. Bloody well time, I say! Now if they'd only reduce the price of wine....

Loonie pushed $1.06US yesterday. C'mon down Cancucks!

Wow! This means that a 1 week stay in a $250US per night room last March would have cost $2012CDN. Right now it would be $1625CDN, a $387CDN savings. That's a lot of extra Belikins!

The value of the Canadian dollar jumped by more than two full cents Friday, reaching its highest levels in history when compared with the U.S. greenback.

At one point the loonie reached 107.18 cents US, following word of strong employment rates in this country. According to Statistics Canada the healthy Canadian economy led to the creation of 63,000 new jobs in October, dropping the unemployment rate to 5.8 per cent. That's down 0.1 per cent from the September numbers.

It's the second month in a row that the jobless rate has been below six per cent, which represents a 33-year low. All of which was good enough to let the loonie hit a new record when the markets closed at the end of the work week: 107.04 cents US.

See the following article: "Strategies for dealing with weak dollar", and I quote:

As an alternative to vacationing at home: "Other spots to consider around the globe as alternatives to pricey Western Europe include Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Peru, Indonesia, India, Laos, Thailand, the Bahamas, Quebec City, Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Nicaragua."

http://www.mercurynews.com/travel/ci_7385541?nclick_check=1

Ah, but the dollar has made a historic run against Camel Cash.

 

Cdn dollar closed today at $1.0852 . . yaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhooooooooooooo!!!

Of course, it's got a long way to go before I get paid back for the days when I had to pay $1.60 Cdn for a $1 US, in order to chill in Belize.

I had a Canuck pay me today in full for classes to be given late next summer because he is certain the favorable rate will not stay this way long.

It is said that our dollar is currently over-valued by a minimum of 10% and that something's got to give. At this time, it is anticipated that the government will do something to help our dollar back down.

While it is all very well and good for me (and other Cdn travellers like me) to be excited about the dollar, the majority of our products are exported and payment is received in US dollars. At a time with record highs of employment, we now find ourselves facing companies and plants going out of business.

Gives with one hand and takes with another . . sigh.

Oh well, my cup is half-full.

Pushed past $1.10 this morning.

Holey Moley!

Word on the street is that the Euro is already beginning to take over as the reserve currency. Even supermodels are now demanding payment in Euros and refuse US dollars.

Fell back to just under $1.09. Oh well,

The farmers are hurting though. I try not to feel too much glee.

Local Christmas tree farmers are having to shut down their US shipments after this holiday - just not worth it anymore.