dollar reached $1.10 USD

This is exactly how the currency market and economies work themselves out. Our dollar is high, we spend our money in the states buying USD to do so. Demand for USD increases. We buy more goods in the US, the US sees more capital inflow. Economy strengthens

right up until the major manufacturers dump the u.s. in favor of more favorable labor prices.

Dollar Slumps to Record Low on China's Plans to Diversify Reserves

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...dYk&refer=home

TZ

Yeah but now what is with US border guards hassling Canadians over buying down there?!?!? SORE, much?

I think 'sallgood until the Olympics and then we'll see a big change. That's my own viewpoint. And yes it SUCKS that retailers aren't changing much here despite having had a finger wagged at them by Flaherty.

When our dollar is higher, stores say they cannot reduce the prices because they order their products few months or even 1 1/2 years ago. I am quite sure if our dollar is low, they will increase their prices right away. Check out the gas price and even the coffee price. Few years ago, when the coffee beans price was high, coffee shops said they needed to increase the price. But when the coffee beans price came back down later, they did not decrease the coffee price.

I am quite sure I shall get my wife a new laptop during Christmas when we go down to the U.S. for the holiday.

I'm keeping my money in Canada. It's been way too long to have this advantage on the world market. The US dollar drop was orchestrated and most certainly inevitable what with the amount spent on the Iraq war alone plus the fact that their printing presses have been churning out the greenback 24/7 for over two years now.

Our dollar is going to stay high for a long time (12-18 months - according to several sources) so I say support our retailers and keep the money flowing in Canada, otherwise we could start to hear the 'R' word start to be bantered around if unemployment in the Manufacturing, Tourism and Retail sectors starts to rise because we're spending all our money in the US. I realize it's not that simple but it all counts.

For once we should be as patriotic as our good neighbours to the south.
BUY CANADIAN GOLD!

And your Canadian Silver too...purest silver rating from anyone in the world at .9999 for those Leaf coins..


I live in america..our money sucks.
-w

I agree, ProspectorPete, we should break out of this global "give me, give me, give me" viral fever. If we don't want our dollar to go the way of our manufacturing, which we've decimated on behalf of our insatiable greed for all things super cheap, while it's reasonable to seek retail parity, we shouldn't make issue of smaller percentage differences. We've lost the "Buy Canadian (manufacturing)" battle. Let's not lose the "Buy Canadian (retail)" one.

Could i direct a question to you living in the USA.

How are common people acting about the very high oil-prices, for the rest of the world it is not as big a problem as for you, since the $ gets cheaper. But for you americans who use so very much oil to your huge cars, what does the common people say? Can they afford their SUV:s with V8 engines much longer?

Personally, I can tell you it is tough. I have a four-cylinder Toyota pickup truck that gets 17 mpg. I spend $40 a week in gas and I live 15 minutes from work. I have been trying to consolidate all my driving habits into one trip as I live 12 miles from the nearest shopping area. My driving habits really have changed. We need cars that get better gas mileage.

I was on a information meeting with our oil experts at work, they have a bit different view on oil-spot price next year. They believe oil will go down to average at $55 next year.

Another interesting thing about the US, if the americans would change their car-park and driving habits to the same as the western Europee, US oil usage would decrease with ~30%

I have never been to the US actually, but they seem to be some really bad ass oil users overthere

Sorry, for making this thread about oil

Al, we already lose the "Buy Canadian (retail)" battle. How many people go to Wal-mart or other U.S. based companies to buy things? People look for bargains same as our manufacturers look for cheap labour overseas.

Canadians aren't much better, in terms of gas guzzling v8 SUVs, so we should watch how and where we throw those stones from our glass house. Take Ontario, for instance. This province, and the city of Toronto especially, has one of the worst public transportation systems in the developed world. Have a look at subway maps around the globe. Toronto's underground map is as pitiful as Novosibirsk's. For a city which wants to charge the most exorbitant airport fees and transit fares, it should seriously revisit what it's really charging those rates for. I mean, one has to have an easy enough and affordable enough way of getting to the airport, for starters.

Change starts at home. Make it happen, Canada! Get some decent public transportation, for goodness' sake! Sorry, that's a big sore spot with me. I own a car, but I put barely 6,000km on it annually. If the public transport system was even half as good here as it should be for cities this size, I wouldn't own a car at all. I envy bamako. Unlike him, however, I couldn't live without a TV. LOL

Yes, that is probably spot on, even if the Americans (and Canadians) wanted to get rid of their cars, you couldn't. I am from Sweden, if you did not understand that

Oil going back to 55, I doubt it..With China and India growing as fast as they are, the thirst for oil will continue..We will probably be saying 90 is cheap this time next year.

If us canadians cant curb our hunger for oil, it is definately wishful thinking that americans will start the trend. If anything, the only thing we have to worry about is americans getting so desperate for oil that they invade Canada..haha

As for the dollar...I see it hitting 1.20 in the near future, the US economy has taken to much of hit for them to recover this quickly. To much debt, global insecurity, credit crunch, growth of china and india..Only glimmer of hope for our neighbours is that Bush is gone soon..

I believe there are forces at work , which have stifled the development of alternative technologies for transport. I really believe the wave of the future will be electric- with so many green ways of producing electricity , and these are all neverending,(wind, solar, tides) unlike fossil fuels which will eventually run out. Some believe that the earth is a bottomless pit of oil - but that is really not the case
Time for Canada and Sweden and some other countries to take the intiative and develop some of these . Our govts of course are against these, as of course are the oil companies etc. Taxes from fuel tax in the US and Canada provide billions in capital for those govts and the exorbitant salaries for the big oil companies are also provided by the consumer.
Even natural gas burning engines have 90% less pollution , and of course nat gas still very cheap in comparison to gas and diesel.
WPT has developed a commercial nat gas engine for large trucks and buses , and amazingly the biggest buyers have been the Chinese.
We still seemed to be satisfied with our big diesel burning transports trucks and railway engines sending plumes of black poison into the air.
Time to take greed out of the equation and worry about our environment.

well, you could buy into ethanol companies: smart ones like...say...ones that are building plants IN Canada and will convert wood product into ethanol and thereby not starving the world just to alleviate the oil concerns.



(note I did not plug a stock here)


Yes. Oil will only last so long and those of us holding in oil companies are good to go. And yes, yowch, you U.S. folks sure get rumped on gas prices. Well our dollar is high here and miraculously on Monday here gas jumped from .99 to 1.06 a litre (I really hate working out the gallon/litre conversions because people then realize how REALLY bad it is).

hmm...and I thought our dollar was stronger now?



All I know is my province (SK) will soon show its might in the oilsands, etc. That and potash.

chuckle...

And you know, there is so much talk of electric, biodiesel, hybrids, ethanol... when for those that have short commutes like me: there's a cool new invention up here that has two wheels and a couple pedals that is based on kinetic self-propulsion. Takes me 20 min to 1/2 hour to get to work depending on the wind that day.

Great way to work off frustrations of the day as well. Except the hazard is breathing all those engine-based fumes out there!

Speaking of engines, the internal combustion engine (i.e. what's in our cars) is without a doubt the most inefficient invention in use today.

Try bringing to market anything which is 20-30% efficient today. You'll be laughed not only out of the office, but out of your profession. Yet car manufacturers are still allowed to pump those behemoths onto the market and we're happy to pour gallons and barrels into the tank just to get get a 20% return on that investment and we're happy with that? For a bunch of street smart, investment savvy people, we sure are a stupid bunch. LOL