Crying the Canadian Blues (How low can the Loonie go??)

[1Cool]

Doesn't matter how low the Canadian dollar drops they always seem to raise the prices in Niagara Falls and Toronto when I go visit. Filling my tank up in Toronto last month cost more then back home - thanks Canada!

[1Cool]

...£1.00 = $1.43 This is bad.

 

As the stock market dives in an effort for people to get liquid they by default strengthen the $US. Once people start buying stocks the $US should lighten up again.

 

The same thing happened in 2008. Of course, Canada was much stronger then financially but we'll recover from that too. It's always cyclical. Nothing is constant.

 

 

...oh well, at least petrol (gas) is only £1 per litre now!

 

But there is 3.78 liters in a gallon. That is $3.78 Canadian per gallon! I'll take my $1.58 per gallon of gas any day.

[COI]

How about high-tech companies from pharmaceuticals, electronics, aircraft, ships, software...?

 

Oh wait, those are white collar jobs. We wouldn't want to pay people too much. That might hurt businesses.

 

What?

 

How much does being a pimp pay? Come on, tell it like it is.

 

You know it's hard out here for a pimp

When he tryin' to get this money for the rent

For the Cadillacs and gas money spent

Because a whole lot of talkin' mess

[Tbone911t]

Honestly, this burns me. Selling resources is all Cdn governments think about, and manufacturing. Now that those industries have taken a hit what are we left with.

 

There isn't a lot of forward thinkers here who run for parliament.

 

Kevin O'leary plans to run he said.

 

Pump prices were down to 76c yesterday here. Down almost 50% from 18 months ago.

 

I need to move to Ontario - $1.02 here in Quebec

 

 

Wow that's high. We're at .90 in NS

[Iceman399]

Doesn't matter how low the Canadian dollar drops they always seem to raise the prices in Niagara Falls and Toronto when I go visit. Filling my tank up in Toronto last month cost more then back home - thanks Canada!

 

Our gas has always been more expensive than the US. I live on a border town and can cross into the USA and even with the dollar the way it is now I still save about 40c a gallon.

[mrc]

...£1.00 = $1.43 This is bad.

 

As the stock market dives in an effort for people to get liquid they by default strengthen the $US. Once people start buying stocks the $US should lighten up again.

 

The same thing happened in 2008. Of course, Canada was much stronger then financially but we'll recover from that too. It's always cyclical. Nothing is constant.

 

 

...oh well, at least petrol (gas) is only £1 per litre now!

 

But there is 3.78 liters in a gallon. That is $3.78 Canadian per gallon! I'll take my $1.58 per gallon of gas any day.

 

....I have been known to pay an eye-watering £1.49 per litre for petrol a while back with sadly, little spare cash leftover for comics.

 

 

 

 

 

[VintageComics]

Honestly, this burns me. Selling resources is all Cdn governments think about, and manufacturing. Now that those industries have taken a hit what are we left with.

 

There isn't a lot of forward thinkers here who run for parliament.

 

Our economy was propped by worldwide oil demand and our ability to supply lots of it. How can anyone foresee that oil prices would drop to where they have and starve out an entire fossil fuel industry? People can speculate but nobody can know for sure.

 

And are you recommending that Canadians shouldn't have taken the free money when the oil was flowing? It fueled our economy for nearly a decade.

 

All of those people that moved into the oil industry have transferable skills and will just get jobs in other industries (usually the ones that they came from) and we'll bounce back.

 

We're rich in every important resource (including land and water, which are most important) and richer than any other country in the world. And we have a conservative banking system. It's just a transition period until we adjust. in the mean time, there are other industries that boom during this time. The economy is always cyclical.

 

Not diversifying and taking advantage of a highly educated workforce was the mistake. Expecting things to remain as they were was also a mistake.

 

But perspective is relative to our own experiences. As I said, some industries (like exports) will boom while the dollar is weak.

 

I live in Waterloo, Ontario and the economy here is highly educated and mostly tech oriented (Google is building their largest Canadian office here), with also a strong insurance culture (Sun Life and Manulife / John Hancock are huge employers here along with the universities and techies). So it is diverse and very transferable and we happen to be doing well.

 

I understand that diversification reduces exposure.

 

I don't think anyone could avoid taking advantage of the multi billion dollar oil industry as an option so alongside that industry, what would you have recommended to diversify? Serious question (and I'm not an economist).

 

This is what I do for a living... Here's the somewhat simplified version... For the past 10 years, Canada has incentivized the expansion of the oil industry (mostly through tax breaks and incentives), and while this made some sense because of oil prices, other industries were not similarly supported. When oil prices fall, the sector contracts, but no other sector has been incentivized to expand.

 

At the same time, Alberta is making billions in revenue from the oil sector, but is using the money to reduce taxes, rather than investing in diversification... When the oil sector contracts, this leaves no other growth engine industry, AND a huge tax shortfall.

 

The alternatives were to invest in counter- or non-cyclical industries... Digital media, biotech, food processing, advanced manufacturing, life sciences, nanotechnology, quantum computing are all industries that Canada is well-positioned for, but where little high level investment has been made as the government bet heavily on oil and gas. And even in oil and gas, Canada never did much to diversify beyond extraction - i.e. Not much investment in the development of a petrochemical industry.

 

If Canada HAD invested in these other industries, they would now be benefitting from the low dollar to grow exports. As it stands today, it will be harder to kick start these industries, because any external inputs will now be more expensive. Both economists and economic developers had been warning the (former) Canadian government about this dilemma for years, but there wasn't much interest.

 

Having said that, a few industries really are doing well... Agriculture is booming, and food processing also looks strong. Digital media is strong in BC, Ontario and Quebec.

 

Anyway, back to your regularly scheduled programming...

 

 

Thanks for the awesome answer!

[ThothAmon]

The looney is starting to look more like the Peso. If any more states legalize pot we definitely are going to have to start thinking about a Northern Wall. Trump says he will get Canada to pay for it. (Thank God I own a cottage in Muskoka!)

[Fan Boy]

The looney is starting to look more like the Peso. If any more states legalize pot we definitely are going to have to start thinking about a Northern Wall. Trump says he will get Canada to pay for it. (Thank God I own a cottage in Muskoka!)

 

If ever Trump become the prez of U.S. ( by a very long shot). Let him try what he say about a Northern Wall to convince Canadians like me.

 

I got my finger that would like speak to him with 2 letters. F-U Trump! He is a nutty loonie.

[Bird]

I have been helping out Rudy Nebres with commissions and a Canadian just ordered one; he is a real fan as it is costing so much more right now but you can never count on being able to get collectibles when you want them, so what else is there to do. Do or do without.

 

I feel for you guys though; I wanted a commission and watched for two years hoping the Euro would weaken against the dollar but it never happened until I stopped getting commissions (Mostly).

[the blob]

...£1.00 = $1.49

 

so? isn't that within the realm of what it has been for a while?

[mrc]

...£1.00 = $1.49

 

so? isn't that within the realm of what it has been for a while?

 

...no, been fairly stable at around $1.60 for quite a while. Have had $2 - £1 (buy lots of slabs) and around $1.75 would be a comfortable 'average' for me.

[the blob]

The looney is starting to look more like the Peso. If any more states legalize pot we definitely are going to have to start thinking about a Northern Wall. Trump says he will get Canada to pay for it. (Thank God I own a cottage in Muskoka!)

 

http://www.buzzfeed.com/ishmaeldaro/donald-trump-says-he-loves-canada#.yinEkXXgk

 

He can't off all the people all of the time.

[Michelangelo]

The looney is starting to look more like the Peso. If any more states legalize pot we definitely are going to have to start thinking about a Northern Wall. Trump says he will get Canada to pay for it. (Thank God I own a cottage in Muskoka!)

 

http://www.buzzfeed.com/ishmaeldaro/donald-trump-says-he-loves-canada#.yinEkXXgk

 

He can't off all the people all of the time.

 

wow thanks Mr. Trump

[Michelangelo]

as for our lovely loonie, economists have projected it to fall to 59 cents....

 

hold on to your hats

[the blob]

...£1.00 = $1.49

 

so? isn't that within the realm of what it has been for a while?

 

...no, been fairly stable at around $1.60 for quite a while. Have had $2 - £1 (buy lots of slabs) and around $1.75 would be a comfortable 'average' for me.

 

$1.49 and $1.60 seem pretty close to me.

 

$2 is about as bad as it has gotten unless we go pretty far back,.although when i was there in 2006 it was approaching that. it was pretty brutal.

[the blob]

The looney is starting to look more like the Peso. If any more states legalize pot we definitely are going to have to start thinking about a Northern Wall. Trump says he will get Canada to pay for it. (Thank God I own a cottage in Muskoka!)

 

http://www.buzzfeed.com/ishmaeldaro/donald-trump-says-he-loves-canada#.yinEkXXgk

 

He can't off all the people all of the time.

 

wow thanks Mr. Trump

 

Of course, he also says he loves Mexican Americans and Muslim Americans, so....

 

 

[lou_fine]

 

Pump prices were down to 76c yesterday here. Down almost 50% from 18 months ago.

 

Gas/Oil prices were inflated by speculators by over 50% anyway for their own gain.

 

 

Yes, somebody must be siphoning off a lot of the money as pump prices have definitely NOT dropped by anywhere close to 50% from their peak where I am living.

 

In fact, until a few weeks ago, the pump prices for the cheapo regular gasoline was still in the $1.30 range and has pretty well been around there for the past year and a half. It's been dropping over the past few weeks to only $1.06 now after a lot of media attention.

 

Yes, hard for them to explain why pump prices were still in the same $1.30 price range as when a barrel of crude oil was costing around the $90 range. Or why is our gasoline price at $1.30 per litre when it was only at $0.80 per lite the last time oil was trading at $40 a barrel several years ago.

[VintageComics]

From what I understand, the pump price is not directly correlated with ppb of oil.

 

 

[ecgt]

Did anybody notice that Canada Post actually raised the price of shipping within Canada and to the USA last week? It's particularly bad for Small Packet USA for items over 500 grams.