U.S. Dollar = Canadian Dollar For First Time Since 1976
According to the Associated Press the U.S. Dollar and the Canadian Dollar have reached parity for the first time since 1976, although Google is currently claiming that the ratio is 1 Canadian dollar = 0.987069 U.S. dollars. Fun!
Congratulations, Canada. Please come and spend your valuable dollars in our many fine retail locations.
Canadian dollar equals U.S. dollar for first time since 1976 [AP]
(Photo:AP)
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Comments:
Aw nuts. Looks like the Canadians are getting ripped off. $10 for a $7 book that was printed in Canada?!
YYYEEEEEAAAHHHH!!!! TASTE THE LOON, YANKS. TASTE IT! IT TASTES LIKE VICTORY.
Of course it's not so much the U.S. dollar matching the Canadian dollar as it is the U.S. dollar index tumbling due to the Fed essentially printing Monopoly money with the rate cut. See graph: [quotes.ino.com] We're just waving to Canada on the down elevator.
Anyone else see this as a sign that our economy is REALLY in trouble!?!?!?!?!?!?!
My husband, a Canadian, sent this to me this morning. I first asked him if he was going to reconsider starting the whole naturalization process now. Then I asked him to put in a good word for me when his countrymen take over.
@j03m0mma: @timmus: Although its true the US dollar is hitting the shits big time. The Canadian dollar has been incredibly strong due to a number of factors. Retail profits in canada this year is the highest its been in a long time. The canadian housing market is also on a 4 year high streak that is not letting down, and unemployment rates are down for most major cities.
So yeah, the US dollar falling is a factor, but you cannot shrug off the canadian dollar either. Sure the Pound Sterling is 2.01302 CAD, down from 2.4 only a few years back...
oh shit... the last article i read on this topic said that it wouldnt happen till 2015... and I remember seeing a hoodie on sale at a gift shop marked for 130 canadian.
Ugh. Bad news abounds.
Looks like I will be making that trip to Buffalo for the iphone now that the dollar is even and the current price drop. mmmm yay!
The dollars have been getting closer and closer for a while but the cost of our goods have remained the same. It feels like the retailers are gouging us up here. I'm heading south for the weekend to do some shopping.
It's not just the Loonie...but the US dollar is tanking vs. all currencies, the Euro, the Pound...
Welcome to the third world.
I guess that war is expensive after all ( slam dunk?)
MK
As a dual citizen, my feelings on this matter are...mixed.
Having a weaker Canadian dollar is often very good for the Canadian economy (for obvious reasons like tourism, but also for less obvious reasons, like the film industry, which often films in Canada due to the lower dollar.) And it sucks when my parents give me US $100 for a present and it no longer cashes out for $130 Canadian.
It also sucks because dollar prices on consumer goods in Canada (at least in my city) tend to be higher than US prices, and that's not even accounting for sales tax, which is even higher! So, with parity, I'm paying $5 for a gallon of milk here, as opposed to $2-something back in the States. Man.
Get your shit together, USA. I want living in Canada to be a bargain again.
yup. we're getting ripped off. the excuse is that it'll take merchants a couple of years before the current products have enough of a turn over to be caught up to the current exchange rate.
We're planning a trip south pdq to buy a few things we want.
It is cheaper for us to go to the bank, get US dollars and pay for things in US funds - if they have a US price on it and will sell it to me at that price.
we're getting gyped. oh yah.
I think Canada should invade the US. It's for our own good.
No more making fun of Canada then. "You paid how much for your car? 5000 dollars? What's that, like 800 in real money?"
Those days are over. Now it's our turn to take it.
Ok, now it seems like it's worth my time to take over canada. Ok whos with me. Everyone needs to bring tiny american flags and also bring a pointed stick. I think I'll need about 5 people.
Alright come with me, We can do it.
Uh oh.... expect mayo on all american foods from now on
That's looney !!!!!1111
-- uh -- sorry, that was bad.
So it's not really as bad as it seems. The Canuk Dollar was getting stronger as the American Dollar was getting weaker. So the USD isn't ~33% weaker compared to the CD, more like 15% weaker.
@xredgambit: You're going to take over a nation whose pastimes include clubbing baby seals to death...with five people and pointy sticks? Good luck with that.
Well I'll bring some matches to. I mean what do they have? Hockey sticks and chain saws. I'm sure just even the thought of an american flag would send them running. I mean we already beat them all in WW III. Besides you can't forget that a lot of them came from france or speak french. And you know what they do.
@xredgambit: Yeah, I know what they do...they eat a lot of poutine and maple sugar candy. And poutine is to Francophones as spinach is to Popeye. Watch out.
hockey and lacross - both war games - are our national sports. The former is the public, the latter is the official government one.
do you really want to anger people who are trained from toddler hood to run using razor blades, use big sticks, and kill people with projectiles launched from said sticks?
I wonder how much of this has to do with the fed rate cut as opposed to the increase the canadian economy is experiencing right now...
Actually, the parity with the American Dollar is a complicated situation. Canadian companies that need to buy new "American-built" equipment are going to have to pay way less money to acquire them. However, those same companies that export goods in the US actually need to US to buy them. But here is the problem... it's more expansive for the US to buy them so they buy less. Buying less means less revenu to buy new equipement and it kind of balance things out.
What is going to be improved, is everything that is related to importing stuff from the US. But the major problem is that Canada export more than it import. Can the Canadian survive this shift of wind?
Ways for Americans* to Ingratiate Selves to Our Northern Masters:
o Get used to saying "ooowt" instead of "out"
oo (and "aboooowt" instead of "about"
o Profess love for Michael Moore - and mean it
o Learn a great deal more about that football-on-ice-using-sticks game
o Harrass Amoeba Records clerks: "Why aren't there Bryan Adams and Celine Dion sections?!
o Reserrect Peter Jennings; give back him ABC News anchor position
o Erase skull bicep tattoo, replace with florid red maple leaf
o Ask nicely before unilaterally invading weakened Middle East countries, blowing the crap out of everything there, turning it into a Hobbsian hell-hole for fictitious reasons. Once everything predictably turns to crap, apologize. Nicely!
o For the love of god, stay out of Iran
* Damn. I guess from now on, when people say, "American", they really mean, "Canadian"
Killa -
I think it's because the Republicans have pretty much f*cked beyond belief our economy - and with it, the $US - for the next couple decades. Pretty much on every measure. The capital markets aren't stupid. Remember when the Euro debuted, and the $US was a significant multiple higher than it? Then Bush/The GOP got to work, and the $US sank vs the Euro? Same thing. Except to a much weaker currency. That's how badly it's gotten.
I was hoping to go to Canada or Europe sometime in the next few years.
They can just forget about that tourism income, at least where I'm concerned, until prices come out of the stratosphere.
@Buran: Ditto. There's no way I'm going outside of the US with the current value of the dollar.
Canadians! Come over to the dark underworld, you know you want to. It won't even cost you anything to buy a house! Play money is now acceptable tender, and at equal exchange.
We're all just friendly neighbors, eh?
@trai_dep: Canadians enjoyed Canadian Bacon? I mean yea it's universally funny and predicted US politics to a T, but uh...well hey, if they enjoyed it then kudos to them for having a sense of humor.
@trai_dep: The Euro debuted equal to the dollar.
The Canadian dollar might be worth a US dollar as a conversion, but it still has lower purchasing power. A Big Mac is still $5CAD.
Well, the prices are the same. It's the rate, decided by neutral capital markets, that make the difference. The only thing that's going to change that is to change our economy into something resembling a rational, responsible one.
That means (gasp) taxing more than we spend, getting out of sinkholes like Iraq and addressing long-term problems (Social Security, Medicare, Veteran's Care, Fair Trade, Corporate Welfare, Homeland Security...) in a rational, adult fashion. Kicking the Republicans out, in other words. The dollar's plunge coincides with their being in power - coincides, but it's not coincidentally.
Swalve: whoops, you're right. It debuted at a bit less than USD, and now it's worth 40% more. Same trend, though.
I'm still waiting for yen to dollar parity.
Blame the Federal Reserve, the Jim Cramer types, and all the fools who think that "saving" homeowners (read: propping up a moribund housing market) is more important than the long-term health of our economy. Yup, rather than allow all the foolhardy flippers to foreclose, and housing prices to correct, the Fed thinks we can inflate our way to a soft landing. In other words: this is a sneaky way of providing a multi-billion (trillion? we'll see) bailout to the debt-drowned and fraud-laden housing industry.
So now, after having cancelled your European vacation this summer, you might want to postpone next year's trip to Vancouver. Hosers!!!
Now if only we'd get every bloody pricetag in the nation fixed, to reflect the new parity in currency. We shouldn't have to pay a 10-25% premium, when we have NAFTA and par dollars.
For that matter, we shouldn't have to pay bloody customs when buying goods over the phone or online, from the US.
I'll let my wife who's working up there right now know that. She'll be thrilled. Not.
And I thought when she was traveling back and forth from Switzerland the exchange rate was screwy.
@mandarin:
Haha, like mayo hasn't been invading all American foods slowly but surely for the past five years.
It's when McDonald's starts selling poutine that I'll start getting concerned.
All that's left is to wait for the peso to match us.
All of you guys that are complaining, please tell me how a weaker dollar has negatively affected you or the USA. If anything, it has helped balance our trade deficits and is helping our industries. Confidence in our economy is still very strong (you don't see foreign investors cutting the flow of money into the US). China is not withdrawing their reserves.
Other than you having to shell out more cash when going abroad, you really have nothing to whine about.
@dshjyd: Here are a few ways in which a weak dollar is bad for Americans, for you to meditate on:
* Consumers face higher prices on foreign products/services.
* Higher prices on foreign products contribute to higher cost-of-living.
* U.S. consumers find traveling abroad more costly.
* Tougher for U.S. companies and investors to expand into foreign markets.
Oh, and just to be fair, here are a few ways in which a weak dollar is "good" (for Americans? well...):
* US companies find it easier to sell goods in foreign markets.
* US companies find less competitive pressure to keep prices low.
* More foreign tourists can afford to visit the US.
* Foreign investors can purchase US stocks, bonds, real estate at "lower" prices.
For me, the point isn't whether the dollar is weakening. It's that it wasn't planned or part of a cohesive strategy to improve our (and the global) economy. The situation was created thru spendthrift, irrational policies. Our Republican leaders blundered into it thru incompetence and wishful thinking. That's what's pathetic.
Of course, they'd done it to every other segment that's important to our (and the globe's) security. But this is a telling, consise reality check.
Example of difference in purchasing power: One month ago, at a Linens & Things in Waterloo, ontario, I purchased a Kitchenaid Artisan Mixer for $400 + tax = $455. Two weeks ago, in buffalo, NY, i purchased a Kitchenaid Artisan Mixer for $220 + tax + exchange = $267 Canadian. There was a 20% off coupon involved, but one which I was told would not be acceptable in canada. I qualify as a canadian resident for a further $50 off that same mixer, bringing the total costs of either to $400 or $210. Meaning that in canada, the mixer cost 2x as much. It was no use asking the clerks - i simpy got an "i dunno" when i queried this - but the nice folks at the store let me return the first mixer nqa.
If my hard drive hadn't failed, i'd be on my way to buffalo to stuff myself in the olive garden and hit up 7 or 8 outlet stores, much the same way my parents did in the 70's.
@silenuswise:
Well the reason we have a deficit is because we're consuming too many foreign products/services. A weak dollar balances this out by decreasing consumption of foreign goods. Plus, if you think about it, many of the things you listed that we can't do anymore are exactly the things that are driving the deficit higher.
These are just natural economic forces in response to the trade deficit, which you really can't blame President Bush for... unless you're gonna argue against free trade. I hope you wouldn't.
I'm all for free trade, if we were not the only place that practiced it. Hey Canada, need some extra provinces? We already have hockey here in North Carolina.....
Meh who cares, $1 is still $1 here in the states, and that's all that matters.
@peggynature: Dude... I dont' know where you've been but a gallon of milk (in the US) has been about 5$ for a long time now.
@Yourhero88: A dollar is a dollar? You're an idiot. Although you could probably run fiscal policy for the Bush administration without raising any eyebrows.
Does anyone know how I could start a Canadian savings account?