Canadian dollar on par

[puddle jumper]

Good or bad our dollar is on par with the US.Some are cheering becouse they can go across the boarder and have better shopping. Exporters are crapping there pants due to exports will probably drop. Time will tell.

 

[ricksrster]

Re: Canadian dollar on par

Was there a rise in prices in Canada or are they pretty stable?

 

[puddle jumper]

Re: Canadian dollar on par

They stayed the same here.Most people complained becouse most products
prices never dropped and were still paying the inflated price when our dollar was lower.
eg; when you buy a book it always has the US price and the Canadian price
lets say the US price was $1 it would be $1.10 here, we are still paying the $1.10 for the book.

 

[PW2]

Re: Canadian dollar on par

They stayed the same here.Most people complained becouse most products
prices never dropped and were still paying the inflated price when our dollar was lower.
eg; when you buy a book it always has the US price and the Canadian price
lets say the US price was $1 it would be $1.10 here, we are still paying the $1.10 for the book.

It's absolutely killing the lumber business in Canada, which supplies 35% of the lumber consumed in the USA.

More than 2 billion board foot annual production is down in Ontario and Quebec, and growing. Loggers are going broke. It will be difficult getting this production resumed, when the US market returns, which it always does.

Not sure what will happen, but don't be surprised in a year or two when it will cost more to buy a 2x4 than a good bottle of scotch.

 

[Bigprairie1]

Re: Canadian dollar on par

The BC/Canadian lumber industry (& Pulp & Paper) out in Western Canada is on the ropes as well.
That said, they had more than enough opportunity and time to pick up the ball back in the 80's and 90's and upgrade their processes and get and stay competitive. They chose to rely on the dollar difference to maintain profit.....bad move. Now, with a dollar for dollar exchange their edge is gone. Well, short term...thats tough.
As well, the forest sector unions have been subject to better wages/benefits over the last 25 yrs than the American counterparts...and now they (Unions) don't want to let that go either. Thats the other difficult part of the predicament.
So here comes (economic) gravity.
Now on the up side, it will induce a desire to improve the operations, often archaic technology (at least in a lot of coastal mills) and wage scales to finally again...compete on par. Painfull at first...but better in a few years.
I don't have too much sympathy for them out here...they are suffering from a lingering good times hangover and a displaced sense of entitlement.
All of this from a Canadian. I do think it will be a good thing long term for us....but short term, buckle up it's going to be a bumpy ride, particularly in that sector.

 

[puddle jumper]

Re: Canadian dollar on par

On the west coast weve been on strike in the foresty sector, ever since august. Like big prairie said money is part of it ( even though its been down played). The main reasons we are on strike is job safty and travel time. The travel time thing i think is dumb. Some of these guys are complaining about having to work an 8 to10 hour day and then becouse were they live they
have another hour drive home. I think if they have a problem with the drive home, move closer to where they work.

With the dollar beeing on par its going to intresting to see what happens when we go back

 

[drewmitch44]

Re: Canadian dollar on par

whats this all aboot? Ayah.

 

[OldMercsRule]

Re: Canadian dollar on par

Any way ya look at it: It is not a good thing: Mrs Jones, (from the perspective of an American citizen). From the perspective of the World: BARGAN SALE!

Long term periods of lower and lower domestic savings rates (getting negative in this Century). Levered up homes that have risen to very high levels over long periods of time, (over long periods in the US). BTW don't think the rising home values are not a world wide problem Mrs. Jones. Remember: double negatives are a positive! The worlds housing markets have risen even more then ours have. N': Mrs Jones: it's a global place this ol' world. If the biggest feller on the block gets a sniffle whatcha think will happen to the rest of 'em as they all drink from the same trough of Liquidity?

All this fresh cash by Central Banks is real good fer now: Mrs Jones. The drop in value of the dollar is real bad n' very scary, (to this feller who only has a single brain cell). The bears in bonds are bitin' a bit, (lots o' money in bonds Mrs. Jones, [in fact lots more then any lil' ol' stock market: Mrs. Jones]), n' ya know what's even bigger? Curency markets: Mrs. Jones. (Most the world still buys the majority of their oil with dollars).

The sun is still shinnin' in most areas, (some are havin' big trouble now as PW2 states in the lumber bidness), so maybe ya cornsider bein' cautious fer a bit where it is shinnin'; n' savin' n' investin' a lil' more; n' spendin' a lil' less; n' payin' down those pesky debts a bit to prepare fer a bit of a ride, (either way as the ol' cash could stimulate us a bit as well). I'm jus' musin' out loud here. I'm not makin' any recomendations. After all: I don't know any of yer circumstances. Good Luck. JR

 

[gonefishie]

Re: Canadian dollar on par

Not sure what will happen, but don't be surprised in a year or two when it will cost more to buy a 2x4 than a good bottle of scotch.

Oh well, we'll just start buying composite. It's better anyway.

 

[PW2]

Re: Canadian dollar on par

Oh well, we'll just start buying composite. It's better anyway.

Good luck with that theory. I'm not sure what "composite" you are referring to, but what do you think might happen to the price of that composite if all of a sudden there is a demand for several billion more board ft of it?

 

[Bigprairie1]

Re: Canadian dollar on par

Well if its composite it probably has some plastics in it and that means it uses petroleum in its manufacture...and that means...oil. We all know where the price of that stuff is headed in the future.
We are getting a bit off topic tho'....with respect to the US/Canadian dollar exchange.....I might be buying south of the border earlier than I thought.

 

[pgdignan]

Re: Canadian dollar on par

Great for exports bad for overseas travelling, (besides lumber) most of our replacement auto parts come from Canada, maybe they'll get a little cheaper too.

 

[Tail_Gunner]

Re: Canadian dollar on par

The sun is still shinnin' in most areas, (some are havin' big trouble now as PW2 states in the lumber bidness), so maybe ya cornsider bein' cautious fer a bit where it is shinnin'; n' savin' n' investin' a lil' more; n' spendin' a lil' less; n' payin' down those pesky debts a bit to prepare fer a bit of a ride, (either way as the ol' cash could stimulate us a bit as well). I'm jus' musin' out loud here. I'm not makin' any recomendations. After all: I don't know any of yer circumstances. Good Luck. JR

So i guess it's meat and potatoes for the masses, while i have a truly great respect for ........nope notta not even going to go there.

So let's just stop consuming and let the card's fall... come on OMR your better than that........much better....

Opps almost forgot: Curency markets: Mrs. Jones. (Most the world still buys the majority of their oil with dollars).

Deflating oil........


But back on topic, this is just a temporary hickup and a few will get hurt, the boat's a bit swamped and will soon right itself or sink... and there's to much at risk for that....there's a commodity out there that is the cause of this whole thing

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=dubai+growth


Seem's there currency has with stood the entire world market.....

 

[KnottyBuoyz]

Re: Canadian dollar on par

I'm just buyin' up as many boat parts (we building a trawler) as I can afford while the loonie is on par. Anything over that is a bonus. Just picked up 4 Bomar portlights off of e-Bay for $240 which is the normal WM retail price for 1!!!

Sucks for the Cdn retailers that they're loosing so much business to across the border shopping but in reality they've been gouging us for years. Time for them to re-evaluate their pricing policies. The MSRP differential on something like a new car (Cadillac STS for example) is over $15K and that doesn't take into account things like shipping, prep, licensing etc. Who's getting hosed?

 

[OldMercsRule]

Re: Canadian dollar on par

TG, The cost of energy is a big factor in the mix of items causin' us current pressure, but not any where near the total cause, (or even the single biggest factor in the present problems we face) IMHO. I admit it has caused lots o' problems in the bidness yer in!!! It maybe the bigest factor in the Domestic auto bidness, (prolly is), but much less in the housin' bidness, and domestic auto Executives caused lots of their own problems to be much worse, (as you must surely know).

Energy today adjusted for all inflation/currency and other factors is cheaper then it was in 1980!!! We have papered over our problems with very few deep recessions since the early 1980s, and there is a price to be paid, (some day): Mrs. Jones. If we saved and invested more and cornsumed less (in a MACRO sense), we would have less problems in the credit markets, and oil and all forms of energy would be cheaper.

Respectfully, (don't mean to torque anyone with my orpinion here), JR ps: Countries with strong natural resource based economies have relatively strong currencies.

 

[Bigprairie1]

Re: Canadian dollar on par

I'm just buyin' up as many boat parts (we building a trawler) as I can afford while the loonie is on par. Anything over that is a bonus. Just picked up 4 Bomar portlights off of e-Bay for $240 which is the normal WM retail price for 1!!!

Sucks for the Cdn retailers that they're loosing so much business to across the border shopping but in reality they've been gouging us for years. Time for them to re-evaluate their pricing policies. The MSRP differential on something like a new car (Cadillac STS for example) is over $15K and that doesn't take into account things like shipping, prep, licensing etc. Who's getting hosed?

I fully agree with this. Canadian retailers are, at least in the short term, not going to offer up any of this buying power advantage to the average Canadian consumer. Which is why I too, will be shopping south of the border at least until they adjust their prices somewhat in line with U.S prices. We have payed a minor premium for many years due to the dollar difference. That should be ending reasonably soon I hope depending on which retailers wake up first and realize the opportunities they might get through adjusted (downwards) prices and greater volume.
I believe OMR's point regarding the current investment attractiveness of resource based/rich countries is whats driving a lot of the dollar right now.
I'm not much of an expert on these issues but I think it's time to play smart and keep our costs down and get more of our debt down.

 

[KnottyBuoyz]

Re: Canadian dollar on par

We crossed over on Saturday to pick up some e-bay purchases at the UPS store and the parkin' lots at Wally World, Lowes & Price Chopper were FULL OF CANNUCK plates! ;o) It was a Zoo!

Not all US retailers have adjusted their exchange rates yet. Lowes was still charging 10% on cash sales. We usually use the Mastercard and let them do the conversion. Knottygirlz picked me up 3 sweaters and a pair of dress slacks and herself 5 sweaters. Total $134 with taxes paid at the border $151. The same purchase here would have easily been $300.

Started to go over for dinner too. Can't beat US portions! ;o) Our favorite steak house features, of all things, Alberta Beef! Go figure. A prime rib steak with trimmin's for $12.95 in the US, over here figure at least $30 - $35. Add a few drinks and a night out for two for dinner over here is $100 Cdn. Same meal on the US side less than $50.

 

[moterboat]

Re: Canadian dollar on par

I would not mind paying $30.00 for a steak dinner,if you go to charlies steak house here you get a steak and lobster for two for $110.00, I would'nt mind paying more for anything here if we would go to universal healthcare like you guys have,my health insurance with my wife's would cost $965.00 a month,if we could afford it and bought it,and thats not including co payments on the doctor bill and on the medication,some of the medication insurance will not cover we have to pay the full price then,so we pay cash when we go to the doctor and do with out insurance hoping a major medical problem won't come untill we reach 65.. WoW, now Im ready to go fishing.. my point is a lot of things are high priced here and in canada,but you guys have the healthcare..

 

[KnottyBuoyz]

Re: Canadian dollar on par

Cdn medical care isn't all it's cracked up to be moterboat. Plenty of shortcomings.

Longer wait times. Only 25% have family physicians. Our health plans don't cover everything or have limited benefits. Getting a referral to a specialist is like near impossible unless you're on your deathbed. Emergency room visits are an exercise in futility unless you're bleeding from the carotid artery, having chest pains or pass out on the waiting room floor from dehydration.

Sh*t the wife had to take pictures of an infection on her hands and e-mail it to her doctor cause she couldn't get an appointment in over 2 months.

Granted we don't have to lay out a lot of cash up front for medical care but we pay for it in other ways. It's assembly line medicine no doubt about it.