Tracking the Loonie

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Our dollar is doing well -- very well -- but that's much better news for some (like consumers) than for others (like exporters). Here's the latest:

The Canadian dollar briefly shot above US$1.04 on Friday for the first time in 33 years, and is inching closer to the currency's all-time high set more than half a century ago.

The loonie's strength has been bad news for Canada's battered manufacturing sector, which has been sideswiped by a currency that has risen by about 20 per cent this year alone and seems poised to surpass its all-time high of 106.14 cents US.

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The dollar traded as high as 104.10 cents US during the day Friday -- the highest since May 1974 -- before closing the session at 103.93 cents US.

For more on the Loonie's rise to parity and beyond, including an analysis of what this means to Canadians psychologically, see here, here, and here.

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Meanwhile, ex-PM Tony Blair thinks Canada will become one of the world's most powerful countries. And, of course, he's never wrong.

Ahem.