Economy and dollar value

[Lindsey]

I'm hoping someone here knows a little more about this and can help me out. I know the American economy has been sliding down, and as of now the Canadian economy is still pretty good, although all this stock market crashing does affect us too, just hopefully not to the same extent!!! Anyways, at the start of this year, our dollar was equal to $1.10 American. It went down to about equal, and then I was thinking it would probably go back up again because all the recession talks started in America.
Anyways, yesterday I heard that our dollar was going way down again, and my mom called me to tell me I should think about exchanging some money for my trip before the dollar gets too low. I was like "Well, it might go back up, right?" and she told me I should try talking to someone who knows more about it! I checked today and we're down to $0.85 USD!!!
Soooo does anyone know what exactly affects the dollar value? I really have no clue. I just know that if our dollar keeps slipping, I need to exchange a lot of money asap. I've been saving for months and I want to actually get something out of it!!

[DianaB]

I don't understand it either but here's an article I found that might help.

http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.c...=A1ARTA0002336

[Lindsey]

Thanks Diana, that made a bit of sense. I've heard it said that we're getting screwed over by the free trade agreement, because our ties are so close to the US that when the American economy falls, it's pulling us down too. I just never realized WHY. But it's a little bit more clear now!
Our election was called in September and we vote on Tuesday so there has been a lot of campaigning going on. A few of the parties are taking about relying less on trade, and instead producing more stuff here and using it ourselves. I don't know if that would be negative or positive for the value of our dollar.

[HALEY]

Lindsey, this recession is global girl, everyone is going to somehow be effected by this, and its sticking around for awhile, we already have steel mills, banks and car dealerships closing in my area and it's going to get worse before it gets better... i'm starting to worry about my job now...

[Lindsey]

It actually seems like it's not going to be so bad here. I've been reading quite a few articles in the last few days about the effect on Canada and it seems it won't be TOO negative, at least in the West. Ontario is tied pretty closely with the US and they've had some pretty bad job losses and economy downturns, but that's good for Saskatchewan because their people are going to have to start coming west for work. And we have tons! My province is booming, gas prices are lowering finally, and so far there hasn't really been anything really negative...
Here's some quotes from the CEP news (economic news) in an article posted yesterday:

Saskatchewan will overtake Alberta as Canada's economic growth leader says RBC, which has revised its economic forecast for Canadian provinces

RBC says the U.S. economy now appears to be in recession. Europe, the U.K. and Japan also foundering, they said. While RBC's forecast report says Canada is in a better position than others with Canadian banks in less trouble, overall growth will still be substantially weaker than previously anticipated.

"Saskatchewan is expected to lead all provinces in growth both this year and next year with overall GDP rising 3.9% and 3.5%, respectively, because the province is enjoying very high prices for most of its key exports, including grains, oil, potash and uranium," the RBC forecast says.

Although commodity prices have come off recent highs, they are expected to stay at historically high levels and support business and household spending, RBC says.


I don't think anyone around here is worried about their jobs... We're actually desperate to hire more people. I just got a raise and will get another in January, and my company is trying to bring in more incentives to the workplace, such as weekly massage or fitness classes, as well as project bonuses, to try to get people to come here instead of to our competition!
So I feel that with our economy going so well, shouldn't our dollar be doing better when the rest of the world is going into recession?

[HALEY]

we'll our Market in the US is about to crash so i know the US dollar isn't worth crap now... Don't know about Canada....
I lost 20,000 in my retirement fund, so i'm just not a happy camper these days...