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...

[HALEY]

Sorry Lindsey i shouldn't even opened this thread, just in a bad mood today...
this recession is killing me, don't know what to think about it.... that's all you read about everyday in the papers here, it's very depressing... now with the mills closing til the first of the year, cause of scrap prices dropping so bad. I might get laid off now... just one of those screwed up days.. didn't mean to vent on your thread.. you were asking about currancies... and i don't know if the US dollar effects your currancy or not? Or the stock market being out of control. Maybe someone else on here knows the answer to that one..

[Lindsey]

I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to come off snobbish in my post. I just reread it and I don't like the tone that seems to come across!
I feel really badly for everyone else who is going through hard times right now. I almost feel guilty for doing well here.

[HALEY]

Aww Lindsey don't worry about it, it's not your fault, its the banks fault... its just a very depressing time to live thru right now, i'm losing sleep over this, my 401K and my husbands is almost down to zero, just worried about the furture here.. it's not looking good for a couple of years they say it's going to be this way to the fall of 2009.. just not myself these days...

[celstu1]

Lindsay, your dollar up there is worth your dollar in Ontario, so you gotta look at your country as a whole not just your section of the country. Thats why your dollar is not higher. Not to mention, with the whole global market being down our dollar has become stronger than other markets because their dollar value fell when their market went down. Believe it or not, the US is starting the upward trend to recovery now. We are looking at a recovery next year. Some countries are just starting the downward slide and not expected to recover until 2010, 2011. I do not think your dollar will go up much more before your trip, it may fluctuate here and there a little bit in the next months.

Good Luck with that and have fun on your trip!

[judy]

Can you call a bank or some financial institute? Maybe the Embassy? It might be a good idea to find out if you should cash in now or wait.

[Gina]

Originally Posted by HALEY

Aww Lindsey don't worry about it, it's not your fault, its the banks fault... its just a very depressing time to live thru right now, i'm losing sleep over this, my 401K and my husbands is almost down to zero, just worried about the furture here.. it's not looking good for a couple of years they say it's going to be this way to the fall of 2009.. just not myself these days...

Haley you are not in this alone honey.. My husband has lost a lot of money in his 401K also as many others. Things are very bleak at the moment, but we have to think postive. Fear begets fear, I hope that you do not lose your job I will say a prayer for you.

The good news is that you are still both young and it will stablize in the next few years. Pity the ones that are retiring now...I am sick of listening to the news and so on. I to have lost a nice paycheck a deal went south because of the mortgage the buyer was not able to obtain. We are all feeling this.The scary part is that no one has seen such a market as this with its yo yo effects. Another dismal thought is the unknown and come this November, not to start a politican fight here which there is no right or wrong answers we all have our feelings and thoughts on the campaign. Who knows what we are in for.. Lets pray for the best... God Bless America!!

Lindsey sorry didn't mean to hijack your thread...

[Lindsey]

Don't worry about hijacking, this is all interesting to me

I know that the Canadian dollar is from the country as a whole, but when we were struggling in the west, Ontario was big and powerful, and now it's turned around. So basically as a whole, we're stable. Even though we're losing some economy in one province, we're growing in other provinces.

Judy, that's a good idea about contacting a financial institute...

I talked to my brother about everything yesterday and he reminded me I should talk to my uncle about this stuff. I didn't even think about that! He is big into financial stuff and he's a really smart man. He has invested a lot of money into stocks and has made quite a bit from it. He might be able to shed some more light on the whole dollar value question for me!

[HALEY]

Originally Posted by Gina

Haley you are not in this alone honey.. My husband has lost a lot of money in his 401K also as many others. Things are very bleak at the moment, but we have to think postive. Fear begets fear, I hope that you do not lose your job I will say a prayer for you.

The good news is that you are still both young and it will stablize in the next few years. Pity the ones that are retiring now...I am sick of listening to the news and so on. I to have lost a nice paycheck a deal went south because of the mortgage the buyer was not able to obtain. We are all feeling this.The scary part is that no one has seen such a market as this with its yo yo effects. Another dismal thought is the unknown and come this November, not to start a politican fight here which there is no right or wrong answers we all have our feelings and thoughts on the campaign. Who knows what we are in for.. Lets pray for the best... God Bless America!!

Lindsey sorry didn't mean to hijack your thread...

Thanks Gina i needed that today. I'm jumping off this tread... talk to you later..

[Lindsey]

Well I think I got my answer... dollar value is not necessarily tied to economy...

Loonie dives to 84 cents as traders ignore data
John McCrank, Reuters
Published: Friday, October 10, 2008
Canadian dollar fell to a 17-month low on Friday.
TORONTO -- The Canadian dollar fell to its lowest point in 17 months against the U.S. dollar on Friday as fears of a global recession and weaker commodity prices outweighed some stronger than expected economic data.