Economies of U..S.A. and Canada on divergent paths!

According to the U.S. National Bureau of Economic Research, U.S. and Canadian job markets have struck a divergent path since December of 2007 when the recession in the USA began.  This chart explains how divergent those paths have been in graphic terms.

At this writing, Canada has reproduced all of it's recession job losses and, in fact, has increased that number by 2%.

When the Canadian dollar was trading at .77 cents I wrote an article that basically told you to "hold on to your loonies".  I reiteratted that sentiment over a year later when the loonie was trading at .97 cents to the usd again telling you to hold on to your loonies.  Now, even with the Cannuck buck trading at over $1.04 usd I am reiterrating that same sentiment. Hold on to your loonies!

In the 1950's the Cannuck buck traded around $1.08 to $1.10 to the usd.  I believe those levels will be reached again and will hold true for the forseeable future. There are many reasons for this opinion, not the least of which is the massive debt load of the U.S. and a number of it's states.  The U.S. bond market is in for a financial tsunami at some point beyond when quantitative easing ends, and maybe before that time.

The U.S. has been, for the past year, buying up to two thirds (2/3) of all of it's own debt on the bond market. As that giant Kenseyian experiment ends, listen carefully for the underwater earthquake that could eventually spawn a Tsunami called hyper inflation.

Markets usually like inflation. Commodities like inflation. Even housing likes inflation and remember, the U.S. Federal Reserve always errs on the side of inflation. The problem is, once this Genie is out of the bottle, no one really knows where it will go, but it does not bode well for the usd.

Since commodities love inflation, and Canada is a country rich in almost every single commoditiy from water, to wheat, grains, cattle, oil, gas, gold, silver, lithium, diamonds, gypsum, lumber, seafood, coal, etc. etc  look for the cad to strengthen, even from these levels.  As two billion more people from China to India, Brazil, Russia and Indonesia join the middle class, the demand for all commodities will climb, and climb and climb.

Anyone who thinks the commodities bull market is over will miss out on huge upside. This lull is a buying opportunity and when everyone gets extremely negative over the next month or so, it will be even a better buying opportunity.

Look for Canadian interest rates to remain above U.S. rates, to rise slowly and strengthen the Cannuck buck.

Now remember, "hold on to your loonies"!

Happy investing.

HP

Related articles

• Loonie falls amid fears of China slowdown (thestar.com)
• Pros and Cons of Investing in Canada (mint.com)
• Loonie makes strides past 105 cents U.S. (ctv.ca)
• Loonie rises as trade surplus improves (thestar.com)
• A recession is coming but not yet (theglobeandmail.com)
• Loonie keeps soaring against U.S. greenback (ctv.ca)

Greece! It has less people than the city of Los Angeles! Now ask yourself, is U.S. cash a trap waiting to be sprung

Image by Steve Rhodes via Flickr

The Euro is suffering because of the initial reluctance of the EU countries to take action regarding the Greek debt crisis. A devaluation of the Euro is overdue, and necessary. It will actually strengthen the Euro's trade deficits over time, and bring prosperity (eventually) But forget Portugal, Ireland, and Spain. In the greater scheme of the international markets, they are small fry.

However, it is the eventual devaluation of the U.S. dollar that should have Americans much more concerned. Beware of what is happening in California, Florida, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, North Carolina,  New Jersey  and even Texas. These states have all spent over 1 billion on their unemployed alone, bankrupting their unemployment budgets. They also have between 13.7 and 17% unemployment, huge debts and deficits, and in some cases, housing prices have been cut in half.

Like the "Pigs" of Europe, these states also cannot print their own money, thereby inflating their way out of the current malaise. As the PIGS of Europe are having a huge, negative impact on the Euro, these states, (the HUGE federal debt notwithstanding) will have the same affect the U.S. dollar. It is a certainty. The only question is, how long can "king dollar" (as Larry Kudlow likes to call it) remain king. It currently is only king because there are no princes in waiting (as regards other world currencies). So, is "Prince Gold" quietly mounting a coup against the King. How about "King Commodity" who is somewhat weakened right now, but will be gathering strength as 2010 progresses.

Many developing countries, including China, India, Indonesia, Russia, South Korea, Brazil etc. are already looking to gold as a substitute for the prominence of the U.S. currency. Many individual investors and fund managers in these countries and throughout the west, have also moved into gold and commodities as a hedge against the demise of the usd. Some have recently added the Canadian and Aussie dollar to their international currency accounts as these two countries are considered "commodity rich"!

Whether they are right or wrong, sentiment is what moves the market. Anyone who thinks that gold, oil, uranium, titanium, natural gas, copper, diamonds, platinum, palladium, REE's or Lithium are not good places to put your money in this environment, just isn't paying attention. We are taking advantage of the current market disarray and buying these commodities


The U.S. dollar is a bubble waiting to explode into hyper inflation. Cash is a trap waiting to be sprung, and the current downturn is just that, a downturn that was expected and somewhat welcome by smart investors. Being in cash at the beginning of May was smart. Being in cash in June won't be.

 

 

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