Rebels1:

Assuming that you are Canadian and that most of your investments are in non US equities, you already have a hedge against the US$. As a US citizen, my decison to invest in Connacher and other Canadian stocks, in Canadian Dollars was my estimation that 1. Oil over the next several years would be going up due to the shortage of supply relative to growing demand. 2. The US$ would effectively devalue relative to the resource heavily backed Canadian $. Obviously, the past few months have at times caused me to question not only my conclusions but my sanity.

However, I remain very comfortable with my general theses arrived at four years ago and believe oil will ultimately resume its ascent. Likely, the Canadian $ will again revert to a position of strength vis a vis the US $ by virtue of its strength as a nation of great commodity wealth which will be in great demand by the rapidly developing world to the East with its population base of five billion people including Asia, China, Africa, India and most of the rest of the lesser developed world.

My overall thesis remains, I believe, to be true. Further, I believe it likely will evolve that Connacher will survive and in fact prosper as the rest of the world, as evidenced by China's rapidly improving economy over the past month, is indicative that the East is going to lead the West out of its economic malaise. Boy, what a switch!

What we are seeing is a tectonic shift in the ordering of the power in this world as is evidenced the desire of the peoples of the East to join in the prosperity enjoyed by the Western nations these many years. That desire will not be denied. At the end of the day, they will not be thwarted. As resources ranging from oil to metals, to water become scarce and depleted from this build out, we will see evolutionary changes in materials and technologies as the world compensates for dwindling resources. It could all lead to the best of times, or to the worst of times. Our generation will likely only see the early to mid term of these changes.

Brian