Hi Pic:

Welcome back! Well, the media reasons for the Looney's dive vs. $US are the usual: falling prices for base metals, oil, gas and agricultural commodities. Not sure about the bonds.

The real reasons I leave to the other experts here. I have a hunch things will soon change as the $US begins to take it's next dive.

In passing, we Canadians should not be smug. Our debt to GDP is higher at 64% than both the US (56%) and Britain (47%). We do have a surplus so far this year but with an election looming and another minority Government possible, and the opposition socialists promising to spend anywhere from $70 billion to $50 billion, plus big hits to our employment (manufacturing) there is a lot of uncertainty with respect to the future of Canadian fiscal responsibility. Also going forward, one must also account for the unrecorded debt figures for Gov. per very large worker pension plans, insurance for bank deposits and mortgages, colossal aboriginal claims, environmental claims, huge infrasturcture challenges, consistantly spiralling, almost out of control health care demands, baby boomer demands and on and on.

The Manitoba province I live in has 1 million population with a $10 billion provincial debt.

Canada's interest payments on the Fed debt alone is $45 billion.

However, as of today, I suppose we Canadians should celebrate since we are supposed to have the soundest banking system in the world. The socialists want to get at spending all the "profits" of the oil patch and banks to make sure we can get as much further into debt as profligate spending will allow. Not that the manadarins of corporate power haven't asked for it.