Monday, November 26, 2007

Canada: Loonie Boosts Wealth. And Braggadocio from Climateer

Before we get to the story from the Financial Post, a little bragging (or as Grandmother used to say "You have an amazing grasp of the obvious").
From the April 27 Climateer Investing:

Carbon Taxes, Carbon Offsets and Thou
Looking at the last few posts I started laughing.
Cap-and-trade? Nyet
Carbon tax? Nyet
Biofuels? Nyet
Nuclear? Nyet

In the words of Viktor Chernomyrdin, former head of Gazprom: "We meant to do better, but it came out as always"

Speaking of Gazprom, Canada could buy their way out of their Kyoto commitment, willingly entered into by the Liberal government (not pejorative, note big L) by availing themselves of Gazprom's J.V. with Dresdener Kleinwort; it would cost Canada about $6 Billion per year.

From the NYT: "At current prices, the total value for Russian carbon credits could be between 30 billion and 45 billion euros, or about $40 billion to $60 billion. But if negotiations to extend the Kyoto Protocols collapse, carbon credits could be worth nothing." (HT: WSJ EnergyRoundup). Easy come, easy gone.

It's a slow day in the markets, I am willing to entertain prop. bets on when the Canadian dollar trades at par. Payment in Maple Leafs. Not loonies.
And from the Financial Post (National Post):

Canada has generated more wealth than the United States on a per-capita basis since 2002, largely on the strength of a robust Canadian dollar and emerging markets' insatiable appetite for commodities, Statistics Canada said in a study yesterday.

The report concludes that the stronger dollar -- which has appreciated nearly 80% against the United States since 2002 -- has led to wealthier Canadian households, corporations, investors and governments.

The timing is interesting because MPs on Parliament Hill are studying how Canada can cope with the negative effects of a dollar that is near or above the value of the U.S. greenback....MORE