Another Strike Against Canadian Dollar As the Public Sector Continues to Lead Job Growth

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on May 15, 2013. Click here to read the entire piece.) Friday’s employment report from Statistics Canada demonstrated once again how the public sector is leading the way in job growth in Canada: {snip} So, jobs in the private sector are stagnant, … Read more

Weakening Trend Likely Ready To Resume for Canadian Dollar

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on April 21, 2013. Click here to read the entire piece.) On April 17th, the Bank of Canada decided to leave interest rates unchanged. In its Monetary Policy Report Summary, the Bank of Canada extended out its forecast to mid-2015 as the … Read more

Poor Canadian Employment Numbers Bring Real Estate Back In Focus

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on April 5, 2013. Click here to read the entire piece.) {snip} This decline in USD/CAD abruptly ended today with a very poor Canadian employment report that was well below expectations. The unemployment rate ticked up from 7.0 to 7.2% as the … Read more

A Weakening Canadian Economy Needs A Weaker Currency

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on Feb 24, 2013. Click here to read the entire piece.) {snip} Source: FreeStockCharts.com {snip} In 2012, the yield curve for Canadian government bonds flashed a major warning signal. In particular, the gap between 2-year and 5-year bond yields fell dramatically from … Read more

Commodity Currencies Already Reverse QE3 Gains

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on September 17, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) I am still working on a revision for the commodity crash playbook to take into account the new QE3 regime, but the trading action is already moving faster than I can … Read more

The Dollar’s Tumble Accompanies A Host of Critical Currency and Commodity Trades

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on July 1, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) Thanks largely to the surging euro, the U.S. dollar index (UUP) took one of its nastiest one-day tumbles since last October, falling 1.3%. I believe this drop all but confirms staunch … Read more

Chart Review: Canada Index Fund ETF Printing A Major Topping Pattern

Last year I made the case for investing in Canada in 2012 (see “Buying Canadian On Expectations For Stronger Growth“). I have only made one move since then (buying Encana Corporation (ECA) on weakness in natural gas prices) as I continue to wait for discount prices. I thought just such an opportunity had arrived in … Read more

No QE3, But Federal Reserve Statement Green Lights Commodity Currencies and Gold

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on January 26, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) In its latest monetary policy proclamation, the Federal Reserve announced that it will likely extend the window for near-zero interest rates until at least late 2014. There was no hint of … Read more

Opportunities From the Crash In Natural Gas

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on January 17, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) Last year I wrote a two-part series leveraging the work of Jeremy Grantham to develop a strategy for profiting from a crash in commodity prices (see “Profiting from Physical Assets in … Read more

2012 Will Begin with Several Candidate Trades for the Commodity Crash Playbook

This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on December 28, 2011. Click here to read the entire piece.) The Federal Reserve’s second phase of quantitative easing (QE2) is slowly becoming a distant memory…{snip} The stark contrast between winning and losing stocks (S&P 500 index versus many commodity stocks) leaves … Read more