BS: Low US dollar, high Canadian dollar...

Subject: BS: Low US dollar, high Canadian dollar...
From: Little Hawk
Date: 25 Oct 07 - 05:38 PM

Was just talking to a friend today. He wants to buy a new car, and says he's going to buy it in the USA and have it shipped up to Canada.

Why? Well, since the unprecedented rise of value in the Canadian dollar against the US dollar, it makes sense to, because Canadian car dealers have not lowered their prices one iota...but our dollar is now worth more than the American dollar when it used to be worth 50% less not too long ago.

Accordingly, a friend of my friend just bought a new vehicle for US $35,00 that would cost him Cdn $50,000 (which is now worth slightly OVER US $50,000 in value!). So he saved himself $15,000 on the price of the car and he only has to pay about $1,500 to $2,000 to get it shipped here. Overall savings: $13,000 !!!

It's an incredible situation. If enough people catch on to what's happening the Canadian-based car dealers are going to either have to lower their prices or lose their shirts.....or maybe both.

Most people think it's "good" having a stronger Canadian dollar...they have not yet realized the fallout that occurs from that situation and how it will affect Canadian businesses. We were far better off when the American dollar was stronger in comparison to ours.

The bookstores are also still charging Canadians way more for books than the labelled American price...although our dollar is now worth more than an American dollar!

Here's a new book in front of me. It has 2 prices on the sleeve:

US $ price - $21.95   Cdn $ price - $29.95

And the Canadian dollar is worth about 2 cents more now than the American dollar on the foreign exchange markets.

It's just ridiculous.

Subject: RE: BS: Low US dollar, high Canadian dollar...
From: Little Hawk
Date: 25 Oct 07 - 05:51 PM

correction to typo: he bought the new car for US $35,000. The same car in Canada costs Cdn $50,000...the approximate equivalent of US $51,000 at present.

Subject: RE: BS: Low US dollar, high Canadian dollar...
From: Riginslinger
Date: 25 Oct 07 - 06:00 PM

If Canada had just joined in with the invasion of Iraq, their currency would be in the same shape ours is. It's simply not fair.

Subject: RE: BS: Low US dollar, high Canadian dollar...
From: Little Hawk
Date: 25 Oct 07 - 06:08 PM

Ha! Yes, well, there are some things that we as a country are just are not stupid enough to do, I guess... ;-)

Subject: RE: BS: Low US dollar, high Canadian dollar...
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 25 Oct 07 - 06:16 PM

Use of volume dealers such as Amazon eliminate most of the inequalities with books. Local small book-dealers pay more for their stock and cannot compete. Most books are sold at almost the same price by Amazon.com (U. S.) and Amazon.ca (Can.), esp. considering that Amazon.ca doesn't charge the postage to Canadians. Some books, of course, have mostly a Canadian or US market, and may not be available from both.
If the saving is small, stick with the local; otherwise he could be forced out of business.

One can import excellent 'pre-owned' cars into Canada at a good saving- but remember that the US market is ten times larger, hence prices can be less. On a new car, look around and you may find a dealer in your own country selling at a reasonable price.

Subject: RE: BS: Low US dollar, high Canadian dollar...
From: Rapparee
Date: 25 Oct 07 - 06:48 PM

Do you think that this is a direct correlation to the Missing Of "Shane" McBride?

Subject: RE: BS: Low US dollar, high Canadian dollar...
From: Little Hawk
Date: 25 Oct 07 - 07:00 PM

Hmmmm...

Gosh.

You think???

I can see where the departure of Shane from this country and his disappearance to some unknown location in outer space could have definitely contributed to a sharp rise in the value of our dollar.

Wow.

This means we have simply GOT to get Shane back!

Subject: RE: BS: Low US dollar, high Canadian dollar...
From: Little Hawk
Date: 25 Oct 07 - 07:09 PM

What could we offer the Greys in trade for Shane? What could we come up with that has a commensurate value?

Subject: RE: BS: Low US dollar, high Canadian dollar...
From: bobad
Date: 25 Oct 07 - 07:19 PM

There has been some discussion on radio programs about the issue of Canadians buying cars in the US where I live, which is very close to the US border. US auto dealers have said in interviews that they are forbidden to sell autos to Canadians under threat of losing their franchises.

Subject: RE: BS: Low US dollar, high Canadian dollar...
From: Little Hawk
Date: 25 Oct 07 - 07:23 PM

Really? Interesting. How can a Canadian be prevented from buying a car (or anything else he wants) in the USA? It's always been possible to do that as far as I know.

Subject: RE: BS: Low US dollar, high Canadian dollar...
From: bobad
Date: 25 Oct 07 - 07:31 PM

The Canadian can't be prevented from buying but the American can be prevented from selling if he is a franchisee and is bound by the franchise agreement. In this particular case the parent company forbids the franchise owner from selling cars for export.

Subject: RE: BS: Low US dollar, high Canadian dollar...
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 25 Oct 07 - 08:52 PM

Recent Congressional and campaign trail speeches have criticized the Chinese for artificially keeping their money at very low "value" (40% of real is claimed) with the intent to make their manufactured items "cheaper" for export sale. The devaluation of the US dollar - asside from the effect of the massive war spending - is simply to bring the dollar down to parity with the Chinese.

Note above comments about the increased export potential for US automobiles even to Canada ... Our lopsided balance of trade will soon be resolved.

[reminder to self - return tongue to central oral cavity]

John

Subject: RE: BS: Low US dollar, high Canadian dollar...
From: Little Hawk
Date: 25 Oct 07 - 08:53 PM

I see. So one would have to buy the car privately, in that case, rather than through a franchise.

Subject: RE: BS: Low US dollar, high Canadian dollar...
From: Rapparee
Date: 25 Oct 07 - 08:57 PM

"Are you now acting as a "straw man" in this automobile purchase?"

But to answer your question, LH: a couple tons of night soil, a broken calculator, a defective condom...why, the list is almost endless!

Subject: RE: BS: Low US dollar, high Canadian dollar...
From: Little Hawk
Date: 25 Oct 07 - 08:57 PM

Yes, the Chinese Yuan may be undervalued, all right, and that would be very beneficial to the Chinese export business.

I wish the Canadian government would find a way to undervalue its money. If China can do it, if the USA can do it, why can't Canada?

We need to get Shane back ASAP, declare war on Russia, build a suspension bridge to the Moon, and do several other insane things like that in order to get our money back down to a low enough value to start making trade profitable again for this country!

Subject: RE: BS: Low US dollar, high Canadian dollar...
From: Little Hawk
Date: 25 Oct 07 - 09:01 PM

Thank you, Rapaire. ;-)

Subject: RE: BS: Low US dollar, high Canadian dollar...
From: artbrooks
Date: 25 Oct 07 - 09:02 PM

Well, I can't offer a new car, but if any of you Canucks want to bring your cheap money down here when the first blizzard hits (scheduled for November 1st, right?), I can offer you warm weather and $3.50 a pint craft-brewed beer.

Subject: RE: BS: Low US dollar, high Canadian dollar...
From: number 6
Date: 25 Oct 07 - 09:05 PM

For Canadians only ... wanna buy a cheap car in the U.S., here;s a way ...

cutting through the red tape

biLL

Subject: RE: BS: Low US dollar, high Canadian dollar...
From: number 6
Date: 25 Oct 07 - 09:24 PM

I'm glad your taking the U.S. $ demise in a positive manner Guest.

But here's some advice ... just try now to accomadate and accept $spending$ loud mouthed tourists from Canada and elsewhere in a more tolerant manner. It's for your own much needed economic benefit.

biLL :)

Subject: RE: BS: Low US dollar, high Canadian dollar...
From: Rapparee
Date: 25 Oct 07 - 09:28 PM

Hey, Canuck! You wanna buy my mother? She's virgin. No? How about one of these gen-u-wine Rollix watches? Lottery tickets?

Subject: RE: BS: Low US dollar, high Canadian dollar...
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 25 Oct 07 - 09:52 PM

Thanks for the article, number 6. A friend in Customs says a fair number of cars are coming across (Alberta), a lot with leasing company origin.

Subject: RE: BS: Low US dollar, high Canadian dollar...
From: gnu
Date: 26 Oct 07 - 06:08 AM

In Moncton? I had not seen that article. My truck is 11 years old. Hmmmmmm....

Thanks, sIx.

Subject: RE: BS: Low US dollar, high Canadian dollar...
From: Little Hawk
Date: 26 Oct 07 - 11:36 AM

Man, I am driving a '92 Subaru here...15 years old! But it's still a very good car, no need to replace it. The '94 Mazda van, on the other hand....I think it will last 2 more years and then it will probably have had its day.

Subject: RE: BS: Low US dollar, high Canadian dollar...
From: gnu
Date: 26 Oct 07 - 01:49 PM

Well, LH... I have a Fourd. No typo... it is indeed a Fourd. Every time I take into the service garage, it costs me fourd hundred bucks. As long as I don't tell them to fix the expensive stuff.

Subject: RE: BS: Low US dollar, high Canadian dollar...
From: Little Hawk
Date: 26 Oct 07 - 01:53 PM

A "Found-On-Road-Dead"? Yeah, I know those cars. I've never owned a Ford yet. Have had nothing but excellent Japanese cars and 2 Chrysler K cars...the 2nd one of those was pretty good. I hated to see it go, but it finally had the biscuit.

Subject: RE: BS: Low US dollar, high Canadian dollar...
From: Little Hawk
Date: 26 Oct 07 - 07:03 PM

The Canadian dollar has now hit $1.04 American!   It may yet go to $1.06, they say.

Subject: RE: BS: Low US dollar, high Canadian dollar...
From: Rapparee
Date: 26 Oct 07 - 09:10 PM

Wow, that means the next time I Go North I can buy LESS!! Hot damn!

Subject: RE: BS: Low US dollar, high Canadian dollar...
From: artbrooks
Date: 26 Oct 07 - 10:49 PM

Yeah, but there ain't nuthin' to buy, anyway.

Subject: RE: BS: Low US dollar, high Canadian dollar...
From: Little Hawk
Date: 26 Oct 07 - 11:53 PM

Boy, you Yanks are a sad lot. ;-) Completely out of touch with reality. It's pitiable. I'll have to see if we can send some care packages of Red Rose Tea and Resdan down there to lift you out of your wretched conditions of spiritual and material poverty.

Subject: RE: BS: Low US dollar, high Canadian dollar...
From: gnu
Date: 27 Oct 07 - 12:28 PM

Red Rose you say? Only in Canada? Pity... me arse. Only in Canada because it's wretched. Now, King Cole Orange Pekoe blended in Sussex, New Brunswick... that is good tea.

Found On Road Dead. Fix Or Repair Daily. First Owner Refused Delivery. Foolish Owner Really Dumb. And more... hey, next time, I am getting the heated rear bumper option.... warmer on the hands in Canuck winters.

Subject: RE: BS: Low US dollar, high Canadian dollar...
From: Little Hawk
Date: 27 Oct 07 - 12:38 PM

SHHH!!! Don't tell them! I figure I can sell the fools Red Rose Tea at 3 times what it's worth...no wait...that would be almost nothing...

What I mean is, I can sell it to them at 3 times Canadian retail price. Just keep quiet, gnu. There are Yankee sheep out there to fleece, the kind of dimwits who believed Iraq HAD all those WMDs in 2003, and I'm gonna fleece 'em, by golly. ;-) I will bring back their feeble greenbacks and trade them in for some real money...

Subject: RE: BS: Low US dollar, high Canadian dollar...
From: number 6
Date: 27 Oct 07 - 02:38 PM

"Only in Canada? Pity... me arse"

No kidding. Red Rose Tea has been available in the U.S. for many years now. In fact it's part of the Unilever conglomerate. But then again L.H. your scheme could be worth a try, surely some yanks will fall for it :).

Red Rose Tea was in fact a Canadian firm. Founded (around the late 1800's) in Saint John N.B.

In case anyone is interested .. the Tea Merchant's Door


biLL

Subject: RE: BS: Low US dollar, high Canadian dollar...
From: gnu
Date: 27 Oct 07 - 02:53 PM

Well, I go by their ad's on the CBC. So, sIx, even the poorest of the best tea comes from New Brunswick? Not a pity.

LH... dimwits? The Yanks? Oh my. Careful bud, Not only are they NOT dimwits, but, they still have control of those WMD's which were spirited out of "harms way" for use another day.... don't piss them off, eh?

Subject: RE: BS: Low US dollar, high Canadian dollar...
From: number 6
Date: 27 Oct 07 - 03:07 PM

King Cole Tea out of little 'ol Sussex ... your correct on that gnu, it's not bad at all, certainly not a pity at all.

biLL

Subject: RE: BS: Low US dollar, high Canadian dollar...
From: gnu
Date: 27 Oct 07 - 03:47 PM

Hey, man... there's a lot more out of Sussex... like REAL peanut butter eh?

Subject: RE: BS: Low US dollar, high Canadian dollar...
From: number 6
Date: 27 Oct 07 - 04:39 PM

And more still from Sussex ... like great donuts

Subject: RE: BS: Low US dollar, high Canadian dollar...
From: Ebbie
Date: 27 Oct 07 - 05:14 PM

In Oregon when my daughter was little, I bought our peanut butter in the nut form and ran it through the machine right at the store. (Surely that is *real* peanut butter?) Do they still have that kind of option? I haven't bought peanut butter in ages.

Subject: RE: BS: Low US dollar, high Canadian dollar...
From: number 6
Date: 27 Oct 07 - 05:46 PM

Well .... I haven't seen in a store Ebbie since we left Toronto (at the Big Carrot) ... but there is a Canadian Brand of superb natural peanut butter

The hounds and I love this served up on Mutzah.

biLL

Subject: RE: BS: Low US dollar, high Canadian dollar...
From: gnu
Date: 27 Oct 07 - 08:28 PM

Mrs. Dunster's whole wheat doughnuts! I remember when they were as big as your fist and tasted like home made. I lived in Fredericton for seven years and not a week went by without at least one... when you could buy one at the corner store. And, for years, that was breakfast in the woods of Kent County in the fall when hunting.

Then, a big company took them over and moved them to Sussex. They made them smaller and charged more. Hey, they are still good, but not crusty and oh so, so, Dunster! Plus, they have about seven different kinds... why? What the hell was wrong with Mrs. Dunster's Doughnuts? Why do they have to make MORE money? Oh... woe is me!

Subject: RE: BS: Low US dollar, high Canadian dollar...
From: Little Hawk
Date: 27 Oct 07 - 09:06 PM

Yeah, but wasn't your fist smaller then, gnu? Still, who could resist doughnuts from Mrs. Dunster?

Well, I know that Red Rose Tea has been sold in the USA for a dog's age too...but I still think I can fool them yahoos that voted for George Bush. I'll tell them, "Hey, man...this is the real Red Rose Tea that's only available in Canada. It isn't that awful imitation Red Rose that you get in the USA! That stuff is all made in Mexico and shipped up to you poor suckers and sold for way more than it's worth. Don't settle for 2nd best! Buy the original Canadian blend. Only 50 cents a bag."

I'll have them lined up around the block.

Subject: RE: BS: Low US dollar, high Canadian dollar...
From: artbrooks
Date: 27 Oct 07 - 09:50 PM

Yeah, but you can tell from the cute ceramic pandas that it really comes from China!

Subject: RE: BS: Low US dollar, high Canadian dollar...
From: Rapparee
Date: 27 Oct 07 - 10:03 PM

Red Rose is tea??? I thought it was bagged dust, the sweepings, sold to Canucks because they were too poor and ignorant to know better.

You may have gathered that I don't care for Red Rose tea.

I remember up in the Yukon we had some damn fine tea. Don't know the brand, or if I did know I don't remember. Sitting there in the shelter of the sled with the fire burning down to coals, the huskies 'round in a ring and the aurora dancing blue and green and red overhead, sipping hot tea and the mountains and forest so silent with snow and cold, the fur around my parka hood icicled by my breath...and then, after a tot of rum snuggling into the furs of my sleeping bag...ah, those were the days! I would have given a lot to have been there.

Subject: RE: BS: Low US dollar, high Canadian dollar...
From: Little Hawk
Date: 27 Oct 07 - 10:21 PM

If you like, I could have you sent there. Well, quite near there, anyway. Apply to the Northern Works Dept., Moosejaw, Saskatchewan. We'll see if we can place you with that farmer in Mayo. He lost his chickenhouse cleaner awhile back.

Subject: RE: BS: Low US dollar, high Canadian dollar...
From: Rapparee
Date: 27 Oct 07 - 10:30 PM

No, it's too late for me. You go, you're young, you can shoot a moose and live alone all winter in an 8 x 12 foot cabin, melting snow for water with which to make Red Rose pseudo-tea.

Subject: RE: BS: Low US dollar, high Canadian dollar...
From: Rapparee
Date: 27 Oct 07 - 11:22 PM

Besides, I deal with enough chickenshit every day at work.

Subject: RE: BS: Low US dollar, high Canadian dollar...
From: Little Hawk
Date: 28 Oct 07 - 10:00 AM

It's too late for me too, man. I've given up on roughing it in the bush.

Subject: RE: BS: Low US dollar, high Canadian dollar...
From: GUEST,Ed
Date: 28 Oct 07 - 10:06 AM

A French friend of mine from Quebec tells me "Sussex" has a different meaning in French;)

Subject: RE: BS: Low US dollar, high Canadian dollar...
From: GUEST,Ed
Date: 28 Oct 07 - 10:11 AM

If Canadians wish to import a Car into Canada, it pays to keep an eye on where it was manufactured. Tax savings from Free trade only applies to vehicles made in USA and Mexico. So, if the car is made in Japan, you can face a 6-7% tax at the border.

How can you findout?

Check the site below:

http://www.sjbaker.org/telamom/vin.html

Subject: RE: BS: Low US dollar, high Canadian dollar...
From: gnu
Date: 28 Oct 07 - 10:12 AM

Kess kill dee? (Phonetic spelling for some of our American brothers).

Subject: RE: BS: Low US dollar, high Canadian dollar...
From: Rapparee
Date: 28 Oct 07 - 10:58 AM

Hey, in the good ol' US of A there ain't no "U" in "humor." Or "neighbor" either.