The Canadian dollar has been sinking deeper in the last couple of days and this makes me really wonder. I thought the big recession is in the United States? Then why is it our Loonie the one affected by this financial trouble? Isn’t it Canada the country that has the biggest oil reserve in North America? Isn’t it Canada’s banks which were given the highest praises just a week ago for being the most stable in the world?
(image from X-rates.com)
Why then is our loonie losing its luster? I cannot really explain or understand why, but to be honest there are the good and bad side to what’s happening to our dollar.
First the disadvantage. When you send money to the Philippines or to anywhere in the world, you practically have to add a little over 20% than what you originally send before this exchange rate anomaly. That’s at the present rate of exchange (Oct. 24, 2008).
If you’re oursourcing for articles like me, then that’s a real big disadvantage. If you are in other places in the world where the US dollar is the prime exchange note like in Hong Kong, our beloved Canadian dollar suddenly is not lovely anymore!
Just to think that only a few weeks ago, the Canadian and American money is almost at parity. Dang!
The only advantage now is that, Americans can now visit Canada and spend their money here and have 20% more spending power! Or suddenly, our exports to the United States is again competitive against other countries because of the continous fall in Canada’s loonie.
But that is if the U.S. and the American travelers are in the mood for spending whatever leftover resources or money they have with them. The way I look at it, most Americans would think twice or even thrice before spending any money they have with them, rich or poor. So, the end all is that - it’s still a disadvantage to Canada.
So, what now loonie? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
We got a visit from our financial adviser yesterday to update us on some of our investments and at the same time suggest that we should upgrade our portfolio by allocating more of our resources or diversifying more.
This guy is the husband of my wife’s cousin and I must admit, he’s one heck of an investor and adviser. Our retirement plan (In Canada it is called RRSP for registered retirement savings plan), which he helped us choose where to invest in, is still at a very good upward move even at harsh economic times like this. Though it has slowed down this past few months, overall the investment is sound and I hope it remains that way.
Anyway, Andrew (that’s his name) got curious with what I’m doing online and asked me about it. I told him that I’m trying to make it as an affiliate marketer or internet marketer. I told him how it work and subsequently he asked if I made some money out of it. I said that I made a few but also admitted that it’s not a profitable business for me at present.
After hearing this, Andrew told me about two clients of his who seem to be in same business venture like this. He said that both of them have already lost thousands of dollars and one of them was being divorced by his wife because he accumulated about $10k in credit card debt without any return while the wife was breaking her back working.
I am already aware of stories like this, in fact mine is no different from this two persons, except that:
1) I can’t afford to be $10k deep in debt,
2) As soon as I find out that one system is not working for me, I immediately cut off any association with it no matter how invaluable it may seem,
3) I cap expenses on coaching, PLR products and traffic building to an amount that is allowable in a business expense write-off
4) I don’t “fall in love” with any business venture,
5) I am part owner of our home based travel agency business, so I also pitch in the work load,
6) My wife will never leave me for any amount of money (LOL).
After telling me the horror story of his clients, Andrew suggested that, since I like researching and I’m online most of the time, what not try the stock market? Then he went on explaining how it works and even showed me his account at eTrade Canada. He may have spend like 2 hours showing us how to trade in stocks and thought we’d give it a try.
Now I have another investment opportunity that’ll keep me even busier. I don’t pass up opportunities like this without at least trying. It’s a bigger gamble than affiliate marketing but how will I know it’s potential if I don’t get into it? Here comes another business venture!
