Juggling Dynamite

This chart of the Canadian dollar (CDW in red) and the Canadian stock market (TSX in blue) since 1997 captures the historically tight correlation between the country’s petro-currency and stock market.  There was a brief disconnect in 2000, when the loonie began to swoon at the start of the year and the broad market rallied into September on blind love for dividend paying shares like the banks and pipelines, along with misguided faith and creative accounting at Nortel.  Nortel went bust of course, and the dividend paying stocks crashed more than 40% in 2001-03, and again in 2007-09.

We can see another major gap between the loonie and the TSX today and the same financial gurus are assuring us all that this time is different.  ‘Course, they always say that.

Pal’s comments here are more cogent than most in explaining the key factors now sweeping the global economy and markets.

Discussing how much higher the dollar could climb and the impact it will have on commodities, with Raoul Pal, Global Macro Investor Publisher. Here is a direct video link.

In the aftermath of the credit bubble, students and their parents are no longer able or willing to borrow mind-boggling sums to ‘afford’ education. Governments will not be able to continue underwriting super-sized post-secondary costs either. Economic realism is demanding new, more efficient learning models. More savings for consumers and more creative destruction for institutions that have become impossibly bloated and disconnected from the financial resources of their customers. Sal Khan is a leader in this revolution. His insights in this discussion are worth the time.

Khan Academy’s Sal Khan discuss whether or not online education will ever replace traditional classrooms, and why he thinks paying for that MIT or Harvard degrees may be “a little bit suspect.” Here is a direct video link.

Here is segment two of his interview. Here is segment three.