Rate cut powers loonie above 99 cents US

[trailmix 77]

Well it's good news for those of us that haven't moved to the U.S. yet!

Last Updated: Tuesday, September 18, 2007 | 4:13 PM ET

CBC News

The loonie's strong flight continued Tuesday night as it crept above 99 cents US in overnight trading after North American markets closed.

Earlier, it had closed in regular trading above 98 cents US for the first time since Jan. 25, 1977. The Canadian dollar gained 1.36 cents to close in regular trading at 98.64 cents US.

The loonie's big move was helped along by the Federal Reserve's unexpectedly large cut in a key interest rate Tuesday afternoon.

The rate cut left the U.S. federal funds rate at 4.75 per cent, while the counterpart rate in Canada remains at 4.50 per cent. That dramatically narrowed the spread between the two rates and made Canadian dollars a lot more attractive.

Talk of "whether" the dollar would hit parity with the U.S. currency seemed to be supplanted by talk of "when" it would reach that milestone.

The Canadian dollar's rise against the U.S. greenback has been stunning — up 14 per cent so far this year and up about 60 per cent since early 2002.

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[Tinker 0]

If only the banks will give us that rate!

[jonandmary 0]

Yea, I saw that. I keep telling myself we will move savings right when its 1.00 even. To simplify the process we might wait to see if it raises a few pennies over so that she can just transfer from her CAD RBC account to her USD RBC account for now.

[bowflex 0]

I really miss the days when I was 19 and would hit up Windsor, Ontario for some good ol' fashion under-age drinking. I'd take $50 American with me and get pretty close to $80 Canadian haha.

[lynamon 0]

Arggg ... have to pay off a heafty MC bill so transferring funds from US to CAD .. it will be good though when we transfer those EI and child support payments this way

[Jeremy + Kristy 0]

Yup, I exchanged some money at the border last night. I gave them US$45.11 and I got CDN$45.

[Krikit 1,164]

I try not to think about this. I lost a huge amount of cash in last year's exchange rate.

[Flames9_RN 358]

I try not to think about this. I lost a huge amount of cash in last year's exchange rate.

You and me both!! I transferred a fair bit of cdn to US $$ in 2005 and 2006!! I dont even want to think what i could have bought with the "lost" $$$ due to the exchange rate! Oh well, worse things in life.

[bradcanuck 1]

I used to live on Vancouver Island and work for an online company a few years ago. I'd get sent $100 and get $160 CDN. So my 3k paychecks were quite nice.

[Melyssa 0]

Well it's good news for those of us that haven't moved to the U.S. yet!

Nice, but it seems to me someone was talking about being happy about the American exchange rate a couple of weeks ago, so hopefully it doesn't change again and keep yo-yo-ing by the time some of us will finally be able to move

[misa 2]

It's good news also for us who have savings in Canadian and are just waiting to transfer it over at a decent rate!

[jonandmary 0]

It's good news also for us who have savings in Canadian and are just waiting to transfer it over at a decent rate!

its back to 99 cents