The U.S Dollar and the Canadian Loonie have been dancing close to parity for quite sometime now. Looking back over the last 2 full months the pair has been ranging within 150 pips or so – and has been a real pain to trade. For the most part this pair “should” be relatively easy to figure out, as the two currencies are generally viewed as opposite in most traders eyes. The U.S Dollar representing a safe haven currency while the Loonie is more often seen as risk related and “commodity related”. As per my general guidelines one would look to buy U.S.D and sell CAD in times when risk is off, and opposing – sell U.S.D and buy CAD in times when risk is on. Interestingly my risk barometer (the SP 500) has taken quite a dip during the same time frame – but has ultimately bounced back to almost exactly the same level as the beginning of October.
So there you have it. Little change in global risk appetite over the past few months.Little change in the difference in value of the U.S Dollar and the Canadian Loonie. Not to mention that often currencies of similar geographic region do tend to “range” more so than they “trend” and are often difficult pairs to trade. Take for example AUD/NZD or EUR/GBP – two other geocentric pairs that I rarely choose to trade.
I do expect a move in USD/CAD is coming very soon, and firmly believe that come December – Fed policy should start to weigh heavy on the U.S Dollar, coupled with accelerated global appetite for risk compounding buying interest in the commodity currencies. These two factors in combination (not to mention the strong economic numbers that we continue to see out of Canada) should bode well for the Loonie likely headed for 1.05 – 1.06 in relatively short order.