Loonie at 14-year high

If you haven't been to Canada much, especially only recently, you might not appreciate the significance of taking advantage of the Canadian dollar for shopping. One of the highlights was the ability for people in the U.S. to stretch their dollars.

The combination of the fall of the U.S. dollar and the strength of the Canadian dollar has led to a sharp decline in appeal for shopping in Canada. Now the Canadian dollar has hit a 14-year high against its U.S. counterpart. On Monday, the loonie hit 86.57 cents U.S. – the highest since January 1992.

Almost 31,000 new jobs were created in November, exceeding expectations of a 20,000-job increase. The Canadian economy is already operating at close to full capacity and economic growth is rising at a solid annual rate of 3.6 percent.

As happy as I am for the Canadians, I wish my U.S. dollar would go farther. Truly mixed feelings.