Many people may realize that this week, Time Magazine announced their pick for Person of the Year. Yet few probably realize that the Canadian edition of the magazine also announced their Newsmaker of the Year. In the past, this honor has been bestowed on the Canadian Prime Minister, Judges and other influential Canadians who have had the most impact on the news, either positively or negatively. This year, that honor has been bestowed on the Canadian dollar. Even though being named the Canadian edition’s Newsmaker of the Year is not as high profile as the Person of the Year, it is still a testament to how popular currencies have become. At certain points this year, the high flying Canadian dollar became as volatile as the British Pound. When the Canadian dollar hit an all time high on November 7, Canadians were finally able say that their economy “was smoking its U.S. counterpart.” Even though it bottomed on that very same day, the latest rally resurrects thoughts on whether we will see 90 cents again. Wholesale sales for the month of October were strong which indicates that retail sales for the same month could also surprise to the upside. Australian will be releasing their leading indicators report. There is no data from New Zealand after their Q3 GDP numbers this afternoon. Quarterly growth slowed to 0.5 percent but that was offset by an upward revision to the prior month’s report. Annualized GDP growth increased slightly from 3.2 to 3.3 percent.
