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The Loonie Just Hit a 14-Month Low — Here's What It's Costing You

   Saturday, July 25, 2026 The Canadian dollar has slid to its weakest level since April 2025, and speculators are betting it has further to fall. Here's why it's happening and what it actually means for your wallet. If you've bought anything in U.S. dollars lately — a flight, an Amazon.com order, a hotel for a Florida trip — you may have noticed the exchange rate isn't doing you any favours. The Canadian dollar touched 1.4248 per U.S. dollar (about 70.2 U.S. cents ) last week, its weakest level in 14 months, before steadying closer to 1.41 . It's not just a bad week. Currency speculators have piled into bets against the loonie so aggressively that the Canadian dollar has overtaken the Japanese yen as the most heavily shorted major currency in the world, according to data from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Net short positions against the CAD hit roughly US$12.5 billion — the largest bearish bet on the loonie since December 2024. Why the loonie is ...
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S&P 500 Inches Closer to Record High Amid Optimism About Fed’s Policy and Year-End Effect

 

The S&P 500 index closed just shy of a new record high on Thursday, with the broad index gaining 0.04%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.03%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1%. Markets are ending 2023 on a hot streak, with all three indexes on pace for a ninth consecutive weekly gain. For the S&P 500, that would mark the longest streak since January 2004. The index is now within 0.3% of its all-time high, set in January 2022. With one trading session remaining in 2023, the S&P 500 is up 25%.

Investors are optimistic that the Federal Reserve can successfully cool inflation without inducing a major economic slowdown, which has powered the market’s recent advance. Now, some investors say the looming end of the calendar year is giving markets an extra boost. “Nobody who has caught this rally wants to incur a taxable event,” said Michael Green, chief strategist at Simplify Asset Management. “If nobody wants to sell, prices will push higher on low volume”.

The jobless claims data released by the Labor Department on Thursday indicated a gradual cooling of the economy. Initial jobless claims, considered a proxy for layoffs, were 218,000 in the week ending Dec. 23, slightly more than the 215,000 that economists expected.

Bond yields rose as prices fell, reflecting expectations of higher inflation and interest rates. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 3.849%, up from 3.7%.

Some investors are increasing their exposure to energy and industrial stocks, which could benefit from a strong economic recovery. Matt Dmytryszyn, chief investment officer at Telemus Capital, said his fund is boosting its position in shares of energy and industrial firms.


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