Results tagged “dollar”

September and October have been quite the wild ride. With the $700 billion financial rescue package, a Canadian federal election, the U.S. presidential race, and the threat of corporate bankruptcies, it's been hard to de-politicize the current economic environment and take note of the fundamental trends at play. For most of 2008, Toronto didn’t need to worry about this big picture—the TSX was the world's leading (or least worst) stock market and its economy didn't look too shabby. Recently, though, the situation has deteriorated, and things in Toronto don't look very promising now: since September 1, the TSX has lost 32% of its value. To make things worse, its daily volatility has been obscenely high and 5–8% intra-day swings are not uncommon. Why does this matter? Because the investment savings or RRSP you've been trying to start (or have continued to fund) will also be down by 32% on average, and the baby boomers' pension plans are taking a deep hit.