Sharky:

Actually, I am confident in the Canadian Market and oil and its future.

However on an adjusted for inflation basis, I am not confident in the US Market. The effect of all the defecit spending will be ultimately to trash the US$. Therefore, the US stock market will go up, but adjusted for inflation it will in spendable real income go down.

Conversely, the Canadian $ vis a vis the US$ will be stronger. I therefore want to have my investments dominated in currencies other than the US$ as well as hard assets such as oil, nat gas, metals, agriculture products, gold, silver, platinum group metals, etc. Additionally, I want those investments scattered around the world in countries other than the US.

Currently the US is inflating at 6.1%. Not that the US Government will admit to it. Several years ago the US stopped reporting M3. This measured economic growth including inflation. An organization known as Shadow Statistics still measures and reports true inflation on a monthly and annual basis. So we have available to us a tracking mechanism to measure economic growth with and without inflation. It is long term via the effects of inflation, that the US will deal with its current defecit and long term debt. It is also the reason the US made sure they got everyone off the gold standard or any linkage to gold. Even Switzerland dissolved its linkage to gold. However, note how many countries have been recently increasing their gold holdings. Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Russia, China, Switzerland, etc, etc.

These are some of the reasons why Connacher will be ok. That is, if they can get through the next two years or so!

Brian