The loonie, a currency often ridiculed in other countries for its fowl-inspired nickname, is finally getting some respect.

Time magazine named the loonie the Canadian Newsmaker of 2007, saying the dollar’s rapid rise was a sure sign that “something big was happening in Canada.”

The dollar, known as a chronic underperformer by an entire generation, made history on September 20th, hitting parity with the U.S. greenback for the first time since in thirty-one years. Boosted by soaring commodity prices and strong economic growth, the Canadian dollar rose even further, reaching a modern-day record high of $1.10 in November.

The Canadian dollar was one of the year’s star performers on the world stage, at one point surging as much as 25 per cent against the struggling U.S. buck. The gains, a source of much pride for some Canadians and much pain for others, made international headlines.

“So for the heights the loonie reached, for the economic upheaval (both good and bad) it brought, and for the rare bird’s-eye view that Canada got, looking down on its best friend and biggest rival in the world — where, let us not forget, people rarely fail to find the term loonie hilarious to begin with — the lofty loonie is Time’s Canadian Newsmaker of the Year,” the U.S. magazine said.

The Canadian dollar rose above parity for the first time since Dec. 4th at 6:30 a.m. EST Thursday morning. It had struggled in recent weeks amid an expected U.S. economic slowdown, continued turmoil in credit markets and interest rate cuts on both sides of the border.

Given the absence of any major economic or corporate news, strategists attributed Thursday’s strength to technical buying ahead of the holidays.

“There are no data releases today, but still some opportunities for last-minute cross-border shopping as the Canadian dollar broke back through parity for the first time in the past couple of weeks,” said Mark Chandler, a fixed-income strategist at RBC Dominion Securities Inc.

Benjamin Reitzes, an economic analyst with BMO Nesbitt Burns, said there did not appear to be any news fuelling the gains, which were more likely due to a big buyer.

ROMA LUCIW

Globeinvestor.com

EDIT: The Loonie has surpasses parity again on Dec. 20th at 6:30 a.m. EST Thursday

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