As an American living in Canada and a do-it-yourself (DIY) investor, I've decided to short the US dollar and to keep the majority of my holdings in Canada resource companies (oil and gas, gold mining). This is a play that has worked well so far. When the resource-heavy Canadian stock market felt serious pressure during the credit crisis I was able to pick up some bargains.  I am far from alone in this strategy.  PetroChina's purchase of a $1.9 billion stake in Alberta's Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. and Korean National Oil Corp.'s plan to acquire outright Harvest Energy Trust for $4.1 billion are transactions which are bringing serious new money into the Canadian oil and gas sector, which is well on its way to recovery from its lows in March.  China and other creditor nations have demonstrated a desire to diversify out of US dollar reserves and one way is through the acquisition of Canadian resources.  Now it looks like the Russians are also looking to Canada. ...(Read Full Post)