MISLEADING DATA

 
 Here's what we call a misleading chart and correlation from marctomarket.com.

The perception is the Canadian dollar has held up well against the dollar. Implied is that the falling oil price hasn't hurt the loonie or by association hasn't hurt the soft commodities much. Canada imports a large amount of it's fruit and veggies. Grocery prices have skyrocketed. The Canadian dollar is down nearly 20% against the dollar since May, that's a bear market in equity market standards. It'/s al;so being called a bear market for many global stock markets that are now in that territory.

Falling oil prices have not only impacted the commodity-driven Canadian economy, it has significantly hurt the guy in the street. Here are a few reads on the matter. Forget for the second, the inflated grocery prices, the loss of jobs continues to grow, by some estimates soon to hit 250,000.
Those jobs don't exist in a vacuum. There's plenty of downstream consequences.

  
Low oil prices are rattling global markets and destabilizing economies around the world. They are also posing one of the first big tests to the United States banking system since the financial crisis.Banks of all sizes are marking down the value of loans and setting aside reserves to absorb additional losses as oilproducers struggle to pay their debts.On Tuesday, Bank of America said provisions for credit losses increased $264 million in the fourth quarter, driven by the downturn in the energy sector. Citigroup, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chasereported last week that oil issues also weighed on fourth-quarter earnings.While the energy downturn is cutting into profits, it is not threatening the big banks’ capital cushions, a testament, analysts say, to the rigorous regulations put in place to protect the financial system after the collapse of the mortgage market in 2008.Still, the worst pain for the banks may lie ahead. While many banks have reduced credit lines to oil producers, some lenders are loath to cut off financing entirely for fear of forcing energy companies into bankruptcy, according to energy lawyers and consultants.

LONDON — The persistent plunge in oil prices has translated into a new round of industry job cuts.The British oil giant BP said on Tuesday it would eliminate 4,000 of the approximately 24,000 positions in its exploration and production units this year. That would be in addition to about 4,000 jobs that the company cut last year, when it trimmed its work force to about 80,000.“We have to make sure we have a competitive and sustainable business,” David Nicholas, a company spokesman, said by telephone. “External market conditions are getting tougher.”After oil prices began dropping in 2014, BP was among the companies warning that the price plunge could be deep and sustained. After falling about one-third last year, prices are down an additional 15 percent in the first 12 days of 2016.

LOSERS

For starters, oil-producing countries and states. Venezuela, Iran, Nigeria, Ecuador, Brazil and Russia are just a few petrostates that are suffering economic and perhaps even political turbulence. Persian Gulf states are likely to invest less money around the world, and they may cut aid to countries like Egypt.

In the United States, Alaska, North Dakota, Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana are facing economic challenges.Chevron, Royal Dutch Shell and BP have all announced cuts to their payrolls to save cash, and they are in far better shape than many smaller independent oil and gas producers that are slashing dividends and selling assets as they report net losses. Other companies have slashed their dividends.About 40 companies in North America have gone into bankruptcy protection.