It's Loony Not to Invest in Canada

This column was originally published on RealMoney on May 3 at 9:45 a.m. EDT. It's being republished as a bonus for TheStreet.com readers.

There's a right way and a wrong way to run an economy, and the conservatives have the right way. Except they aren't our conservatives.

If you want to look at the right way to create wealth, create jobs and create prosperity, you just have to look north, to Canada. The Canadians just put through some terrific personal and business tax cuts guaranteed to make their economy even more robust. At the same time, the government is running a surplus.

No wonder the Loony has increased from 66 cents, where it was when I visited Canada four years ago, to the current 90 cents. And it is going higher. Of course, the tax relief comes at a time when the Canadians can afford it; we can't, but we do it anyway, which is why the U.S. dollar goes down regularly.

For ages I have been recommending Canadian banks as a way to play this multi-year trend. But for retail investors, the best way is with the iShares Canada (EWC - commentary - Cramer's Take), which has a nice smattering of financial and resource-based stocks that will benefit. If I could choose only two stocks, though, I would invest in Manulife Financial (MFC - commentary - Cramer's Take) and Royal Bank (RY - commentary - Cramer's Take) as plays on the increasing standard of living and wealth. Suncor's (SU - commentary - Cramer's Take) the best oil if you insist on that play.

Many, many markets are better than ours here in the U.S. Few have the kind of trustworthiness and respect that Canada deserves. I would take some down. Today.

At the time of publication, Cramer had no positions in the stocks mentioned.

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Jim Cramer is a director and co-founder of TheStreet.com. He contributes daily market commentary for TheStreet.com's sites and serves as an adviser to the company's CEO. Outside contributing columnists for TheStreet.com and RealMoney.com, including Cramer, may, from time to time, write about stocks in which they have a position. In such cases, appropriate disclosure is made. To see his personal portfolio and find out what trades Cramer will make before he makes them, sign up for Action Alerts PLUS. Listen to Cramer's RealMoney Radio show on your computer; just click here. Watch Cramer on "Mad Money" at 6 p.m. ET weeknights on CNBC. Click here to order Cramer's latest book, "Real Money: Sane Investing in an Insane World," click here to get his second book, "You Got Screwed!" and click here to order Cramer's autobiography, "Confessions of a Street Addict." While he cannot provide personalized investment advice or recommendations, he invites you to send comments on his column by clicking here.

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