WHO’S LOONIE NOW? — For years, currency traders have largely been dismissive, not to say disparaging, about “other” dollars, among them the Canadian “loonie,” New Zealand’s “kiwi,” and the Australian dollar. With the decline of the U.S. “greenback” and the rise in oil prices, the “other” dollars have come into their own — and become ripe for currency speculation. On Monday, the Australian dollar (the Aussie? the kangaroo?) reached a 23-year high against its U.S. counterpart, having hopped to U.S. 91.8 cents, up from U.S. 91.1 cents Friday. With Australian interest rates widely expected to rise to 6.75 percent in […]