THE NEW SOUTH OF THE BORDER

On Sept. 20, the Canadian dollar, known as the "loonie" for the fowl that adorns it, became equal in value to the American dollar. It was a moment of pride for the polite brethren to the north--the last time the loonie hit parity was 1976 but more important, it meant a 30% discount for anything bought in U.S. dollars compared with four years ago. In recent weeks, the U.S. has been looking like Canada's answer to Mexico: Citizens from the Great White North have been traveling south to gobble up everything from steak dinners to multibillion-dollar banks on the cheap. The most voracious shopper so far has been Ed Clark, CEO of Canada's Toronto-Dominion Bank. Days after the currencies hit par, his company said it would pick up New Jersey-based Commerce Bancorp for $8.5 billion. That must have seemed like a fire-sale price: Clark began talks in June, when the loonie was worth 90 cents to our dollar; by the time he unveiled the deal, the price had dropped by $1 billion Canadian.