The new North American trading week began on Monday, January 8^th with the major markets still pressing on to new record highs.

Giant Canadian grocer Loblaw Cos. ‘L-T’ rolls out its $25 good will gift card for those who feel they were taken advantage of the company’s efforts to control the price of bread over a 10-year period.

Giant petroleum corporation Royal Dutch Shell ‘RDS’A-N’ announced it would rely on production from tight shale geologic formations to increase petroleum production over the next 10-years.

Retailers Kohis Corp. ‘KSS-N’ and Lululemon Athletica ‘LULU-Q’ both report an increase in sales during the key holiday shopping season.

Nividia Corp. ‘NVDA-Q’ shares’ rose by over 3^% to US$222.00 after the graphic chipmaker company announced it would join with ride sharing company Uber Technologies and automotive giant Volkswagen to develop artificial intelligence platforms for the autonomous vehicle industry.

Pure Industrial REIT ‘AAR.UN-T’ units surged up by over 20^% to $8.09 on Tuesday, January 8^th after the industrial property operator agreed to a $3.8-bilion cash & debt takeover by Blackstone Group ‘BX-N’.

Encana Corp. ‘ECA-T’ stock rose by almost 3^% to $17.01 after the petroleum giant announced a 31^% increase in 4^th-quarter production.

The price of Boeing Co. ‘BA-N’ shares’ gained over 2.5^% to US$318.49 after the aerospace giant reported it delivered a record 763 jetliners in 2017.

Eastman Kodak ‘KODK-N’ stock rocketed up 121^% to US$6.85 after the company it was partnering with Wenn Digital to launch a digital currency and blockchain based platform for the photographic industry.

Wednesday, January 10^th had realtor Royal LePage summarize that the price of an average detached Canadian home rose by 10.8% in 1017 to a new record high of $S626,042.

With its continued push towards ‘America First’ – the U.S. Department of Commerce placed a 6.53^% import duty on Canadian newsprint.

Corus Entertainment ‘CJR.B-T’ shares’ plunged by 17^% to $9.17 after television, radio and digital media provider disappointed investors with its 1^st-quarter financials.

Norstrom Inc. ‘JWN-N’ stock rose by almost 3^% to US$49.20 when the retailer met analysts’ expectations with its holiday season sales.

Those rushing to buy an electric car may want to take note that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reported on Thursday, January 11^th that the average fuel economy for an American vehicle rose by 0.1-miles-per-gallon in 2016 to a record 24.7 mph.

Walmart Stores ‘WMT-N’ announced the giant retailer would roll the recently announced U.S. corporate tax cuts into a $2-an-hour pay raise to US$11 for its American workers.

Aritzia Inc. ‘ATZ-T’ shares’ rose by 6.0^% to $13.28 after the women’s casual apparel retailer reported its 13^th consecutive quarter of positive sales growth.

The price of Yamana Gold ‘YRI-T’ gained almost 5^% to $4.19 after the North American based miner reported better than expected 4^th-quarter gold production.

Friday, January 12^th had petroleum industry contractor Baker Hughes ‘BHGE-N’ report that the number of active American drilling rigs rose by 15-rigs last week to 939 active drilling rigs. On the north side of the border – the number of active Canadian rigs surged higher by 102-rigs to 276 active drilling rigs.

Imperial Metals ‘III-T’ shares’ fell by 13^% to $2.65 after the British Columbia based copper/gold miner reported lower than expected 2017 production figures.

The price of Primero Mining ‘P-T’ stock rocketed up by 125^% to $0.27 on word the Mexican based gold miner agreed to an US$320-million all-stock takeover by First Quantum ‘FM-T’.

During the Week – Gold bullion rose to a new 4-month high of US$1.335-an-ounce, as crude oil reached a new 3-year closing high of US$64.23-a-barrel and the TSX Venture Exchange rose to a new 3½-year closing high of 925. Across the line the Dow Industrials, S&P 500 and NASDAQ Exchanges reached new respective all-time closing highs of 25,803, 2,786 and 7,261.

CanniMed Therapeutics ‘CMED-T’ at $28.10, goeasy Ltd. ‘GSY-T’ at $39.57 and TD Bank ‘TD-T’ at $75.21 all rose to new TSX 52-week trading highs while Atlantic Power ‘ATP-T’ at $2.79, Centerra Gold ‘CG-T’ at $5.90 and Peyto Exploration & Development ‘PEY-T’ at $13.09 all fell to new 52week trading lows.

For the Week – the Dow Industrials rose by 2.00^% to 25,803, with the S&P 500 up by 1.57^% to 2,786 and the NASDAQ ahead by 1.74^% to 7,261. On the Canadian side – the TSX Composite fell by 0.25^% to 16,308 and the TSX Venture fell by 2.01^% to 878.

With Commodities – gold bullion gained 0.98^% to US$1,335, as copper eased lower by 0.31^% to US$3.22, while crude oil rose by 4.54^% to US$64.23 and natural gas improved by 0.68^% to US$2.99. Overall – the CRB Spot Commodity Index improved by 1.15^% to finish the week at 437.

The Canadian dollar dropped by 0.38^% against its southern neighbour to end the week at US$0.8026.

And the closely watched CBOE Volatility Index or VIX rose by 0.94-point to finish the week at a slightly more nervous level of 10.16.

And Finally – Large pharmaceutical companies must be taking notes when Health Canada reports the number of Canadian medical marijuana users rose by 40^% in the 2^nd-quarter of 2017 to 235,621 registered users, with 0.6^% of the Canadian population saying they use cannabis for pain and other afflictions.