The new trading week began on Monday, April 8^th with the major North American markets hanging on to the extraordinary gains they had made during the first quarter.

Aurora Cannabis ‘ACB-T’ announced it was one of three of eighty growers awarded the rights to produce marijuana for Germany’s Federal Institute for Drugs and medical Devices.

The price of Boeing Co. ‘BA-N’ shares’ fell by almost 4.5% to US$374.52 after the world’s largest aircraft manufacturer announced it was cutting back production of its crash prone 737 Max planes.

Tuesday, April 9^th had the International Monetary Fund (IMF) adjust its projection of global economic growth for 2019 down from 3.5^% down to 3.3^%.

Canada Goose Holdings ‘GOOS-t’ shares’ rose by 3.5^% to $65.36 after the luxury parka manufacturer & retailer announced it will expand from eleven to 17-retail locations worldwide.

The price of Shaw Communications ‘SJR.B-T’ fell by over 3^% to $26.87 after the Calgary based cable and telecommunications company’s 2^nd-quarter financials failed to meet the streets expectations.

On Wednesday, April 10^th the United States National Science Foundation released the first photograph of what was up to now a theoretical black hole in space.

Levi Strauss & Co. ‘LEVI-N’ shares’ rose by 4^% to US$22.75 after the iconic jeans manufacturer impressed the market with its first quarterly report since going public.

The price of Helius Medical Technologies ‘HSM-T’ stock cratered by over 66^% to $2.84 after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) declined the company’s request for De Novo Classification and 510(k) clearance for its flagship Portable Neuromodulation Stimulator.

Statistics Canada reported on Thursday, April 11^th that the average price of cannabis has increased by over 17^% since it became legal last October to about $8.04-a-gram.

Denver based Newmont Mining ‘NEM-N’ shareholders approved the US$10-billion takeover of Vancouver based Goldcorp Inc. G-T’ to create the world’s largest gold mining company with a market capitalization of about US$29-billion and annual gold production of some      6-million ounces.

Lyft Inc. ‘LYFT-Q’ shares dropped by almost 11^% to US$60.12 on word that competitor ride hailing company Uber Technologies may be going public in the near future.

Friday, April 12^th had petroleum industry analyst Baker Hughes ‘BHGE-N’ report that the number of active American drilling rigs fell by 3-rigs last week to 1,022 active drilling rigs, while the number of Canadian active drilling rigs dropped by 2-rigs to 66 active drilling rigs.

Chevron Corp. ‘CVX-N’ shares’ fell by 5^% to US$119.76 and Anadarko Petroleum Corp.  ‘APC-N’ stock soared up by 32^% to US$61.78 on word that Chevron was taking over its fellow petroleum company in a stock & cash deal of some US$33-billion to create America’s second largest crude oil producer.

Canopy Growth ‘WEED-T’ shares’ gained over 5^% to $56.31 after it was announced the marijuana company would replace Goldcorp Inc. ‘G-T’ in the TSX 60 Index.

The price of Walt Disney Co. ‘DIS-N’ stock gained 11.5^% to an all-time high of US$130.06 and the price of Netflix Inc. ‘NFLX-Q’ stock fell by 4.5^% to US$351.14 after it was announced that Disney’s new Disney+ streaming service would be priced well under Netflix’s current pricing.

During the Week – the price of crude oil reached a new 5-month high of US$64.61-a-barrel. The S&P 500 and NASDAQ rose to a new respective 6½-month highs of 2,907 and 7,984 and the TSX Composite rose to a 9-month closing high of 16,481. Meanwhile the VIX dropped to a new 7-month low of 12.01

Algonquin Power & Utilities ‘AQN-T’ at $15.29, Badger Daylighting ‘BAD-T’ at $42.97 and  UR-Energy ‘URE-T’ at $1.27 all rose to new TSX 52-week trading highs while Major Drilling Group ‘MDI-T’ at $4.26, Sleep Country Canada ‘ZZZ-T’ at $19.21 and Transcontinental Inc. ‘TCL.A-T’ at $16.47 all dropped to new 52-week trading lows.

For the Week – the Dow Industrials fell by 0.80^% to 26,412, while the S&P 500 gained 0.48^% to 2,907 and the NASDAQ rose by 0.57^% to 7,984. Up north – the TSX composite improved by 0.52^% to 16,481 and the TSX Venture dropped by 0.63^% to 626.

With Commodities – gold bullion rose by 0.08^% to US$1,295, with copper up by 2.08^% to US$2.95, as crude oil gained 1.49^% to US$64.02 and natural gas improved by 1.50^% to U$$2.70. Overall – the CRB Spot Commodity Index rose by 0.24^% to finish the week at 426.

The Canadian dollar rose by 0.47^% against its American counterpart to end the week at US$0.7505.

And the closely watched CBOE Volatility Index or VIX fell by another 0.81-point to finish the week at a much calmer level of 12.01.

And finally – Giant Canadian meat processor & packager Maple Leaf Foods ‘MFI-T’ is seeing the future and acting accordingly by announcing it will build a 230,000-sq.-ft. facility in Indiana that will double the company’s production of meat alternative products.