The new North American trading week began on Monday, April 16^th with investors sensing that the recent and very painful correction may finally be over. To which technical analysts David Tippin & Ron Meisels commented – “The markets have been under pressure for nearly 3-months….signs continue to grow that this negative phase is coming to an end.”         (For a complete copy of this report please contact ‘Rod.Blake@canaccord.com’.)

Evrim Resources ‘EVM-V’ shares’ rocketed up by 52^% to $1.40 after the mineral explorer released more encouraging trenching gold assays from its Cuale project in Mexico.

Conversely – the price of Celldex Therapeutics ‘CLDX-Q’ plunged by over 64.5^% to US$0.76 after the company’s leading breast cancer drug glembatumumab vedotin failed to meet its primary endpoint of improving progression free survival.

Vermillion Energy ‘VET-T’ announced it was taking over Spartan Energy ‘SPE-T’ in an all stock deal of some $1.4-billion.

Tuesday, Aril 17^th saw Kinder Morgan Canada’s ‘KML-T’ Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion controversy heighten as both the Governments of Alberts and Saskatchewan initiate legislation that could restrict the flow of petroleum products to British Columbia.

Netflix Inc. ‘NFLX-Q’ shares’ rose by over 9^% to US$335.89 after the media streaming market darling reported better than expected 1^st-quarter financials.

And the price of Twitter Inc. ‘TWTR-Q’ stock surged up by almost 14.5^% to US$31.84 after the social networking company’s outlook was upgraded by a prominent investment firm.

The Bank of Canada did as expected on Wednesday, April 19^th and left their key interest rate unchanged at 1.25^%.

International Business Machines ‘IBM-N’ shares’ fell by 7.5^% to US$148.79 after Big Blue issued 1^st-quarter financials that failed to meet analysts’ expectations.

The price of Painted Pony Energy ‘PONY-T’ stock rose by 5^% to $2.29 after the petroleum explorer released significant test results from its first Montney horizontal well in its Beg Block area of northeast British Columbia.

Roots Corporation ‘ROOT-T’ saw it stock price rise by almost 10^% to $12.60 after the Canadian based retailer reported better than expected 4^th-quarter results.

Thursday, April 19^th had r WeedMD ‘WMD-V’ share price soar up by over 25^% to $1.98 on word that marijuana retailer Hiku Brands ‘HIKU-C’ was acquiring the cannabis grower in an all-stock deal.

Pier 1 Imports ‘PIR-N’ shares’ plunged by 21^% to US$2.73 after the retailer not only reported a poor 4^th-quarter but worse yet – ceased its dividend payouts for the foreseeable future.

And the price of Phillip Morris ‘PM-N’ stock fell by 15.5^% to US$85.64 after the tobacco company’s 1^st-quarter financials failed to meet the streets’ expectations.

Canadian Pacific Railway ‘CP-T’ announced on Friday, April 20^th that the company was shutting down operations ahead of the impending labour strike by its workers.

Statistics Canada reported that the country’s annual inflation rate rose by 0.1^% in March to a 3 ^1/2-year high of 2.3^%.

Petroleum industry analyst Baker Hughes ‘BHGE-N’ reported that the number of active American drilling rigs rose by another 5-rigs last week to 1,013 active drilling rigs. The number of active Canadian rigs fell by another 9-rigs to 93-active drilling rigs.

Rogers Communications ‘RCI.A-T’ shares’ rose by 8^% to $61.98 after the cable/media company reported much better than expected 1^st-quarter financials.

And General Electric ‘GE-N’ stock was up by almost 4^% to US$14.54 after the giant conglomerate beat the street with its 1^st-quarter financials.

During the Week – crude oil rose to a new 3½-year high of US$68.78-a-barrel while the price of aluminum climbed to a new 7-year high of US$1.15-a-pound and lumber reached a new record high of US$552.20-per-1,000 board feet.

Airboss of America Corp. ‘BOS-T’ at $14.35, Gran Tierra Energy ‘GTE-T’ at $4.06 and Norbord Inc. ‘OSB-T’ at $53.95 all rose to new TSX 52-week trading highs while BCE Inc. ‘BCE-T’ at $53.02, Loblaw Co. ‘L-T’ at $63.02 and Mountain Province Diamonds ‘MPVD-T’ at $2.97 all sank to new 52-week trading lows.

For the Week – the Dow Industrials gained 0.42^% to 24,463, with the S&P 500 up by 0.53^% to 2,670 and the NASDAQ ahead by 0.55^% to 7,146. Further north – the TSX Composite rose by 1.37^% to 15,484 and the TSX Venture was higher by 1.13^% to 805.

With Commodities – gold bullion fell by 0.74^% to US$1,338, while copper gained 1.95^% to US$3.13, as crude oil gained 1.11^% to US$68.08 and natural gas was up by 0.36^% to US$3.77. Overall – the CRB Spot Commodity Index rose by 1.12^% to finish the week at 445.

The Canadian dollar dropped by 1.07^% against the American dollar to end the week at US$0.7841.

And the closely watched CBOE Volatility Index or VIX eased lower by another 0.59-point to finish the week at a slightly calmer level of 16.82.

And Finally – If you think you owe a little too much money – you’re not alone, as according to the Institute of International Finance – global personal debt levels rose by US$31-trillion in 2017 to a record US$237-trillion.