The new trading week began of Monday, August ^8th with the major North American markets still climbing a wall of worry to new long term highs leaving investors seemingly caught in the headlights of the thrill of a rising market and concerns of an oncoming correction.

It’s extremely rare when an entity comes out ahead when dealing with government – so let’s give Gold Reserve (GRZ-T) kudos as the mineral exploration has reached an agreement with Venezuela that will see the government of that South American country pay Gold Reserve about $770-million as settlement for expropriating the company’s Brisas gold & copper project.

Statistics Canada reported that the value of the country’s building permits fell by 5.5% in June to $6.4-billion.

The share price of Whistler Blackcomb (WB-T) soared up by almost 46% to $36.63 on word that Vail Resorts (MTN-N) was buying one of the world’s premier winter/summer outdoor recreation resorts in a cash & debt deal of some $1.562-billion.

Tuesday, August 9^th saw the price of Gold Standard Ventures (GSV-T) shares soar up by over 30.5% to $2.52 after the mineral explorer released more encouraging drill hole gold assays from their North Dark Star project in Nevada.

Following suit was the price of Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX-T) as it surged up by almost 25% to $36.88 after the beleaguered big-pharma company reassured the street that it would meet its full-year guidance.

While the odds of the car beside you in traffic being electric driven are slim they are gaining popularity as Green Car Reports reported on Wednesday, August 10^th that since 2008 there have been 20,000 electric cars sold in Canada and another 474,000 sold in the United States – making up about 0.3% of all of the vehicles sold..

The downturn in the petroleum sector is still being felt as the share price of Petrowest Corp. (PRW-T) plunged by over 24% to $0.28 after the Western Canadian oilfield service company lowered its guidance for the rest of the year ahead.

Conversely, tech is doing better as Yelp Inc. (YELP-Q) surged up by almost 13% to US$36.81 after the consumer review website company revised its revenue guidance for the year ahead.

Thursday, August 11^th began with Nexgen Energy (NXE-T) shares’ rising by over 7.5% to $2.56 when the uranium explorer reported the discovery of their new Arrow Deposit.

Some business decisions are tough and Chesapeake Energy (CHK-N) was forced to make one as the giant American natural gas producer agreed to give up its prolific Barnett Shale holdings in order to avoid a US$2-billion pipeline contract penalty.

The Canadian government injected more confusion into the country’s fledgling marijuana industry by stating that medical users could once again grow their own medicine instead of having to buy it from licensed producers.

On Friday, August 12^th Baker Hughes reported that the number of active American oil field drill rigs increased by 17 last week to 481 active rigs – still 403 rigs below the count for the same week one year ago. In Canada, 4 new rigs were added to bring the total count to 126 active rigs – still 85 rigs below this time in 2015.

While on a related note, the price of Badger Daylighting (BAD-T) rose by almost 17% to $24.72 after the pipe tunneling company reported better than expected 2^nd-quarter financials.

It is said that bad things happen in threes and the price of Concordia International (CXR-T) reflected that when it plunged by 39% to $12.95 when the pharmaceutical company reported poor 2^nd quarter financials, the departure of its CFO and suspended its dividend.

During the Week – the TSX reached a new 14-month closing high of 14,801 and the TSX Venture climbed to a new 22-month high of 837, while the Dow 30, the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ hit new respective record closing highs of 18,613, 2,186 and 5,233.

Coxe Commodity Strategy Fund (COX.UN-T) at $10.65, Intl. Road Dynamics (IRD-T) at $2.05 and TransCanada Corp. (TRP-T) at $62.29 all strove to new TSX 52-week trading highs while Airboss of America (BOS-T) at $12.76, HBP S&P 500 Bear+ E.T.F. (HSD-T) at $7.29 and HBP TSX 60 Bear+ E.T.F. (HXD-T) at $7.89 all slipped to new 52-week trading lows.

For the Week – the Dow Industrials rose by 0.17% to 18,576, with the S&P 500 ahead marginally by 0.05% to 2,184 and the NASDAQ Exchange up by 0.23% to 5,233. To the north, the TSX composite was up by 0.67% to 14,747 and the TSX Venture Exchange improved by 3.22% to 833.

With Commodities – gold bullion eased by 0.15% to US$1,342, with copper unchanged at US$2.15, while crude oil gained 8.59% to US$45.39 and natural gas dropped by 5.05% to US$2.63. Overall, the CRB Spot Commodity Index rose by 0.49% to finish the week at 411.

The Canadian dollar rose by 1.67% against its southern cousin to end the week at US$0.7720.

And the closely watched CBOE Volatility Index or VIX rose by 0.16-point to finish the week at a slightly more nervous level of 11.55.

And Finally – A recent CIBC survey found that despite advice to the contrary – only about 35% of couples have a serious discussion about finances within 2–years of getting married.