The new North American trading week began on Monday, December 3^rd with investors generally optimistic that the recent G20 economic meetings would set the stage for better markets to come. To which – technical analysts David Tippin & Ron Meisels commented – “Investors need to remain patient. The market will tell us when the correction is finally over and a new bullish up leg is underway.” (For a complete copy of this report – please contact ‘rblake@cgf.com’.)

Similarly – a new Bank of America survey found that 57^% of small business owners surveyed expected an increase in revenue in the next year and were less worried about financial concerns.

Qatar – the 4^th smallest crude oil producer of the 15-nation Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries cartel – announced it was leaving OPEC in January to focus on its larger liquified natural gas operations.

Aphria Inc. ‘APHA-T’ shares’ sank by almost 28^% to $7.60 after a report by Quintessential Capital Management and Hindenburg Research shed a negative light on the marijuana company.

Tuesday, December 4^th saw the price of Teck Resources ‘TECK.B-T’ stock rise by over 2^% to $28.78 after Canada’s largest miner announced it sold a 30% interest in its Quebranda Blanca Phase 2 copper project in Chile to Sumitomo Metal Mining and Sumitomo Corporation in an all-cash deal of some US$1.2-billion.

Alkaline Water ‘WTER-T’ shares’ bubbled up by over 11% to $5.45 on word the bottled water company had been approved for a listing on the giant U.S NASDAQ Exchange.

The markets sold off late in the trading day on doubts that the 90-day window for a new U.S. – China trade deal – agreed to at the recent G20 summit – may not be workable.

Wednesday, December 5^th had the Bank of Canada does as expected and leaves its key overnight interest rate target unchanged at 1.75^%.

This move caused an immediate half-cent drop in the Canadian dollar to a 1½-year low of US$0.7487.

Roots Corp. ‘ROOT-T’ shares’ plunged by over 33^% to $3.52 after the Canadian casual clothier disappointed with both its 3^rd-quarter financials and fiscal 2019 targets.

The price of Canadian Natural Resources ‘CNQ-T’ stock gained over 4^% to $37.33 after the giant petroleum producer sighted low oil prices in cutting its operating budget by about     $1-billion to $3.7-billion.

The markets gyrated wildly on Thursday, December 6^th on word that Canadian authorities had succumbed to an American request and arrested of Huawei Electronics CFO Wanzhou Meng at the Vancouver, BC airport.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration announced that – for the first time since 1949 – America is now a net exporter of crude oil.

Dollarama Inc. ‘DOL-T’ shares’ fell by almost 12^% to $33.33 after Canada’s largest discount merchandiser failed to impress the street with its 3^rd-quarter financials.

Friday, December 7^th had Statistics Canada report that the country created a record 94,100 new jobs in November and that the nation’s unemployment rate fell by 0.2^% to a 40-year low of 5.6^%.

South of the border – the U.S. Labor Department reported their economy created a less than expected 155,000 new jobs in November, keeping their unemployment rate at a near 50-year low of 3.7^%.

Petroleum industry analyst Baker Hughes ‘BHGE-N’ reported that the number of active American drilling rigs fell by 1-rig last week to 1,075 active drilling rigs, while the number of active Canadian drilling rigs dropped by 13-rigs to 186 active drilling rigs.

The price of Cronos Group ‘CRON-T’ stock surged up by % to $ on word that American tobacco giant Altria Group was taking a 45^% interest in the cannabis company in an all-cash deal of some $1.8-bullion.

Lululemon Athletica ‘LULU-Q’ shares’ fell by over 13^% to US$113.87 after the yoga wear retailer lowered its growth forecast outlook for 2019.

During the Week – the TSX Venture fell to a new 2¾-year closing low of 563 and the Canadian dollar dropped to a new 1½-year low of US$0.7453.

Algonquin Power & Utilities ‘AQN-T’ at $14.46, Gildan Activewear ‘GIL-T’ at $45.07 and Rogers Communications ‘RCI.B-t’ at $71.58 rose to new TSX 52-week trading highs while Advantage Oil & Gas ‘AAV-T’ at $2.31, Guardian Capital Group ‘GCG.A’ at $22.78 and Power Corporation ‘POW-T’ at $26.05 all fell to new 52-week trading lows.

For the Week – the Dow Industrials fell by 4.50^% to 24,389, with the S&P 500 off by 4.60^% to 2,633 and the NASDAQ down by 4.94^% to 6,969. Up north – the TSX Composite lost 2.65^% to 14,795 and the TSX Venture closed 3.05^% lower at 572.

With Commodities – gold bullion gained 2.20^% to US$1,253, while copper fell by 1.08^% to US$2.76, as crude oil rose by 3.30% to US$52.61 and natural gas dropped by 2.60^% to US$4.49. overall – the CRB Spot Commodity Index gained 0.48^% to end the week at 418.

The Canadian dollar fell by 0.17^% against the American dollar to finish the week at US$0.7506.

And the closely watched CBOE volatility Index or VIX climbed by 5.16-points to end the week at a much more nervous level of 23.23.

And Finally – The U.S. Federal Reserve reported that – helped by a rising stock market and home values – American household net worth rose by US$2-trillion from the 2^nd to 3^rd-quarter to a record US$109-trillion.