The new trading week began on Monday, January 28^th with the major North American markets seemingly forming the right shoulder of a potentially bullish ‘Reverse Head & Shoulders’ chart formation.

United States justice officials announced criminal charges against giant Chinese telecommunications company Huawei Technologies and several of its key officials including chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou who was arrested and is currently being held for extradition in Vancouver, BC.

Vale S.A. ‘VALE-N’ shares fell by over 17.65^% to US$11.20 after the giant miner announced a tailings dam had failed at its Feijao iron mine near the town of Brumadinho, Brazil.

The price of SNC-Lavalin Group ‘SNC-T’ stock plunged by almost 28^% to $35.01 after the giant engineering & construction firm warned of potential Middle East problems within its oil & gas business.

IAMGOLD Corporation ‘IMG-T’ shares’ bounced up by 10^% to $4.48 after the miner announced it would conserve cash by not proceeding at this time with construction of its Cote gold mine in central Ontario.

Tuesday, January 29^th saw California electrical power company PG & E Corp. ‘PCG-N’ apply for America’s largest utility Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in an effort to protect itself from massive liabilities due to the 2018 northern California wildfire season.

Canadian National Railway ‘CNR-T’ no only reported better than expected 4^th-quarter financials to along with record crude-by-rail and grain shipments, but Canada’s largest railroad also raised its quarterly dividend by 18^% to $0.5375 and will repurchase for cancellation up to 22-million of its free trading shares.

The price of Caterpillar Inc. ‘CAT-N’ equity fell by 9^% to US$124.37 after the world’s largest heavy equipment manufacturer lowered its guidance for the 2019.

Gold stocks rose in unison as the price of the world’s true currency rose to a new 7-month high of US$1,307-an-ounce.

The U.S. Fed did as expected on Wednesday, January 30^th and left its key federal funds rate unchanged at a range of 2.25^% – 2.50^%.

Apple Inc. ‘AAPL-Q’ share’s rose by 7^% to US$165.25 after the giant tech company’s 4^th-quarter financials revealed that its outside revenue besides that of iPhone had grown by some 19^%.

The price of Tupperware Brands ‘TUP-N’ stock cratered by over 27^% to US$27.67 after the household products company disappointed with its 4^th-quarter financials.

Boeing Company ‘BA-N’ share’s rose by over 6^% to US$387.72 after the world’s largest aviation company beat analysts’ expectations with its 4^th-quarter financials and raised its outlook for 2019.

Thursday, January 31^st – saw Statistics Canada report the country’s gross domestic product or GDP fell by 0.1% in November.

Eldorado Gold ‘ELD-T’ shares’ surged up by 27.5^% to $4.94 after the company revamped the production plans for its Kisladag gold mine in Turkey.

The price of Facebook Inc. ‘FB-Q’ stock gained almost 11^% to US$166.69 after the world’s premier social company reported stronger than expected 4^th-quarter advertising growth.

And General Electric ‘GE-N’ shares’ rose by almost 12^% to US$10.16 after the beleaguered conglomerate proved the pundits wrong by reporting better than expected 4^th-quarter financials.

The U.S. Labor Department reported on Friday, February 1^st that the American economy produced a better than expected 304,000 new jobs in January and that their unemployment rate rose by 0.1^% to 4.0^%.

Similarly – Statistics Canada reported our economy created a better than expected 32,500 new jobs in January.

Petroleum Industry analyst Baker Hughes ‘BHGE-N’ reported that the number of active American drilling rigs fell by 14-rigs last week to 1,045 active drilling rigs. Up north the number of Canadian active drilling rigs rose by 11-rigs to 243 active drilling rigs.

Exxon Mobil Corp. ‘XOM-N’ shares rose by over 3.5^% to US$75.92 after America’s largest petroleum company beat analysts’ expectations with it 4^th-quarter financials.

The price of Weekend Unlimited ‘YOLO-C’ stock soared up by 135^% to $0.27 after the small U.S. based marijuana company was given ‘POT’ as a new trading symbol.

And Kanstar Media estimated that the price of a 30-second advertisement in Sunday’s Super Bowl LIII game has risen by some 96^% in the past 11-years to as much as US$5.3-million.

During the Week – The price of gold bullion rose to a new 9-month high of US$1,325-an-ounce.

Abitibi Royalties ‘RZZ-T’ at $11.27, Dundee Precious Metals ‘DPM-T’ at $4.25 and Summit Industrial Income REIT ‘SMU.U-T’ at $10.49 all rose to new TSX 52-week trading highs while Continental Gold ‘CNL-T’ at $1.80, SNC-Lavalin Group ‘SNC-T’ at $35.01 and Spark Power Group ‘SPG-T’ at $2.30 all fell to new 52-week trading lows.

For the Week – the Dow Industrials gained 1.32^% to 25,064, with the S&P 500 up by 1.58^% to 2,707 and the NASDAQ ahead by 1.38^% to 7,264. In the frozen north – the TSX Composite rose by 0.91^% to 15,506 and the TSX Venture climbed by 2.98^% to 623.

With Commodities – gold bullion rose by 1.38^% to uS$1,322, with copper up by 1.47^% to US$2.77, as crude oil gained 2.92^% to US$55.26, while natural gas dropped by 11.07^% to US$2.73. Overall – the CRB Spot Commodity Index was unchanged over the week at 411.

The Canadian dollar rose by 0.90^% against its southern neighbour to finish the week at US$0.7632.

And the closely watched CBOE Volatility Index or VIX fell by 1.18-points to end the week at a much calmer level of 16.14.

And Finally – With a decision that surely adds ‘insult to injury’ an Alberta court has ordered that man that caused a WestJet Airlines ‘WJA-T’ flight to return to Calgary shortly after takeoff must reimburse the air carrier $21,260.68 to replace the fuel the pilot had to dump in order to make the plane light enough to land safely.