The first trading week of 2017 began on Tuesday, January 2^ndwith investors wondering if the previous week’s Santa Claus rally would continue or would they be left with a lump of coal.

Just to recap 2016 – the Dow Industrials gained 13.42^% over the year, with the S&P 500 Index up by 9.54^% and the NASDAQ Exchange was ahead by 7.50^%. In the northern frontier – the TSX Composite Index returned 17.51^% in 2016 while the TSX Venture Exchange surged up by 45.03^%.

And the best performing equity on the TSX in 2016 was Teck Resources (TECK-T) with a 403^% gain to year-end close of $26.87.

Technical analysts David Tippin & Ron Meisels commented – “After a strong performance in 2016 the bull market enters the New Year on a confident note. While there are signs that a pullback is underway, this is offset by the repeated ability of the bull market to absorb the punches and resume its advance.” (For a complete copy f this report please contact

‘Rod.Blake@canaccord.com’.)

Alexco Resources (AXR-T) started the year by rising 10.5% to $2.00 after releasing an expanded mineral resource for its Bermingham silver deposit in the Keno Hill District of Canada’s Yukon.

Ford Motor Co. (F-N) announced it was cancelling a US$1.6-billion auto plant in Mexico in favour of a US$700-million facility in Michigan.

Wednesday, January 4^th began with giant internet retailer Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN-Q) reporting that it shipped 50% more packages in the 2016 holiday season than it did in the same period one year earlier.

The price of EnCana Inc. (ECA-T) shares’ rose by over 7^% to $17.22 after the petroleum company raised its guidance for 2017.

Only one day after Amazon.Com (AMZN-Q) reported record online sales – on Thursday, January 5^th traditional storefront retailers Macy’s Inc. (M-N) and Kohl’s Corp. (KSS-N) both reported significant drops in 4^th-quarter sales.

On a similar note – Sears Holdings (SHLD-Q) announced they had sold their iconic Craftsman tool division to rival Stanley Black & Decker (SWK-N) in an all-cash sale of some US$900-million.

The price of CEB (CEB-N) shares’ surged up by almost 21^% to US$74.85 after the human resources company agreed to an US$2.6-billion all-cash sale to technology & research firm Gartner (IT-N).

Torex Gold (TXG-T) shares’ soared up by almost 21.5^% to $26.75 after the company announced encouraging drill-hole gold assays from its El Limon-Guajes Mine in Mexico.

Friday, January 6^th had Statistics Canada report that the economy created a better than expected 53,700 new jobs in December, with the unemployment rate dropping by 0.1^% to 6.9^%.

Across the line – the U.S. Labor Department reported their economy created a less than expected 156,000 new jobs last month while their unemployment rate rose by 0.1^% to 4.7^%.

Auto analyst DesRosiers Automotive Consultants reported that Canadian vehicle sales rose by 2.7^% last year to a record 1.948-million units.

Apple Inc. (AAPL-Q) CEO Tim Cook did the right thing and took a $1.53-million pay cut last year after the giant electronic company’s total revenue dropped 3.7% in 2016 to US$215.6-billlion.

During the Week – the TSX Composite rose to a new 2^1/2-year high of 15,587, while the S&P 500 Index and the NASDAQ Exchange reached respective record highs of 2,277 and 5,521. Meanwhile, the VIX fell to a 1^1/2-year low of 11.28.

A &W Revenue Royalties Income Fund (AW.UN-T) at $38.64, Bank of Montreal (BMO-T) at $97.99 and Shopify Inc. (SHOP-T) at $63.43 all established new TSX 52-week trading highs while there were no significant new 52-week trading lows.

For the Week – the Dow Industrials rose by 1.02^% to 19,964, with the S&P 500 Index up by 1.70^% to 2,277 and the NASDAQ Exchange ahead by 2.56^% to 5,521. North of the border, the TSX Composite Index gained 1.36^% to 15,496 and the TSX Venture Exchange improved by 3.81^% to 791.

With commodities – gold bullion rose by 1.82^% to US$1,173, with copper up by 1.20^% to US$2.54, while crude oil was unchanged at US$53.72 and natural gas off by 10.87^% to US$3.28. Overall, the CRB Spot Commodity Index rose by 0.47^% to end the week at 425.

The Canadian dollar gained 1.50^% against its American counterpart to finish the week at US$0.7555.

And the closely watched CBOE Volatility Index or VIX dropped by 2.76-points to end the week at a very calm level of 11.28.

And Finally – As we enter a hopefully happier and healthier 2017 it is encouraging to see that Statistics Canada reported that the number of smokers has dropped by over 400,000 in the past 4-years to less than 3.8-million people.