The new North American trading week began on Monday, July 2^nd with nervous American investors having to go it alone as their Canadian counterparts were away for their Canada Day holiday- and wondering if all of the recent trade rhetoric was putting the equity markets at risk.

To which technical analysts David Tippin & Ron Meisels commented – “The markets are in the midst of minor and healthy pullbacks. Underlying indicators and trends remain positive.” (For a complete copy of this report please contact Rod.Blake@canaccord.com)

American factories continue to expand as the Institute of Supply Management reported its manufacturing index rose by 1.5-points in June to a 4-month high of 60.2.

Tesla Inc. ‘TSLA-Q’ reached a short-term milestone as the electric automobile company reported it produced over 5,000 of its new Model 3s in the last week of June.

Drugstore company shares’ fell in unison after market disrupter and retail giant Amazon.Com Inc. ‘AMZN-Q’ announced it was entering the drug distribution business with a US$1-billion all-cash purchase of online pharmacy firm PillPack.

Nike Inc. ‘NKE-N’ stock rose by 11^% to US$79.68 after the sportswear giant reported better than expected 4^th-quarter financials.

Tuesday, July 3^rd saw the price of Glencore PLC ‘GLNCY-OTC’ stock fall by 9.5^% to US$8.31 after the world’s largest commodities trading company was subpoenaed by the U.S Department of Justice over the company’s business in Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Venezuela.

As part of an ongoing plan to reduce debt – pipeline giant Enbridge Inc. ‘ENB-T’ announced on Wednesday, July 4^th it had sold its natural gas gathering and processing business to Brookfield Infrastructure in an all-cash deal of some $4.31-billion.

Thursday, July 5^th saw the international trade wars escalate as the United States and China each impose an additional US$34-billion of import tariffs against each other.

Boeing Co. ‘BA-N’ and Brazil’s Embraer announced a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a joint venture to enhance their common aerospace efforts.

The National Energy Board reported that Canadian railroad shipments of crude oil rose by 13^% in April to a record 193,500-barrels.

Zynerba Pharmeceuticals ‘ZYNE-Q’ shares’ fell by over 4.5^% to US$9.17 after the company’s pro-drug patch did not meet target blood levels.

Statistic Canada reported on Friday, July 6^th that the economy created a better than expected 31,800 new jobs in June, with the increase in work interest pushing the unemployment rate up by 0.2^% to 6.0%.

South of the border- the U.S. Labor Department of Labor reported that their economy created a better than expected 213,000 new jobs in June and that their unemployment also rose by 0.2^% to 4.0%.

Statistic Canada also reported the country’ international trade deficit rose by $0.89-billion in June to a record $2.77-billion.

Biogen Inc. ‘BIIB-Q’ shares’ surged up over 19.5^% to US$357.48 after the pharmaceutical company reported positive Phase II results for BAN2401 a drug for the treatment of early stage Alzheimer’s disease.

During the week – crude oil rose to a new 3½ -year high of US$74.15-a-barrel while the price of copper fell to a 1-year low of US$2.82-a-pound.

Canfor Pulp Products ‘CFX-T’ at $25.37, Suncor Energy ‘SU-T’ at $$53.30 and Wheaton Precious Metals ‘WPM-T’ at $29.74 all rose to new TSX 52-week trading highs while Bank of Nova Scotia ‘BNS-T’ at $74.17, Linamar Corp. ‘LNR-T’ at $54.79 and Taseko Mines ‘TKO-T’ at $1.34 all dropped to new 52-week trading lows.

For the Week – the Dow Industrials rose by 0.76^% to 24,4546, with the S&P 500 up by 1.5^% to 2,760 and the NASDAQ ahead by 2.37^% to 7,688. Up north – the TSX Composite Index improved by 0.58^% to 16,372 while the TSX Venture Exchange was unchanged at 740.

With Commodities – gold bullion gained 0.12^% to US$1,256, while copper lost 5.05^% to US$2.82 as crude oil fell by 0.49^% to US$73.79 and natural gas dropped by 2.05^% to US$2.86. Overall, the CRB Spot Commodity Index was marginally lower to end the week at 437.

The Canadian dollar rose by 0.24^% against its southern counterpart to finish the week at US$7632.

And the closely watched CBOE Volatility Index or VIX dropped by 2.72-points to end the week at a much calmer level of 13.37.

And Finally – With the English fully entrenched in World Cup of Soccer Round of Eight – it is of some concern that a shortage of carbon dioxide in Northern Europe may curb the production of some drinks such as….beer.