The new North American trading week began on Monday, June 18^th with investors still feeling both shaken and stirred by the market’s recent gyrations. To which technical analysts David Tippin & Ron Meisels commented – “The outlook for the market remains very bullish…..Any pauses or minor pullbacks remain buying opportunities.” (For a complete copy of this report please contact Rod.Blake@canaccord.com.)

Baytex Energy ‘BTE-T’ and Raging River Exploration ‘RRX-T’ agree to a merger with an all-stock share exchange deal of some $2.8-billion.

Arizona Mining ‘AZ-T’ shares’ soared up by over 48^% to $6.14 after the Arizona based zinc. lead & silver miner agreed to a $1.8-billion all-cash takeover by Australian miner South 32 Ltd.

Tuesday, June 19^th had the U.S. Commerce Department report their new housing starts rose by 5.0^% in May to a seasonally adjusted 11-year high of 1,350-million units.

The Dow Jones announced that iconic industrialist General Electric ‘GE-N’ would be taken out to the senior Industrial exchange and be replaced by consumer staples drug store operator Walgreens Boots Alliance ‘WBA-N’.

WestJet Airlines ‘WJA-T’, once Canada’s original low-fare airline, announced its own discount subsidiary, Swoop Airlines was ready to fly passengers from cities such as Hamilton Ontario, Edmonton, Alberta and Abbotsford, British Columbia.

The price of Netflix Inc. ‘NFLX-Q’ rose by almost 4^% to US$404.98 after analysts’ raised their target price for the media streaming company.

Marijuana stocks rose in tandem on Wednesday, June 20^th after Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the long awaited recreational side of the cannabis industry would go ‘legal’ on October 17^th.

Discount retail favourite Dollarama Inc. ‘DOL-T’ starts to trade on a post 3-for-1 split basis.

Bombardier Inc. ‘BBD.B-T’ shares’ rose by 5.5^% to $5.33 on word that Delta Airlines was buying twenty of the aerospace company’s new CRJ900 regional passenger jets.

Premier Gold Mines ‘PG-T’ announced the company had reached a definitive agreement with the Long Lake #58 First Nation for the development of the company’s Hardrock Gold Project in northern Ontario.

Thursday, June 21^st saw the price of Dalradian Resources ‘DNA-V’ soar up by over 59^% to $1.45 on word that the Northern Ireland based mineral explorer and its prized Curraghinalt gold project was being taken private by Orion Mine Finance in an all-cash deal of some $537-million.

Darden Restaurants ‘DRI-N’ shares’ rose by almost 15^% to US$107.06 after the operator of Olive Garden and LongHorn outlets beat the streets’ expectations with its 4^th-quarter financials.

Friday, June 22^nd saw Saudi Arabia take one more step to becoming a modern nation by finally allowing its women to drive vehicles.

Petroleum industry analyst Baker Hughes ‘BHGE-N’ reported that the number of active American drilling rigs dropped by 7-rigs last week to 1,052 active rigs. Up north – the number of active Canadian drilling rigs rose by 21-rigs to 160 active drilling rigs.

While on a related note – the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries or OPEC cartel agreed to increase their crude oil production by an expected 1-million barrels per day.

BlackBerry Ltd. ‘BB-T’ shares’ dropped by over 9% to $14.16 after the software company lowered its revenue forecast for the year ahead.

The price of Lithium Americas ‘LAC-T’ rose by over 4^% to $7.54 after the mineral development company issued a positive pre-feasibility study for its Thacker Pass lithium project in Humboldt County, Nevada.

During the Week – Gold bullion dropped to a new 6-month low of US$1,270-an-ounce. The TSX Composite Index and the NASDAQ Exchange reached respective new closing all-time highs of 16,450 and 7,782. Going the other way – the TSX Venture Exchange fell to a new  1-year closing low of 751, and the Canadian dollar dropped to a 1-year low of US$0.7510.

Allied Property REIT ‘AP-T’ at $43.59, Husky Energy ‘HSE-T’ at $19.96 and Wheaton Precious Metals ‘WPM-T’ at $29.31 all reached new TSX 52-week trading highs while Osisko Mining ‘OSK-T’ at $1.73, Recipe Unlimited ‘RECP-T ’at $26.01 and Stornaway Diamond ‘SWY-T’ at $0.43 all fell to new 52-week trading lows.

For the Week – the Dow Industrials fell by 2.03^% to 24,581, with the S&P 500 down by 0.90^% to 2,755 and the NASDAQ off by 0.68^% to 7,693. Across the border – the TSX Composite Index rose by 0.83^% to 16,314 and the TSX Venture Exchange gained 0.27^% to 756.

With Commodities – gold bullion lost 0.55^% to US$1,272 with copper down by 2.55^% to US$3.06, while crude oil gained 6.75^% to US$69.23 while natural gas dropped by 2.65^% to US$2.94. Overall – the CRB Spot Commodity Index fell by 1.56^% to finish the week at 443.

The Canadian dollar lost 0.50^% against its southern counterpart to end the week at US$0.7535.

And the closely watched CBOE Volatility Index rose by 1.74-points tie finish the week at a slightly more nervous level of 13.72.

And Finally – As you struggle to get ahead in this complicated world you may take some encouragement in a recent Capgemini SE survey that found that the number of very wealthy Canadians, with over US$1-million in investable assets, grew by 5.5^% last year to 376,000 such individuals and those assets grew by 7.25^% to $US$1.198-trillion.