The new North American trading week began on Monday, June 4^th with investors nervously anticipating that the recent market correction was finally behind them.

Out with the old and in with the new as the S&P 500 announced a rebalancing that had social media giant Twitter Inc. ‘TWTR-Q’ was replacing agricultural mainstay Monsanto Co. ‘MON-N’ in its index, as Monsanto was being acquired by pharmaceutical giant Bayer ‘BAYRY-OTC’.

Starbucks Corps. ‘SBUX-N’ Howard Schultz announced he was stepping away as Executive Chairman of the world’s largest coffee chain that he was integral in building.

Bellatrix Exploration ‘BXE-T’ shares’ fell by almost 5^% to $1.40 after the petroleum company announced some production cutbacks due to low natural gas prices.

The shareholders’ of Genomic Health ‘GHDX-Q’ were pleased to watch their investment soar up by 23% to US$48.84 after a recent trial of the company’s TAILORx revealed that 70% of early-stage breast cancer patients would not require chemotherapy treatment.

Tuesday, June 5^th had the price of Hudson’s Bay ‘BHC-T’ drifted lower by 1.5^% to $10.46 after the iconic retailer announced the sale of its recently purchased e-commerce unit Gilt to Rue La La for an as yet undisclosed amount.

Smartsheet Inc. ‘SMAR-Q’ stock rose by 9^% to US$28.95, after software company reported better than expected 1^st-quarter revenue.

Statistics Canada reported on Wednesday, June 6^th that led by resource exports – the country exports rose in April to a record $48.6-billion. This helped to narrow the country’s trade deficit for April by $2-billion to $1.9-billion.

athenahealth ‘ATHN-Q’ shares’ rose by over 4% to US$157.44 after the pharmaceutical company announced it was exploring strategic alternatives regarding the potential sale of the company or assets.

The price of Zuora Inc. ‘ZUO-N’ gained almost 6% to US$30.70 after the cloud based subscription management company made a number on new product announcements.

Thursday, June 7^th saw the Canadian Senate pass the government’s bill C-45  to legalize recreational marijuana although with numerous caveats.

Dollarama Inc. ‘DOL-T’ shares’ fell by almost 7^% to $146.03 after the discount retailer a rare flattening of 1^st-quarter sales.

And the price of Canadian Western Bank ‘CWB-T’ fell by 8.5^% to $37.38 after the regional bank failed to meet the streets’ expectations with its 1^st-quarter financials.

Statistics Canada reported on Friday, June 8^th that the economy lost an unexpected 7,500 jobs in May but the unemployment rate held steady at 5.8%.

Petroleum industry analyst Baker Hughes ‘BHGE-N’ reported that the number of active American drilling rigs rose by 2-rigs last week to 1,062 active drilling rigs. Across the line, the number of Canadian active drilling rigs improved by 13-rigs to 113 active drilling rigs.

The markets were quiet as the World leaders arrived in Quebec City for an all-important G7 economic meeting.

Uranium stocks finish the week on a positive note as the price of U308 rose to a new 5-month high of US$23.35-a-pound.

During the Week – the VIX fell by 1.3-point to a new 5-month low of 12.14, as the price of copper rose to a new 5-month high of US$3.30-a-pound, while the TSX reached a 4-month high of 16,203 and the NASDAQ Exchange rose to a new record closing high of 7,689.

Great Canadian Gaming ‘GC-T’ at $55.23, Norbord Inc. ‘OSB-T’ at $56.13 and Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers ‘RBA-T’ at $46.27 all rose to new TSX 52-week trading highs while Barkerville Gold Mines ‘BGM-T’ at $0.55, Chorus Aviation ‘CHR-T’ at $7.10 and Scandium International Mining ‘SCY-T’ at $0.15 all fell to new 52-week trading lows.

For the Week – the Dow Industrials gained 2.77^% to 25,317, with the S&P 500 up by 1.68^% to 2,779 and the NASDAQ ahead by 1.22^% to 7,646. On the Canadian side – the TSX Composite rose by 0.79^% to 16,203 and the TSX Venture Exchange was improved by 1.17^% to 775.

With Commodities – gold bullion rose by 0.31^% to US$1,303, with copper up by 6.45^% to US$3.30 as crude oil dropped by 0.27^% to US$65.63 and natural gas fell by 0.20^% to US$2.90. Overall, the CRB Spot Commodity Index was unchanged to finish the week at 446.

The Canadian dollar improved by 0.14^% against its southern counterpart to end the week at US$0.7733.

And the closely watched CBOE Volatility Index or VIX dropped by 1.32-points to finish the week at a much calmer level of 12.14.

And Finally – In direct contrast to improving American consumer confidence – A recent Bloomberg Nanos pole found that ongoing economic issues such as stalled NAFTA negotiations, Trans Mountain pipeline issues and rising interest rates seem to be integral in keeping Canadian Consumer confidence at a much more subdued level.

And Finally Finally – The Week is taking some time away to travel to British Columbia’s Okanagan for some much needed R&R. If all goes according to plan this publication will re-appear on or about Monday, June 25^th.