The new North American trading week began on Monday, May 23^rd with the Americans having to go it alone as the Canadian markets were closed for the Victoria Day holiday.

Anheuser-Busch (BUD-N) announced they were launching a non-alcoholic version of its ‘Bud’ beer to be appropriately named ‘Prohibition Brew’

Deer & Co. (DE-N) shares slumped by some 5.5% to US$77.74 after the giant heavy equipment company sighted poor farm and construction markets in lowering its outlook for the year ahead.

The Gap (GPS-N) announced it was closing 75 of its stores – including some Old Navy and Banana Republic outlets – by year end.

Monsanto Co. (MON-N) shares’ rose by almost 4.5% to US$106.00 after the giant American fee & fertilizer company received an unsolicited US$62-biollion takeover offer from Germany’s Bayer.

Tuesday, May 24^th saw the Alberta oilsands largest operator Suncor Energy (SU-T) announce they had begun remobilizing its workforce to once again start-up operations at its plants near wildfire ravaged Fort McMurray.

The price of Catalyst Paper (CYT-T) soar up by over 747% to $5.00 after the company received an expression of interest to be taken over by the Kejriwal Group and other significant shareholders for a reported $6-a-share.

We’re not sure if the coffee shops have taken notice, but J M Smucker (SJM-N) said it was lowering the price of its American coffee brands by 6% due to a corresponding drop in raw coffee prices.

Toll Bros (TOL-N) shares’ rose by over 8.6% to US$29.45 after the luxury American homebuilder reported better than expected 2^nd quarter financials.

The share price of Alset Energy (ION-V) soared higher by 95.5% to $0.44 on Wednesday, May 25^thafter the rare earths explorer reported encouraging sample results from its Wisa Lake Lithium and Champion Graphite projects.

MTY Food Group (MTY-T) shares’ rose by almost 18.5% to $42.25 after the giant Canadian restaurant franchiser announced it was acquiring privately held Kahala Brands and their Taco Time, among others, outlets.

The price of Computer Sciences (CSC-N) stock surged up by 42% to US$50.65 after the company announced the acquisition of Hewlett Packard’s (HPE-N) business-services division in all cash deal of some US$8.5-billion.

China-based e-commerce giant Alibaba Group (BABS-Q) reported its accounting practices were being investigated by the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission (SEC).

Thursday, May 26^th saw the share price of Electrovaya Inc. (EFL-T) surge up by almost 48.5% to $1.41 on word the lithium ion battery manufacturer had secured a long term contract to supply lithium ion battery modules to an as yet unnamed U.S. Fortune 1000 company.

The share price of Lions Gate Entertainment (LGF-N) rose by over 7.5% to US$21.26 after the movie studio beat the streets’ expectations with its 4th-quarter financials.

The markets for the most part traded quietly and uneventfully on Friday, May 27^th going into the U.S. Memorial Day long weekend and content to digest U.S Fed Chair Janet Yellen’s remarks that another interest rate hike was “likely appropriate“.

The price of Arsenal Energy (AEI-T) rose by almost 33% to $1.36 on word the petroleum company had sold its American assets for some US$34-million.

Gold Reserve (GRZ-V) shares’ slumped by over 38% to $3.47 after the company warned there may be delays in retrieving its US$740-million settlement from the Venezuelan government awarded as a result to the cancelling of the Brisas gold project in that country.

And with a headline that required a second reading – Hercules Offshore (HERO-Q) shares’ plunged by over 48% to US$0.99 after the ocean driller announce it was applying for Chapter 11 bankruptcy….for the second time in less than 7-months.

During the Week – The price of crude oil reached a new 7-month closing high of     US$49.68-a-barrel while the TSX reached a new 9-month closing high of 14,105 and the VIX fell to a 10-month low of 13.04.

A&W Revenue Royalties (AW.UN-T) at $31.90, Mountain Province Diamonds (MPV-T) at $6.45 and SNC-Lavalin Group (SNC-T) at $52.74 all set new TSX 52-week trading highs while Acadian Timber (ADN-T) at $15.70, Nautilus Minerals (NUS-T) at $0.14 and Sunopta Inc. (SOY-T) at $4.14 all slumped to new 52-week trading lows.

For the Week – The Dow Industrials gained 2.13% to 17,873, with the S&P 500 Index up by 2.29% to 2,099 and the NASDAQ exchange higher by 3.42% to 4,933. Across the line, the TSX Composite Index rose by 1.33% to 14,105 while the TSX Venture Exchange was off by 2.48% to 669.

With commodities – gold bullion lost 3.19% to US$1,213, while copper gained 2.43% to US$2.11, with crude oil up by 2.21% to US$49.48 as natural gas lost 1.81% to US$2.17. Overall, the CRB Spot Commodity Index was lower by 0.25% to finish the week at 411.

The Canadian dollar gained 0.54% against its American counterpart to end the week at US$0.7666.

And the closely watched CBOE Volatility Index or VIX dropped by 2.16-points to finish the week at a much calmer level of 13.04.

And Finally – With the Memorial Day long weekend traditionally marking the start of ‘driving season’ it is of interest to note that according to the U.S Department of Transportation that up to the end of March – Americans had already marked up 4.2% more miles than a year ago – to a record 746-billion miles in the first quarter.