The last trading week of the month began on Monday, November 26^th with investors hopeful that the previous week’s late rally was the signal that the current market correction might be coming to an end.

Seasonal sales were good as Adobe Analytics reported that U.S Thanksgiving recorded US$3.7-billion in online sales while Black Friday’s online sales jumped 23^% to US$6-billion.

General Motors ‘GM-N’ shares’ rose by almost 5^% to US$37.65 after announcing it was closing 1-Canadian and 4-American, and 3-worldwide auto plants by the end of 2019 that will see the iconic North American automaker reduce its labour force by 6,700 people and save US$6-billion in a preemptive effort to modernize into the electric and self-driving vehicles of the future.

Air Canada ‘AC-T’ agreed to buy back the Aeroplan loyalty program from Aimia Inc. ‘AIM-T’ in an all-cash deal of some $450-million.

Tuesday, November 27^th had Adobe Analytics report that Cyber Monday sales set a record of US$7.8-billion in online sales.

In contrast to General Motor’s announcement on Monday – Maple Leaf Foods ‘MFI-T’ announced it will construct a 640,000 square foot poultry processing plant in London, Ontario.

Capstone Mining ‘C-T’ shares’ fell by over 7^% to $0.64 after releasing an updated feasibility study for its Santo Domingo copper project in Chile.

Corner store giant Alimentation Couche-Tard ‘ATD.B-T’ handily beat the streets’ expectations with its 3^rd-quarter financials.

Alberta premier Rachel Notley announced on Wednesday, November 28^th that her government would go it alone and purchase enough rail tanker cars to help her provinces petroleum sector to ship an additional 120,000-barrels-of-oil-a-day.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) reported that the country’s average vacancy rate fell by 0.6^% in the past year to just 2.4^%.

Royal Bank of Canada ‘RY-T’ shares’ rose by almost 3^% to $98.10 after Canada’s largest band reported better than expected 4^th-quarter and fiscal 2018 financials.

And the price of salesforce.com ‘CRM-Q’ surged up by over 10^% to US$140.64 after the cloud solutions company raised its revenue forecast for fiscal 2020.

Thursday, November 29^th saw Statistics Canada report that the country’s gross domestic product or GDP fell by 0.9^% in the 3^rd-quarter to an annualized 2.0^%.

The price of Bonterra Energy ‘BNE-T’ stock plunged by 10^% to $7.46 after the Calgary based petroleum producer announced it was slashing its monthly dividend from $0.10 to just $0.01.

Lundin Mining ‘LUN-T’ shares’ rose by almost 6^% to $5.70 after the multi-mineral miner announced its intent to buy back almost 64-million shares of its own stock.

Sleep Country Canada ‘ZZZ-T’ announced it was buying online mattress retailer Endy in an all-cash deal of some $89-million.

Friday, November 30^th saw the major markets rise on optimism that the G20 economic meetings in Argentina would end well.

Petroleum industry consultant Baker Hughes ‘BHGE-N’ reported that the number of active America drilling rigs fell by 3-rigs last week to 1,076 active drilling rigs. Further north – the number of Canadian active drilling rigs dropped by 5-rigs to 1,999 active drilling rigs.

Marriott Intl. ‘MAR-N’ stock dropped by 5.5% to US$115.03 on word that hackers may have compromised the personal data on over 500-million of the hotelier’s guests.

The price of BRP Inc. ‘DOO-T’ shares’ gained 7% to $47.34 after the recreation vehicle company reported record 3^rd-quarter revenues.

Late on Sunday, December 2^nd – Alberta Premier Rachel Notley ordered the province’s petroleum industry to reduce their crude oil production by 8.7^% or 325,000 barrels-per-day as of January 1^st, 2019.

During the Week – the TSX Venture fell to a new 2^½-year closing low of 586.

Metro Inc. ‘MRU-T’ at $45.55, Nevsun Resources ‘NSU-T’ at $5.98 and Thomson Reuters ‘TRI-T’ at $64.93 all climbed to new TSX 52week trading highs while Encana Corp. ‘ECA-T’ at $9.14, Russel Metals ‘RUS-T’ at $22.73 and Westport Fuel Systems ‘WPRT-T’ at $2.73 all slumped to new 52-week trading lows.

For the Week – the Dow industrials gained 5.16^% to 25,538, with the S&P 500 up by 4.82^% to 2,760 and the NASDAQ ahead by 5,65^% to 7,331. Up north – the TSX Composite rose by 1.25^% to 15,198 while the TSX Venture dropped by 1.93^% to 590.

With Commodities – gold bullion rose by 0.25^% to US$1,226, while copper was unchanged at US$2.79, as crude oil gained 1.01^% to US$50.93 and natural gas improved by 5.73^% to US$4.61. Overall, the CRB Spot Commodity Ines rose by 0.24^% to end the week at 416.

The Canadian dollar lost 0.45^% against its southern neighbor to finish the week at US$0.7519.

And the closely watched CBOE Volatility Index or VIX fell by 3.45-points to end the week at a much calmer level of 18.07.

And Finally – After many years to increasing life lines – the U.S National Center for Health Statistics reported that due to an increase in suicides and drug overdoses – an American baby born today has seen its life expectancy drop by 0.1-year to 78.6-years.