The base metals were mostly lower on Monday. Copper declined through the pre-dawn hours, perked up in New York but failed to escape the red, finishing at $2.2349/lb., down a penny and a half.

Job losses in the United States slowed during the month of May but the overall unemployment rate came in higher at 9.4 per cent. The bulls took the news to mean that the glass is half full, while the bears think the glass is half empty and in the end it was the bulls that prevailed during Friday’s session on the Canadian Markets. For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange rallied 0.88%, while the TSX Gold Index was the big loser by falling 3.1% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, added 0.43% with the advancers beating out the decliners by a 451 to 390 margin on a respectable 197 million shares traded.

In a reversal of fortunes, the commodity heavy Canadian Markets made back a good chunk of Wednesday’s sell-off during Thursday trading. For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange rallied 1.82%, while the TSX Gold Index climbed 2.4% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, added 2.27% with the advancers beating out the decliners by a 495 to 359 margin on a robust 220 million shares traded.

A little pin pricked the Canadian Market bubble during Wednesday trading with a stronger United States dollar putting pressure on commodity prices. For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange fell 2.82%, while the TSX Gold Index plunged 3.5% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, dropped 2.96% with the decliners beating out the advancers by a 521 to 325 margin on a robust 218 million shares traded.

The Canadian Markets took a well deserved breather during Tuesday trading with several pundits expressing views that a market correction is imminent. For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange gave back a modest 0.13%, while the TSX Gold Index was the big winner by jumping 2% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, added a modest 0.10% with the decliners beating out the advancers by a 456 to 431 margin on a robust 227 million shares traded.

The Canadian Markets continued to surge like a runaway train during Monday trading. For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange added 2.21%, while the TSX Gold Index gave back 2.6% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, rallied 1.46% with the decliners beating out the advancers by a 468 to 443 margin on a robust 259 million shares traded.

The junior bourse continued to gain traction, while the bigger board took a breather during Friday trading on the Canadian markets. For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange gave back 0.22%, while the TSX Gold Index tacked on 0.5% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, rallied 1.71% with the advancers beating out the decliners by a 528 to 358 margin on a robust 226 million shares traded.

Despite a notable lack of news, the Canadian markets continued to surge higher during Thursday trading. For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange added 2.5%, while the TSX Gold Index tacked on 1.80% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, rallied 1.11% with the advancers beating out the decliners by a 458 to 354 margin on 172 million shares traded.

It was a day of profit taking during Wednesday trading on the Canadian Markets. For the tale of the tape; the TSX Exchange lost 1.40%, while the TSX Gold Index dropped 1.80% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, fell 0.38% with the decliners beating out the advancers by a 417 to 404 margin on 182 million shares traded.

The base metals were nearly all in the red on Wednesday. Copper held up until the noon hour, but fell off steeply after that, finishing at its intraday low of $2.0752/lb., down more than 3¾ cents.