Expedition officials compared the act to Neil Armstrong’s planting of the American flag on the moon, and the US Geological Survey determined, to a degree that should satisfy United Nations Convention on the Land of the Sea requirements (should the US eventually ratify it), that there’s not much ground for resource disputes in the area.

Predicting the price of oil next week, next month or next year is about as Quixotic a venture as can be undertaken by even the most diligent expert. And engaging in such forecasts is even more counterproductive for individual investors focused on the long term; you don’t enjoy the romance of headline-grabbing statements or electric cable TV shout-fest appearances, and, most important, it’s an impractical exercise.

The raw numbers are impressive: A report by the US Geological Survey (USGS) found that 25 areas inside the Arctic Circle contain about a fifth of the world’s undiscovered but recoverable oil and natural gas reserves.

Trinidad Drilling (TSX: TDG, OTC: TDGCF) wasted little time putting part of the USD54 million from its sale of a barge rig project in Indonesia to good purpose, inking a deal with two unnamed parties for the construction of seven more drilling rigs for use in Louisiana’s Haynesville Shale, an unconventional natural gas play that’s shaping up as one of the key such resources in the US. 

The Canadian economy is struggling to overcome the slowdown afflicting the US and other developed nations. More than 70 percent of its exports come south, and it’s not as productive as other members of the Group of Eight (G-8). But in broader fundamental terms, Canada is in good health.

The Bank of Canada (BoC) surprised many observers June 10 by holding interest rates steady rather than cutting in the face of slowing US and global economic conditions.

Markets north of the border are closed Tuesday in observance of Canada Day, a federal holiday marking the joining of the British colonies of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and the Province of Canada into a federation of four provinces (the Province of Canada being divided, in the process, into Ontario and Quebec) on July 1, 1867.

Once upon a time, BCE reluctantly assumed the lead role in the largest potential income trust conversion ever. Now, in a demonstration of ubiquity redolent of Woody Allen’s Zelig, it’s the star of the biggest potential leveraged buyout (LBO) in history.

The relationship between the US and Canada is the closest and most extensive in the world, reflected in the volume of bilateral trade: the equivalent of USD1.5 billion a day in cross-border exchange of goods. And about 300,000 people cross the shared border every day.

“Since the April Monetary Policy Report (MPR), economic developments have been broadly in line with expectations. However, the balance of risks to the Bank's April projection for inflation in Canada has shifted slightly to the upside.” With that statement, the Bank of Canada (BoC) left its key rate unchanged at 3 percent, flummoxing economists who forecast a 25-basis-point cut.