(November 20 – 17:30 ET) – White House calm is not likely to arrive for traders this week. Uncertainty over the U.S. election remains. The election-litigation train made another stop on Friday. The latest court decision, delivered late in the afternoon, prohibited Florida from certifying its election results.

Canada’s election landscape is the picture of stability by comparison. CIBC World Markets says the Canadian election is barely registering as a market event, especially since recent polls are predicting certain victory for the incumbent Liberals.

This week our U.S. neighbours will celebrate Thanksgiving on Thursday. With everyone likely to be off Friday, too, it is certain to be a three-day week spelling low trading volumes.

There will be minimal economic data and minimal earnings news to fill in the picture. In Canada economic reports “continue to paint a picture of healthy economic activity and relatively subdued inflation,” says the economists at TD.

There’s nothing due today, but on Tuesday we get the Canadian Consumer Price Index. It’s expected to be up 0.2% — as it was in the U.S. “Core inflation will remain well within the lower half of the Bank of Canada’s 1%-3% target band,” says TD. BMO Nesbitt Burns agrees.

Tuesday will also bring the release of trading data on both sides of the border. BMO says lower high-tech shipments will result in a slight deterioration in the trade surplus for September. Most economists expect to see Canada’s surplus get bigger.

On Wednesday, retail sales numbers will be released in Canada. BMO Nesbitt says, “Consumer activity looks to have accelerated after a late-summer pause, with September retail sales likely climbing 0.8%.”

On the earnings front, Agilent Technologies, Alliance Atlantis, Weston and Medtronic report on Monday. Nortel Networks is taking part in a company-sponsored analyst meeting, giving it a chance to assuage investors. On Tuesday, Intuit, Novell, PRI Automation, Neiman Marcus, Bombardier and Descartes Systems report. That will be it for the week.