Five things to watch for in the Canadian business world in the coming week

TORONTO -- Five things to watch for in the Canadian business world in the coming week:

Sold Below Asking? The Canadian Real Estate Association releases its latest monthly home sales data on Tuesday. Sellers, buyers and industry observers will be anxious to know whether the recent slide in sales is continuing. In June, home sales posted their largest monthly drop in seven years, brought down by plummeting activity in the Greater Toronto Area.

Talking Beef: Members of Canada's beef cattle sector will get together beginning Tuesday in Calgary for an annual three-day conference. The supply chain and new technology are among the issues that will be discussed, but overshadowing all of that will be trade. Read on.

Round One: To hear U.S. President Donald Trump tell it, NAFTA is "the worst trade deal maybe ever signed anywhere." Or maybe it just needs a "tweaking." We should get a better idea of where the goal posts lie when the first round of talks to renegotiate the 23-year-old trade pact start Wednesday in Washington. The discussions could have profound consequences for Canada's economy.

The Price We Pay: Inflation has been crawling further away from the Bank of Canada's target of two per cent. That may be the one factor that gives the central bank pause before pulling the trigger on another interest rate hike. On Friday, Statistics Canada will release the latest consumer price index figures. The annual pace of inflation was one per cent in June.

Sabre Rattling: Hovering in the background of all of this is the escalating standoff between the U.S. and North Korea. The leaders of both countries have exchanged threats of military action and that has reverberated on the global markets. Traders and investors will be keeping a close watch.

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