The new trading week began on Monday, October 10^th with the Canadian markets closed for the northern country’s Thanksgiving holiday.

Electronics giant Samsung Electronics (SSNLF-Q) surprised consumers by announcing it was suspending sales and production of its new Galaxy Note7 smartphone due to ongoing exploding battery issues.

Gap Inc. (GPS-N) shares’ rose by over 15^% to US$26.25 following the retailer reporting an improved September led by increased sales from its Old Navy clothing stores.

Conversely, the price of Honeywell International (HON-N) stock fell by 7.5^% to US$106.94 after the electronics giant failed to impress the street with its 3^rd-quarter financials and worse yet –lowered its guidance for the rest of the year ahead.

Tuesday, October 11^th saw the price of Alcoa Inc. (AA-N) shares’ fall by almost 11.5^% to US$27.91 after the aluminum company led the 4th quarter earnings season with a report that failed to meet analysts’ expectations.

And Illunina Inc. (ILMN-Q) shares’ plunged by almost 25^% to US$139.00 after the medical equipment company warned that 3^rd-quarter sales were below expectations.

The price of Performance Sports Group (PSG-T) stock rise by almost 8% to $5.24 on rumour that a white knight buyer was in the wings to purchase the sporting goods manufacturer.

If the current U.S. Presidential candidates are really serious about re-writing trade deals the winner should certainly take a hard look at the existing Canada/American Softwood Lumber Agreement that once again expired in controversy on Wednesday, October 12^th.

The price of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (ERIC-Q) stock plunged by 21^% to US$5.54 after the mobile network equipment company’s 3^rd-quarter financials were extremely below the street’s expectations.

Ivanhoe Mines (IVN-T) shares’ rose by 8^% to $2.35 when the mineral development company impressed the street with an initial mineral resource for the Kakula zone of its Kamoa copper project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The shareholders’ of Quebec focused Questerre Energy (QEC-T) were pleased to see their investment soar up by almost 42^% to $0.38 after the government there approved a bill to modernize the hydrocarbon industry in that province.

Thursday, October 13^th took us one day closer to Christmas and as such, giant online retailer Amazon.com (AMZN-Q) announced it would be hiring a record 120,000 seasonal workers for the upcoming holiday season.

Nighthawk Gold (NHK-V) shares’ rose by almost 12^% to $0.57 on word that major gold producer Kinross Gold (K-T) was taking a strategic position in the junior explorer.

Scandals tend to carry more weight in the corporate world than in politics as Wells Fargo’s (WFC-N) CEO John Stumpf resigned after his bank as plagued with the fallout of the forging of thousands of bank accounts.

Renewable energy is establishing a foothold in the Canadian electrical grid as on Friday, October, 14^th, the National Energy Board reported that the percentage of Canadian non-hydro renewable power rose 2% to 11% from 2005 – 2015.

Coal stocks such as Teck Resources (TCK.B-T) rallied as the price of coking coal in Australia rose by another $31 to US$231/ton.

Mammoth Energy Services (TUSK-Q) revealed that not all initial public offerings or IPOs are winners as the oilfield service company’s shares’ fell by almost 13^% to US$13.09 on its first day of trading.

During the Week – the price of natural gas rose to a 1^3/4-year high of US$3.63/mmbtus while the CRB Spot Commodity Index fell to 7-month low of 399.

Air Canada (AC-T), at $13.08, Maple Leaf Foods (MFI-T) at $31.00 and Prairie Sky Royalty (PSK-T) at $28.95 all reached new TSX 52-week trading highs while Centerra Gold (CG.R-T) at $6.20, Le Chateau (CTU.A-T) at $0.16 and Energy Fuels (EFR-T) at $1.82 all settled to new 52-week trading lows.

For the Week – the Dow Industrials fell by 0.56% to 18,138, with the S&P 500 Index off by 0.97% to 2,133 and the NASDAQ Exchange down by 1.47% to 5,214. In the home of the Blue Jays north, the TSX Composite Index improved by 0.13% to 14,585 while the TSX Venture Exchange dropped by 1.02% to 773.

With Commodities – gold bullion gained 0.07% to US$1,253, with copper down by 0.23^% to US$2.11, with crude oil up by 1.81% to US$50.71 and natural gas ahead by 13.79% to US$3.63. Overall, the CRB Spot Commodity Index fell by 0.50% to finish the week at 399.

The Canadian dollar gained 1.16% against its southern neighbour to end the week at US$0.7606.

And the closely watched CBOE Volatility Index or VIX rose by 2.59-points to end the week at a somewhat more nervous level of 16.07.

And Finally – If you are looking for a source of the offshore money seemingly coming into North American real estate, look no further than Asia, where a recent UBS & PricewarerhouseCoopers joint study found that the region is creating one new billionaire every……now wait for it…….three days.