The new trading week began on Monday, September 21st with investors still working out the ramifications of the U.S Fed’s decision to leave interest rates unchanged at this time.

Technical analysts David Tippin & Ron Meisels – “Despite the recent battering, the bull market remains in force until such time when key support levels are erased.” (For a complete copy of this report please email rod.blake@canaccord.com.)

Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz reassured Canadian’s by stating – “The world will continue to demand the oil, gas, fish, food, minerals and other resources that are native to the country’s vast geography. For our part, the Bank of Canada will continue to promote low, stable and predictable inflation….and help our resource-rich country thrive.”

Volkswagen AG (VLKAY) shocks the market when the world’s largest auto maker admitted to a Environment Protection Agency (EPA) accusation that it intentionally tried to fool pollution testing procedures on 500,000 of its diesel engines from 2009 – 15 by – “designing and installing a defeat device in the form of a sophisticated software logarithm that detected when a vehicle was undergoing emission testing.”

Endeavour Mining (EDV-T) announced it had entered into a long-term strategic partnership with private gold investment company La Mancha Holding which would see the two entities Merge or joint venture their many gold related holdings.

Suncor Energy (SU-T) strengthened their position in the Fort Hills oil sand project by buying an extra 10% from France’s Total SA (TOT-N) to give Canada’s largest petroleum company 50.8% of the project.

Tuesday, September 22nd begins with Volkswagen AG (VLKAY) stating that their diesel engine diagnostic deception may be on as many as 11-million autos and not the 500,000 that was first estimated only yesterday.

Alimentation Couch Tard (ATD.A-T) announced they will be merging their existing Mac’s, Statoil, and Kangaroo Express convenience store/gas stations under their flagship Circle K brand.

NexGen Energy (NXE-V) shares’ gained almost 10% to $0.68 when the mineral explorer reported more encouraging uranium drill results from their Arrow project in northern Saskatchewan’s Athabasca Basin.

Strad Energy Services (SDY-T) shares’ surged up by over 11.5% to $2.90 upon receipt of an unsolicited $108-million cash or cash & stock takeover offer from Total Energy Services (TOT-T).

Office supply retailers Staples Inc. (SPLS-Q)  and Office Depot (ODP-N) shares’ slumped by almost 6% & 4% respectively after the New York Post reported regulators may not authorize their intended merger.

Another Volkswagen AG (VLKAY) story led the news on Wednesday, September 23rd when Martin Winterkorn took responsibility for the diesel diagnostic deception and resigned as CEO of the company and stated that the giant German automaker “needed a fresh start.”

Cameco Corp. (CCO-T) announced the official start of its high-grade Cigar Lake uranium mine in northern Saskatchewan’s Athabasca Basin.

There’s nothing like a state visit to get a little business done as China’s President Xi Jinping’s visit to the United States cumulates in an order for 300 Boeing (BA-N) 737 jetliners.

Thursday, September 24th saw the markets digesting U.S. Fed Chair Janet Yellen’s statement that –“Most of my colleagues and I anticipate that it will likely be appropriate to raise the target range for the federal funds rate sometime later this year.”

Calfrac Well Services (CFW-T) finally yield to further market pressures as the oilfield service company cut its dividend for a second time this year, this time by another 75% to just $0.0625 per share.

Caterpillar Inc. (CAT-N) shares’ also came under pressure as the world’s largest heavy equipment manufacturer sighted the downturn in the resource sector as reason to lower its revenue guidance going out as far as…….now wait for it……2018.

Ceasars Entertainment (CZR-N) shares’ plunged by almost 17% to US$6.68 as investors cut positions fearing the gambling company would not be able to avoid being taken into  bankruptcy protection.

Volkswagen AG (VLKAY) again made headlines on Friday, September 25th when Porsche executive Matthias Mueller is appointed as the new CEO of the disgraced germane automaker.

And as a direct result of the Volkswagen AG story, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced broader and tighter auto emissions testing designed to detect ‘defeat devices’ on all vehicles in the United stated and Canada.

The U.S. Commerce Department reported their country’s Gross Domestic Product or GDP grew a better than expected annualized 3.9% in the 2nd-quarter.

Nike Inc. (NKE-N) shares’ jumped up by almost 9% to US$10.21 when the world’s largest athletic gear company reported much better than expected 1st-quarted financials.

Similarly, the price of Performance Sports Group (PSG-T) shares’ rose by almost 13% to $18.56 on word the world’s largest hockey equipment company may be taken private.

During the week the Canadian petro-dollar fell to an 11-year low of US$0.7402.

Alimentation Couche-Tard (ATD.A-T) at $63.48, Molson Coors Canada (TPX.B-T) at $112.28 and U.S. Geothermal (GTH-T) at $0.89 all set new TSX 52-week trading highs while Interfor Corporation (IFP-T) at $10.31, Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (POT-T) at $27.40 and Sherritt International (S-T) at $0.78 all fell to new 52-week trading lows.

For the Week – The Dow Industrials lost 0.43% to 16,315, with the S&P 500 Index off by 1.38% to 1,931 and the NASDAQ Exchange down by 2.90% to 4,687. North of the border, the TSX Composite index fell by 1.96% to 13,379 and the TSX Venture Exchange dropped by 1.45% to 542.

With commodities – gold bullion gained 0.79% to US$1,147, while copper fell by 4.60% to US$2.28, as crude oil gained 1.20% to US$45.56 and natural gas fell by 1.87% to US$2.63. Overall, the CRB Spot Commodities Index improved by 0.50% to finish the week at 406.

The Canadian dollar lost another 0.67% against its American counterpart to end the week at US$0.7508.

And the closely watched CBOE Volatility Index rose by 0.89-point to finish the week at a slightly more nervous level of 23.17.

And Finally – While the burning of anthracite coal may be getting a bad name in industry, it is becoming increasingly popular in the pizza business as according to restaurant advisors Results Thru Strategy – “The phenomenon of coal-fired pizza has a lot to do with flavour. It’s the difference of having a steak cooked over a gas grill versus charcoal.”