Today I watched TV rather than rushing to write my blog, a bit to my own surprise. The big news is that the new administration plans to name an antitrust czar. It was nice to see that Jack is Back, meaning Jack Ma, the head of Alibaba, who had disappeared from view after Chinese regulators blocked its attempt to list its finance arm in Hong Kong. The BABA stock rose 8.5% when he appeared virtually at a Chinese charity celebrating village school teachers today. The buoyancy spread to Europe and the US as most investors celebrated the ignominious departure of The Donald.

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Given the exuberance, I will only comment on surprise rises Weds.

Drugs

*Pfizer's PFE good news is that its vaccine protects against virus mutations.

*BiolineRX of Israel rose because BLRX's bought deal was raised to $30 mn. It then fell 21.29%. Israeli Cellcom delisted from Q and will only trade now in Tel Aviv as CEL.

*Novacure, NVCR, rose another 2.23%. It is offering electrical cancer treatments worldwide, using its Channel Islands sub, conducting the virtual trial by delivering their machines to patients without charge while they make up the trials for different cancers.

*Compugen is the comeback kid as this Israel is back in the black. CGEN was displaced by the above.

*Astra Zeneca AZN rose because its breast cancer drug (developed with Daiichi Sangyo of Japan) got EU approval. Takeda, TAK, rose in sympathy by 1.1%. However, Eisai, ESALY, fell 1.5% on cancer research chief changes.

*Swiss firms Roche RHHBY and Novartis NVS both gained fractionally. The Swiss are used to drug price controls.

*Israel TEVA fell 3.9% on fears of a Biden crackdown on drug prices. I think this is overdone.

*UK Glaxo lost 2.5%. in its homeland but is only down 1.4% in the Biden country after its partner, German Merck KgA halted trials of its Bintrafusp in lung cancer. GSK has other assets.

*Novo Nordisk NVO was rated positively today by Citi but its US FDA filing today for extending weekly semaglutide Ozempic for treating diabetes scared people so the stock fell. The one to buy today.

*Enlivex, ENLV, rose another 9.25% today and we are firmly in the black. But I know not why. It uses the immune system to control reactions. It is presenting at conferences.

Technology

*Mercado Libre, Argentina's MELI, was tipped by Jim Woods of Successful Investing on the virtual Moneyshow. We told you first, but he managed to boost the price by 3.25% today.

*NIO is off 1.85% today on confirmation that Biden will not lift China's designation as engaging in genocide. NIO overnight closed on a $1.5 bn convertible senior note issue and the underwriters used their greenshoe. The notes were issued to institutional investors under rule 144A. Each tranche allows holders to buy preferred shares worth $100 mn, which waters down our stock.

*Nokia NOK gained another 2.2% after it rose 2.6% in London. Its Saudi Arabian arm is installing fixed 4G and 5G radio systems with partner Mobily worth billions. Its riival Ericsson also gained. ERIC,

*Bonus stock Cognizant will acquire private software developer Magenic Tech of Minnesota. CTSH.

*Vodafone VOD gained in London and ell at the US open. It is now at 0.009 cents under Tuesday's close.

*Qualcomm QCOM kept its dividend at 65¢ and rose 1.1%. It faces competition in chips from Taiwan Semiconductor, TSM, but also will get a boost from higher stimulus funding in the USA.

*Our new holding ABB of Sweden, tipped by me and Joe Shaefer, is up 0.9% from our buy price.

Alternatives

*SPDR Gold, GLD, is up 1.51% on fear of money printing. Swiss Helvetia Fund, SWZ, is up 0.9%.

*Miner Kirkland Lake was tipped for solid gains by Gold Mining Bull at seeking alpha, who w vas followed by Fun Trading, also tipping KL. With anonymous writers, they may be the same person.

*Our Taiwan Fund, TWN, has 75% of its assets in IT and 23.3% in TSMC. It is up 0.43% today.

*WIP, SPDR FTSE International Govt Inflation-Protected Bond ETF is up 0.39% today. SPDR TIPS ETF, SPIP is up only 0.16%. Lazard Global Income Fd LGI is up 0.66%.

*Weyerhaeuser rose 2.7% today. WY, a forest REIT paid 51¢/sh in long term capital gains.

*Trip.com of China, gained 1.93%. Travel will resume. Both Franklin yield funds FCO and FAX rose.

*Brazilian Cosan recuperated some of its loss yesterday, up 0.7%. I voted for the CZZ board proxy.

Finance

*State St Bank of Boston, STT, the backroom king, is down 2.75% after being rated neutral by Credit Suisse. It takes on to know one.

*Sumitomo Mitsui Fin SMFG, fell 1.7% on currency changes boosting the greenback. Mitsubishi is up 0.21%. MSBHF.

*Sampo Oyj of Finland is up 1.45%. Elliott is now out of Hong Kong and may buy more SAXPY.

*Swedish Investor a/b is down 0.3%, being more heavily into the USA (owning a chunk of Nasdaq.) It is also suffering from changing bosses at its Patricia Industries start-up investment arm. IVSBF reports tomorrow at noon Stockholm time on 2020 and there are fears something worse than retirement succession is going on. We own this baby because there now is no Scandinavian closed-end fund. But Wallenbergs are more shareholder-friendly than anyone else in the business so I am sure there is no dark secret. If I am proven wrong I will take it out on Viveka Hirdman-Ryrberg, my near-namesake IT head. In the first 3 quarters of 2020, the parent NAV rose 25% (in Swedish kronas). It owns a great chunk of ABB worth SEK61 mn (the second-largest stake after Atlas Copco); next comes Astra Zeneca AZN; and Ericsson ERIC is fifth or sixth.

*Veolia VEOEY France is up 0.62% on new moves over its plot against Suez. Hang in there.

*DCMYY in Japan also gained. NTT Docomo is being bought by its parent.

Canadians

*Bank of Nova Scotia Bank BNS with its huge options operations gained a half percent.

*Canadian Solar (really Chinese) rose another 4.6% as CSIQ will help cut greenhouse gases.

*British Colombian Aurinia Pharma AUPH rose another 8% taking it into the black for us after its voclosporin lupus nephritis drug looks like winning FDA approval.

*However Zymeworks, another British Columbia share, ZYME, fell another 3.75%.

*BCE, the phone and media group, rose 0.5%.

*Best real Canada performer was cross border UTE Algonquin Power & Utilities, AQN, up 2%+. It gained because a wind energy contract in Illinois it is running in the US will be guild by White (a sub of IEA) for $45 mn,.

*Also up because it will not be buying Carrefour in la Mère Patrie is Alimentation Couche Tard. ANCUF rose 1.44%.

*Azure Power of Mauritius, a vendor of solar rooftop systems to India, is up 1.3%+. AZRE is controlled by the Caisse de Dépôts of Quebec province, founded by Louis XIV who would have been appalled over how the French court treated ANCUF.