My headline Friday stating “Sometimes Bad News Is Good” was duplicated today in Barron's.by Randal W. Forsythe. We both hope the poor job figures will lead to a second round of stimulus passed by a divided Senate. The magazine covering listed preferred stocks for a second week in a row, which I have been lobbying Barron's about.

Preferreds

Banco Santander Pfd6, up 0.45% this week, and Hoegh LNG PfdA, up 0.49% are in focus. The Hoegh pref is becoming a rarity because corporate brass who were given the stock have been cashed out (it yields 8.6%). The latter was recommended by Norway expert Gen Joe Shaefer, USAF-ret who served there.

Industrials

Mexican cement-maker Cemex plans to merge its two European subs, Cemex España and New Sundward Holding, around the new year, but it will become retroactive with effect from Dec. 1, according to Reuters. CX also won a tax case in Colombia over deductions made in 2009.

Canadians Cameco (CCJ) and Energy Fuels Inc (UUUU) are up 10% and17% on news that Russian uranium will be blocked by many countries for use in nuclear power plants, among them the USA and India.

Canadian CAE is training pilots despite Covid-19 grounded airplanes because retirement and furloughs mean the number of pilots will fall by 2022 to the level of 2019. Analysts at Benoît Poirier are keeping CAE as a hold despite its lack of much business this year.

Boeing got an order from Ryanair (RYAAY) for 75 additional 737-Max planes, plus 135 ordered last year. Chances are that the Irish budget is getting the planes more cheaply and faster because other airlines are less keen. Barron's is skeptical about the jump but I like GE rising again.

Taki Tsaklanos writing in TalkMarkets predicts that platinum group metals will beat even gold and silver. We told you first and own Johnson-Matthey of Britain, JMPLY to gain. He also likes bitcoin.

Pharma

Biotech investors Baker Brothers are selling their holdings in Zymeworks of Canada, just under 7 million at US$51.84 per share, raising over $360.31 million. This is according to an SEC shelf registration Friday. The shares trade on the big board, the last line of the table and were at $54.40 on Friday. The sale was not covered in this week's Barron's because it was announced after the close.

ZYME has two candidate cancer drugs coming, each of which is bispecific, meaning that it targets two distinct Her-2 epidermal growth factor receptors in the case of ZW25, and adding a cytotoxin in the case of ZW49. The trials for ZW25 are being carried out in phase I trials by Beigene, a Chinese cancer drug developer. The sales will be paid to Baker, not to ZYME and it hopes to avoid taxes as a passive foreign investment company by qualifying for a preferential tax rate. US minority shareholders (owning less than 50% of ZYME) may also qualify for a tax break if they have owned the share more than a year, according to the documentation, if the taxpayer creates a “qualified electing fund” to cut tax bills. All this is well beyond my own stake in ZYME.

Chembio Diagnostics, recommended by my high school friend Mary, came a cropper on Friday, down 13% on news that the US FDA will not approve its antibody test for covid-19. CEMI was a bonus stock. It is working to reapply.

A tale hangs on Martin's latest pick Aurinia whose dry eye drug voclosporin failed its trials last month and failed to beat Ireland's Restasis and its target price was down by Mackie Research to $17.50 from $20 (both US). Then according to Investor's Digest of Canada, it opted to test the drug against a wholly different disease, lupus nephritis and expects a US FDA ruling on the trials on Jan. 22, 2021.

Israeli TEVA closed up over 3% Friday to $10.28.

Novartis (NVS) gained 1.53% to $91.62. It just may be pharma is back in fashion.

Israeli immunotherapy research firm Enlivex Therapeutics (ENLV) reported good phase II trials results for its Allocetra drug which cuts the immune response to Covid-19 when the virus has already been inactivated. It also works against other sepsis reactions. Eight patients were treated, six in severe condition, and two in critical. There were no side effects and seven patients recovered completely and were discharged, and the 8^th is in moderate/severe condition. The trial did not have a control group because it was held in a small hospital. I am buying ENLV.

Several new drugs use Crispr to edit or remove genes that cause sickle cell anemia. You get it by inheritance from both parents, not just one. It had some beneficial effects in Africa but is devastating for Americans. Sickle cell anemia is now treated with blood transfusions and is devastating to about 100,000 African-Americans. The research is being funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.