Source: Unsplash 

Happy Earth Day, fellow earthlings. And, by the way, we have a stock pick for Earth Day from an analysis shop and another from a magazine.

Once again the exchanges are unsure if they want to go up or down. Biden's threats have led Russia to withdraw its troops near the border with Ukraine, ending a possible confrontation with a fellow nuclear power. Vladimir Putin avoided any talk about foreign policy at a major Communist holiday. In Russia itself, there were major demonstrations in support of Alexei Navalny, who bravely returned to Russia after being cured in Germany from poisoned underpants. Putin knows he needs to give way gracefully, more a Khrushchev than a Stalin. That's the good news.

The bad news is that unemployment is down sharply which means the stimulus programs will end sooner than expected. The party booper is capital gains tax for the US as attempts to generate more revenues from corporate haven states, notably Ireland, have come a cropper.

Earth Day picks:

*Israeli-American Ormat which earlier this month ousted its chief compliance officer and another executive for bribery at another company before they moved to ORA, is now a come-back kid. Today the geothermal energy production and storage company was one of 5 Earth Day picks from Benzinga and as of this moment, it is up 3.1% on being picked. We have owned it long enough to still be behind on its doubled price in Jan. ORA reports on its Q1 May 6.

Autos

*Barron's picked UK Johnson-Matthey as a “sustainable technology” play. JMPLY gained 2.03% on the news. It currently makes catalytic converters which filter pollution from auto engines using platinum group metals, which are rising in price. JMPLY lost traction when it reported on its H1 2020-1 profits last Sept., off 90% because of virus cuts to demand. But it is broadening its business to control oil and gas pollution and just signed to open a new sustainable battery plant in Finland with a local partner for electric vehicles. As is often the case with the weekly, it reveals that JMAT-LSE is up nearly 17% YTD at £32.13 but fails to give its US ADR quote, JMPLY. It sets the market value at £5.8 bn and says it is at a 10% discount to rival green shares, quoting Jefferies analyst Andrew Douglas who has a target price for JMAT of £41. Hargreaves Lansdown analysts earlier this week warned that there may be problems if the new plant doesn't start fast because of the high demand for electric vehicles. The US share rose 6.25% at the opening before falling to $90.67, up over 2%.

*Chinese authorities are cracking down on Tesla for allegedly “disrespecting customers”, which is a sin even under Communism. TSLA refused to accept responsibility for a brake failure for which a customer sought redress. It already dropped earlier this week after two Texans let their Tesla drive itself right into a tree which killed them both. Tesla's cars move even if there is nobody in the driver's seat. Citi analysts today rated Tesla a sell. This should help our China carmaker NIO which gained 3.9.% today on the Tesla imbroglio. But Tesco itself rose 3.73%.

Technology

*Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) was bought at $115.49 yesterday.

*South Korea's Coupang gained 6.2% after the recently listed share was rated a buy by Motley Fool. It is still ahead about 4% today but we are down ~3% from our basis which was below the IPO. When the quiet period ended, CPNG was rated neutral by Crédit Suisse and JP Morgan, and only tipped by Goldman Sachs with a TP of $62.

*Mercado Libre of Argentina is up $6.52 to $1583.5, a possible result of a TP of $1800 from Wolfe Research early this month. Both MELI and CPNG are Amazon rivals in exotic markets like Asia and Latin America.

*Microsoft (MSFT) sold a pricey computer weather forecast system to the UK Metro Office, to deal with global warming.

*Norwegian reverse vending machine firm Tomra soared two ways today, TMRAY by 5.11% to $48.98 and TMRAF up 3.47% to $48.33. There is no arbitrage on Tomra. It is our top winner today

*A shareholder battle against the CEO's pay took UK BAE Systems down 6%+. Study war no more.

Finance

*Cuts to exposure to robot-managed exchange-traded funds is good news for human analysts and newsletters. The drop in Europe and the US was 6% to $89 bn where sound advice is most costly.

*Mitsubishi UFS announced today that on April 1 its leasing finance arm will take over Hitachi Capital's leasing sub by merger. The new entity will be called Mitsubishi HC Capital, so MSBHF is the winner in the deal. The stock is down 0.6% today. Moreover, rival Sumitomo Mitsui Finance (SMFG) is down 0.7%, so it is the loser.

*Lazard (LAZ), fell 1.62%. It will report on Q1 April 30. It is now down 0.78%. Fund LGI rose 0.5%.

*Fibra Uno, the Mexican REIT, gained 5.04% to the equivalent of $1.25 in UK trading. Its US share is at $1.13 bid, $12.5 ask. Be careful of this play on the peso and Mexican recovery.

*Finnish Sampo Oij (SAXPY) rose 0.84% today. Swedish Investor A/B (IVSBF), did not trade and is at $83.55 bid and $85.3 ask.

Drug Dealers

*Roche (RHHBY), which reported yesterday, said its anti-inflammatory drug Acetemira gained 22% in sales in Q1. It is working with Regeneron on an oral antibody pill to treat coronavirus. This was buried in the conference call I read later. Novartis (NVS) is down 0.26% so people can buy more Roche.

*I bought more Eisai of Japan yesterday to get into Biogen's Alzheimer's cure, paying $67.06 plus a fee for the brokerage, something I have not seen since before my dotage. Today it is up to $67.99. Biogen is down 2% despite good earnings.

Fellow Japanese Takeda (TAK), is up 0.8% mainly because it is easier to trade.

*Glaxo (GSK) is off 1.15% because a generic of its Advair Diskus arthritis drug won FDA approval for Hikma which we sold too soon. HKMPY rarely trades here. Astra-Zeneca (AZN) fell 0.46%.

*Abcellera Biologics rose 1.66%. We are way down on ABCL. Zymeworks (ZYME), gained 0.65%.

*Spanish Grifols continues its rise, up 0.44% to $18.21. We are up 9.8% from our GRFS basis.

*Die Lea ist a kalla as they say in Yiddish; Leah became a bride. TEVA rose 0.54%.

*Small caps were mixed. Profit-taking cut Novacure (NVCR) to $199.89 after it won US FDA approval for a trial of electric tumor treating fields together with Merck's pembrolizumab for non-small-cell lung cancer. MRK fell.

*Genfit rose 1% but is still in the red. Enlivex (Allocetra tumor checkpoints) ENLV rose 3%. Compugen (CGEN) gained 2.12%. BioLine RX (BLRX), is up 3.6%. Leah's sisters are mostly up.

*Dr Reddy's (RDY) is up 1.2% because India is in a medical emergency. Get out of the Ganges folks.

Energy

*Swiss ABB fell 0.86% but we are still ahead 9.99% from our basis.

*Algonquin is up 0.61% and we are now ahead over 29%. AQN seems to rise a day after its AY does.

(AY is Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure PLC, a UK fund for greens, up another 0.8% today.)

*Canadian Solar (CSIQ), is up 0.3% today for Earth Day. It was picked by Max Deml. My luncheon with his son set for Weds was canceled because he is off to Hollywood, by plane, which his green dad may not like.

*BP plc lost 2%. Royal Dutch Shell B shares lost 1.91%, RDS-B. Schlumberger Ltd fell 0.31%. SLB reports tomorrow on Q1. It is earth day after all.

*Cosan which is exiting gas stations is not green enough to save the Amazon. So CSAN is down 0.5%.

*Energy Fuels fell again today despite its deal on Monazite from Hyperion yesterday adding to its prowess in rare earths after UUUU open up 2%. The cumulative drop is 3.9% from the opening.