Having begun the tale of Debenhams, J.P. Morgan's first American Depositary Receipt stock of 1920, a favorite place for US shoppers, which went bankrupt last April, I wanted to tell you how it ended. The store was bought by Boohoo (a name Pierrepont would not have accepted) for £55 mn for its intellectual property, meaning the ability to sell cosmetics and beauty products, sports equipment, and household goods, which Boohoo will add to its offerings online.

The outlook is mixed today as Janet Yellen was confirmed as Treasury Secy but her program of “going big” on stimulus is uncertain. While the Senate may let the measures go through without a filibuster from the Republicans, there is less than unanimity among the Democrats for the steep payout and the $15/hour minimum wage, and other pump-priming measures are also uncertain. What will happen is that federal lands will be temporarily barred from oil and gas development and the ghastly pipeline from Canada will not be built. Apart from GE and Verizon VZ, the outlook for many industrial firms is uncertain. With Republicans refusing to vote to impeach Trump it looks like they will bear his legacy and wind up losing to the Democrats.

Industrials

*Qualcomm, QCOM, fell 1.4% after it announced major moves in the driver assistance arena. It will offer its Snapdragon program to Amazon's Alexa and GM. QCOM will also offer its Cockpit platform with Swedish Veoneer, VNE, sold. The multiple moves scared the market.

*Our pick for 2021, Cosan of Brazil, after a messed up proxy vote on its consolidating offshore haven assets, today gained 4.25% as wiser heads prevailed. The new shares will replace the current ADRs and trade as CSAN rather than as CZZ, and those wanting out will be bought out, so CZZ should hold its price. It dropped despite the buyback promise because the proxy document was impenetrable. 

*Royal Dutch Shell (RDS-B) bought 100% of an outfit running recharging stations under British lampposts, called Excharger, for an unknown price. It is 13^th in electric batteries in the UK but actually a German firm. Shell rose. The new chargers will supplement those Shell has at its gas stations.

*Johnson Matthey, refiner and vendor of platinum group metals, JMPLY, rose another 4.6% today in London. rose on the news. rose another 4.6% today in London.

*Ormat, ORA, sold down last week, rose today by 5.75% on enthusiasm for geothermal energy. The US firm, Israeli owned, gained 5.75% as money moved into renewables. The UAE is investing in Israeli clean energy, and ORA is likely to be a beneficiary.

*However Chinese solar panel maker Canadian Solar, CSIQ, fell 2.6%. While Chinese growth is impressive the future of its entrepreneurs is uncertain because Beijing wants to control them. Moreover, markets in Hong Kong and Taiwan are reacting negatively to the Mainland's pressure on their airspace and freedoms.

*Our top performer today is UUUU, Energy Fuels, tipped by H.C. Wainwright analysts. It rose 10.5%.

*Schlumberger rose 2.6% in Europe but SLB fell 1% here. Frackers are likely to lose from the US move against drilling on federal land and wildcatters from surplus oil reserves, but this is just guesswork.

*BP plc is up 0.6%.

Pharma

*Healthcare is continuing its bipolar action. TEVA fell 1.4% on no news. Abcellera fell 4.3% on no news (ABCL).

*Novartis NVS of Switzerland missed on both earnings and sales and the stock fell 4% today as locals sold off the stock with Swiss efficiency.

*Amazon will help track covid-19 vaccinations.

*Galapagos got UK approval for a rheumatoid arthritis drug. 
We sold GLPG of Belgium. 

*Astra Zeneca AZN rose 1% despite EU objections to the delay over its anti-virus jabs, and US skepticism on the 5^th dose in every vial.

*Compugen, sidelined for a while, today resumed its rise, up 1.1%. CGEN develops drugs based on its database.

*Despite my worry about its Israeli secondary issue yesterday, Novacure gained 0.44%. NVCR is developing electricity to treat cancer, starting with brain cancers.

*Beigene BGNE despite getting Beijing approvals for its meds, fell 4% today. It is among the firms under the gun from China, which is also irritating the USA by overflying Taiwan and locking up Hong Kongers who object to its overriding the terms of the 28-year-old British handover. Aggression by Beijing to try to scare the new Administration is unlikely to work even in healthcare where China is cautious.

*Diabetes and weight loss drugs from Danish Novo Nordisk are likely to do well and the NVO share rose a fraction today.

*India is seeing dissident farmers and Sikhs attacking the capital for the first time and one victim was Dr. Reddy's, RDY.

Tech & Tel

*Vodafone is up a bit today. VOD.

*Finnish Nokia NOK is up

*Robots are cool and Fanuc (FANUY) gained 2% in Japan and here.

*Multichoice, the spinoff from Naspers, is up 1.5%. MCHOY sells ads and access to cellphones mostly in Africa.

Finance

*Atlantica Yield, AY, fell 3.8% I know not why. It is offering payouts that are tax-free, but other outfits are doing the same thing. Harry Geisel is looking into this for us.

*Mexican REIT Fibra Uno gained 2.55%. FBASF gained because the peso fell. It earns dollars with its shopping malls, hotels, and offices in Mexico. Under fire from the left it also is looking better now that AMLO, el Presidente, is suffering from the virus, after pooh-poohing its risk and going maskless for months. There are now 100 mn people certified to have come down with coronavirus worldwide. Praying doesn't work despite the piety of Pres. Lopez Obrador. 

*Today both Zaibatsu stocks, Mitsubishi (MSBHF) and Sumitomo (SMFG) are up.

*However, Scotiabank, BNS, is down fractionally. 

*Apart from the peso the other currency down is the Israeli shekel. 

*Banco Santander SAN, however, is up over 2.5% in Spain.

Gold

*The yellow metal is down Spider Gold (GLD) off 0.12%.

*However Kirkland Lake Gold, KL, a Canada miner, rose 1%.