Reversal of the panic so far this month is the mood du jour today as poor Value Line cited inventory uncertainty as a reason to sell stocks. It also warned against putting too much gelt into bonds which are going to see higher yields hitting profits on fixed income. Crude oil inventories turned out to be fuller than expected, helping reduce the oil price rise. The great snowfall from Athens and Istanbul today hit Jerusalem. The trouble with the Middle East is that only the weather treats countries there as neighbors.

Image Source: Pixabay

Drugs

*GlaxoSmithKline GSK was rated buy by a UK analyst today because of its marketed and coming products: Nucala, Trelogy, Shingrex (which is losing market share because people are not getting jabs), and other vaccines. Its important drugs against HIV include Caberavu, Apretude, and Rukobia, while Jempfili and Duvrog for cancers also have potential. The new drugs may boost sales as much as $20 mn as they come to market.

*Pfizer rose in sympathy as it is another drug-maker with a big portfolio of products. PFE is up 0.9%.

*Merck also gained a fraction for the same reason. MRK.

*Small cap VIR rose the most, 3.9%.

Canada

*CAE (sold) was said to be gaining with pilot training as the world returns to normal.

*Nutrien was up 1.92% as it got a No. 1 rating from Zacks. It also is a normal play on agricultural supplies and fertilizer store sales. NTR.

*However Brookfield Asset Management was down-rated to equal weight from Citicorp. BAM.

Tech & Tel

*ATT beat forecasts. T.

*So did Novo Nordisk, but in Danish Kroners. NVO.

*Ormat Technology had its earnings chopped but was upgraded to buy from hold, which is called hedging your bets. ORA.

*Ilumina hit a new 52 week low at $339.15. ILMN was sold last year.

*IBM estimates were chopped to $1.58 from 1.79 and the consensus rating cut to hold from buy.

*Microsoft was boosted with forecast sales up from $4.81 bn to $4.85 to $4.93 bn. MSFT.

*Verizon was downgraded by JP Morgan to hold from buy. VZ.

Vehicles

Cheaper gas outlook here and even from Russia boosted automakers and even NIO gained this morning after hitting a low not seen since Oct. 2020.

*A good performer was Plug Power which gained 2.43% so far, PLUG.

*Asian Investor said carmaker NIO of China has been oversold and has a great sales outlook of $1 bn this year and $1.05 bn next year, and his screed boosted the share whatever happens to Tesla. NIO hit another new low earlier.

Finance

*State Street Bank analysts said 4.55% of polled investors were upbeat in January. STT.

*Kirkland Lake Gold earnings estimate was clipped by a penny to $9.44/sh. KL.

*Antofagasta was given a new target price up 4.25% from Jefferies. ANFGF.

*American Express was upped to buy by Bank of America and opened up 1.65%. It later fell to only $1.07 up. AXP.