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Funds

*Mohammed El Erien predicts that the Fed will be slamming on the brakes this year.

*Lazard Total Return Fund rose 1% after it declared a dividend equal to 7% of its share price. The stock of the parent, LAZ, rose over 2.6%.

*Herzfeld Caribbean Fund (CUBA) paid $3.26475/sh to holders on Dec. 31.In contrast to the capitalist around the region, Cuba will inoculate its entire population with a booster jab. More drug news next. 

Drug dealers

*Another delay in Novavax's FDA filing for its NVX.cov2373 led to a furthersell-off. It does sell to some foreign countries and the drop is overdone. NVAX.

*Canaccord cut its Biogen Idec price target to $335 from 390 but upgraded its rating to buy. BIIB.

*Novacure rose over 7.4%. NVCR.

*While TEVA fell in trading yesterday in Israel, its homeland, today it was up 3.12% in part because the Israeli shekel is up.

*Our top performer in this sector was Theravance which popped in double digits despite the Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) exit from its isencitinib joint venture.

*Compugen, which was hit here last week, rallied 4.8% in Israeli trading and gained from the shekel's strength. CGEN.

Defense

*Elbit Systems of Israel sold to the United Arab Emirates $53 mn in infrared electronic warfare systems. ESLT.

*Antofagasta which mines rare earths in now lefty Chile did not trade today in the UK or here. ANFGF.

Energy and its users

*NIO rose today after announcing it would redeem its 2024 convertible notes.

*Energy prices were all over the map today as markets began the new year.

*Azure Power gained 2.8% because it won a contract to build a 600 megawatt solar transmission contract from Rajasthan to other areas of India. This is the largest deal ever struck in India. AZRE.

*Korean electric vehicle firm LG Energy is going to go public for as much as $55 bn 

*Cement New Holland fell after it spun off Iveco. 

*Latin Ecopetrol jumped 2.6% to start the year right. EC.

*Taiwan Semiconductor jumped 7% because of hope that the country had discovered offshore oil. TSM.

*Shell, which did find oil offshore South Africa, gained 2.6%. It will be environmental of course. RDS-B.

*Predictions of more US drilling this year took up Schlumberger stock because rigs need electronics it makes. The share gained heavily last year too. SLB.

*Qualcomm, my top US holding, gained 1.55% today on New Year predictions that oil prices will rise. QCOM.

*The IBM spinoff Kyndryl KD is rising today.

Honkers and Shankers

*Alibaba lost traction because its ADR owners now need to buy the Hong Kong share to own BABA. 

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The big news is that my son and daughter-in-law, who holidayed in Santo Domingo, could not fly home yesterday because they had caught the virus. Their children, aged 13 to 19, flew off without them. It is unclear how long the parents have to remain in quarantine. Then their youngest child who had had only the 2-jab version also came out positive after the plane landed. The elder two will head for college and boarding school and the family baby will be looked after by their mother's brother. This is of course an unexpected result of Xmas-New Year's holiday-making. My other older grandkids were in Puerto Rico and they fly home, I hope, today.

Grandparents are not allowed to take them in if they live in a different city (as we do) and because they are too strict.

Given the crisis my blog of the first day has been delayed.