*In its annual “Countdown on health and climate change”, The Lancet, a leading medical journal, writes a scary assessment of the dangers posed by a global warming. Many measures of weather extremes that threaten human health have risen in the most ever in the past year so "humanity faces a crucial turning point" with spending on economic recovery. The US is attempting to get its own climate laws improved to nudge other countries to commit to cutting emissions. But now the US is scaling back because of opposition to Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.), whose state produces coal, although it is particularly vulnerable to flooding from climate change.

But rising temperatures also create medical problems, like heat stroke, which causes farmers to collapse in fields and elderly people to die in their apartments. Insects carrying tropical diseases have multiplied and spread toward the poles. The amount of plant pollen in the air is increasing, worsening asthma and respiratory conditions. Extreme floods and catastrophic storms have boosted the risk of cholera and other waterborne diseases. Smoke from fires in California infiltrates the lungs and the bloodstreams of people as far away as Texas, Ohio, and New York. As droughts intensify, crops fail, leading to hunger among the millions of the world’s most vulnerable people.

Image Source: Unsplash

*US jobless benefit applicants last week hit a pandemic low of 290,000, below the estimate of 300,000, according to the Wall Street Journal today. Finding new hires will require higher wages, adding to inflation risks also highlighted by empty supermarket shelves and higher prices for basic foods. The regional Federal Reserve bodies are in disagreement about what to do. Punters raised the dollar vs the Euro and sterling, but it fell against other moneys. Meanwhile, today's New York Times reveals that in March 2020 the Fed issued an email warning to its officials that they should not use their insight into the pandemic protection program by actively buying bonds and debt issues as it would be unethical They didn't all listen and 2 regional governors have since resigned

*The political crisis in Brazil, where the Senate wants to try Pres. Bolsonaro for failing to protect its population from Covid-19 has chopped the price of Cosan by 3.25%. The logistics company is not the hardest hit there but it has some responsibility for neglect of the Amazon Indian population for covid-19 protective jabs. CSAN runs the Amazon River ferry network which links to the country's native Indians up-river to the coastal regions settled by other Brazilians. The Mexican peso gained today after an analyst in the WSJ tipped the Mexican peso, probably as it is not Brazilian. Turkey slashed interest rates and Its Lire also fell hard.

Results

*Swiss ABB dropped today in European trading after it reported worse than expected Q3 sales and also lowered guidance for the rest of this year and next. However, its eps came in at 37 cents vs a consensus forecast of 34 cents. Its stock recuperated a bit from its low but it fell 6.3 to % here at the opening. It had sales of $7.05 mn, vs a consensus forecast of $7.36 bn, blamed on supply chain issues, and lack of computer chips. It indicated these obstructions remain. However, it also reported that orders had risen 26% over those in the prior Q3 because customers were placing big 'safety' orders in the hopes of getting partial delivery. We own ABB both directly and through a Swedish fund, Investor, IVSBF, which gained 1.6%. CFRA rates ABB a buy. ABB is selling its turbo-charging business this winter, either in the current quarter or the next.

*Renishaw, the UK small-cap machine tool firm reported revenues of pounds 565.6 mn, up 35% from prior-year levels and eps of 153.2 pence.

*Fibra Uno reports on the 28th but its share rose with the peso and its big yield issue yesterday. FBASF.

*AT&T said it expects its eps to come in at the high end of estimates for the full year. T.

*IBM also was penalized today. Its stock missed but there was confusion over the impact of Kyndry which it is spinning out.

Ratings

*Coterra Energy won an upgrade. It joins 2 North American wildcatters. CTRA.

*Albermarle was upgraded by Cowen with a $275 target price. It is now $262+. ALB mines lithium, bromine, and refining catalysts.

Pharma

*Bristol Myers is expected to tender its Acceleron shares to Merck. I own both US stocks.

*Compugen which had been looking sickly of late today rose 1%. CGEN is Israeli. It may have been copying Teva which rose again by a fraction and has been doing better.

*Zymeworks rose another 1% out there in British Columbia. ZYME.

*The booster shots from Pfizer and BioNTech are 95.6% effective against Covid-19 in its current variant.

Tech & Tel

*Infosys of India fell 2.6%. Where is Abhimanyu? We have no idea why. INFY.

*CBOE and MSCI extended their licensing deal until 2031 which boosted CBOE shares by 0.27%.

*Nokia rose 0.6% in European trading today. NOK.

Energy

*Tesla dropped before the opening here despite a 1.5% beat on earnings and fears for its no-hands car-driver tech.

*Our Nio will relocate battery swap stations in Kaifeng province which are facing demolition because of fire risk. The share fell in Hong Kong over Evergrande bailout failure after NIO shares resumed trading there.

*Earthstone Energy, ESTE, crashed 5.02% on oil price falls, the worst hit of any US share I own.

*Its drop was echoed by BP Plc of the UK which also dropped 5.02% while Royal Dutch Shell B stock was only down 1.85%.

*Azure Power of India rose on no news, up 0.6%. AZRE.

*Plug Power (PLUG) rose 2.85% today.

*Ecopetrol of Colombia fell 2.5% today on fears EC will copy Brazil. It is now controlled by the Bogota government, why we sold.

*Schlumberger Ltd (SLB) fell on the oil price going down by a whopping

*Antofagasta, ANFGF, rose 1.15% after falling 2% in UK trading. It mines copper, gold, and fertilizer in Chile which is not immune to copying Brazil.

*Verizon, Nissan, and CCTA are developing a system for vehicles on highways to be connected on safety risks. CCTA is the Contra Costa (CAL) Transport authority.

Funds

*Atlantica Yield, a UK fund invested in dollars here, fell 0.5% on currency factors. It is part of our Algonquin tracking share group. AY.

*SPDR Gold is down along with the metal which is now being compared with bitcoin.