Today the combo of no stimulus and 68,767 new covid-19 cases reported yesterday in the US, higher than the level in March took down stock markets globally. Wall Street opened with the Dow-Jones Index down 300 points. It then swooned down by 800 points. The drop here reflects fears over the election, fear the Trump gang and the Supreme Court with Amy Coney Barrett will block a Biden win. It has come to this.

Our Lider trumped the new covid case data as a “Fake News Media Conspiracy” which took Wall St lower. He has gone off the deep end and is now spotting conspiracies when statistics are reported. Your editor has a brokerage cash balance in six figures to deploy, but not yet. There are two competing trends on Wall Street, as some look for beaten-down companies to invest in while others believe that shares trending down will continue to do so. The latter lot are now in command. This too shall pass, I hope.

Ant of China raised $34.5 bn in its debut, making Jack Ma the richest man on earth.

While it is not much consolation, there is good news on coronavirus. The number of people dying from the plague is much lower now than in March because the way they are handled has improved. They are no longer being put on respirators while lying on their backs, which impedes breathing more than lying on their stomachs. And the use of steroids has cut the rate of acute respiratory distress in patients on respirators or oxygen.

Good news is coming from companies in Britain and the USA. But there is no joy in Mudville today.

Drugs

*Astra-Zeneca has resumed its clinical trial of AZN 1222, the Oxford vaccine, thanks to proof the causes of problems were not linked to the jab. AZN also reported that the response rate from the vaccine was the same in both older and younger adults, another key finding. AZN stock is up 91¢, 1.4%, small consolation in the debacle.

*Beigene another winner thanks to its planned capital increase for Amgen being explained so carefully to overcome mistrust of Chinese accounts. It is up nearly 1%. AMGN however fell fractionally.

*Israeli high-flyer Compugen (CGEN) is off another 4.33% today.

*Japanese Eisai which works on Alzheimer's disease with Biogen Idec of the US, is up 0.9% thanks to its expanded jv with Cogstate for a digital cognitive assessment system. Japan has the developed world's highest average age.

*Dr Reddy's of India is down 0.8%. RDY.

*Grifols, GRFS, tester for antibodies, lost 0.9% despite or because Spain is again a Covid hotspot.

*Swiss Roche is a rare winner in the drug bullpen today. RHHBY gained 0.3 percent.

*Teva (TEVA), after inching up last week, fell nearly 2.6 % today after selloffs in Israel Sunday.

*Zymeworks was a rare riser in the drug space. ZYME, picked by Martin Ferera, gained because another Canadian, Bausch Health Care, sold ages ago was tipped by Barclays with a dollar higher target price. BHC then fell along with the rest.

*Exelixis, a US firm, enrolled its first patient in phase 1 trials of cancer drug XLO92, which compnbers oral tyrosine with Tecentriq. It targets VEGF receptors which help cancers grow, MET, AXL, MER, etc. The hope is that it will have fewer side effects than existing kinase inhibitors which can cause fistulas, hemorrhages, and perforations. In this market, EXEL fell sharply. This too shall pass.

Energy and Users

*Canadian Solar stock is a big loser today despite or because China plans to become carbon neutral only in 2060, a long time off. CSIQ lost 5.2%. It sells its systems up north but they are made in China.

*India's Azure Power, AZRE, a solar play run from Mauritius, opened up 1.45%. Now it is off 1.77%.

*BP plc lost 1.7%. Royal Dutch Shell (RDS-B) fell 2% as oil prices fell.

*Schlumberger Ltd, SLB, is down 2.33% after it got a buy tip from Zephirin Group, an unknown brokerage. SLB is off 20% in a month.

*Tesla says it will deliver Chinese-make electric vehicles to Belgium by the end of 2020. Next year it will ship to France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, and Switzerland. No mention of Spain. This chopped the price of Chinese NIO by $11 to $26.25 on high volume.

Finance

*SPDR Gold Fund, GLD, is up a fraction to $178.75, 1/10^th of the gold price, because of fear of Trump digging in if he loses.

*Asian insurer AIA Group, AAIGF is up 4.5% but with a big spread between the bid and ask. It is Hong Kong based.

*Panama's multilateral Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior fell 4.4% despite being a Biden play.

*Finnish Sampo Oij lost 3.5% today despite recent good results.

*State Street Bank which was in recovery mode fell 2.6% today because the trend followers sold.

*Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, SMFG, lost 2.1%. However, Mitsubishi, MSBHF, gained 0.8%.

*Optimism about rival internets to our colluders boosted both Prosus and Naspers today but then South African NPSNY fell because of clashes in other African countries like Nigeria. The duo has virtually identical portfolios but PROSY is Dutch listed.

*Latin American Mercado Libre fell 2.75% alongside its US rivals. Jefferies just raised its target price for MELI to $1560 from $1350, but it didn't help.

*SAP SE of German crashed $35 after a 3^rd profit warning by the company about the impact of Covid-19 and the cost of moving to the cloud on its outlook. It reports this week. We sold ages ago. It was named forecast of the day by Trefis.

*Mexican Fibra Uno (FBASF) REIT lost 2.54% today despite hopes for NAFTA in a Biden presidency.