Today many markets in Europe are closed for Assumption, notably Germany and Switzerland, and naturally there will be no trading tomorrow so people can have a long weekend. However, in Berlin tomorrow, the fraught negotiations between Ukraine and Russia over the price of Gazprom gas deliveries past and future are due to conclude. Russia wants $485 per 1000 cubic meters, up from the old price of $268.50 which included offsets for use of ports in the Crimea, which Russia has now seized. The final deal is impossible to predict now and if it not reached there will be an appeal for international arbitration in a Swedish court.

The good thing about the current crisis is that it is summer so nobody will freeze for want of gas; and that it is stiffening the backbone of Euroland buyers who now depend on Russia for more than a third of their fuel. Reversing pipelines to feed Ukraine, and building facilities for liquefied natural gas in the Balkans are among the measures for energy security the Europeans are now supporting.

Meanwhile an uprising in a Russian-controlled part of former Georgia, Abkhazia, shows that just grabbing territory is not necessarily a way to increase Russian power. The disputed territory Russia snatched, which declared “independence” in 2008, is between Georgia and the Russian Olympic site of Sochi, on the Black Sea. It is just a short sail to the Crimea. (We were booked on a Black Sea cruise this summer which was to hit many of these places; it was canceled.)

More on Britain, Spain, Brazil, Ireland, Denmark, Mongolia, Canada, Australia, Jordan, Israel, Thailand, Pakistan, and Singapore today.

*To start with the most ephemeral news, both Banco Santander and Reckitt Benckiser hit new 52-week highs in European trading today, SAN and RBGLY.

SAN is being sued because its sub in Providence RI failed to lend in minority neighborhoods while boosting mortgages to white ones in the period after it took control of Sovereign in 2009. Given that Santander is Spanish, were Latinos discriminated against?

*Hikma Pharma plc of Jordan is buying Bedford Labs, a US generics maker, from a sub of Boehringer Ingolheim of Germany for $300 mn. It buying not just plants but also intellectural property rights and licenses for the Bedford, Ohio facility. It will pay $225 mn in cash upfront with the rest based on performance milestones. HKMPY is listed in London and Dubai with ADRs I bought despite worries that my father would roll over in his grave at this idea.

*Canadian Solar rose and shone today, up 2.5% so far. CSIQ yesterday did a deal with China's GCL-Poly Energy to make silicon cells in a Jiangshu area plant which it will own 80% of.

*No, I don't know why the extension of its European patent on Copaxone hasn't boosted Teva shares. Maybe people worry that it will fall back on its multiple sclerosis drug and stop innovating.

*My sources in Thailand, while firm yellow-shirt supporters of the King, are not happy about the military coup. Soldiers and curfews risk hurting the art business, which depends on foreign tourists who are staying home in droves. Luckily it is also the rainy season when humidity soars so tourists are scarce anyway. And a weaker baht makes for bargain purchases. Thai Fund, TTF, is up too.

*Cosan broke its losing streak in Brazilian trading yesterday, related perhaps to interest rates being kept flat because inflation came in low. CZZ makes sugar and ethanol, and owns a railroad, a port, and logistics facilities.

*In Hong Kong trading, Tencent fell 2.5% today. Still no sign of the share in my e-trade account, which still shows the share as G87572174 (its cusip) pre-split. It split 5:1 but in this era of high speed trading my broker is unable to show the new shares in my account.

*Shares of Tomra, the Norwegian reverse vending machine maker, which is moving into other sorting business for pharma and packaging, took a hit after TMRAF announced its hefty investments in a new business line, sorting foods (produce) using sensors to check on quality. It now is operating two new large refrigerated facilities in West Sacramento (CA) and Dublin (Ireland), in addition to ones set up earlier in India and China and Denver (CO.) The R&D is being done in Dublin. The HQ for the new division in Leuven (Louvain, Belgium) also was extended and has 80 employees. The idea is to use relatively few workers (a total of 190 worldwide) to make sure fruits and vegetables meet store standards. For example, the California facility is 5,600 square meters and employs about 50 workers in total. There are plans to set up regional sorting centers in China and add Japan and South Korea to the mix.

In West Sacramento, customers can see live demonstrations of how Tomar systems sort, peel, and process foods, and test with their own foods to achieve customized results. Foods can also be quick frozen at the facility. Sacramento is a key site for nut processing, a big selling point for TMRAY.

The Oslo stock market reacted to this promotion by selling off Tomra shares sharply out of fear of excessive ambition.

*Benitec Biopharma of Oz began its phase I-II trials for TT-034, its ddRNAi-based injection for hepatitis C genotype 1 with a first human jab. TT-034 is a patented gene silencing therapy to be tested in increasing doses. It is signing up14 patients with Hep C to establish safety and efficacy. Trials will be monitored by independent medical experts and take place at UC San Diego and Duke medical centers in the US. BNIKF is up 9.7%.

*Bank of Nova Scotia will sell 72 mn shares of CI Finance at C$31.6/sh under a bought deal, in which underwriting banks agree to take the lot, plus a possible 15% green shoe option. This will reduce BNS's stake in CIFAF to 7.7% if the green shoe option is exercised. Before the announcement, CIFAF traded at C$33.65. BNS will get C$440 or so to spend on other things.

*I got a cash dividend for Veresen despite attempts to join the FCGYF DRIP and buy shares 5% off.

*Also in the kitty is a 5.8% yield from Ascendas India Trust, ACNDF, our India real estate play, listed in Singapore.

*Another institutional investor has exited from part of its stake in Paddy Power plc. Britain's Standard Life Investments Ltd (of Edinburgh) cut its stake in PDYPF to under 6% according to a notification to the Dublin Stock Exchange.

*Mongolia Growth Group announced acquisition of a centrally-located Ulaanbaatar retail center and an adjoining site for development via 2 transactions costing C$8.3 mn. The payment will be C$5.95 mn from cash on hand and the remainder by transferring 2 sites it slated to sell along with another development site. The cash was raised by a US$3 mn 5 yr lending facility. The deal is expected to boost cash-flow as soon as Q1 2015. Development of the adjacent site begins later this year. MNGGF or YAK under its new CEO Paul Byrne is focusing on real estate and aims to operate a few big properties rather than lots of little ones. Negotiations on the deal began 9 months ago, however, before Mr Byrne took over from Harris Kupperman, now chairman.

*The real meaning of the SingPost deal by Alibaba (reported yesterday) was clarified by a note from UBS sent by Singapore reader SMH. Alibaba is buying 10.35% of SingPost for S$312.5 mn and will get a board seat. The new strategic collaboration of the Chinese e-commerce platform and the local mail carrier is a challenge to Global Logistics Properties, as it will lead to delivery of goods sold by the Chinese website via SingPost to many southeast Asian destinations including GBTZF's home market. A delivery partner will give Alibaba a way into new markets. The deal was called “a game changer” by the UBS analysts who rate SingPost a buy, but the terms are still far from clear.

*CAE was raised to a buy from a hold by Desjardins, a Canada brokerage.

*X DB MSCI Pakistan Investment Fund, an ETF in Hong, rose further today, hitting HK$15.6. HK:3106 was discovered by me with hard slog to figure out how to play my hunch that, with nobody to his right, India Premier Naharendri Modi would reach out to Pakistan. I am particularly proud of that find.