'twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

That is my reaction to the China-only attempt to obtain the rescue of Evergrande real estate in China by allowing bond defaults outside its mother country. The Hong Kong reaction was a 7.1% rise in the Hang Seng index. (We own shares in the index manager and other banks which also did better today globally.)

Again the number of jobless last week was higher than the forecast, at 351,000 vs 320,000. The recovery is lagging. 

Image Source: Pexels

Oil prices are rising but so is the euro, the currency of those needing fuel. BP plc  (BP) will consider rationing to spread its petroleum and fuels more widely, and to try to stop a British plan to add to its taxes. Britain is short of truck drivers after Brexit. Shell is still basking in its exit from the US shale. (RDS-B).

Deals

General Electric, a share I have owned forever, rose on news that it has bought BK Medical for $1.45 mn. Its target makes ultrasound systems used during surgery and therapeutics. GE gained 3%.

Nokia  (NOK) will work with Dallas-based Equinox Fabric to create a 5G network offering artificial intelligence, machine learning, augmented and virtual reality, and hybrid applications. NOK rose but so did arch-rival Ericsson.

Ituran (ITRN) of Israel, the maker of vehicle tracking software, which we sold, is buying its Spanish sub outright.

Vedanta (VEDL) of India will delist its ADRs as there is a very low volume of trading. We sold VEDL but if you still own it get out.

Drugs

Novavax (NVAX) will deliver Covid jabs to India after the Serum Institute trials showed the jab is nearly 90% effective. It will apply to the WHO to use its drug.

To help its beleaguered CEO Emma Walmsley, GSK (GSK) has hired the former investor relations manager of rival AstraZeneca (AZN), Nick Stone.

The consensus target price of Nutrien (NTR) was chopped by 0.014 to $1.81 today.

Teva  (TEVA) gained 1.9%, unusual as we go into the weekend when Israel is closed Friday and also Sunday and Monday because of a Jewish harvest holiday, Sukkot.

Biogen Idec was given a buy rating by Needham and a TP of $400 and it rose 2.6% today. BGEN.

Theravance fell 3.04% ,TBPH. Enlivex fell 4.21, ENLV. 

Energy and Mining

Plug Power (PLUG) got an overweight rating from Piper Sandler. It will report today. It is attracting attention because of its hydrogen storage initiative.

Energy Fuels, UUUU, gained 5%. It is an alternative rare earths producer not from China. 

Autoliv's (ALV) target price was cut to $88 from $92 by Daiwa. We sold too soon. 

My leading US share Thermo Electron got a target price of $655 by Cowen, in place of $560 but the stock fell at the opening.

Azure Power gained 3.33% in Hong Kong. AZRE.

The glut in iron ore because China is constructing less took down Vale, a miner, which we used to own. We sold for other reasons.

Schlumberger Ltd rose again, by 5%.

Cameco flopped because its uranium will be more pricey, coming from Canada. CCJ incurs costs in loonies and pegs its price to recover this.

Earthstone Energy, ESTE gained 4.6% today, top performer. It had been falling over China concerns. 

Both gold and silver fell on renewed confidence but for a change, Kirkland Lake (KL) rose 0.2% regardless.

Tomra Systems, the Norwegian maker of sorting apps and recycling systems, rose today because it got a gig for sorting mined diamonds in Lesotho using its XRT system. The mine is state-owned and there are hopes for many more deals there. Diamonds are as sortable as trash but it pays better. Both win when it is convenient to use what TMRAY makes.

Banks and Funds

Santander (SAN) gained another 3.9% with no news to explain it. Momentum perhaps, or more confidence in Spanish virus protection.

US big banks want to switch IPO orders from the telephone to online direct orders. I am not sure this will protect retail investors.

Veolia rose sharply in hopes that its appeal against France barring it taking a stake in Suez advanced. VEOEY is up 4.17%.

For a change, our Japanese financial firms moved differently, with Sumitomo Mitsui up 0.62% while Mitsubishi fell 0.5%. MSBHF is financing a Shell Canada push for clean energy. Later SMFG also gained but not as much. 

Both Lazard the company and Lazard the fund rose today, by 1.4% and 1.11% respectively, LAZ and LGI were both bought because my article on the former was misleading. I got lucky.

Today's blog is done and I am off for lunch and then a doctor's appointment.