My daughter-in-law who runs a lab at the Cleveland Clinic believes President Trump deliberately kept her colleagues who were running its conference room from testing him for corona-virus before last Tuesday's debate with Joe Biden. Trump's team arrived so late that there was no time to do the covid-19 test. The President removed his mask for the debate, as was allowed, but all his team and family members in the audience rows did so too, which was not allowed.

This is of a piece with the President's careless decision to go for a ride with his secret service patrol to cheer on his supporters outside Walter Reed hospital Sunday, which needlessly exposed them to his germs. The man is a super-spreader without any conscience over those he is putting at risk.

Drugs

*The big news today is that the Swiss are worried that their pharmaceutical giants will suffer as the USA finally makes a move on over-priced drugs by buying them abroad, starting with Canada. This threatens the Helvetian duo, Roche and Novartis, according to the NZZ, the Swiss online daily. We own both RHHBY and NVS. I face a possible loss of profits resulting from my long-time support for price controls at US pharmacies. I always choose principal over profits.

Swiss Helvetia Fund is up 0.36% despite the NZZ gloom.

Separately, Roche sub ViiV after a 3-yr trial revealed that use of only two anti-HIV drugs, dolutegravir and lamviduine, achieved the same level of control as the older 3-drug regimen.

*India's Dr Reddy's launched a generic of oral sapropterin dihydrochloride for a rare genetic disease, hyperphenylalanemeia. RDY also will cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030 thanks to a deal with the Science-Based Targets Initiative, the first Indian pharma company to sign up and the 3^rd in Asia. The targets are based on the levels of 2017-8 not the current ones. SBTI is a UN and charity backed carbon cutting scheme which so far has made deals with 17 drug firms worldwide and 472 companies overall.

*Astra Zeneca rose 7.6% today in UK trading to £84.31 because the Anglo-Swedish big pharma firm doesn't engage in huge price gouging in the US but fell 0.05% here. Glaxo is up 0.8%

*Also up despite its checkered history on drug pricing is Teva, hitting $9.55 at the open here, up 2.695%. It launched a once-daily inhaler for bronchial asthma in Canada (from which the US proposes to start buying drugs). Aermony including children and oldies will help people keep track of their respiclick squirts without having to remember when they last used the drug.

*Danish Novo Nordisk is doing another buyback campaign to run this month, for DKK 2.8 mn. NVO is up 1.73% on the news.

*China's Beigene is not involved in the rush to inoculate the population against Covid-19 but it still rose 10.3% here today hitting $312.5, a new high

*Compugen gained 5.8% to hit $16.07. CGEN is back in the gain column again.

*Japan's Eisai is up 1.42% to $92.24 today. ESALY is our Alzheimer's play.

*Canadian Zymeworks rose 2.9%. ZYME is being discovered after Martin Ferera spotted it first.

*The president having been treated with antibodies boosted Spanish Grifols, GRFS, which extracts them. If its good enough for Donald it's good enough for me.

Oil patch

*Oil prices rose 7% after Norway opted to increase its prices by 2%. Among those winning is our recent buy, Canadian Solar, which hit a new high of $38.2, up 5.3% at the opening. CSIQ.

*Also rising is Royal Dutch Shell B, RDS-B, up 2.35% and BP plc BP, up 1.05%. They are managing to both clean up their act with green investments while maintaining they mojo, while US oil majors dither.

*Mauritian Azure Power gained 1.9%. AZRE, seller of solar plants to India is Zacks momentum play.

*Exploration play Schlumberger Ltd is up about 2.5% at $15.87, still very cheap.

*Shipper Hoegh LNG preferreds, HMLP-A, is up 1.7% after it successfully sold Norwegian krone 160.5 mn unsecured 2025 notes at 93.61% of the interest rate from its shelf registration. It is 46% owned by parent Hoegh. The pref was recommended by Joe Shaefer.

Tel & Tech

*AT&T was down-rated to underweight by Key Bank analysts as “a value trap” but also tipped in the last issue of Barron's as a dividend aristocrat. It yields 7.6%.

*Tomra Systems, maker of recycling and sorting systems, gained 2.25% today.

*NTT Docomo will delay its delisting and the takeover by its parent NTT. The stock fell a bit but is stll up 10% from a week ago. I am too far away to do anything except wait for the offer.

*Naspers of Jo'burg is up fractionally. Prosus of Holland is up 3.5%, both reacting to news about TikTok having been run by a PRC official until early this year. Tencent rose 8.2% in Hong Kong.

*Multichoice is up another 9.21% today. MCHOY is being acquired by emerging markets funds.

*Mercado Libre rose 1.14% to $1091.6/sh. It is the Amazon of Latin America, selling stuff and financing sales.

*Nokia is up 2.5% and Ericsson 0.9%. Both are recovering from fear of South Korean Samsung.

*Israeli-US Tower Semiconductor gained 1.5% but TSEM still lags other rivals as further crackdowns are placed on Chinese chips. It suffered a hack attack last month but is now operating normally.

*Vodafone named Ruediger Grube to head its mast sub which is listing in Germany next year. VOD stock fell 3.11% in European trading to euros 3.16 despite this. In NY it rose 5.1%.

*Tesla rose and NIO did too, by 1.23%,

*Factory robot maker Fanuc of Japan gained 2.5% in Tokyo hitting ¥20,805. FANUY is up 0.2% here.

Finance

*Sumitomo Mitsui Finance Corp (SMFG) gained 1.15%. Mitsubishi (MSBHF) is up 0.5%.

*Sampo Oij of Finland is up 3.9% at $20.91 after hitting $21 at the opening.

*Swedish Investor A/B gained 1.4%. IVSBF owns a chunk of Nasdaq.

*Hong Kong's Hang Seng Bank rose 4.5% after China's Ping An bought another chunk of its parent HSBC Bank. My entire US brokerage team with HSBC have been let go and its ATMs don't work.

*Gold is rising over fear of an election stalemate.

*CBOE (Chicago Board Options Exchange) which I wrote up Friday as a safe way to play options trading, is up 1.2%. It is a mostly US outfit and hence a bonus stock.

*Panamanian multilateral trade finance outfit Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior gained 1.15% today

Miscellaneous Companies

*Cemex is up 3.2% on its solar cement initiative.

*Antofagasta of Chile is up 3.8%. ANCUF whose primary listing is in London, mines copper.

*Johnson Matthey plc gained 3.2% to $6495 today. JMPLY refines and sells precious metals.

*Nutrien is up 5.1%. Canada's NTR sells fertilizer and seeds wherever there are people who eat.

*Bakery giant Grupo Bimbo of Mexico is up 3%, GRBMF.

*Alimentation Couche-Tard, the Canadian global highway grocer vendor, is up pennies.

*Nintendo is off ~3% despite schools in my city being shut in 9 zip codes.

*MXCHY, Orbia Advance Corp, a maker of drip feed systems for farms, is up ~1%. It needs to relist under its new name as a sponsored ADR to start rising more.