Nomura analysts in Hong Kong shifted gears on ASEAN Asian markets this morning.

“Our recommendation takes on a more defensive characteristic. We note the improving earnings revision trend in Thailand and the weakening credit creation trend [ed: and political risk] in Indonesia. We recommend being Overweight Singapore and Malaysia(upgraded from Neutral), while being Underweight Philippines and Indonesia (downgraded from Overweight) and Neutral Thailand (upgraded from Underweight). “ 

China gold dealers re-opened after “Golden Week” but the price did not vary. It may be that the orders from regional centers where people vacationed have not yet filtered in. It may be that the price level was not adjusted because of government pressure. It is still at a $4 per ounce premium over levels in the rest of the world, which rose during the Chinese holiday and the Hong Kong demonstrations. Gold in the free world is now at $1223/oz vs $1227 in China. 

Now the gravity of the break-in has been made public. It's not just me! It turns out that many accounts at “the world's local bank” were breached.

Here is the notice:
​”HSBC has been notified of the theft of card payment data due to a computer system breach at a major home improvement retailer. As a result of this security breach, your card number MAY have been compromised. We have issued you a new card with a new card number to safeguard your account from fraudulent activity.”

The home improvement retailer was Home Depot where I shop, but the bank is too polite to say it.

*Trying to spot the next Alibaba in India is useless, in my opinion. Rather than scanning the horizon for the next big thing in internet or software, we recommend sticking to players more familiar with the scene, for example, Infosys, an Indian software maharajah already. It is one of two Indian firms which have chipped in 100 bn rupees to a venture fund (the other firm is Wipro) alongside the New Delhi govt. The fund and other Indian plays are now attracting other Indian money (from the Tata Group, for example) as well as Silicon Valley capital.

INFY was downrated to neutral today by Citi analysts in India who write that “positives are adequately reflected in the stock” price. It warned that “consistently strong performance is required for further re-rating.” However it raised its target price of 4065 rupees/sh from the current level of 3650, which reflects the taste of India for gods with many arms. In India INFY is 500209 and in Bombay trading it lost nearly 5% today, more or less wiping out half the rise since the return of Nandan Nilekani to head the firm.

*Meanwhile back in Hong Kong where the tear gas is lifting and student protesters are drifting, we have a horse in the race too, Tencent, TCTZF, which is aiming squarely at on-line and smartphone commerce, to battle BABA.

*Ach du Lieber. The Florida pension program, 3^rd largest in the US, plans to reduce its funds under management by Pimco from $1.9 bn, after Bill Gross left. Pimco is owned by Allianz, AZSEY, a German insurer whose stock appears to have risen on the news or maybe because the German firm did not write policies for Ebola risk.

*Martin Ferera writes from British Columbia:

The news flow Victoria (BC provincial capital) induces uncertainty as the legislature discusses tax and regulations. Petronas threatens to pull out (despite spending billions on interior gas field) because of regulatory obstacles. This is a problem for the province. Our government promised that the bounty from LNG would provide tax money to pay for more services, helping it win the last election.
Petronas and BC are in a game of bluff over tax and regulatory rules. Nothing yet about approving pipelines or projects.
This summer Apache announced it wants to sell its stake in a BC LNG project in partnership with Chevron. But no buyer will emerge until the tax and regulatory regime is fixed. Propects for BC LNG are illiquid.
Meanwhile Veresen's project looks straightforward in comparison. No need to negotiate tax and regulations; no need to get “first nations” on board for pipeline building; no risk to political careers in Oregon. All it needs is US FERC approval (next year) and then a simple pipeline connection to Malin, Oregon (210 miles long) about 20% of the BC pipeline distances, and over much less tricky terrain). Then they build the LNG facility (using tested technology).

The biggest issue facing Veresen is winning a long-term supply contract and getting its customer to become a Jordan Cove minority owner. It's not a slam dunk, but the prospects look encouraging.

Ed: FCGYF is down 3.21% today.

*Teva allegedly is “in play” and up today because it initiated a “rolling” fast-track process for getting FDA new drug approval for an acetamineophen-less extended-release hydrocodone bitartrate pain drug, CEP 33237. Fast-track is for drugs desperately needed. TEVA will complete the process which reports results as they come in before the end of 2014.

*Nomura cut Banco Santander to underweight from neutral. This may reflect its downbeat view of ASEAN economies crossing the Pacific to hit Latin America emerging markets where SAN is big. But most of SAN business is in developed Europe, like Spain and Britain. SAN moreover beat Citi in spinning off its USA subprime car loan unit.

*Vodafone may get a crack at buying Italian broadband company Fastweb from its owner,Swisscom. The price is ~5 bn euros ($6.3 bn.) Reuters reports that VOD is interested.

*From yesterday's Wall Street Journal:

A Novartis cancer protection treatment using gene therapy creates new T-cells that recognize and fight cancer in a patient's own blood. Reprogrammed genes from each individual cancer patient are combined with inactivated virus cells produce a “chimeric antigen receptor” (CAR). CAR cells are then grown in a test-tube to be re-infused into the patients' bloodstream, usually after chemotherapy. Then the CAR cells hunt cancer cells in the patient's body and kill them. NVS is a leader in this biotech development in competition with Juno Therapeutics of Seattle.

Still unknown is how long the CAR hunt continues, because other stem call therapies also can prolong patient survival. There are also severe potential side-effects in re-infusion, affecting heart rates and blood pressure. Two patients in a Juno trial at Memorial Sloan-Kettering died in March, resulting in a temporary halt in work at both companies.

Since the CAR cells are tailor-made for each patient, they will be expensive. Pfizer is trying to create generic CAR cells which are not bespoke for individual patients.

NVS will lose 3 executive committee members to GlaxoSmithKline and Eli Lilly after the swap of assets, with GSK beciming the employer of the former head of OTC drugs, Brian McNamara.

Separately, Fierce Pharma reports that despite the Swiss public uproar last year, NVS and the other top Basel drug firm Roche have the highest paid execs in the country.

*GSK is investigating another batch of corruption charges covering the United Arab Emirates where its commission-earning salesmen may have bribed doctors and hospitals to prescribe its drugs.

*I got an e-mail from Peter French, the CEO of Benitec Biopharma in Australia. Here are extracts about the anonymous contributor to Stock Gumshoe who first tipped us off to the BTEBY share, and who then attacked how it is running its FDA trials (which I published a note about yesterday).

Dr French replied that Dr KSS's “has been very supportive of Benitec¹s science in the past but has been driven to extremes of frustration over the recent time by what he sees are delays to the trial caused by my own obstruction, despite many attempts to explain that this is a trial that is being run by clinical sites over which Benitec has no direct input into patient recruitment, and they are complying with the FDA-approved clinical trial criteria.

“I am a personal holder of significant Benitec stock and have nothing to gain and much to lose should Benitec not progress. I am as motivated as anyone to prove Benitec¹s science clinically to ultimately produce positive outcomes for millions of patients.”  The e-mail has other information we cannot publish without facing a lawsuit.

Trading alert: I paid $21.70 for CRH plc of Ireland this morning. This is a 12-mo low (because of the euro as well as concern over the company). This is like a bottom-fisher finding a 4-leaf clover. 

Fund notes:

*Mexican REIT Fibra Uno is doubling up on the Insugentes Corridor in Mexico City, adding 2 new properties to the two it already owns. The new buildings will cost 288 mn pesos and produce revenues of ~25 mn per year, both marginally higher than the ones FBASF already owns. It also announced plans to upgrade the Plaza Cabeley mall in Baja California at a cost of 10 mn pesos.