*Mazor Robotics, the Israeli maker of spine and brain surgery guidance software recently added to the portfolio, sold 11 of its Renaissance systems, six in the USA during its Q2, producing revenues of $8.3 mn, up 6% year/year although one of the US sales was a trade-in and was not booked for the quarter. We bought into MZOR after its key commercial deal with Medronic plc, a company we owned before its spinoff, which gave MZOR $47.5 mn in cash to advance its new platform, Mazor x plus a Medtronics order for 15 of its new systems to be delivered in H2. Mazor presented data on two trials at the International Meeting on Advanced Spine tech last month. While sales were up and recurring revenue for parts and service hit $4.2 mn up 31%. MZOR is still losing money, in the amount of $4.1 mn this year vs a mere $2.1 mn last year. Per share this came to 9 cents vs 5 cents. It has $47.6 mn in cash on hand now including the initial equity investment by Medtronics of $11.9 mn. The next payment comes this month. MZOR reports in International Financial Reporting Standards and, as usual produces adjusted figures showing that it really only lost $3.9 mn but also equal to 9 cents/sh mainly because of the impact of options issued to its staff.

*Bonus stock Ormat, Israeli owned but incorporated in Nevada, is a maker of geothermal energy power plants and storage systems for recovered solar and wind energy. ORA Q2 numbers were brilliant, sales at $159.9 mn, up 13.8% y/y. Its older electric generating arm accounted for $104 mn of the total, up 14.4% and produced 11% more power, 1.3 mn megaWatt hours. Its margin rose to 41.1% from 36.1% a year ago thanks to improved efficiences.

That resulted in bang up operating income up over 34% to $51.9 mn, 49 cents/sh vs 28 cents a year earlier. It won new contracts in New Zealand and bought a plant in Guadaloupe, the Caribbean island belonging to France. It also signed major deals in Kenya and its US home state.

CEO Isaac Angel (who belongs to the Israeli group which owns a majority of the stock) upped guidance for the year to $620-640 mn in revenues, mostly from electric generation. He estimated adjusted cash flow (EBITDA, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) at $310.320 mn for the full year. He did not forecast profits. ORA also initiated a dividend this year and it will be paid Aug 30 at 7 cents/quarter. ORA is at $48.25, up 5.5% today and up 20% from our buy price.

*Count on a former general like the CEO of Teva, Erev Vigodman, to show Napoleonic audacity. It has just announced that in addition to the generics arm of Allergan it will pay $40.5 bn for it will also buy AGN's US distribution network, Anda, the 4^th largest in the US, for $500 mn. This will close this quarter pending approvals. Anda distributes generics, OTC products, and patented and specialty drugs to US pharmacies, hospitals, clinics, doctors, and nursing homes, from centers in MS, OH, and FL, and will be operated as a stand-alone business by TEVA. The deal is subject to anti-trust approvals. TEVA bonds were downrated to Baa2 by Moody's which may be related or just a reflection of Teva's earlier borrowing binge.