Previously writing on “leading direct marketer of promotional products in North America, the UK and Ireland”, 4imprint (FOUR), in April with the shares  towards 1900p I concluded including with even it considering “it is still too early to assess the duration and full economic impact resulting from COVID-19” - I suggest the valuation more than high enough for now. The shares have since reached around 2600p but are falling back today on the back of half-year results…

A “Trading Update” from self-styled “the UK’s leading tile specialist” Topps Tiles (TPT) – and the shares currently at 49.2p, approaching 14% higher…

Shares in latest tip here, Pensana Rare Earths (PRE) – from Friday at a 32p offer price – have risen strongly and there has been an announcement from the company…

Legendary commentator Marc Faber does not mince his words. Whatever is being done to pump the stockmarket, the real economy has been crushed and will not bounce back. He states: “The economy is currently in a dead-cat bounce and that peak economic levels seen in 2018-2019 will not come back for a long-time… and by a long-time… years.”

I start with this explanation which relates to events at Eqtec (EQT). By the way is PL really saying that some investors were given information that the market and other participants in the placing did not have ahead of the placing? For that is what he posted on the comments section. Surely that too is a bit naughty? I then move onto Nigel Somerville’s purchase of Golden Prospect Precious Metals (GPM) and discuss that before turning to the shocking behaviour of the CMA with respect to funeral pricing which appears to give providers – including Dignity (DTY) – a license to overcharge going forward. That is dead wrong and a grave error that surely cannot be allowed to continue?

Provider of technology-based training and support to the defence and regulated civilian sectors, Pennant International (PEN) previously updated last month, though a trading update for the first half of 2020 today sees the shares currently at 36p, more than 7.5% lower…

Yet another Red Flag was hoisted above AIM-listed Yu Group (YU.) Towers this morning as it announced its pleasure at appointing SP Angel as Nomad/Broker. Whilst I have little time for any Nomad, surely ex-appointee Shore Capital carried a little more gravitas than the Nomad to Versarian (VRS) and Eurasia Mining (EUA) not to mentiuon the MySquar )MYSQ) fraud where it turned a blind eye to crime, and SP Angel’s broker side has been hit with the scandal at Skinbiotherapeutics (SBTX). But did Shore Capital walk, or was it pushed?

You have probably already figured out that I am not a great biblical scholar, but reading the thoughts of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) on the funeral sector today reminded me of the words of Saint Augustine who recounted that he would pray – in his earlier days – “Lord, make me chaste—but not yet.” I do not want to come over as aggressively harsh so I will presage these thoughts with the observation that everyone impacted by the health consequences of the pandemic has my sympathy. However, the CMA has fudged its in-depth market investigation into funeral services in a major way – to the detriment of the average consumer – by citing the pandemic as a reason not to be fiddling with the sector at this moment in time…

Previously updating on Berkeley Energia (BKY) last month with the shares at 29p we noted there remain clear bureaucratic hurdles to overcome but at least progress was being made and economics in support of the project increasing given the current macro situation. Now “Urbanism Licence Granted for Retortillo”…

Hello, Share Plungers. As we all know, gold prices have recently been reaching record highs as a hedge against falling GDPs and currency problems after the virus. One of the lucky miners is Barrick Gold (0R22)…

Heroic Tim Martin of JD Wetherspoon (JDW) has again waded into battle against the media and political classes in their GroupThink bubbles, this time on Covid. He offers up some hard data on his bars and infection which appears to challenge the narrative we are told, which is justifying policies that throttle his industry. Well done Tim. The great man writes:

I discuss this ethical question as my brother in law salivates at the idea of picking up a gun and heading off to fight the invading Infidels.  Should I sell Ariana (AAU) or not? I look at wider gold issues. I cover Versarien (VRS), ASOS (ASC), the so called economic recovery, and finally Verditek (VFTK) where I am vindicated by today’s fess up but it is not enough of a mea culpa, boardroom heads should be rolling. The stock is, pro tem, uninvestable.

Shares in self-styled “creative audio-visual company” MediaZest (MDZ) are rising again today – currently to 0.07p, with that comparing to 0.045p only a week ago. There has since been a “Project Completion” announcement…

On February 4 2018, I asked if Murray d’Almeida of Management Resource Solutions (MRS) would care to explain his links to an outfit called Halcyon as you can see HERE. Natch the FCA and AIM Regulation, the Chocolate Teapots and the Oxymorons, did nothing about this or numerous other matters we raised. Now Management Resource is no more but might the authorities care to reconsider looking at those responsible for its collapse, those who made money from it before the collapse, notably D’Almeida’s business partner, and those City advisors who enabled the sh*t show to run and run by turning a blind eye, or - in the case of legal tosser Peter Reynolds of Fladgate in threatening a journalist who exposed this scam (viz me) – I ask in light of the article below from the Australian press.

I said yesterday that this correction in gold and gold stocks was not a time for worry, it was time to get out the buying boots. Gold tumbled all the way down to around $1875 per ounce overnight – quite a drop from the recent peak of $2067 and gold stocks were pretty much in freefall yesterday. Some corrections mean hanging around the same prices for an age but this was a good old sell-off. As I write, gold has recovered to $1935…

Verditek (VDTK) has been forced by my expose of last week to admit today that it DID mislead investors with regards to 2019 contract wins and revenues…

Online travel group Hostelworld (HSW) states it “is pleased to announce its interim results for the period ended 30 June 2020”. Hmmm – how ‘pleasing’ can they be?…

Last month I observed that in terms of the shares of fund manager M&G (MNG) I was ‘taking it off my personal potential buy list’ despite having previously post spin-off loved up a 250p target price potential (a level effectively hit on Valentines Day earlier this year). As today’s first half numbers show, you still get a lots of assets under management and administration (AUMA) at £339 billion for its £4.5 billion market cap (to save you the maths, it trades at 1.3% of AUMA) and a 6p interim dividend should put it well on the way to generate a high single digit dividend yield. So far so good, right?…

Gold miner in Kazakhstan Altyn (ALTN) “is pleased to announce 2Q20 production update” and it emphasises “ore mining output up a significant 55% quarter-over-quarter with 143,400 tons of ore mined in 2Q20 (92,324 tons in 1Q20). The positive momentum in production growth is expected to be maintained over the coming quarters”. Why then have the shares responded little changed?…

I am sure we all think that the bank we bank with is useless. But changing banks is such a pain in the arse. I’ve experienced it firsthand. Direct debits go awry, auto payments on your card bounce, you have to remember a new PIN, and so we don’t bother. But boy, Barclays (BARC) in the Isle of Man is in a class of its own for being useless.