I start with my training walk of yesterday for rogue bloggers for Woodlarks. i managed 12.5 laps before the sun got to me. In two weeks I must do 50. My next big walk is Tuesday - we are at 36% of target so please do donate HERE. Next up in hargreaves Lansdown (HL.), why not screw your customers as they seem to like it? Then onto share sales in Skinbiotherapeutics (SBTX) by Optibiotix (OPTI) and what appears to be a scandal involving broker SP Angel. I shall be going to the FCA tomorrow to ask for an enquiry. Finally is Steve O'Hara a liar like Lyin' James Draper of Bidstack (BIDS). Drunken Sailor who is suffering a GroupThink induced lockdown dementia thinks so and also that I am a ramper and should tell folks to sell. I discuss Drunken's concerns in light of a chat with O'Hara and an email from him which I read out.

Banking shares aren’t exactly in favour at the moment, with concerns over the lasting impact that Covid-19 is going to have on the economy in general, and as if that wasn’t enough, any banks wirth major dealings in Hong Kong have suffered a double whammy due to the escalation of the situation with China.

And now from Wales, by just 30 yards, it is my new, I hope, weekly show. This costs 99p per episode to access and you can either listen or watch very sparky interviews with bear raider Lucian Miers and Colin Bird of Jubilee Metals (JLP), Xtract Resources (XTR) and Galileo Resources (GLR) as well as a devestating new expose of Novacyt (NCYT) explaining why its shares will collapse by 90% and why its CEO's interests are directly opposed to that of shareholders.  You can access the show HERE

In yesterday's bearcast I discussed why Boohoo (BOO) did not move from the AIM casino to the main market. Some interpret this as me saying the shares are a buy. Au contraire on a PE of 60 the risk reward trade off looks dreadful.  Yesterday i recorded a video with Boohoo's greatest critic Matt Earl and that should go live within 24 hours and that will, I suspect, raise many more questions that bulls cannot answer. Now the Sunday Telegraph brings news of US legal action and I publish the Ciurt filings in full below. Ouch!

I had to use the ShareProphets search engine to find the last time I wrote exclusively about banking behemoth HSBC (HSBA).  Remarkably it was back in 2015 here  when I employed the quite witty title of 'HSBC: Hooray Some Bloomin’ Cost cuts'.  Sometimes I really think I should retire as I have set the historic barrier too high...

On 11 May 2020, St James House (SJH) provided an update that the subscription originally announced on 31 January 2020 remained outstanding.  It explained that:

Here are six long reads that have nothing to do with shares. Put the kettle on, find a comfy chair. You have the time, don't you? 

I noted last week that whilst most precious metals experts were saying this was the time to buy gold Jordan Roy-Byrne of TheDailyGold.com was suggesting a correction may be on the cards. Well, gold did indeed slip – as did the gold miner ETFs (so full marks to JRB) and then on Friday it all bounced back again. Was that it?

The most read non-Tom article this week is Gold – a correction? What to do with Centamin and Ariana? by Nigel Somerville at a sensational first place or  number four including Bearcasts and Tom's new shareshow.

In today's podcast I tempt fate - as I am about to record a video with Matt Earl - in defending Boohoo's (BOO) boss. I discuss the shares vs cash debate, Rolls Royce (RR.), sharp share price moves, ref Skinbiotherapeutics (SBTX) and what the real unemployment number will be as furloughing is wound down. And now for a long training walk for the Woodlarks walk in 2 weeks time. We are now at 36% of target: please donate today HERE

A broken clock is right twice a day

I noted that in terms of the Eurasia Mining (EUA) scandal, my old friend, the Sith Lord Zak Mir played his part in the promote only becuase he was obeying orders. Now I see that he is pushing shares in almost insolvent Powerhouse Energy (PHE) ahead of its merger with almost insolvent Wastte2tricity. Peter Brailey exposed the ludicrous nature of Zak's ramping HERE yesterday.

I called PetroTel (PTAL) a sell after the update and revelation of a contingent liability of forward oil sales at the start of May. Here we are only 3 weeks later and we get an update at 5:44pm on a Friday. I call that “no one’s watch o’clock” – but I was. It really confirms just how bollox’ed this company is, regardless of how the share price has moved in recent weeks.

Currently compounds to tackle obesity, high cholesterol and diabetes developer, OptiBiotix Health (OPTI) has announced results for the 13 months to 31^st December 2019 (having moved its year-end from November), emphasising it “has met a significant number of important objectives that continue to build value for shareholders”. The shares have currently responded a bit lower to 62p, but the numbers are historic and look at the trading trajectory now...

From the FCA's spreadsheet of short positions required to be disclosed to it, the following shows the shorted AIM shares with positions from 2019 and thus far in 2020 (by net short position %, those in bold not on the list at the start of 2020) – and if this position has increased (red), reduced (green) or remained unchanged (black) since last week...

It was announced yesterday afternoon that Link Fund Solutions sold 0.52% of AIM-listed Purplebricks (PURP) on Wednesday. Why is this significant? Well, this is the stock overhang from the ex-Woodford Equity Income Fund (WEIF) and there is still 11.93% to go.

Hello, Share Swampers. As the virus continues to dampen the city, the big question still remains. Should we be in cash or shares? Of course, the answer lies in between the two poles. You certainly need enough cash to carry you through this dodgy period, however long it might last. But if you follow the golden rule of always having at least 10% of your bag in cash this should not be a worry to most of us.

I refer, of course, to smokers. Before Malcolm gets on his high horse, hear me out. What I say is logical if a bit crazy. In that vein I also discuss the mad idea of buying the ten worst stocks on AIM and ask for your nominations. I start with Catenae Innovation (CTEA), Tern (TERN), Clear Leisure (CLP) and Attis Oil & Gas (AOGL). I also discuss the crazy idea of buying FinnCap (FCAP) shares. I look at the Powerhouse Energy (PHE) ramp and at the curious case of Anexo (ANX) placing today as directors dump shares. The Woodlarks walk appeal is now at 34% please, as I start another training walk this afternoon, donate HERE.

AIM-listed Walcom (WALG), one of the handful of remaining members of our AIM-China Filthy Forty has once again updated the market over its grim financial position……and the CEO loan which has still not arrived. This melodrama has been ongoing since January – one wonders whether the company thinks that if it drags on long enough the Fat Lady, who has been well warmed up for months, will finally be too hoarse to sing. But I fancy the denouement is now on the way.