On 26 September AIM-listed Vast Resources (VAST) released an update on its Chiadzwa Community Diamond Concession in Zimbabwe. The market reacted very positively, marking the shares up from 0.118p the previous close to end the day at 0.2p and the rise has continued to the current 0.345p. In addition, a subscription at 0.2p was announced alongside news of a finance facility worth $13.5 million which was due to be signed last week….except it hasn’t as yet. Oh dear – on the principle that bad news is always delayed I am a little nervous of the recent share price strength already.

One day fund manager types will realise that shares in the staffing space are geared plays on the hope level in the world. I see updates from sector peers PageGroup (PAGE) and Robert Walters (RWA) are decidedly shabby in nature, citing a bunch of macro-level issues as reasons why their profits are not set to continue to blast strongly forward…

Motorpoint (MOTR), “the UK's largest independent vehicle retailer”, has updated including of “a material increase in market share”, “strong current stock profile” and “a new share buyback programme, of up to £10 million”. The shares have nudged higher, but still below 220p compares to approaching 250p early last month…

Yesterday the FTSE All-Share, Neil Woodford’s benchmark for his Equity Income and Income Focus unit trusts, put on 0.43% but his funds put on just 0.22% and 0.28% in NAV per unit respectively. It is a familiar story – when the market rises he rises less and when the market falls Woodford funds tank. Whilst the market his recovered a little from its wobbles of last week, Woodford Equity Income’s total value still sits below the £3 billion threshold, having been £3.7 billion when it was gated. And Neil continues to charge his management fees.

There are two guests in this week's show, First up I discuss recent events at Bahamas Petroleum (BPC). then I discuss sexism in the City and Big Sofa (BST) with its boss Kirsty Fuller. Then it is on to Adam Reynolds where we cover Sosandar (SOS), Optibiotix (OPTI), Big Sofa (BST), Yourgene (YGEN) and Concepta (CPT). It is during this segment that the cat and the rat feature.  If you like this and can't wait seven days for more of the same you should listen to my Bearcast every day.

In today's podcast I discuss the latest deranged rantings of Chris Frazer, the CEO of Sirus Minerals (SXX). The guy is a total knobhead, a man wheeling out the most lamentable excuses for his own failure. I also discuss a piss poor and incomplete trading statement from smug Sam Smith's FinnCap (FCAP) and look at two AIM zeros in waiting: Sound Energy (SOU) and Funding Circle (FCH) 

We were promised news of the investment by China's BIGT into Versarien (VRS)"on or around its AGM". The AGM has gone and come and still no-one can find a web presence or phone number for BIGT or its supposed backer CIGUI. So folks ask perfectly reasonable questions which boss Neill Ricketts declines to ansswer as you can see below. Why are you so evasive Neill?

Having asked for readers tips for 2019 for the amazing prize of a meal with Tom Winnifrith (or the chance to fob it off on someone you don't like) HERE, the following is a monthly update on performance (to be eligible needed to have selected, on a per username basis, a buy & sell pick from the LSE or AIM Casino and the stocks not to have been suspended at the commencement of 2019)...

Hello, Share Baggers. One of my first jobs as a cub reporter in the early ‘sixties was to interview the wartime flying ace Douglas Bader. He was opening an American export - Doncaster’s first ten-pin bowling alley - for Top Rank. So a new craze began with everyone wanting to try this hi-tech version of skittles. But after a few years, the novelty seemed to wear off...

Roger Lawson of ShareSoc sent me a present the other day. Nope, not another lawyer’s letter but a copy of his new book “Business Perspective Investing… And why financial numbers are not important when picking shares.” A snappy title if ever there was one. I do think numbers matter but it is not a bad read. To demonstrate what he means, Mr Lawson has listed 17 reasons why he does NOT want to own or buy shares in Burford (BUR) and it is nothing to do with the Muddy Waters affair. The 17 reasons Neil Woodford ignored are:

In today's podcast I discuss the ominous silence from Brady (BRY), dare to disagree with Chris "three brains" Bailey on SIG (SHI), look at Bidstack (BIDS) and consider the, incomplete, Q3 trading statement from Audioboom (BOOM), pondering when its next bailout placing will be.

Previously writing on Time Out Group (TMO), last month I noted balance sheet deterioration after interims showing net revenue only 10% higher than in the corresponding 2018 period to £24.7 million, a little changed attributable loss of £11.4 million and £16.6 million of net investing spending more than depreciation + amortisation and concluded, with the shares at around 128p, I still think Woodford - albeit eventually, for the wrong reason and at a lower price! - was correct to sell. Now “Proposed Placing”…

I am indebted to Pierotlunaire for his post over the weekend on my piece Woodford Dog BenevolentAI: as predicted......but it is good news really! for the paperwork for Temasek’s investment into this cash-hungry dog has arrived at Companies House and as expected Temasek has take its pound of flesh.

The “good news” for Neil Woodford was that BenevolentAI had managed to attract an investment of $90 million from Temasek. The valuation of BenevolentAI was hit for six, dropping to around $1 billion (from $2 billion) but the other piece of good(ish) news for Neil was that this would drop his unquoted investments held in his Equity Income Fund, which was at the time well over its limit of 10% of the fund – partially because the dodgy Guernsey listings had been scrapped. But of course it also meant that book value of his investments in BenevolentAI had halved at the stroke of a pen.

My comrade Evil Banksta has today exposed how AIM listed Bulletin Board darling Bidstack (BIDS) has misled investors and is also clearly sitting on a lack of profits and sales warning. For the former naughtiness the FCA should open an enquiry at once into possible market abuse, for the latter AIM regulation must force a statement. Being a fine upstanding citizen I have today written to the regulators. My missive follows:

I last wrote about the 'leading European supplier of building materials' SIG (SHI) back in early July, observing that it was failing to cost-cut its way to growth due to the business being operationally/economically geared. Well the latter points are very obvious today with a trading update which notes a 'deterioration in trading conditions has accelerated over recent weeks, and political and macro-economic uncertainty has continued to increase'. Oh dear...but today's 22% share price fall has pushed the shares below 100 pence...

If you are going to “ride this bull,” make sure you do it with a strategy in place... for when, not if, you get thrown...

As Andrew Monk of VSA, rightly, says in his morning email, Shareprophets and I do not need defending but he does so anyway. Punters are pissed off that we reveal placings such as that of Reabold (RBD) last week. Would they honestly prefer that companies just ramped shares via ramptastic RNS's and podcasts with Justin the Clown so they overpaid in the secondary market ahead of a discounted placing to City insiders and spivs? Really? Do my critcs really enjoy such financial flaggelation so others can prosper?  Anyhow Monk goes on thus: 

Let us be clear: bulletin board darling Bidstack (BIDS) has flouted AIM rules, it sitting on a profits warning & is grossly overvalued.

Hello, share trippers. It’s not been long since I discussed BT (BT.) on this upstanding website. However, the shares have been rising lately and, as a lot of us are in this stock for its hefty dividend, it’s perhaps appropriate to review the chances of a still chirpier price...

Almost but not yet. Pro tem I look at the ethics and tax affairs of soon to float AirNb and then at this week's utterly dishonest journalism in the Sunday Times, Burford (BUR) and the issue of revenue recognition.