SVS, which is now in special administration, was the sole broker to AIM-listed Inspirit (INSP) so it is now operating without a broker – contrary to AIM Rule 1, which technically means it should be suspended forthwith. You might think that a little harsh, since there is no way Inspirit could have known its broker would have the lights turned out for it by the FCA all of a sudden. I daresay AIM Regulation is allowing a grace period for former SVS clients to sign up with another spivvy bottom-end of AIM broker. Inspirit announced on Monday that it would make a further announcement in due course, noting the demise of its (now former) broker. But here is the thing...

Frontier Smart Technologies (FST) has updated including “trading in the first half of 2019 was in line with the revised expectations… Trading to date in the second half is also in line with expectations” and on “ongoing discussions with Science Group plc” following “as per the joint announcement of 30 July 2019 entitled 'Board Changes', Frontier was pleased to announce an agreed transition of the board, in conjunction with Science Group”. But the shares currently more than 10% lower, below 30p?!...

The report on Neil Woodford's second biggest holding, AIM Casino cdarling Burford (BUR) from Muddy Waters is - as you can see here - damning. Now here is a video where Carson Block explains the accounting tomfoolery that is at play. Enjoy.

Folks like Lyin’ Steve Sanderson the boss of AIM casino listed UK Oil & Gas (UKOG) and his shrinking band of chat-room cultist supporters still dream that Horse Hill will really turn out to be a Gatwick Gusher, not just another small scale UK onshore play. Today they should be doing some basic maths as UK has increased its stake in the asset from 50.6% to 85.6%.

We warned our readers yesterday that Muddy Waters was on the case. In fact we've been warning about Burford (BUR) for months on this website. The company responded with a pathetic RNS this morning which caused the shares to spike. Now they are tumbling as the Carson Block report is out and its damning. Carson opines:

I wrote recently that, as a bear, one should not worry too much about big names appearing on the share register of a company of which one is short and have noticed that when a company is on the verge of failing, it is often the case that some bright spark decides to have a go and hoover up some equity…

When the share price of a small company suddenly rises by more than 240% on no apparent news I am always left wondering who on earth is actually buying after such a huge rise. Often those who are end up getting severely stung, especially when the company itself issues a statement saying that it notes the share price rise and clarifies the current situation and that there is no current reason for it, and that is exactly what seems to be playing out with MySale Group (MYSL)...

Digital marketing group Be Heard (BHRD) is “pleased to announce that our unaudited first half results are in line with management's expectations and that we remain confident for the remainder to the year… and… the appointment of Cairn Financial Advisers as Nominated Adviser. Additionally, the group confirms Dowgate as sole broker to the company”…

This morning’s data from Morningstar is bad news for Neil Woodford, but perhaps not as bad as THIS if it turns out to refer to Burford Capital which is his second biggest holding in the gated Equity Income Fund (WEIF) – we shall find out at 8am. Yesterday saw his Income Focus Fund (WIFF) lose 0.4% in NAV per unit and WEIF dropped 0.54%.

Hello Share Pushers. The hotel game is a funny old business for share shifters like us. The sector rarely seems to act in unison. Where one chain does well, another doesn’t. And it’s hard to fathom the reasons. Except that you’ll have noticed that some pubs are full whereas the one down the road is empty. For some subconscious causes, one pub becomes trendy and its nearest rival does not. Same with hotels, I fancy...

In this third edition of the ShareProphets Radio podcast sponsored by Riverfort Global Capital, this week, in order I discuss the political threats to the UK stockmarket, interview the UK's best known chartist Zak Mir and then discuss all things Versarien (VRS), the most overpromoted stock on AIM,  with bear raider Lucian Miers. Enjoy. If you like this and can't wait seven days for more of the same you should listen to my Bearcast every day.

We have not heard from Equities First Holdings (EFH) for a while, but regular ShareProphets readers may remember the scandal which emerged five years ago whereby directors of AIM companies announced they were buying shares when, if fact, they were selling vast numbers of them to EFH with the right, but not the obligation, to buy them back. Such fine enterprises as Rob Terry fraud Quindell (QPP – now Watchstone), Igas (IGAS, under Andrew “piggy” Austin), Cloudbuy (CBUY), Angle (AGL), Optimal Payments (OPP) and, of course, IQE (IQE) were all dragged in. Well now Drew Nelson, CEO of IQE has done another deal with EFH – and the announcement stinks. Has the company learned nothing from last time, when all of the above companies had to restate and restate again?

Legendary bear raider Carson Block, aka Muddy Waters Research, is set to publish a bombshell dossier tomorrow at 8 AM GMT. Given the tweet below there is fevered speculation that it is a London listed company and speculation is centring on Neil Woodford dog Burford (BUR) shares in which are off by 15% as I write. Two things to note:

Interior furnishings company Walker Greenbank (WGB) has updated including even “excluding accelerated income under IFRS 15 and income from apparel contracts, core licensing income was up approximately 12.2 per cent”. The shares are though currently slightly lower, at around 86p…

There are dramatic events today at the Greek Hovel. More on that elsewhere and later. In the podcast I look at IQE (IQE) and Equitites First Holdings, at Iconic Labs  (ICON), the SVS fallout, Vela (VELA) and Tertiary Minerals (TYM) and at Sirius Minerals (SXX). And also at share options in general and why I oppose them in all cases.

Cosmetics company Warpaint London (W7L) has updated including that it “continues to see encouraging international sales growth, in particular in the EU and the US”. But what about overall performance? – the shares are currently below 60p, approaching 30% lower on the day. Uh oh…

If I write about anything that is consumer-facing on this website, you can bet somewhere in the text will be a semi-funny joke about why I have not contributed directly to said company's corporate results because I am almost personally post-consumption. Naturally, that does not apply to the rest of the family and because my excuse about the importance of the global corporate earnings season was wearing a bit thin this school holiday, in lieu of a holiday to the Costa del Horrible, the Domino's Pizza (DOM) online capability has recently acquired a new customer…

Analyst David Keller argues that as humans, we want certainty in our decision making and investors like to believe that experts exist that know what will happen. In reality, this is not likely to be the case. Investors and experts tend to be wrong around half of the time. The game is to recognize when you have an incorrect position. Most people take a position and then worry about the risks when things start going wrong.

The longer the signals in capital markets go haywire under the influence of 'monetary stimulus', the bigger is the cumulative economic cost. That is one big reason why this fourth Fed stimulus - in the present already-longest (but lowest-growth)of super-long business cycles - is so dangerous...

You have to have a tiny bit of sympathy for Neil Woodford (just a tiny bit, mind) this morning after yesterday’s market sell-off as the FTSE 100 dropped 2.5%: unless you were in gold (smile….) everything that moved was heading south. So it is little surprise that Woodford’s Income Focus Fund dropped 2.63% in NAV per unit – even if the drop was a little more pronounced...