Having demanded we bring back this contest, once again, Juicin Drumroll failed to win last week and so for the fourth time the semi naked photo of Britain's top share blogger before lunchtime, thirsty Paul Scott, went elsewhere. Come on Juicin this contest is for you please try harder....if you don't win this week we are dropping it.

Hello, Share Scrapers. Let’s air a few thoughts on the vexed question of the difference between selling or buying shares and the average price we see on our screens - the spread. The width of some spreads can put us off selling at a time we really want to sell - and that’s a dangerous choice to face.

“Ten Lifestyle Group plc (AIM: TENG), a leading technology-enabled lifestyle and travel platform for the world's wealthy and mass affluent, provides an update on trading activities ahead of the company's full year results for the twelve months ended 31 August 2018. The board expects net revenues for the financial year to be in line with market expectations”. Er, ok – what about bottom-line performance?...

It is not new news that the retail backdrop is challenging but the last time I mentioned homewares and related company Dunelm (DNLM) I confirmed that despite my continued inability to buy anything from one of its emporiums, I was loving the shares up.

My long term bearishness about TrakM8 (TRAK) a company that issues misleading RNS’s, makes ludicrous acquisitions as it racks up its debts and never translates profits (a matter of opinion) into cash (a matter of fact, unless you are an AIM China fraud) is well documented here.  Of course,  Thirsty Paul Scott had cosy chats with the management and knew better than a "nutcase of the first order". Today the shares have tanked to a new multi year low after another dire statement.

No doubt Cynical Bear who has called Xeros Technology (XSG) superbly, as a sell, will be a smug fellow tomorrow as this Neil Woodford Dog announces its interim results. The share price action is telling you that folks already know the worst – shareholders have to bail it out again or it will be going down well before the Christmas decorations go up.

Shares in FireAngel Safety Technology (FA.), the former Sprue Aegis, are currently more than 30% higher today, at 77.5p, on the back of a “Partner Agreement” announcement…

RedT Energy (RED) has announced that “as part of a competitive selection process, the company has been selected as a preferred supplier of energy storage solutions for UK public sector projects”…

Events are moving fast on matters relating to historic abuse at Warwick School and that has distracted me somewhat. But in this podcast I look at Toople (TOOP), have more thoughts on TrakM8 (TRAK) and at CyanConnode (CYAN) where the placing has not happened yet. But it will. And soon.

I’m a big fan of Aston Martin cars and it is one of the most famous brands from the UK, but I can’t see myself rushing to buy shares when the IPO takes place in early October. More details on exactly how the floatation will be structured should become available when the car maker publishes a prospectus around September 20, but it is expected that it will be seeking a valuation of around £5 billion.

Technology provider to the architectural, engineering, construction and digital marketing industries, Elecosoft (ELCO) has announced results for the first half of 2018 and that “in light of the company's first half performance, we look forward to the remainder of 2018 with confidence”. The shares have currently responded, er, more than 5% lower, towards 80p?…

Shareholders in AIM-listed Adam Reynolds stable Sosandar (SOS) have an AGM to look forward to next Tuesday, and I am very hopeful that a trading update will accompany proceedings. At the last count the company reported quarter on quarter growth of 70-odd percent – a remarkable achievement, even for a near start-up. The market is clearly hoping for more of the same, although I’m not sure that rate of growth will have been repeated over the summer holidays. But it has been growing like mad – and we loyal shareholders have done very well.

Goals Soccer Centres (GOAL) has announced results for the first half of 2018, noting a “challenging H1” but “trading in H2 has started well” and “delighted by the underlying performance of the sites where we have invested”…

It is true that it is not normally a great idea to short a company’s shares simply on the basis that its value is crazy because, as we all know, crazy can get a lot crazier. As a general rule it pays to wait for weakness in a crazy share price of, say 25%, rather than attempt to call the top.

Hello, Share Jumpers. Years ago, before useful comparison websites, I used to spend hours getting quotes for my car and house insurance. One outfit that was always among the cheapest was a new firm called Hastings (HSTG). It also seemed to be breaking away from the stuffy appearance of insurance firms in those days.

Having top sliced our holdings in Optibiotix (OPTI) a few weeks ago I see the shares are back at 94p today despite it having served up cracking news last week. I am asked if I am panicked? Not at all. I fully expect the shares to bounce sharply on more good news. Are we buying more? No I stated clearly, I wanted to build up our cash reserves as I am worried about the market. That has not changed.  Yesterday CEO Steve O'Hara did an interview with Proactive and if you are worried watch it, below, and you should be greatly reassured.

The great success that was the 2018 UK Investor Show saw six 'Dragon's Den' sessions where a number of CEOs each gave a 1 minute (well, supposed to be!) pitch and three 'Dragons' at each session each picked a stock for a £1,000 investment. With the show having been in April, here’s a further monthly performance update...

In today's podcast I discuss the moral bankruptcy of Naz Shah MP and her comments on Non Invasive Pregnancy Tests,  yes Premaitha (NIPT). I look at Tesla (TSLA) and the lessons from women's knickers, at Kefi (KEFI), Frontera (FRR) and the credibility test vs Yorkville, Derriston (DERR) and explain to some folks, I fear it is in house BBM Wildes, what a DCF model involves and why it is used, ref RedT (RED)

Brokerman Dan Levi has again today insisted that Angus Energy (ANGS) is doing a placing. It will clearly have to do one at some stage soon but right now Daniel is being played, as was I last week. I sense market abuse here and once again the name Chris Oil, a man with form when it comes to market abuse and other nonsense, comes to the fore.  As a reminder

In 2017 Purplebricks (PURP) held its AGM on 29 September and pushed pout an H1 trading update on November 6. The news was not blisteringly good but enough lipstick was put on the dog to fool the sell side analysts. Wind forward 12 months…

In the end the chaps at Nomad Cairn walked from Cloudtag (CTAG) when it was clear that it was a fraud run by liars. Frontera Resources (FRR) is a shit show run by liars and a fallout with death spiral provider Yorkville (YA) today could be the final straw for Cairn – might it resign leaving the (worthless) shares suspended? Or will Frontera just go bust?

Julie "Lingerie on Expenses" Meyer's flagship ponzi Ariadne Capital Limited went into administration on 15 December 2017. At that point Ms Meyer would have been breaking the law if she, rather than the administrator, had acted for the company. But laws are for little people are they not July....

Shares in Imaginatik (IMTK ) are off by 10% today at 7.625p on news that Vin Murria will, if she goes ahead, invest in new shares to take a majority stake but at 2p, not at 2.5p.  Still the price is nonsensical.

Hello, Share Swappers. I’m marking the 10 year anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers by going on holiday to a current shaker of the world economy - and that’s Russia. I abandon my safe home to my 22-year-old daughter and her boyfriend to risk being interred in Siberia, if Blighty’s relationship with Russia gets worse.

Having demanded we bring back this contest, once again, Juicin Drumroll failed to win last week but he came second and tried very hard as you can see HERE. So he is clearly desperate to win a semi naked photo of Britain's leading share blogger before lunchtime, Thirsty Paul Scott. So we will give him a fifth and final chance. Can anyone stop Juicin from winning this week? Okay here is the challenge for you all:

AIM listed jam-tomorrow (or the day after) IoT investment company Tern (TERN) has released its interims to June 2018 and despite the polishing of things unmentionable they show what a car-crash had been – and still is - going on.

Mrs Stacey says that I have been spending too much time in the Punter’s Return reading dull articles about shares and that we need a break. She says that I need inspiration for my next novel and so has suggested that we head off on one of those holidays advertised during Midsomer Murders for a more mature and sophisticated audience.

Shares in Neil Woodford uber dog RM2 (RM2) are up by 59% at 0.875p. That means that the market cap has jumped by £14.4 million to £38.8 million on the back of a contract win termed “significant” but which clearly is not and does not change the fact that this company is five minutes away from midnight, that is to say bankruptcy. It’s got to be placing ahoy.

“Surface Transforms (AIM: SCE) is pleased to announce its preliminary results for the year ended 31 May 2018”. The shares have responded, er, currently more than 4% lower, below 18p…

I see that ShareSoc is praising Tern (TERN) for holding a conference call to which anyone can dial into and at which Al Sisto will answer pre-submitted questions. I wonder..

One of my few vices in life is sugar. I have parlayed this into stock selection via a recommendation on Tate & Lyle (TATE), which I last wrote up HERE. The company held a capital markets day late last week and the one presentation slide that stood out was one which talked about 'sugar replacement is a key market opportunity globally'. Well of course it is. Gluttons like me want to both have our cake and eat it and one way to do this - without becoming significantly obese - is to focus on non conventional sugar options, a market which Tate & Lyle has been active in with its Sucralose product.

It has now emerged that Brokerman Dan attacked what he thought I said about Angus Energy (ANGS) without actually listening to what I actually said despite us giving him a 24 hour pass for bearcast access. He spouts an awful lot of piffle in his latest article but declines to print corrections. Poor Dan. Oddly on one major point he is almost correct. Moving on, I also look at Cenkos (CNKS), Frontera (FRR), Rosenblatt (RBGP), i3 Energy (I3E), MySquar (FRAUD), Online Blockchain (OBC) and Kellan (KLN).

CyanConnode (CYAN) “is pleased to announce” both “the receipt of a $11.6 million purchase order relating to a smart metering deployment by an Indian state-owned utility” and “the consolidation of its European operations”. Hmmm…

A central bank should only have ONE JOB - that is emergency liquidity provision in a global panic.But by continuing emergency efforts for a DECADE to “engineer” growth or asset inflation this has transformed global capital markets into political utilities. Now, especially in the US, large powerful too big to fail Corporations have control of the political system through record amounts of lobbying and political (donations) spending.