Hello, Share Scrumpers. As Uncle Tom kindly reminds you from time to time, I’m of a great age. This leaves me prone to a few minor health issues that require small-time surgery. But I have to endure discomfort until the covid-ravaged waiting lists at my local hospital push me to the top. But what has this to do with buying and selling shares?

I am a bit of a sweaty wreck as I prepare for a weekend of hell. I explain why. In the podcast I deal with Unon Jack Oil (UJO)  and my article of earlier and of the issue of who CEO’s should do interviews with. In the end of course the share price is driven not by how much time is spent ramping the stock but by whether a company generates cash and how much.

European hostels company Safestay (SSTY) has today emphasised “confidence of returning to pre-Covid levels of trading” but also stated “this is a natural point… to undertake a strategic review”, including a formal sale process. Hmmm.

AIM-listed Gold and Silver producer in Turkey, Ariana Resources plc (AAU), announced another round of drilling results from the Kepez North area at Kiziltepe yesterday and the numbers look very promising.

I commented yesterday on AIM-listed Rurelec’s (RUR) after-hours FY results which were slipped out at no-one-is-watching o’clock on Wednesday whilst Boris was announcing his cabinet reshuffle (a good time to bury bad news). But there are some details worth looking at – for a start, the involvement of former boss Peter Earl, who ran the company into the ground before he was shown the door.

Investment adviser Axel Merk warns that across the West there are growing reasons why tens of millions of folks will opt not to work but to such at the nipple of the State instead.

Thanks to the Winnileaks service I have been sent an email from Gert Viljoen, the CEO of the Umuthi (UHS) fraud, sent on 18 September 2019, almost 18 months before the FCA allowed this con to list. Read and weep at the lies Gert told to folks sold shares in Umuthi by either him or the Queen of the fraudsters Connie Van Nieuwkerk with most of the cash trousered by Gert or Connie and a bit going to Umuthi.

Jadestone Energy (JSE) has announced its results for the first half of 2021, reaffirming full-year production guidance of 11,500-13,500 barrels of oil equivalent per day and anticipating 20,000 boe/d towards the end of the year. We are well up on this 69p offer price share tip but where do we go from here?

This is the market rumour. Shard rather than the listed broker the fraudster’s pals SP Angel is apparently running the book. I have given the company the opportunity to deny it but it seems to have declined that opportunity. Apparently much of the cash is for an acquisition the rest for general corporate purposes yak yak yak. Given the broker apparently in charge…

Mobile data computing and managed services company Touchstar (TST) has announced results for the first half of calendar 2021 and that it “has traded well in recent months, as a result we now expect full profits to be ahead of our previous expectations”. Sounds good.

Hello, Share Squeakers. The Do-It-Yourself game has boomed during the lockdowns. So we could expect some chirpy results from Wickes Group (WIX), the big home improvement retailer. And we’ve got them in the form of sprightly numbers for its half-year to 26th June.

Last night at 5.20pm AIM-listed Rurelec slipped out its full year results to December 31 2020. Given that its previous team of directors slipped out of the door since period end, the evening of Boris Johnson’s cabinet reshuffle looks like a good time to bury bad news.

David Lenigas is to ramptastic tweeting what Colin Bird is to pre placing pumps. He just cannot help himself. Today’s special is a picture of two men in late middle age standing in a tax haven shaking hands. Apparently this is very significant for Aquis lobster pot listed Valereum (VLRM), the crypto play pumped to 80p three months ago as the shameless chartist turned penny share stock promoter Zak Mir called it up to £2,  That helped it get away a £1 million placing at 70p. Its shares now trade at 29p but even that is still a staggering 20 times net assets for this loss making business. Maybe three men could shake hands tomorrow in some tax dodging location and that would be even more significant, eh Dave?

I commented on the disgraceful, almost laughable, paid for research commission by Eurasia Mining (EUA) the other day. The great Waseem Shakoor has just tweeted on the same matter. Enjoy!

Previously writing on castings and engineering company Chamberlin (CMH), in December I noted main businesses weren’t performing solidly… & certainly aren’t to be now!. Today though a trading update including “encouraging start to current financial year; leading to expectation of stronger levels of sales growth and return to profitability in second half of year”. Turnaround potential?…

Today is not only Joshua’s Birthday but also 100 days to Christmas and also Dydd Owain Glyndwr Hapus!. So I am busy cake making. Maybe a picture later after I burn my own house down in honour of the last Welsh Prince of Wales. In the podcast i discuss naughty corporate brokers, Optibiotix (OPTI) and Novacyt (NCYT) 

Payment software for business communications company PCI-PAL (PCIP) has noted a patent infringements lawsuits press release from competitor Semafone and that its directors “believe that the Semafone claims have no basis… PCI Pal will defend itself robustly against all allegations of patent infringement”. The shares, at 76p, are still though currently more than 14% lower.

It was back in December 2018 that Nigel mentioned ‘Neil Woodford raising more much-needed cash by dumping good shares’ by selling his stake in Kier Group (KIE), ‘a British construction, services and property group active in building and civil engineering, support services, and the Private Finance Initiative’. I am sure there were a bunch of reasons why Woodford needed the cash at the time, but this decision was not a complete disaster as the shares have fallen over 80% since. If only he could have missed all his other big losing calls! I have not been a great fan of Kier Group and related companies for many years, having seen plenty of sector ‘excitement’ over the past twenty-five years. Suffice to say there were a bunch of reasons why in an industry that can easily be impacted by economic volatility and too much debt.

You may remember that directors of Novacyt (NCYT) made an abosolute killing because of a cash bonus plan which was dependent on the share price at October 17 2020. Assisted enormously by news of a massive contract win with the DHSC announced on September 29 the shares were c930p on D day. Today they are 325p as the horror of the DHSC feck up emerges. As a reminder here is what Novacyt said on 29 September sending its shares roofing it:

This event was held on 9 September and what follows is a transcript of the more interesting Q&As. There is oodles of jam tomorrow but I sense that the time for that working has passed. Steve O’Hara and Optibiotix (OPTI) need to start delivering jam today to drive a re-rate of any sort, let alone from £50 million to £1 billion as suggested in Q1.