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 on April 21st, here’s a second performance update...

On 29 June last year Israeli tech-company Ethernity (ENET) joined the AIM Casino at 140p. Today the shares sit at just 30.5p after a profit warning and dire results yesterday. What’s not to like?

Wishbone Gold (WSBN) has announced 2017 calendar year results showing a loss of $0.91 million – though that reduced from 2016 on sales nearly doubled to $8.2 million and “as we look ahead, we see opportunities for 2018 in all our areas of operation”…

Yesterday afternoon, AIM-listed Haydale (HAYD) announced a buy by the wife of one of the NEDs. That should be good news, but I see it as bad news - especially as we all know the company needs to get a placing away and has just announced a crap trading update.

A leading Australian Newspaper has revealed that “broke” estate agents are quitting Purplebricks (PURP) in Oz in droves as the market slows. They claim the business model is flawed. Maybe as the UK residential market slows similar cracks will appear here.  Remember Aussie growth is one way Purplebricks claims it will start to move out of the red in a material fashion. Perhaps not. The AFR reports:

Hello Share Smiters. Just before I left school there was a hit song by the Brook Brothers. And now I can’t get it out of my head. It was called Warpaint, all about a girlfriend who overdid her make-up. That could be how today’s choice for your further researches got its name.

I know nothing about Zenith ( ZEN) other than it is listed in Canada as well as on the main market here in London and it is an oil and gas company operating the largest onshore oilfield in Azerbaijan. So I make no recommendation.

Competitions company Best of the Best (BOTB) has announced results for its year ended 30th April 2018, emphasising they “showing both increased revenues and profits before tax, which are slightly ahead of management's expectations”. Sounds encouraging…

Okay despite all the harsh ( but arguably fair) things I have said about him, thirsty Paul Scott has just donated £50 to the Woodlarks sponsored walk charity appeal so I am going to be nice about him for a while unless he has a twitter meltdown. Chaka Khan. Chaka Khan. Cheeese. Anyhow surely you can follow Paul, watch this video HERE to see the great works Woodlarks does then donate a few quid HERE. In the podcast I take MySquar (MYSQ) apart, John Meyer at SP Angel needs to wake up, listen and get off his arse. I also look at Frontera (FRR) - bailout placing at 0.3p? - IDOX (IDOX) and Herencia (GER)

Flip Flop Ben Turney, formerly of this Parish, insists that this email to shareholders in Teathers Financial is private and confidential. I can see why, as it is bollocks he would not want subjected to outside scrutiny. Naturally it has found its way to Winnileaks so I publish it in full. 

CAP-XX (CPX) has updated on trading, commencing “as it approaches the end of its financial year ending 30 June 2018, the company has received a sharp increase in enquiry levels across all product ranges… Total enquiries, if converted to orders, would amount to annualised sales in excess of US$20m per annum” - and the shares have currently responded higher, back towards 10p…

In a terse statement today, IDOX (IDOX) has fessed up to the reason why auditors Grant Thornton quit the gig. Deloitte has now taken on this poisoned chalice, heck anything for a fee boys but they should be warned.  Grant Thornton says it handed in its notices because of “challenges during the conduct of the statutory audit of the financial statements for the year ended 31 October 2017 strained the working relationship with the Board.”

Development and exploration company with projects in Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia, KEFI Minerals (KEFI) has announced results for the 2017 calendar year and emphasised “the company's projections and those of the research analysts that follow us closely show significant value generating upside to shareholders from Tulu Kapi alone, let alone from the pipeline of less mature projects which we expect will yield more value-adding opportunities”…

Not too much in today's larger cap corporate earnings to get excited about. Suffice to say comments from the housebuilder Berkeley Group (BKG) were suitably patchy, with chat from the company that profits would be down a third next year. I stick with my recent cautious views towards the sector. My thoughts therefore turn towards other areas of the market.

Maybe folks are getting immune about Optibiotix (OPTI) announcing yet another manufacturing and supply agreement. But even if, like this one, it is relatively small it all adds to the bottom line improvement. The latest one is with John Morley Foods, a 75 year old company operating in Cheshire with annual sales (2016) of £31 million, making six figure profits and with a growing cash pile.

With its shares down from above 300p less than a year ago to below 56p, Safestyle UK (SFE) “announces the granting of awards under the Safestyle UK plc 2017 Performance Share Plan, to certain executive directors of the company”!...

Hello Share Smirkers. When Carillion hit the skids it took my shares with it. But if you take a punt on a possible rally then you can’t blame anyone if it never happens. Not even yourself - if you’ve done a bit of previous research. Which I did. I don’t think I was ever told just how serious the situation was with Carillion.

2018 was our most successful UK Investor Show yet and the 2019 event on March 30 will be even bigger and better. With almost 60 companies already confirmed, including OptiBiotix, Falanx, Asiamet and WANdisco, and star speakers such as Vin Murria, Mark Slater, Nigel Wray and Tom Winnifrith plus many new names booked in, it will be a show not to be missed.

I know that March 30^th 2019 is a long way ahead but there are two reasons to buy a half priced ticket TODAY at www.UKInvestorShow.com/tickets .

I explain why the FD and CEO of FootAsylum (FOOT) must be fired at once after today's profits warning. I forgot to say that any company holding and announcing an "analyst teach in" - as Rob Terry used to do - is almost an automatic sell in my book and FootAsylum is an offender in this respect. I also look at FastForward (FFWD) and explain why I think Jim Mellon has sinned, albeit legally. I cover UK Oil & Gas (UKOG), Andalas (ADL) and McCarthy & Stone (MCS). In terms of the walk we are now well over £9,000 with gift aid and ahead of a training walk in the rain tonight I ask again. Most bearcast listeners are enjoying my suffering but are yet to help Woodlarks with a donation. Please, I am sure you can spare a tenner HERE

Life sciences, beauty and personal care products company InnovaDerma (IDP) has updated on trading for its year ending 30th June – commencing “revenue for the period increased strongly by 23.5% on a constant currency basis to approximately £11m (FY2017: £8.9m). However,”, Uh oh…