Secure payment and customer contact technology company Eckoh (ECK) is “very pleased with the recent progress we have made in the UK”, this including that it “has since interim results on November 22nd 2017 secured six sizeable UK contract wins across the payments, insurance, healthcare and mobile telecoms sectors - the latter being a contract with one of the UK's largest mobile network providers”. Significant growth ahoy then? Er…

If history is any guide, the good times are about to end for the U.S. stock market and it’s been one of the longest-running bull markets ever. Over nearly nine years, or 105 months, the S&P 500 has returned 368 percent (including dividends). That’s the second-longest bull market the U.S. has ever seen… just behind the nearly 9.5 year-long, or 113 months, bull market that started in 1990. You can see the S&P 500’s past bull markets in the table below… it shows the date they began, their overall return and how long each lasted. On average since 1926, bull markets have lasted for 54 months, and resulted in returns of 160 percent.

Does Lyin' Steve Sanderson of UK Oil & Gas (UKOG) know what month it is let alone what day of the week it is? I am only asking because of a statement he snuck out when all sane folks were not watching the screen, on December 27 regarding flow testing at Broadford Bridge. Remember that companies - especially those with stacks of death spiral loan notes to convert - hurry out good news and always delay bad news. So rewind to when you and I were focusing on mince pies, the man who specialises in porky pies stated:

Murgitroyd Group (MUR) has announced results for the six months ended 30th November 2017 including “pleased to report half year results in line with management expectations, with an increase in pre-tax profit of 13%”. Sounds good, but what was the comparative again?...

I note that for the first time the NAV of the Woodford Income Focus Fund  (C Accumulation Units) has fallen below the 100p launch and that includes 3 reinvested dividends.

For reasons mainly to do with girls (well two of them) I have always been a Philadelphia Eagles fan. The last time they won a championship, Hurst, Peters and Moore were playing for West Ham - the two teams have a lot in common. Anyhow I stayed up late and for once fortune is not always hiding. Why did I get up? The market is a sea of red and I discuss that. I look at IQE (IQE) after chatting to Matt Earl, at Woodford Patient Capital Trust (WPCT), Inspirit (INSP) and at Shield Therapeutics (STX). Nomates Neil Woodford has not replied to my polite invitation of yesterday. 

IQE (IQE) has, this morning, attempted to hit back at Matt Earl's devastating dossier published on Friday, HERE. The statement, crafted by evil and hugely expensive PR spinners FTI, naturally seeks to point out that Earl's Shadowfall fund is short so gains if the share price goes down. No doubt house broker Stifel which has earned millions from IQE will publish a bullish report later. Will IQE issue an RNS flagging up its COI? No. Earl himself has hit back at the hit back telling ShareProphets:

I have been taking a look through the FCA table of registered short positions, following my piece on Interserve of Friday. I don’t offer anything exhaustive, but the largest individual short positions interested me as they are as high as 5.42% of the capital. That’s quite a bet. Oh, and just as it happens, Neil Woodford features with two of them. They are also all stocks where we at ShareProphets have been bearish.

Hello Share Trackers. From time to time, I’ve suggested you peek at the giant drinks firm Diageo (DGE). The reasons I usually rehearse are basic. The world seems to be on a strengthening booze trail. And if the world’s economy is due a massive correction, as everybody seems to fear, people seem to seek solace in more drinking.

I have today written to Britain's most conceited fund manager Neil Woodford to see whether he dares to stand up for himself and face up to me in public. Here goes

There is no honour among thieves. There is still less amongst those hacks working for the dying industry that is the deadwood press. Step forward City AM and journalist Lucy White who on February 1 at 2.42 PM ran a story with the sub head "The corporate finance firm of former Dragons' Den star Julie Meyer, which was put into administration at the end of last year, owes almost £2m to unpaid employees and advisers, City A.M. can reveal"

Obtala (OBT) has announced an offer of shares at 12.5p via PrimaryBid.com - which closes at 5PM on Sunday or when the book is filled. Hurry - TAKE THIS UP HERE  This follows an earlier Acquisition, Expansion Capital and Fundraising announcement…

The scandal over fat cat bonuses at Persimmon (PSN) is something that we were the first to expose back in September of last year way before the national press got onto the case. The real villains are the Government but also the overpaid and negligent City fund managers who agreed to this scheme. They are now trying to shift the blame onto the bosses, notably CEO Jeff Fairburn, but this is about blame shifting not what is in the best interests of shareholders. I then look at wider market wobbles mentioning, en passant, IQE (IQE), SnapChat and other examples of lunacy.

On February 1st 2017 Stellar Diamonds (STEL) announced that it was "in advanced negotiations" about a bid at 12.7p, a 452% premium to the share price on January 31. Hooray, trebles all round. But hang on Henry what about those share options?

Julie Meyer's Maltese based holding company has sent me a lawyers letter (its second in two weeks) to try to stop me publishing an email she sent to a potential investor in Ariadne Capital Limited on October 6 2017 which - thanks to the Winnileaks service - has fallen into my possession. Given the administrator's report into Ariadne which I revealed last week I can understand why she is so desperate for the email not to emerge. Someone has been either lying big time or just can't add up, but who? 

I see that smarmy lefty millionaire comedian Bob Mortimer is boasting in today's Sunday Telegraph about how he bought IQE (IQE) as a penny stock and it is now 163p. Methinks not Bob. I warmed folks to sell at 138.5p in a detailed dossier published in October HERE. Matt Earl's 36 page note of Friday has really set the cat among the pigeons. The shares are 104p but will - I suspect - tank on Monday.

Capita was last week's main disaster for Neil Woodford although there were others. He has tried to polish the turd HERE but has failed. His next disaster is Prothena which could slump Monday and as I explain in this podcast it is massive for Nomates. I then explain how the whole Woodford empire could well collapse. Make no mistake, this weekend, Britain's most conceited fund manager is staring into the abyss. I also comment on Obtala - take up the Primary Bid offer HERE - and on my wife's failings as a navigator as I march through muddy puddles.

Uh oh! This matters as Prothena is a massive holding for Britain's most conceited fund manager Neil Woodford and as such an unravel here would be massive omlette on face time. Again. On Friday, after hours, the Chief Medical Officer of Nasdaq listed biotech Prothena walked.  If that is not a red flag what is?

Neil Woodford has published his thoughts on Capita (CPI) after its share price halved. To put it bluntly Neil Woodford is yanking the chain of his long suffering investors. In paragraph three he states: "Putting the share price reaction to one side for a moment, I am pleased that we have seen from the company what we thought would be coming". As a reminder, Capita has scrapped its dividend. Yet on 19 January Nomates opined: