You may remember that Julie “Lingerie on expenses” Meyer MBE tried to wriggle out of paying £200,000 to lawyer Julian Pike of Farrer & Co who she had engaged,inter alia,to troll and harass myself and whistleblower John Galt. She lost the case against Farrer but appealed.She has lost again.The judgment of Mr Justice Kerr is below and is a joy to read.Ouzos all round tonight!!!

On 13th January a trading statement from ‘cake, bread and morning goods’ manufacturer Finsbury Food Group (FIF) emphasised “a robust H1 performance”, with sales growth to £166.5 million and that, though it “has faced persistent pressure from input cost inflation, staff shortages and other supply chain disruptions… it has been able to successfully mitigate the impact of these pressures to date”. The shares closed then at 98p and last closed at 88.5p… and are currently further lower on the back of the half-year results. What’s the story?…

Under the Mercator death spiral, the fraud Supply@ME Capital (SYME) has received £7 million of cash and has to repay £7.7 million.  For the first three tranches of the 12 monthly repayments, Supply – cash strapped as it is- has opted to convert the loan repayments into a convertible loan which Mercator has then converted into shares which it has sold.  The continued lack of credible positive news (as opposed to ramptastic announcements) coupled with continual shares sales by Mercator has resulted in the conversion price continually dropping as indicated in the table below:

I comment on the weather here in Wales and then start with those sort of folks who engage in utterly reckless behaviour they know will ruin them. I think of vicars or Tory MPs having unsafe sex with rent boys in the era of the News of the Screws or of Paul Smith the, now ex, CEO of Morses Club (MCL). I look at ADVFN (AFN) and ask if its shares are now cheap at 63p? Then it is onto UK Oil & Gas (UKOG), and to Predator Oil (PRD) where I smell a pre-placing ramp and where the COO is now tweeting like a lunatic.  Finally it is Guild ESports (GILD) and Cellular Goods (CBX).

On January 7 this year I warned you that Cellular Goods (CBX),was making it up as it went along to hide the failure of the launch of its CBD products. Hey ho. Today it has fessed that, as is so often the case, I was bang on the money.  And better still, 360 days after the IPO, founder and CEO Alexis Abraham is walking the plank. Things will only get worse for a company chaired by Peter Wall of Argo Blockchain (ARB) infamy.

Previously writing on ‘infection prevention products’ company Tristel (TSTL), in October with the shares down to around 500p I concluded that still the valuation suggested entry into the US at a vast value indeed is needed and to avoid / sell. With the shares having last closed at 417.5p, what of today-announced half year results?…

I have shared my views before on the ‘development and marketing of veterinary products’ company Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH), including noting in early September that ‘maybe it is just me finding it easier to appraise future human (than animal) demand scope, but I am going to keep on avoiding this one despite the recent share price falls’. And whilst the shares have romped hugely since their IPO early this century, the stock is down almost 30% during the last six months. So is today’s c. 38 quid share price – after the publication of first half numbers – now cheap or still expensive?

David Beckham-backed pot play Cellular Goods (CBX) has axed its boss after serving up a horrible lack of sales warning, as I said it had to do on January 7 HERE, and I shall come to that later. But first just to point out how evil PR spinner Neil Thapar rather over-eggs the pudding when it comes to media endorsements in today’s release. In a series which also included a riveting read “Woman claims mixing semen with her moisturiser gives her glowing skin: Is there any truth in it?”  Thapar et al reckon that the Metro newspaper endorsed Cellular’s products. Well er …

As I noted here last week, as things stand that hound from the AIM sewer UK Oil & Gas (UKOG) does not have sufficient cash to pay both its liabilities and its commitments and is burning cash like billy-o. Thus, it needs to ramp its shares aggressively to get away yet another discounted bucket shop placing, something that is imminent. And that brings us to Lyin’ Steve.

Today Morses Club (MCL) served up a horrible profits warning and announced that its CEO Paul Smith was leaving with immediate effect.  The shares have crashed by 26p to just 15.95p. But last last week one lucky trader dumped 464,119 shares at 42.65p almost his entire holding. That lucky trader was Paul Smith. If this is not insider dealing I am a banana. Here is the timeline and why the FCA MUST feel Smith’s collar asap.

“This may well be my last CEO statement and as such I will take this opportunity to wish shareholders, customers and staff my best wishes for a good outcome for all” wailed Clem Chambers as he announced interims. Quite frankly, after the dismal numbers he had just served up, I cannot see anyone wanting him to continue.

Hello Share Smashers. Being the sort of chap who thinks the future is green, I seek out opportunities that should be able to cash in on the revolution. Which led me to peek at an outfit called Aveva (AVV), not to be confused with the insurance giant Aviva (AV.). Aveva organises data that helps companies plan for a more efficient and environmentally friendly future.

SkinBioTherapeutics (SBTX) has published a “Business update” announcement including that it has now progressed to the second phase of its AxisBiotix-Ps food supplement for psoriasis product commercialisation strategy and that the SkinBiotix active ingredient project with Sederma is on track. Sounds good!

I see that shares in AIM-listed Advanced Oncotherapy (AVO) are down to just 26.5p – only a penny and a half above the nominal price. Normally that might not be an issue, but Advanced is a serial non-deliverer of promises and has had to place at regular intervals until now. So what chance a bucket-shop placing to keep the lights on whilst we await the ever-delayed first LIGHT system to even offer a sprinkling of hope for some revenue?

I start with some thoughts on Ukraine and Russia which some of you may disagree with. Perhaps what is happening there will be a handy excuse for Eurasia Mining (EUA) to ‘fess up to the lack of bid? Then onto how bitcoin and other cryptos are faring as a safe haven right now. And why that makes Argo Blockchain (ARB) such a monumental sell. It could utterly implode. I see that more than 25% of posts on the ADVFN Bulletn Board,a few hours ago,were on Shield Therapeutics (STX) with nearly all of them slating me for all the usual reasons. I do not play the man here even though my critics do seem to have the collective IQ of a Cheese sandwich, but the ball and answer each of the bull points made to rebut my bear thesis in turn.

Grab a cup of tea, sit back, and test your knowledge against the other ShareProphets members. Write your score in the comments, there are no prizes, and most important of all – no Googling! There is an extra bonus question this week.

For the first time in a couple of years I might be visiting London in just under a couple of weeks time. Such excitement (not!) to see the Big Smoke.  I read the other day that “house hunters wanting to buy a property in London this year are likely to face more competitive market conditions than in 2021…Since January, 51% more buyers have entered the market and 35% more property viewings took place”.  Such is the excitement (not!) for property market thoughts for 2022, because we all know that it is easy to extrapolate any generally positive move over the last 40 years for another few years. 

Here are five long reads that have nothing to do with shares. Put the kettle on, find a comfy chair. You have the time, don’t you? 
 

Last week saw yet another RNS Reach announcement from AIM-listed Graphene play Haydale (HAYD). Reach announcements are used for non-regulatory news, ie non-financially significant announcements and advertising, so a deluge of them is a Red Flag for me, indicating it is bucket-shop placing ahoy.

These are the most-read articles and most listened-to Bearcasts of the week. The most-read article non-Tom article is once again by me, the ShareProphets Sunday Pub Quiz #128. The most-read non-Tom, non-Darren article is Thar’s Gold in Greenland’s Icy Mountains and this Fiesty Firm’s Out to Exploit it by Malcolm Stacey, making a welcome return to the leaderboard at number nine or number 16 including Bearcasts.