Hello, Share Trappers. Many of you will be wondering how much dosh is currently being made by Ocado (OCDO) because of the virus. At one time, some investors avoided the stock because online supermarket shopping was considered to be not that popular. But now the pandemic has shifted more focus to armchair shopping, well, what could go wrong?

OptiBiotix Health (OPTI) is “pleased to announce… an exclusive distribution agreement with Ayalla Marketing for the distribution of its cholesterol reducing probiotic, LP_LDL®, as an ingredient and as four finished products (CholBiome, CholBiome_X3, CholBiome_BP and CholBiome_VH) within the CholBiome® portfolio for Brazil”…

Previously writing on Gulf Marine Services (GMS), in July it was announcements escalate dispute with Seafox International, now “Letter from Seafox re Board Composition”…

I have today been quite busy on family matters, see HERE, which I find fascinating. I appreciate others may not! In the podcast I look at the general market meldown in the face of the Government going economy wrecking bonkers over Covid. I look at Supply@ME Capital (SYME) and Avant Garde,  Verditek (VDTK) and its idiot investors, Big Dish (DISH), Trainline (TRN), Bidstack (BIDS) FinnCap (FCAP) and a cracking trading statement but questionable morals and Iconic (ICON) and the perils of the sub Standard List.

Digital-focused consulting, software engineering and marketing company Kin and Carta (KCT) now “expect revenue and profits for the financial year to be slightly ahead of the expectations provided in our July update” and “early signs of improvement in client activity, pipeline and continued traction with our strategic partners give us confidence in the company’s future prospects”. Sounds encouraging… though, of course, it depends on what the expectations were…

Notwithstanding a £4.2 million placing at 0.2p back in June, UK Oil & Gas (UKOG) is now running on vapours. The question is not if it will do another bailout placing but when? And “news”, I use the term in the loosest possible sense, today suggests that Lyin’ Steve Sanderson et al are preparing to pass the hat around, yet again, very soon. There are already 10.97 billion shares in issue but brace yourself for another tsunami of worthless confetti to be arriving shortly.

AIM-listed jam-tomorrow investment company Tern (TERN) has released its interim results this morning and they show no progress at all. Indeed, there are a few little  Red Flags to be spotted.

Boy how the Bulletin Board Morons were creaming themselves this morning on this news. Shares in the Supply@ME Capital (SYME) scam surged to 0.75p although, as I write, they are back at 0.625p. They are still top of the leaderboard and 30% ahead on the day and this has happened on the basis of an announcement that is just sheer fantasy.

Previously writing on “recruitment consultancy working across the UK and Asia providing recruitment and related services for the web, interactive, digital media, IT and business change sectors” Nakama Group (NAK), I concluded questioning should government initiatives thus really be able to support this business?! With the noted trading and financial positions, I hope the prior caution here was heeded – and natch still bargepole. Now “Update on trading and current financial position”…

It seems a bit crazy to be talking about a financial year ended on 25th April 2020, two-thirds of the way through September, but such is the pandemic’s impact on conventional financial calendars. Listening to the Superdry (SDRY) conference call this morning after a ‘year of considerable change’ – no surprise with the share, already massively down in recent years, compressing a further 73% year-to-date and today has an EV of less than £100 million. Well this is what happens when in the year to near the end of April you made losses and had a 19.2% fall in revenue, which massively outweighs the big squeeze which delivered a higher net cash figure…

Hello, Share Scriveners. Allow me to return to a promising company I’ve oft-recommended on this glittering site. Where I feel a company is very promising and that’s supported by a strongly growing share price almost day by day, then there’s no harm in my adding to an earlier tip…

Yesterday in a detailed bearcast I demonstrated industrial scale deception of investors in Verditek (VDTK) and of potential investors in a bond offering by the same company as massively price sensitive, and adverse, information was withheld in 2018.  It is now clear that the company, chaired by Tory Toff Lord David Willetts, has misled or actively lied to investors on a serial basis every year since its August 2017 IPO and on a broad range of price sensitive matters. I have proved 5 major cases of lying. But there may well be more and I have thus written to regulators urging them to suspend trading in the shares until they can independently verify the accuracy or otherwise of all statements made by this company. I wrote:

Obviously the financials make near insolvent Verditek (VDTK) simply non investable. But there are also numerous non financial red flags which should make anyone run a mile. Then I look at lying and what misleading investors actually involved and what the implications are if you find a company that either by act or omission is telling porkies. Will the FCA or the Oxymorons at AIM Regulation act in this case? I do not see how they cannot, but they probably will not.

When is an exploration company worth £1 billion? Very rarely. When does its market cap reach £1 billion with almost no, or no, institutional support?  The answer is when you are in a bull market and the stock is being ramped by folks saying it could treble again.  Ask yourself whether you would rather own 40% of Centamin (CEY) which has cash, is producing vast amounts of gold and whose directors are not big sellers of stock or 100% of an exploration play with heavy boardroom selling like Greatland (GGP). Exactly…my thoughts too which is why I own Centamin. But Big David Lenigas owns Greatland and so writes on facebook:

Of course there really is more chance of me shagging Cheryl Cole than of this happening. But let’s hope for it anyway. How many of the current wave of enthusiastic shareholders who piled into the grossly misleading announcements starting on September 10 understand that there could still be much more share dilution to come?  There are three separate financing instruments under which Iconic (ICON) can be required to issue shares for and they are as follows:

Welcome to the Sunday ShareProphets Pub Quiz. Find your own beer, sit in the most comfortable seat, and, under no circumstances, can you Google the answer. Only I can do that. There are no prizes but post your scores in the comments for bouquets and brickbats.

I believe it was Frank Zappa who once observed that ‘there is more stupidity than hydrogen in the universe, and it has a longer shelf life’.  I seem to talk about stupidity a lot in my writings on various investments (mostly at a specific company level but – naturally – occasionally my own).  Today, however, it is the turn of hydrogen.  Like the complete investment geek sad-o that I am, I spent part of this weekend listening to Friday’s seminar by the FTSE 100’s Johnson Matthey (JMAT), a company I last loved up here , noting that their vision of ‘growth opportunities for our science-led strategy’ is a philosophy and profile that I can sign up for. 

Is there a better thing to do on a Sunday than to sit back and read a real, meaty article that is meant to be savoured and enjoyed? Not a blog post, not a news item. Like when we used to do with newspapers before the smart phone ruined everything.

Tom Winnifrith commented in Bearcast on Friday that in his view Caspian Sunrise (CASP) is a potential zero based on review of the interim finance numbers. I concur with the conclusions but I will add a few comments of my own. For me it is a total shite bag of an investment case with a highly questionable transaction to add to the mix. I’m amazed I have arms of sufficient length to type this ramble while I run for the hills…

The most read non-Tom article this week is Five Slam-Dunk sells for 2020 – September update as market madness continues by Nigel Somerville is at a nifty number nine or at a truly terrible number 17 including Bearcasts and Tom’s new shareshow. Which one is the best of the week? Tell me in the comments.