I declared my new FTSE 100 corporate crush a month or so ago here and Amanda Blanc, the newish CEO of insurance giant Aviva (AV.), is starting to deliver.  Yesterday’s announcement was that the company has sold its majority shareholding in its Singapore business to a strong sounding consortium for a cool £1.6 billion, which is not too shabby for a middling at best geographic division for a company with a market cap of £11.6 billion. Go that simplification plan! 

We are almost back to 2003. That is the message from the London Stock Exchange’s latest AIM Factsheet (downloadable HERE) which shows that the number of casino chips on the world’s most successful growth market was down to just 825 at the end of August, against a peak of 1,694 companies back in 2007. AIM has more than halved in size.

Hello, Share Fans. The virus story is still fluid. And companies which benefit from its continuance are still diving up and down all over the place.  I’m thinking of the many outfits looking for tests and vaccines. And those making sanitisers and disinfectants. But what about all the other shares? Well most of them are stuck. The Footsie hovers around 6,000 which means most of us are still suffering paper losses.

Shares in East Africa-focused gold producer Shanta Gold (SHG) approached 13p in February with the gold price still then well below $1,700 per ounce. With it now well above $1,900 and looking to have, potentially much, further to go and following recent updates from the company…

I start with more on the issue of sound quality and an explanation as to re-recording yesterday and other issues. I hope we do better today. Then I look at Eurasia Mining (EUA), Mirriad Advertising (MIRI), Hurricane Energy (HUR), Sound Energy (SOU) and Verditek (VDTK).

Previously writing on electronic invoicing and purchase order transactions network company Tungsten Corp (TUNG), in July with the shares at 42p I questioned “positions the business well for future growth”?. Now a “Directorate Change” announcement has followed recent results for the company’s year ended 30th April 2020…

Today’s latest disastrous news from Hurricane Energy (HUR) is covered by Gary Newman HERE. Gary and Peter Brailey, having been bulls in the distant past, have both been warning you for ages that this was a disaster waiting to happen. But as the shares have collapsed from 60p to just 3p over the past 15 months, one man has been steadfast in his support. Just as he was until the bitter end with the fraud Frontera (FRR), churning out comment after comment after comment suggesting quite explicitly that the shares were cheap. I refer, of course, to Fat Bastard, the whore blogger Malcolm Graham Wood.

G3 (G3E) used to be known as Green Dragon Gas (GDG) and on 4^th October 2013 I published an explosive dossier despite quite explicit threats to me if I did so. The shares were then 229p and, natch, the Oxymorons at AIM Regulation did nothing. Today the shares are 10.35p but after the latest RNS, that is 10.35p too high.

Hurricane Energy (HUR) promised so much but it looks like it will end up joining the long list of failed companies in the natural resources sector following recent updates, including the interims today.

If you are invested in big players on the Nasdaq or the Dow Jones it has been an interesting week so far. I say “interesting”, but it is in the Chinese sense – others might view it as worrying. One minute they are crashing, the next they are up sharply. The fear has to be that we could be about to head sharply south but there are enough buy-the-dips investors still around….for now. Gold, on the other hand, is caught in a range of around $1900 to just under $2000 per ounce.

Have you ever used e-retailer The Hut Group? On its website it describes itself as being ‘passionate about leading the growth of prestigious global brands in beauty, nutrition, luxury, and lifestyle’.  Clearly I am not its target customer but there are plenty of consumers out there for some of its brands including ESPA, Illamasqua, Myprotein and the online retailer lookfantastic, especially in a pandemic-tinged world which has moved more online.  As Debenhams, House of Fraser et al fade, The Hut Group takes their place.  And soon it will take their place on the stock market with a listing due next week. 

Meet Krazykat, @GBarlowinvestor, he is a moron.

Hello, Share Swampers. Vistry Group (VTY) is a new home builder – sort of. It was formerly Bovis Homes and in January renamed following the acquisition of housing businesses from Galliford Try. It retained the Bovis Homes brand and the former Galliford Try brand, Linden Homes. Numbers for the first half of the year show that adjusted revenue boomed by 40% to £661 million. But that was down to the Galliford Try acquisition…

Previously writing on CyanConnode (CYAN), earlier this week I concluded I retained prior caution – that of recent disappointment and the balance sheet. There has since been a further “Director Share Purchases” and an “Investor Presentation” announcement…

Live events agency Aeorema Communications (AEO) has updated including “successfully expanded its virtual and hybrid events offering” and “an encouraging number of multi-national blue-chip client wins seen in 2020 so far”…

Can there be any more red flags fluttering over laughable AIM Company Verditek (VDTK)? You bet there are. First up is today’s news of a share issuance for PR services. What PR you say? Exactly.

A “Ground-breaking COVID-19 screening device launched” announcement from TT Electronics (TTG) – and the shares currently above 260p, 38% higher…

I apologise for the sound quality; I have rerecorded and V2 is far better. I am shitting myself… not! In today’s bearcast, I reveal why evil short-sellers (well Lucian, anyway) want Donald Trump to lose and then look at Red Rock Resources (RRR), Vela (VELA), Iconic (ICON), and Verditek (VDTK) which is where the old Bill come in. Or rather don’t.

Self-styled “AIM-quoted company focusing on digitising chemistry” DeepMatter Group (DMTR) “is pleased to announce its unaudited interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2020”… and the shares have currently responded to 1.85p, 14% lower…

When I, again, exposed the con Supply@ME Capital (SYME) the other day, its boss Alessandro Zamboni told one of his moronic shareholders that his lawyers had advised him not to sue me for libel as I was only seeking readers and, anyway, full year numbers would speak for themselves. But with the shares sliding and the company almost out of cash, today we have a trading statement which whiffs of panic and is pure bull. It also begs the question of insider dealing.