I start with a few notes on Covid hysteria, referring you to my earlier piece on perceived death rates HERE but also to research showing how pointless wearing face nappies is HERE. I look at R4E (R4E) and how Richard Jennings asks me to explain why Dr Green’s valuation of Bluebird Merchant (BMV) is a joke. I am a Good German and oblige. The shares, which I own, are – I believe – very cheap, but the analysis of Green is piss poor. Indeed it is so piss poor that the journalist-smearing old bastard should be fired at once. I look at Watchstone (WTG), Quindell as was, and its £63 million claim against PriceWaterhouseCoopers filed in the High Court today. I shall happily give evidence for PWC. I comment on Avacta (AVCT), Versarien (DOG), and Red Emperor (RMP).

The gold price is overdue a correction but keeps on going up. Gold shares are also overdue a correction and keep trying to slide – only to be pulled northwards again as the gold (and silver) price heads north. Do I care? Not really, because in a year’s time they will all be substantially higher. But there are some points worth making as I chew the situation over whilst relaxing on the veranda of my log cabin looking out over the woods.

Shares in Power Metal Resources (POW) have moved further higher in the last couple of days, including with “Alamo Gold Project – Exploration Commences” and “Director/PDMR Shareholding” announcements…

Last month I observed that investors in aerospace engines and military supplier Rolls-Royce (RR.) should ‘gird your loins to be tapped for an additional contribution to the coffers’ and noted there would be a lot of homework analysis for investors to be undertaking in late August when the next set of numbers is set to be declared. Well it seems that West Coast activist investor ValueAct does not have the patience to wait as it has dumped its entire holding to crystalise a massive loss. Activist investing is not always a one-way route to profitability…

At no-one is watching O’Clock last night, it was announced that Allenby Capital had agreed to act as Financial Adviser and Corporate broker to disgraced Zenith Energy (ZEN). I have confirmed that at the time of agreeing to act, Allenby had not been made aware of the letter we published yesterday appearing to show that the company had lost its only asset on June 4 and not told anyone while it carried on raising money.

And you thought that our own Nigel Somerville was nutso. Meet macro strategist David Hunter. Hmm, now what are my shares in Ariana (AAU) & Xtract Resources (XTR)worth on a DCF basis with gold at $10,000 oz? I am only kidding; this is quite literally insane.

Every death is, of course, something we must lament but you need to put things into perspective. As such, a survey last week carried out in several countries made fascinating reading. Folks were asked what percentage of the population in their country had died of Covid.

BP (BP.) has announced second quarter and half-year results including “underlying replacement cost loss for the quarter was $6.7 billion, compared with a profit of $2.8 billion for the same period a year earlier… A dividend of 5.25 cents per share was announced for the quarter, compared to 10.5 cents per share for the previous quarter” ($2.1 billion)… and the shares have responded higher to nearer 300p…

Hello Share Snafflers. In times of crisis, I like to favour insurance companies. They usually have big reserves and the wave of uncertainty that accompanies disasters means more people buy policies, for which they’re prepared to pay higher prices…

Is this the beginning of the end for Hurricane Energy (HUR)? Today’s RNS confirms my worst fears are very likely to come to fruition with expected material reductions on both Lancaster Early Production System reserves and the wider area booked resources. It’s what I would call a technical Ouzo day, but also very disappointing as it looks like the end of the West of Shetland basement oil story…

Franco Manca pizza and The Real Greek eastern Mediterranean restaurants group Fulham Shore (FUL) has updated on trading and announced a placing… and the shares are currently at 6.75p, more than 10% higher…

The note I refer to is from Align on Bluebird Merchant Ventures (BMV). I agree the shares are cheap. I own some! But are they as cheap as the note suggests? Nope. It is bonkers. I discuss its author and other peak cycle bonkers notes etched in my brain. I look at R4E (R4E) and why you should not follow Fraud. Then at the accounts from troubled broker Novum which came out yesterday. They are truly shocking and get a full debagging from me. I comment on Hammerson (HMSO) and illusory asset values and on Simec Atlantic (SAE) and – en passant – Hurricane Energy (HUR).

The last time i had an article to write on Zenith Energy (ZEN) I made the mistake of contacting the company via a PR and was bullied and harassed as a result. So this time as I receive, via Winnileaks, a document which appears to show that it lost its only real asset, Tilapia in the Republic of the Congo, on June 4th, I just publish it in full. I have asked my daughter Olaf to translate it for me which – through her usual hangover – she did over the phone and it reads appallingly for Zenith. It looks kosher to me so there are only three scenarios here:

Simec Atlantis Energy (SAE) finally fessed up on its need for cash, announcing an emergency bailout placing today. The results have been issued as unaudited as the company needs the cash to obtain an unqualified audit statement. All very predictable, as I did most recently here. So that justified Ouzo on my cornflakes, but the detail in the RNS statements today rings even more alarm bells for me related to the fuel supply for Uskmouth Power – the claimed flagship project in the portfolio.

Early this year we showed the Shorted AIM shares at the start of 2020. How’s the performance as at the end of July? (those in bold remain from 2019)…

Forget reading the multi-part regulatory news disclosures from insurance behemoth Aviva (AV.) today, just click on the webcast re-run and listen to the first fifteen or twenty minutes presentation by the company’s new CEO Amanda Blanc. It has been a long time since I was so impressed by the initial clarity of expression in a large cap corporate turnaround plan…

AIM-listed jam-tomorrow, sometime, never investment company Tern (TERN) has announced a contract for principal investee Device Authority. Whoopiedoo – bring out the champagne…….or not.

Broker JubCap, whose financial woes we exposed here, is now in administration. It is an ex broker and not one that the world will miss. So who is next? Well, all the signs are that Novum, the bucket shop which employs king spiv Jon Bellis and has Gavin Burnell of Globo infamy working there even though he is not authorised to do so by the FCA, is in the merde. I suggested 66 days ago that its financials were so bad that the FCA needed to have a look and, for once, it seems the chocolate teapots have done more than that, acting on what I exposed. I count this as a win for the Sheriff so it’s ouzos all round at the Greek Hovel today.  But how is Novum in such a mess?

One of the joys of writing for this very fine website is the intelligence of the readership. And that brings me to Pierotlunaire (who I’m sure won’t mind having his tummy tickled!) who asks, in relation to Egyptian gold miner Centamin (CEY) which offered up storming interims on Tuesday: What’s the fundamental basis for your 250p target? Apart from Jefferies at 240p, most brokers come up with less than 200p (although they may update following these results). There’s no point following a tip based on figures plucked from the air, even if the tip is as successful as my tip on Centamin! So it is a very good question.

Hello Share Painters. I recently told the sad tale of how a venture investment company IP Group (IPO) sold its 5% stake in Ceres Power (CWR) and helped cause a meltdown in the green power company’s share price. Today I want to look at why Ceres’s drop in value still looks a buying opportunity. And I’m aided in this task by a very positive outlook from Berenberg (the big German bank that is a joint broker to Ceres)…