In part one of this series I showed that the HL Multi-Manager Income and Growth fund had been dumping Woodford Equity Income fund since the end of January whilst HL was still recommending Woodford via its Wealth 50 list. Part two – the HL MM Equity and Bond fund was inconclusive, although I did show that its % allocation had fallen. In part three I look at the HL Multi-Manager UK Equity fund (HL MM UK Eq).

Avanti Communications (AVN) has announced results, with CEO Kyle Whitehill emphasising “we can look forward to a positive future. We have an enviable network of assets, demand in our coverage is growing and the actions taken in the last 12 months to re-focus the business and to bring in new commercial talent to the executive team should bring rewards in the near term”. The shares have responded… er, by remaining down at 1.625p…

Yesterday I showed quite clearly that the Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) Multi-Manager Income and growth fund has been dumping Neil Woodford’s sunken flagship Equity Income Fund whilst HL retained Woodford on its Wealth 50 list of recommended funds offered to its private investors. This was in terms of cash value, in terms of the % of the HL fund and in terms of the number of units in Woodford’s fund – yet all the while the HL fund had been increasing in size. Today I move on to the HL Multi-Manager Equity and Bond fund (HL MM E&B).

Agronomics (ANIC) is an AIM listed firm which knew full well on Friday that it was set to raise £4.5 million at 5p - as against a 5.5p mid. So here is what to do. Leak the story to the fraudsters fave journalist, Ben Harrington, who will give it an utterly misleading write-up in the Mail on Sunday in return for the "scoop." MoS readers fill their boots on Monday and the shares move higher - they are now 6.5p. So Harrington and the Fail on Sunday get another "scoop", the Spiv clients of broker Peterhouse get to flip the stock and thank Peterhouse which earns 5% to pay for the coke and hookers and the company is cashed up.  The only folk who get screwed are readers of the Fail on Sunday who are buying shares on the basis of completely fake news.

Obviously today's comedy regulatory news update came from Woodford Patient Capital Trust (WPCT), but I will leave others to write on that piece of PR puffery... A couple of notches down on the regulatory news angst scale was the acknowledgement by recent dog Thomas Cook (TCG) that - as per weekend press comments - it is in takeover talks (with 18% shareholder Chinese conglomerate Fosun)…

Billionaire Stan Druckenmiller said last week that he could see the Fed funds rate going to zero in the next 18 months if the economy softens and that he recently piled into Treasuries as the U.S. trade war with China escalated. “When the Trump tweet went out, I went from 93% invested to net flat, and bought a bunch of Treasuries,” Druckenmiller said Monday evening, referring to the May 5 tweet from President Donald Trump threatening an increase in tariffs on China...

Hello, Share Crunchers. In line with my oft-quoted policy of favouring companies which do boring things - and so are often below the radar - I offer for your consideration IMI (IMI). This Birmingham engineer is described as a ‘flow control specialist’...

I said the debacle involving the gating of Neil Woodford’s Equity Income Fund was going to get messy and it gives me no pleasure at all to write this article because I am myself a client of Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.). But the question has to be asked: has Hargreaves been selling Woodford’s Equity Income Fund whilst at the same time advising clients to buy it.

I start with Bryce Elder at the FT. What a knob. Then it is onto new explosive revelations about Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) was  selling Woodford funds for months while urging its retail clients to buy.

I know  that I have been (an incorrect) fanboy of Kingfisher (KGF) for the last year or so when the shares have hardly covered themselves in glory but I still see an opportunity prospectively here to make money.  As I noted back in March  'look at the cash flow and hope that finally the Chairman (Andy Cosslett) is getting it. Ditching the CEO is just stage one', I read in today's deadwood press that 'the former head of Direct Line is in early talks with B&Q owner Kingfisher about taking over as chief executive'.  

The first article where we warned about Neil Woodford was in 2015. By 2017 our coverage was detailed and on an industrial scale taking aparty every aspect of the Woodford empire. As Bloomberg stated yesterday, we  at ShareProphets, were first. The deadwood press, including the Sunday Times just blew the great man off. But today we learn , as you can see below, that it was a Sunday Times investigation on March 3 2019 that FIRST exposed what was going on. FAKE NEWS!!!!

Is there anything better than sitting back and reading a well-written article on a lazy Sunday? Every week ShareProphets features some long form journalism that you'll find of interest. Grab your cuppa and enjoy these five articles.   

With Neil Woodford’s fall from grace following the gating of his equity income fund – which came as no surprise to readers of ShareProphets following our intensive coverage of the last two years. Actually, our first piece discussing Woodford’s woes was way back on 14 April 2015. Take that, the Sunday Times, which is claiming credit for bringing down Neil Woodford because of a piece in March of this year. But now, already, there are calls for changes to the regulatory environment - new rules, new hoops to jump through to prevent this happening all over again.

Reynolds now owns 6.35 million shares in Yourgene (YGEN), 1.1% of the equity and though not a dominant portion of his net assets, still a material amount. So why did he buy? I chatted it through with him and his simple answer is “because the shares are cheap and I could.”

I have warned in the strongest terms that Neil Woodford’s Income Focus fund (IFF) will be gated and repeat that warning today. Last weekend I warned that the noose was tightening over EIF (call me Mystic Meg) and today I give the same advice on IFF. In the light of the suspension of Woodford’s flagship Equity Income fund (EIF) on Monday, I warned that the rush to the exit at IFF would be extreme and this morning’s figures bear that out with bells on.

After news last week there is no doubt in my mind that Kefi Minerals (KEFI) really is very cheap. And so I present a note explianing why. Two caveats. 1. It is published by Edison which is paid to push this out so is hardly impartial. 2 The author is my old pal the convicted felon Champagne Charlie Gibson. To his credit, when not getting sozzled before driving home in his motor to go cuffing members of the working classes, Charlie does actually know a bit about mining. The note is below.

So, did my plan to zoom this column to the Top of the Pops by putting in a pandering Bitcoin infographic work? No, it did not.

Back in January, I noted that 'fees do not matter so much to people when markets are pushing up double-digit per cent with apparent ease but when the music stops a bit, people start paying attention more and that is not good news for St James's Place (STJ)'.  

I start this podcast with a look at some of the shite press coverage of the Woodford scandal today, notably Patrick Hosking in The Times and the Daily Mail. Then it is onto what ios the end game for Neil personally: jail? insolvency of WIM? A lifetime ban from financial services? Another OBE and more tea with his pal David Cameron? Finally I look at Woodford Patient Capital Trust (WPCT) and reach out to fellow shareholders. I wish to call an EGM to sack the board and explain why. can you help me?

Its previous coverage on this website was Nigel Somerville’s Easter Red Flags at Night: Modern Water FY results a washout – SELL!, now an intra-day (10:55am) “Trading Update” from Modern Water (MWG). I’ve got a feeling this ain’t going to be a positive update!...