That suggestion in Friday’s contest was not the answer I was looking for. Mr Mercer has many failings, not least his despicable part in the Roger Scruton witch hunt, but I bet the ranch that he does not wear women’s underwear. There were a number of suggestions as to who of Amber Rudd MP, Mercer, Simon Hume Kendall and Julie “Lingerie on expenses” Meyer was the odd one out as you can see HERE.

From the FCA's spreadsheet of short positions required to be disclosed to it, the following shows the shorted AIM shares with positions from 2018 and thus far in 2019 (by net short position %, those in bold not on the list at the start of 2019) – and if this position has increased (red), reduced (green) or remained unchanged (black) since last week...

Induction Healthcare is coming to the AIM market in only the third IPO of the year on AIM. That kind of tells you now ain’t a great time, but leaving that aside, Neil Woodford has signed up for IPO shares (with no previous investment) in a company which seems to be a very long way from profitability. So is it his Equity Income Fund buying a company with no income? Maybe it is his Income Focus fund – although no matter how hard I focus, I still can’t see any dividends. Or perhaps it is Woodford Patient Capital (which has no cash)? I’ve no idea.

Hello, Share Takers. Juicin Drumroll, whose posts on this venerable website are always valuable, lashes into my piece on Diageo (DGE) the drinks giant. He alleges that booze can cause more trouble than illegal substances in this country. He said he would feel dirty owning this share.

Easy, you will find below four fine upstanding citizens. Which is the odd one out and why? Answers in the comments section below with a deadline of midnight tonight.

In today's bearcast I cover Diageo (DGE), Versarien (VRS), Mayan (MYN), Vela (VELA), Dev Clever (DEV) and i3 Energy (i3E). No doubt Mr Ricketts wants to be a hero and ahead of my next training walk tomorrow I beg you to be one too and get us past £20,000 raised by donating HERE

Finally is bad boy Metro Bank (MTRO) finally seeing sense?  You will recall that I have been bearish on this one for a while, noting earlier in the month that 'you should still be avoiding this one like the plague' as i explained the madness of the company continuing to prevaricate on their money raising. 

We have a small exposure to Uranium via Berkeley Energia (BKY) but its shares are driven by the Spanish approval process more than the uranium price. But I can't say i'd be averse to a bull market in yellowcake. 

Steve O’ Hara says he is looking to do two new distribution deals a month and so here is the first for May. Optibiotix (OPTI) has announced that its fully-owned subsidiary ProBiotix Health Ltd., has signed a license agreement with Instituto Español de Nutrición Personalizada, S.A. for the use of Lactobacillus plantarum (LPLDL) in personalised food supplements in Spain...

The great success that was the 2019 Global Group UK Investor Show saw three 'Dragon's Den' sessions where a number of CEOs each gave a 1 minute (well, supposed to be!) pitch and three 'Dragons' at each session each picked a stock for a £1,000 investment. With the show having been in the last week of March, here’s a performance update after just over a month...

Argo Blockchain (ARB) has updated including that it “reiterates that it expects to be operating cash breakeven during May… expects to turn EBITDA break-even in the second half of this year” but also that it “has recently contracted to purchase 1,000 S17's for a total consideration of £1.7m to be put into production in early July”…

Hello, Share Callers. As most shares are falling now on Brexit fears, though I believe them to be groundless it might be the best idea to avoid buying most stocks in the expectation of getting them cheaper a little later on. And yet one company tends to do well when its fellow Footsie members step back...

Malcolm was talking his own book on IQE (IQE) this morning and I did my best to put the bear case HERE.  However this response to Comrade Staceys post of earlier, in the comments section, from bearish fund manager Duncan Stewart merits a wider audience. Over to the great Scot:

“The Board of Touchstar plc (AIM:TST), suppliers of mobile data computing solutions and managed services to a variety of industrial sectors, is pleased to announce its final results for the year ended 31 December 2018”. The shares have responded currently more than 16% lower to below 34p. “Pleased to announce”, you say?...

It emerged last night that Neil Woodford is still buying shares in Kier Group (KIE) like they are going out of fashion. Mind you, with the stock again plumbing the depths, I guess they are – and Neil Woodford appears to be the only buyer in town

“TheWorks.co.uk plc (WRKS), the multi-channel value retailer of gifts, arts, crafts, toys, books and stationery, announces today a trading update covering the 52-week period to 28 April 2019… like-for-like sales growth of 3.0%... Returns on new stores in the period have been particularly strong”… And a current approaching 20% share price decline, below 100p?...

Ahead of lunch with a scouser I encounter someone just out of prison. There you go, life here in the Grim North. I urge you all to follow the lead of Saintly Tech Queen Vin Murria HERE.Greedy AIM bosses screwing shareholders infuriate me and in that vein I cover: Mirriad (MIRI), EVR Holdings (EVRH) and Argo Blockchain (ARB). I also look at FinnCap (FCAP) where the dam is breaking, Share PLC (SHRE), Frontier Smart Technologies (FST) and Audioboom (BOOM).  

If I was a CEO putting together my first presentation document outlining how I wanted to get an underperforming supertanker of a company back into shape, I think I would start with a line something akin to 'Initial impressions positive but we need to build a better (company) for the future'. So no surprises from new BT Group (BT.A) CEO Philip Jansen in his first quarterly statement fully in day-to-day charge of the UK's best known telecoms company. However what I would then expect - silent assassin style - would be slash n corporate burn after a 'nice' start. Well blow me down...it did not happen…

You have been warned so many times by myself about the uber dog Mirriad (MIRI) which listed on the AIM casino at 62p per share in December 2017. The shares are now 6.25p so shame on Nomad and broker Numis for this hound. Today we have calendar 2018 results and a warning that it needs a bailout placing within a year. I should cocoa.

Previously writing on Frontier Smart Technologies (FST), in July I concluded I suggest some consistent delivery is now needed here to re-inspire confidence and, at least before that, I avoid. Today the self-styled “pioneer in technologies for Digital Radio and Smart IoT devices… announces a trading update and revised outlook for the current financial year ending 31 December 2019”. Uh oh…