Hello, Share Shifters. Most of the time I push penny shares forward for your further examination, but I do have my favourites among Footsie giants. Sensibly, you ought to hold at least half of your pot in the jumbos, even though even these babies can go sour. Today, I bring you a share I’ve long supported, if only because when times are shaky, more people it seems turn to the solace of drink...

In this podcast I discuss a generous offer from Angus Energy (ANGS) then the kill (London & Capital Finance) now shown as a ponzi, and the possible kills to come: Alien Metals UFO) formerly Arian Silver (AGC) - stick that in your pipe Yellow Jersey motherfuckers - Telit (TCM) and Cabot Energy (CAB). Tick tock. Tick tock. I also look at Reach4Entertainment (R4E) and discuss what happens when bad management meets good assets and then what happens when a good manager arrives. Suffice to say, Reach is very cheap indeed.

On the previous, 22nd November, trading update from home safety products group FireAngel Safety Technology (FA.), I noted now the broker is forecasting a loss of £1.7 million on revenue of £38 million for this year, though argues “it is more encouraging that orders have started to come through and we are making no changes to our 2019E or 2020E forecasts”. Given the noted recent track record, that though still strikes as optimistic currently… continue to avoid as the shares fell towards 35.5p. Having been 39p before today, they’re currently around 30p…

I could talk about market heavyweights Diageo (DGE), Royal Dutch Shell (RDSB) or Unilever (ULVR) but frankly none are interesting or compelling...although no doubt dividend munchers are still getting frothy about them. Instead I turn again to the bingo, casino and more emporium Rank (RNK) – which I last wrote about in August, observing 'below 160p as a "have another look" level still feels correct. No debt, cashflow, well-known assets...smell the private equity or industry consolidation potential'…

Alpha Growth (ALGW) is running on ‘vapours.’  It hasn’t got a pot to piss in. Cash on hand is probably close to £170,000. Its auditor has issued a ‘Material Uncertainty’ as to viability going forward as a going concern. The Company has ‘fessed up that it has no revenue and will need funds. What is not to like? 

Often when I look at companies at the lower end of AIM I am left struggling to see why on earth anyone is buying it at the current share price.

In the old days ( i.e only three years ago) the BBC pension fund was invested, as it should have been in safe dividend plays like BP, Shell and BAT Industries. But that sort of portfolio played badly with the uber politically correct state funded broadcaster. So its all change. The new top 20 holdings as at 31 March 2018 are below.

How much ‘commisery'(tm) might you feel if you had been encouraged or even required to use a specific firm of solicitors by your estate agent, only to find that over £380 was going straight into your agents pocket as a backhander from the solicitor in question? All perfectly legally of course.

A 15th January “Trading Statement” announcement from CloudCall Group (CALL), included “available cash reserves of £2.75m… Cash reserves decreased by approximately £1.5m in H2 2018, compared to £2.5m in H1 2018, and the company is already well advanced in preparations for its 2018 R&D tax credit claim which is expected to bring in an additional £0.75m in mid-2019” and “following its equity fundraise completed in November 2017, 2018 has seen the company make significant investments… as with most SaaS businesses, there is always a lag between making these investments and the resulting revenue growth, so I am delighted that we are now starting to see tangible acceleration in customer orders and user growth”. No need for more funds imminently then?... Now “Placing”!...

I know that Thirsty Paul Scott was a major bull of Staffline (STAF) and a shareholder. Today's shocking news of allegations of accounting irregularities made by the company's own auditor PWC and a share suspension is enough to turn any man to drink. In this podcast I give background and explain what I think the outcome will be. It is bad but not, I suspect, a Patisserie Holdings (CAKE) but it might get very nasty.

Hello, Share Markers. Yesterday I suggested insurer Legal & General (LGEN) as a reasonable punt for anyone looking for a comparatively safe company with a juicy dividend. For the more curious who want to spread an investment between two of Britain’s more reliable companies might I also suggest you look at Severn Trent (SVT)...

Supplier of gas, electricity and water to businesses, Yu Group (YU.) has updated on 2018, including ‘confirming’ some prior guidance and CEO Bobby Kalar emphasising “with a strong balance sheet and a focussed and dedicated workforce, I remain confident in the underlying business, the significant market opportunity available to us, and the long term success of our proposition and I am absolutely driven to put us back on track”. The shares have responded currently more than doubling, to above 150p. Hmmm…

In today's podcast I take a detailed look at Boxhill (BOX) and at Yu Group (YU.) - I believe numbers from neither. I ask questions about Staffline (STAF) and its curious statement today. And i also do some number crunching on the living dead, Phontonstar Led (PSL) and have a few thoughts on Independent Oil & Gas (IOG)

Last month, previously writing on Veltyco (VLTY) it was updates on launch of own financial trading brand – delay, or worse?. Now a “Subscription, Receivables Update and Board Changes” announcement…

I just don’t know where to start! AIM-listed Boxhill Technologies is back trading – at least for now – having released bullshit numbers (as discussed by Tom Winnifrith HERE) for its FY to Jan 31 18 accounts and the following interims. We are told on the calamity that was the disposal of Emex that the board is confident the £2 million loan note is good, but that Lord Razzall, Clive Hyman and Andrew Flitcroft are departing the board by the end of July (so who is left to say the loan note is good?) and that the “sinking fund” which was supposed to make it good hasn’t got off the ground yet. Er…right.

I loved up easyJet (EZJ) a week or so ago, so does the love also flow through to its more Eastern European centric peer Wizz Air (WIZZ)?

Catenae Innovation (CTEA) has announced what it considers “a significant step for the OnSide product”...

Following on from my article on Sunday on Bluejay Mining (JAY) covering the very large share sales that showed up on Friday last week, news came out yesterday afternoon confirming that the seller of a chunky 6.48% of the company's float (netting a cool £6 million+) was co-founder and long time Rod Mcillree acolyte Jeremy Whybrow. That should set more alarm bells ringing for the bulls...

Kizilcukur development update, including that “bulk sampling results demonstrate that the Kizilcukur deposit has the capacity to act as a source of high-grade satellite feed to the Kiziltepe processing plant”, and “Share Buy-Back: Update” announcements from Ariana Resources (AAU)...

PCG Entertainment (PCGE) has seen its share price slump over the past few months but, despite there having been a number of large transactions, there have been no notifications of any changes to the significant shareholdings in the company. Now I find this very strange, given that there have been several sells that have amounted to around 1% of the shares in issue, along with numerous others around the 0.5% level, and during December and January there were more than 233 million shares traded in total – of the 1.244 billion in issue...