Hello, Share Minders. As the price of Brent crude continues to climb, still the big oil companies lag behind the surge. I keep stressing that their share prices will catch up, probably sooner than later. But what about the smaller fish?

Saintly Vin Murria having walked from a potential controlling equity investment and nominated adviser finnCap having resigned seeing the shares suspended, today a “Company Update” from Imaginatik (IMTK) commencing; “Since the company's announcement on 4 June 2018, the company's financial performance has improved”. Hmmm…

I have told this to Simon Liddington to his face but my comments merit a wider audience. I apologise for a dire share tip. I have lost £40,000 myself on Big Sofa (BST) and I must take blame for my own decisions. But I also have words for Arden Partners but the buck stops with the pathetic failure Liddington who MUST GO NOW! I also comment on Avanti Communications (AVN), Ryanair (RYA) and on Rosslyn  Data Technologies (RDT) and Avocet (AVM)  

Ten years after the Great Recession’s onset, another long, deep downturn may soon roil the U.S. economy. The high level of asset prices today mirrors the earlier trend in house prices that preceded the 2008 crash; both mispricings reflect long periods of very low real interest rates caused by Federal Reserve policy. Now that interest rates are rising, equity prices will fall, dragging down household wealth, consumer spending and economic activity.

Secure payment and customer contact technology company Eckoh (ECK) is “delighted to have won our largest ever secure payments contract and with such a prestigious client” - and the shares have currently responded 8% higher to 41p…

Kefi Minerals (KEFI) has announced that, as per the RNS of August 24, it has now signed a binding deal with ANS Mining Share Company which will see ANS invest $30 million for a 23% stake in the Tulu Kapi project (not the PLC). Another $8 million could see that stake go to 29%...

Another month has passed, so it is time for another look at my portfolio of AIM stocks which I marked as slam-dunk sells at the beginning of the year. The five in question are UK Oil & Gas (UKOG), Frontera Resources (FRR), Telit (TCM), Inspirit Energy (INSP) and Catanae Innovation (CTEA), formerly Milestone Group. At the last count the portfolio was down by 22% - what is the score now?

Gold recovery and mining company Goldplat (GDP) has announced results for its year ended 30^th June 2018, noting that this “was a year during which a lot was achieved which did not translate into increased production or profitability, but Goldplat is confident that this will materialise during FY 2019”…

Hello Share Swiggers. At the 2018 Global Group UK Investor Show, we had a brilliant presentation from a big cheese at FairFX Group (FFX) ie: James Hickman, the firm’s chief commercial officer. Tom was over the moon about it and I think he’s a customer. Tom even picked it out as a goer on the show’s Dragon's Den section. So it’s pleasant to report that the company continues to shine.

Orosur Mining (OMI) has been a big disappointment for me as it was one of the small AIM miners which I thought had a chance of actually going on to bigger things.

In today's podcast I discuss the latest news from Elon Musk and Tesla (TSLA) and why it is still a short, Theresa May trying to woo the wrong businessmen, gender pay gap bollocks in the Mail on Sunday and the theft Bulletin Board Morons approve of and ADVFN (AFN) cuts its own throat by not tackling, copyright theft.

Some of you will be aware of my whining about market makers and house broker games played out on the trading floor of AIM. I am sure some of you think these are merely conspiracy theories of a blogger and attempted to explain negative share price movements on a particular day. I'm not going to rehash my market maker theory again, instead, lets discuss a the role of a house broker, I guess these creatures are right at the top of the tree, along with bankers, as a breed of creatures we hate because we feel they cannot be trusted, and yet we are effectively held to ransomed because of the duty they perform.

In part 1 of this expose we saw that the new board of AIM-listed Origo (OPP) had spent time getting to grips with the trainwreck of a company left behind by previous management. New chairman, John Chapman was not mincing his words as he told us that company records were missing, such as the due diligence and investment rationale for the company’s investments – as were some of the investments, “expenses” had been paid to someone who left the scene four years ago and that the old guard  including its Nomad had been understandably reluctant to hand over the keys. Now let’s look at some of Origo’s portfolio.

Tom Winnifrith writes and has also discussed this in bearcast HERE: We ordinary shareholders in Premaitha (NIPT) have suffered for many years and shown enormous loyalty. News released well after the market close of a £2.5 million placing at 10p might thus seem like a kick in the teeth by a management treating us with contempt. I am afraid the story is far worse.

As avid readers of ShareProphets will know, we have been bearish on Imaginatik (IMTK) for ever – firstly for being a duff business, secondly for being a Rob Terry of Quindell infamy stock market darling and more recently because it was going to run out of cash. Despite all that, we almost tipped it as a short term play when the saintly Vin Murria was announced to be considering getting involved but were scared off big time by the share price reaction (the stock shot through the roof) and advised many times that readers give it a wide berth, partly because they would be over-paying and partly because Vin Murria could walk.

Yesterday afternoon while the city was tuning in to the Ryder Cup, AIM-listed Haydale (HAYD) released an RNS announcing the sale of 38,233 shares (about 7.7% of his holding) by director Ray Gibbs – the CEO who announced his intention to step down in June on the back of a profit warning – on 26^th September, the day before Hardman issued its after-hours ramptastic buy note.

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.  

I commented back in June, when ShareProphets AIM-China Filthy Forty investment company Origo Partners (OPP) announced its FY17 results that I underestimated the new board of Origo after new Chairman John Chapman tore into the investments made under the old board and advisers. Yesterday, as Origo got its interims out on deadline day, John Chapman tore into the old crew even more. The attack (totally justified, in my humble opinion) is astonishing – no “old school tie” behaviour here, it is utterly devastating. Mind you, given that the (now former) investment adviser had coined it to the tune of $31 million in performance payments by the end of 2014, and now Origo’s shareholders have just $13.6 million to share between them (as opposed to $81 million as at June 2017) with no dividends one has to think Mr Chapman has a point. Will AIM Regulation act? (Don’t laugh too loud….)

Part of the problem with the mainstream press these days is the lack of follow-up. Sure, they love to blow the latest scandal out of all proportion but weeks or months later when the authorities have delivered their reports, they have moved on to the next thing.

Having demanded we bring back this contest, once again, Juicin Drumroll failed to win last week but he came second and tried very hard as you can see HERE. So he is clearly desperate to win a semi naked photo of Britain's leading share blogger before lunchtime, Thirsty Paul Scott. So we will give him a sixth and final chance. Can anyone stop Juicin from winning this week? Okay here is the challenge for you all: