Plus500 (PLUS) has announced results for the first half of 2018, including emphasising “we have had a very successful first half with two major milestones; another record set of first half results including an exceptional first quarter performance and completion of our move up to the Main Market”. However, having recently exceeded 2000p, the shares have responded materially lower towards 1700p. Hmmm…

Chemring Group (CHG) has confirmed that at approximately 5pm on Friday there was an incident in a flare manufacturing building at its Countermeasures facility near Salisbury and that, although emergency services attended the scene and the incident was quickly brought under control, “tragically, one employee was fatally injured and another employee was badly injured and is currently receiving treatment in hospital”…

Last week was not ideal for those short of Tesla (US - TSLA) after that tweet announcing the potential biggest take private deal in history. Nothing now surprises me with this company and, also having been a victim of the Autonomy-Hewlett Packard debacle seven years ago, I am wary to dismiss the possibility of a deal out of hand. But as the week closed without any further details emerging, it is looking increasingly likely to me that the funding might not be “secured” as claimed.

China has the world’s most overleveraged, fragile financial system. In 2008, China’s total debt-to-GDP was 140%. It is now roughly 300%, while GDP is slowing. The economy is held together by capital controls. If those fail, the whole system fails. The capital flight in 2015/16 cost the government $1trln in reserves, and that was with ultra-dove Yellen in charge. Imagine what would have happened with Volcker at the helm.

A trading update from Fusion Antibodies (FAB) commences that it “announces that the company's results for the year ended 31 March 2018 will be announced on 16 August 2018. The results for FY18 are in line with current market expectations”. Hmmm – but it updated in March including “at least 40% revenue growth expected; adj EBITDA broadly in-line with expectations”, so why is the latest update needed so soon before the results announcement?...

Allied Minds (ALM) was due to release its interims at the end of this week but put out a rather strange statement this morning delaying it until the end of September. I thought it would be helpful to offer up an explanation as the situation is more complex and worrisome that this morning’s five-line announcement might indicate.

Our reader poll last Monday asked you where shares in AIM-listed Tern plc (TERN) would end the week. The answer was...

Hello, Share Flingers. Most Shareprophets subscribers are, I suspect, old enough to be a bit fed up with the obsessive way our increasingly technological world is taking us. This may make us reluctant to invest in modern ways of making and selling stuff. But if we want to turn big money from our little hobby, then we must not let modern developments leave us behind.

In this podcast I look back of the events of the past week at Tesla, what it says about the state of the stockmarket and the wider market cycle and specifically about the state of mind of Elon Musk. is he certifiable or a genius holding a hand of Aces we do not know about? Or just so desperate he will do anything to keep the show on the road for a little bit longer?

There is one aspect of the latest commentary from Align Research regarding Alba (ALBA) and BlueJay (JAY) with which I disagree strongly. Align argues that Alba must be cheap becuase it has similar assets to Bluejay and the Horse Hill stocks yet trades on a fraction of the ratings of Bluejay and the HH stocks. Surely it could just be that "the field" are grossly overvalued? Of Course I have very real issues with Bluejay and its shamed Nomad and broker SP Angel of MySquar infamy. But over to Align which opines:

It has been a busy last few weeks grappling with the global results season, so i had a couple of quieter days on Friday and Saturday and, at one point, found myself at a newish shopping centre half-an-hour or so from where I live.  I do not find the idea of retail therapy particularly exciting or refreshing but as I am in a minority of one on this...unto the breach and all that.  It was not long before i cheered up pointing out my perceptions on which retail outlet was doing well or badly based on footflow, the look of the store etc, etc.  I am not sure if my daughters were particularly interested in all this...

When a sector is showing weakness it can be tempting to sell up and move into something else, but often if you are in for the longer term then this is actually the time to be adding to your investment.

Following my piece HERE which voiced concerns that formerly AIM-listed BMR Group (BMR) had simply been executed by the oxymorons, I had a chat with the company to find out what comes next. My hope is that the company will release a statement in due course, but in the meantime what I can report is that it seems all is not lost. I can also report a little more on the loss of its licence in Zambia (which was subsequently restored).

Some house business: bulletin board moron of the week has returned. We ceased this long-running column earlier in the year when we had successfully cleared all bulletiin boards of all morons. But they have oozed back and it is time for you to take out the trash.

Engineering and construction company North Midland Construction (NMD) has announced results for the first half of 2018, including emphasising “our focus on margin enhancement (104% ahead of last year) and cash generation (138% ahead of last year) is beginning to show returns and is anticipated to continue going forward”…

I return again to the issue of those who take payment from PLCs and fail to disclose it when providing commentary on those PLCs. This time it is not the whore blogger Malcolm Graham Wood but LSE ShareTalk - we had a twitter spat last night where it failed to answer a simple question five times. Then I look at the pay of Nationwide boss Joe Garner and why this makes me despise him and his ilk. I look at clueless chancellor Phil Hammond and his plans to tax online retailers more - the man really is a total git. I cover the stupidity of Trades Union Unite on House of Fraser and the plunging Turkish Lira and what it means for the rotten European banking system.

Rotala (ROL) has announced results for its half year ended 31^st May 2018 and that it is “confident about the prospects of the group in 2018 and beyond”…

“There is nothing like losing all you have in the world for teaching you what not to do. And when you know what not to do in order not to lose money, you begin to learn what to do in order to win. Did you get that? You begin to learn!”

From the FCA's spreadsheet of short positions required to be disclosed to it, the following shows the shorted AIM shares with positions from 2017 and thus far in 2018 (by net short position %) - and if this position has increased (red), reduced (green) or remained unchanged (black) since last week...

Hello Share Swampers. Ok, so you're wise enough to subscribe for less than £1.50 a week to this wonderful website for quick news that the share you bought is unreliable - as so often happens. But are you wise enough to hold the correct proportion of your assets in cash to suit the current share climate? If you're not certain, allow me to remind you of some classic tips.