You can sometimes get some borrow in Versarien (VRS) and if you can you should even with the shares, which were once almost 200p, having slumped to below 15p. The next collapse will happen and happen fairly soon. It is a when not an if.

Back in early August I observed that a dump below a twenty quid share price would be quite interesting for anyone interested in buying shares in Greggs plc (GRG). And, with the fall in the company’s share price over the last two or three weeks, we now might be at an interesting moment.

On August 26^th nanosynth (NNN) LIED to investors claiming it had done a deal which would see it “raise £2.9425 million”. That was a great big fat lie. It will raise nothing like that. Last week it doubled down repeating that lie in its interims and now, facing bankruptcy by Christmas it still refuses to come clean and its shares are tumbling again. Perhaps it is time to start telling the truth as lying sure is not working!

Gold closed the week at $1661 per oz – up from last week’s $1645, but still below the apparently all-important $1675 mark. It is all a bit depressing, but with incoming cash from the latest AIM-listed Ariana (AAU) dividend of 0.175p per share due tomorrow, the Gold price in Sterling terms within £100 of its all-time high and equity markets in another bear-run, its not so bad.

Death spirals have been a hot topic of conversation here on ShareProphets, the issue being whether they decimate share prices and are thus a major Red Flag.  Tom pointed out here that there is no causal link but with Cloudbreak Discovery (CDL) of the sub-Standard List, there seems to be another issue.

I really do hope that you are not feeling too pessimistic about global financial markets and your portfolio.  Sadly, stuff does happen and what matters is always how you respond to such challenges.  Meanwhile in personal positions and investment choices I see that I get another opportunity to talk about and appraise Carnival (CCL), where frankly I would have been much, much wiser to have a holiday or three on the “6,465-passenger Carnival Mardi Gras, one of the largest cruise ships in service across all lines”, rather than holding shares in the company (whose US listed shares were at a share price last seen in 1993 yesterday afternoon)...

Tertiary Minerals (TYM) has always been one of those companies that has promised a lot based on the potential of its resources in the ground, yet never seems to make much progress towards actually extracting any of them, whilst burning through cash and having to raise more at regular intervals.

Shares in airlines have been hammered recently with concerns over demand during a cost of living crisis, as well as rising costs of running these businesses, but I’m not convinced that things are quite as bad as the markets seem to be factoring in.

Before today, during 16 years when various executives have troughed it on a material scale, shareholders in Vast Resources (VAST) have witnessed a 99.96% share price decline. Today it will get worse as there is another bailout placing to fund operational failure and fat cat largesse, including a CEO on £227,000 a year. Everything about this latest disaster stinks.

I start with a question for you all ( except Nigel Wray and Nick Leslau): should the Mrs and I fix our mortage next April. Then onto Boohoo (BOO) and the timing of its next trading warning. For Boohoo also see Sosandar (SOS), etc, etc. Finally I wonder which academic will be brave enough to run an exercise correlating boardroom diversity with share price performance in 2022. You and I can work out what the result will be and also that there is no causal link but who will dare say it for exposes the boardroom diversity MUST be good line for the canard that it always has been.

Caerus Mineral Resources (CMRS) is a company that I tipped as a speculative buy when it IPO’d, and after initially performing well, the share price has since crashed.

Back in March, at the request of a ShareProphets reader, I took a look at Capital Metals (CMET) and noted that although the company and its resource didn’t really appeal to me personally, I could see some potential there if and when it reached production.

On 16 August I warned HERE that Made.com (MADE) would be lucky to end the year with its bottom of the range cash forecast of £5 million and that the company needed to get away a placing of £40 million. Two days later it ‘fessed that it was working on things with its advisers. Since then matter have got worse and worse and I wonder if this can be rescued at all. First up is the very obvious cash crisis

Needless to say, the Oxymorons at AIM Regulation have failed to force serial dog Nanosynth (NNN) to correct the grotesquely misleading RNS of 26 August in which it claimed that a Lanstead death spiral deal meant that it had secured “ a conditional subscription to raise £2,942,500  through the issue of 535,000,000 new ordinary shares of 0.01 pence each in the Company at a price of 0.55 pence per Ordinary Share.” That was a big fat fecking lie and with the shares collapsing to 0.42p, i.e less than they were before the deal was announced and a couple of subsequent ramptastic bullshit RNS’s. Mr Market is waking up and smelling the coffee even if the bogus Sheriff of AIM, Marcus Stuttard, and his colleagues are asleep at the wheel.

With the recent weakness in the prices of some commodities, including copper, many junior miners at the pre-production stage have seen their share prices drop substantially. That has definitely been the case with US copper explorer Phoenix Copper (PXC) which was trading at close to 70p earlier this year, but has since gradually slid all the way back down to a current price of just 20p, and without any company specific news really justifying it.

Petrofac (PFC) definitely had its fair share of problems and scandals in recent years, but that all now seems to be behind it, and the sector that it operates in should perform strongly in the coming years.

The numbers for the year to June 30 came out last Thursday. Forgive my delayed response but suffice to say that MGC (MXC) engaged in industrial scale turd polishing.

North Sea-focused oil and gas development company Orcadian Energy (ORCA) holds significant licence interests at a time of energy supply problems and energy security concerns. With those leading to increasing development incentives, it looks well set.

We have talked many times in the past about the reasons why the next fifteen years in global markets are going to be different from the last fifteen years. You should never worry about change (in fact I would worry more about a lack of change in economics or in life in general). And, if I had to make a guess about the focus of the investment world in 2037, I doubt it will be all about favourite Nasdaq holdings or how high the dollar is. Simply put, investors in Ashmore Group (ASHM), “one of the world's leading Emerging Markets investment managers with a history of consistently outperforming the market”, should be feeling excited about prospects. But despite a near 7% rise in the share price today, why is their stock nearly down 40% over the last five years?

Perhaps you are really smart with your investment choices and do your trades from the beach or a luxury yacht. By contrast, I am mostly sat in my study working and thinking. Still, it is less than ten years to go before I can access my pension fund and one stock choice that has helped out over the last week is Reckitt Benckiser (RKT), which I last loved-up a bit over six months ago HERE. So why has a CEO change been announced today?

I have talked before that the most interesting aspect of the quarterly FTSE 100 changes is not which corporate names join London’s largest index…it is those that get booted out. The one of interest to me is not fund manager Abrdn (ABDN), which we used to all know as Aberdeen Asset Management before its comedy name change, but Howden Joinery Group (HWDN).

Last week the Dark Destroyer agreed to do a conference call with a few fund managers to discuss Darktrace (DARK). Some sad feck recorded the call and passed the recording to the Sunday Times which ran a big story “exposing Matt’s undisclosed short”. If only financial journalists on the deadwood press understood that short disclosures are only visible over 0.5%. So, for Darktrace that would be c. £18 million, way too big for Earl’s Shadowfall oufit. Earl is hiding nothing.

Almost exactly a year ago, I asked myself “I historically mucked it up on Bunzl (BNZL), so what do I think now?”. I concluded back then that it was a worthy business, which had grown its revenue, profit and cash flow over time but I passed on buying the shares as I was fired up by a bunch of different sectors and corporate names. Though, despite the stock falling about 4% this morning, it is still up over 10% during the last year. So should I be more boring and buy the stock?

A thing about both eyes going a bit blind is that you have to give up your driving licence. I may have felt a bit frustrated about this early last year, but obviously it is very smart to fully adhere to. So I am useless now for people such as Lookers plc (LOOK), which “proudly represents 32 manufacturer brands, selling a huge range of new and used vehicles from 144 franchise dealerships in the UK and Ireland”. But what do I think about it after its first half numbers published today?

Whilst I’m generally wary of investing in small oil and gas companies, occasionally one comes along that appears to be in the right place, at the right time, and with the right assets and management team.

A spokesman for Ironveld Resources (IRON) denied to me yesterday that sitting on price sensitive information for at least 6 weeks during which time the share price slumped by 30% as some folks “miraculously” knew the bad news, is not doing anything wrong. “The company does not believe that it has done anything wrong”. Neither do 90% of the inmates of Wormwood Scrubs. Whatever you say Giles Clarke and Martin Eales.

Bear raider Miles Dyson and I chatted the other day. Lucian Miers says that - apart from me - Miles is his new best buddy. His work on Audioboom (BOOM) suggesting fabricated user numbers is compelling as you can see here. But last night he unearthed a hammer blow which, as I shall explain below, will have devastating consequences for the share price.

I explained yesterday how the curse of value destroying loathsome ex Tory MP Tony Baldry was about to strike again and that Westminster Group (WSG), where his chairmanship has seen a 5 year 90% share price collapse, was set to do another bailout placing. On reflection, the numbers presented are misleading and the merde in which this company is drowning is far greater than folks realise. Let me explain.

Whilst shares in AO World (AO.) are currently up nearly 10% today as I write, the apparently “leading online electrical retailer” continues not to make an operating profit and has fallen into (admittedly slight) net debt, since corrected by a placing, I have not been a fan of this name for years and years, most recently back in early June when the stock looked a clear avoid at its then 72p share price. Despite today’s share price rise, it is now at a c. 45p share price level and still an Avoid for me. And talking about shares I have avoided for many years, how are those of Rank Group (RNK) getting along?

I recently wrote a piece criticising Canadian Overseas Petroleum (COPL), and as a result appeared to upset some people on the bulletin boards – not that I really care! – and having now looked more closely at its latest financing deal, I’m even more convinced that it is a company to avoid like the plague.

Afentra (AET) has finally relisted after being suspended for nearly a year whilst it completed the acquisition of producing oil assets in Angola.

Still the dumb pricks who own these shares do not seem to get it and think that abusing and trolling and abusing myself and Gary Newman is going to reverse the all too predictable share price decline. Today, there is another RNS for them to ignore.

Long suffering Teathers Financial shareholders could actually be on the verge of seeing the company actually worth something again after a deal with Power Metal Resources was announced, but for me it raises a lot of questions.

Just under eight months ago HERE  I gave Capita (CPI) - which describes itself as “supporting the justice system through smart technology solutions” - a slightly alternative name.  I remember first using such an alternative name many years ago - and it is certainly neither unique or particularly smart.  But it kind of captures well the company’s struggles over the last seven or eight years where its share price contraction stands at well over 90%. How striking for a company which many will remember its epic 1990s (and initially beyond) performance.  

Canadian Overseas Petroleum (COPL) seems to have been getting a fair bit of attention today after releasing an incredibly rampy resources update for its Wyoming asset, with the focus being on oil in place rather than actual reserves and what might be extracted.

It never ceases to amaze me how easily some of the micro cap shares get pumped, and how willing some people are to buy even after a huge increase in the share price on no actual news.

A little under three years ago, I first wrote about Smith & Nephew (SN.), which “designs and makes technology that takes the limits off living, and we help healthcare professionals to achieve the same goal”. All good stuff, but - as shown by the 70% fall in share price since October 2019 - life for this sort of business has got more tricky.  And the then-CEO did not listen to my advice: that he needed “to focus on performance and not pay”. Unsurprisingly, he has left, chasing more money… So, what about the new(ish) CEO and prospects for Smith & Nephew shares, now at a five-year low?

Red Rock Resources (RRR) has announced the issue of £0.623 million of convertible notes, and that “near-term positive financial developments may be anticipated” – can they be, though?

Quite a lot has happened since I covered Jadestone Energy (JSE) as a buy just over a month ago, and recent news has further strengthened my positive outlook on the company.

I am struggling to remember a Wednesday that was as busy for those of us interested in the world of analysis, fund management and macroeconomics matters over the twenty-six years since I started work, as was yesterday. It was all good fun, even if I ended my day listening to the Federal Reserve believing it was very good at looking after American inflation. More about stocks. Like the analytical weirdo I am, I love listening to at least one live conference call every business day. However yesterday, I lost count of the number of calls I listened to and there were a bunch I passed on because I knew I simply did not have time.  First up for me was Reckitt Benckiser (RKT), a company that I mentioned on Tuesday was far more interesting than Unilever (ULVR), which remains very clear after the former’s first half numbers.

It gives me no pleasure seeing companies heading toward bankruptcy. I do not care about institutional investors losing money. I feel some sympathy for private investors, almost certainly roped in by some newspaper tipster or those pushing low grade broker research. But I do feen genuinely sorry for staff and suppliers who will have their lives turned upside down. That6 brings us to Made.com (MADE).

I hope you enjoyed a nice start to the week because - if you are an investment markets follower - it is going to get really busy. All good usual late July fun then. I guess I should start with easyJet (EZJ), a company I have become royally hacked off with ever since the cancellation of my flight back home with it in early July.

San Leon Energy (SLE) has just announced a transaction which would give it a much more significant stake in the OML18 field in Nigeria, which constituted a reverse takeover and required an admission document to be published prior to trading in the shares recommencing.

Previously updating on the UK’s largest pawnbroker and a leading retailer of new and pre-owned jewellery and watches, H&T Group (HAT) we concluded that we continued to look for further news flow to drive a return to an above 350p share price. The shares have now reached further higher than that.

An upbeat trading statement from Tortilla Mexican Grill (MEX) tries to paint a bright picture for this member of the shamed IPOs class of 2021 - listing at 180p on October 8 with founders dumping £23 million of stock, share price today 125p. But buried deep in the release is a clear warning of troubles ahead.

Writing on OptiBiotix Health (OPTI) last month with the shares at 21p to buy, we noted potential for a move into meaningful profitability and further potential from 'second generation' products addressing much larger market opportunities. We drank our own medicine with Tom buying more shares at 22p. The shares are now further up at 31.5p on the back of a “Joint development agreement signed with Firmenich”-titled announcement.

Serica Energy (SQZ) is a company that I’ve been following for quite a few years now and it has been my best performing share tip ever during that time. It has gone from a small company that had acquired some later life assets that BP didn’t appear to want any more, and with sentiment pretty low following its past screw-ups in Indonesia, to where it is now with a booming UK-based gas and oil business, lots of cash in the bank and more being added on a daily basis and a market cap in excess of £900 million.

The way the markets are currently it feels like there is plenty of risk in buying anything, even in the sectors that are expected to remain strong in the coming months.

The first cut is the least painful. That is to say, selling when it is clear a company is fecked, is less painful than waiting to sell in such circumstances. The document today published by Shield (STX) shows just how fecked it is.

Asiamet Resources (ARS) has turned out to be my worst ever investment in a mining company, in terms of percentage loss anyway, and has been a great example of what happens if as a company you continually miss deadlines.

Touchstone Exploration (TXP) seems to be suffering from rumours on a Telegram group that there are delays to its Cascadura gas asset reaching into production, and this has caused the share price to plummet, currently down over 11%.

Almost every week J Sainsbury (SBRY) makes a food delivery to our home. It is probably not the cheapest nor the highest quality supplier, but it is proximate, reliable and - in my opinion - an above average player. Spot my aspirational middle-class background! I cannot remember the last time I have held shares in the company though, and that’s been a good year-to-date call. Despite offering a 5% dividend yield, the shares are down over 20% so far in 2022. Is it time to buy or keep on avoiding after numbers today?

I start with two examples of BlowJo's utter stupidity. Then, I touch on how Big Corporate is rallying around Halifax, and its woke hectoring of customers. After that, onto Nanosynth (NNN) - where the share price target is now a fall of 80-100% - and Valereum (VLRM): expect a share price collapse within weeks.

MyHealthChecked (MHC) has revealed that, in the first six months of 2022, trading was stronger than expected – as the company launches its new at-home "wellness tests".

It is the last day of June, the last day of the quarter and the last day of the first half of the year. How exciting! There is so much more to come for all active investors. As for the ‘buy a bit of everything / anything’ passive investor types…good luck, unless you really want to ignore the world of investments for a decade or two. And so much to think about, as always on a Thursday. First, I was amused to see that the latest Nationwide House Price Index for June pleased many people by still showing a year-on-year increase of 10.7% (only just below the 10.8% anticipated number).

Hello Share Squashers. It’s not often I suggest you look at the same share in the same week. But there’s enough data to add to my earlier posting on Ceres Power (CWR). Especially as the good news I imparted on a partnership with Shell (SHEL) has made no difference to the share price. It seems the City has yet to wake up to the potential here.

As many of you reading this will know, I’m not exactly a fan of Mode Global Holdings (MODE) and even less so after its latest antics where it hasn’t exactly gone out of its way to inform investors about its latest fundraise!

Hindsight is often of little use on the markets and consists of people kicking themselves about something which seems obvious after the event, usually a missed trade, but occasionally it can also be used to avoid making the same mistake again.

Back in April I called the Imperial Leather, Cussons Baby, Cussons Kids, Carex, Original Source, Sanctuary Spa and St. Tropez seller PZ Cussons (PZC) a “bad day buy” below a 200 pence share price. I think we might have had a few of those year-to-date. But if you have bought some shares - like me - then you certainly have not made a fortune (yet) as the shares are basically 200p this morning. Still, it could be a lot worse…

Structural steel company, Severfield (SFR), has announced results for the year ended 26^th March 2022. Its growth strategy, the company claims, is delivering a record order book, with a broad diversity of sectors, geographies and clients, providing good earnings visibility through 2023 and beyond.

Ariana Resources (AAU) has announced significant progress across its projects, “most notably" the construction of Tavsan, with associated development activities being ramped up.

This is a disgrace and if the Oxymorons at AIM regulation “led” by the bogus Sheriff of AIM, Mr Marcus Stuttard, were not such pathetic and spineless pond life they would be banning the devout Christian Matt Lofgran and London’s worst Nomad from playing any further part in life on the AIM sewer.

I start with my wonderful son, Joshua, losing every race at Sports Day with bravery and humour. Then, onto UK Network Agency; Innovation Agri-Tech; Eden Pharma; the wretched FCA's failure on £65 million fraud, Appbox Media/One True View; Ocado (OCDO); Morses Club (MCL); Cake Box (CBOX) - where Steve is wrong; Verditek (VDTK); and Shield Therapeutics (STX).

Any disruption to production is obviously a big issue for oil producers, and even more so when a company only has a small number of operations and it causes a significant impact on output.

Back in August last year, I concluded about Rank Group (RNK) that at the then 175p share price “for me today I would AVOID”. That was wise as this morning shares in the company which has “entertained Britain since 1937” are only 82p! So why have they halved over the last ten months?

About three months ago, I noted that, before I bought back into the shares, I needed to see a >10% fall in the then c. 265p Tesco (TSCO) share price. We are not there yet, given this morning's 248p price, but what did its Q1 update say about the tricky path ahead?

Argo Blockchain (ARB) is a company that I wrote about several times a couple of years back, but more recently have left to Tom Winnifrith to write about the numerous red flags that he has spotted there.

Another exciting day in the markets, although at least today they are up…until we see what the central banks on either side of the Atlantic have to say for themselves over the next 24 hours or so. All good fun (as always). Meanwhile two workable updates today from Whitbread (WTB) and WH Smith (SMWH)...

Jadestone Energy (JSE) has announced results for the 2021 calendar year and that it still expects 2022 average production to increase to 15,500-18,500 boe/d. So what of a share price slipping to 101p in response?

It was about six weeks ago when I last called AO World (AO.) “comedy” and the reasons for not investing into (as per its website this morning) the ‘largest online-only white goods and electricals retailer in the UK…we also operate in Germany’ continue. AO…let’s continue not to invest (despite the near 71% fall of its share price over the last year).

Back in November 2020 I noted about Workspace Group (WKP), the “leading provider of flexible space for London’s brightest businesses”, that it was “fortunate it does not have the huge legacy debts of many of its commercial property peers, so it will survive…but the structural headwinds are still most clearly there: fewer clients wanting more discounts”. The shares have gone a bit up and a bit down since then but, despite being up about 1% this morning to a 732p share price after full year numbers, they are basically unchanged over the last nineteen months or so. In short no disaster…but what should investors think now?

Finding junior mining companies that have the potential to go on to develop a large resource through to actual production, or an asset sale, is never easy and the reality is that most of these companies fail to ever achieve much other than burning through large amounts of cash over a period of years.

Bluebird Merchant Ventures (BMV) has announced sample results from South Korea, which, it emphasises, confirm that it is on the right path to 'proof of concept' gold production.

South African metals producer, Tharisa (THS), has announced results for its half-year ended 31^st March 2022, including “PGM production of 91.8 koz, up 22.2%... Chrome production of 776.7 kt, up 6.3%... strong commodity markets”. That sounds good!

AEX Gold (AEXG) has announced first-quarter results, emphasising that its strategy remains to bring the Nalunaq gold project back into production, and use it as a platform for strategic mineral assets in Greenland.

I’ve been a fan of Capricorn Energy (CNE), formerly Cairn, for some time now and my investment there has done pretty well, but I probably won’t be holding for much longer now that it has announced a merger with Tullow Oil (TLW).

My continued advice to keep well away from fully-listed Esken (ESKN) – the former Stobart Group (STOB) seems to have been well placed. Quite apart from the serial Red-Flags-At-Night announcements, there is the small matter of the share price continuing to collapse. A year ago the shares were 32.9p and I said sell; last August they had fallen to 15p and I said keep well away. Now they are just 8.77p and there are a few Red Flags in the FY22 results (to February) to suggest that there is still further to fall.

Floorcoverings distributor group Headlam (HEAD) has issued an AGM trading update including that it “continues to be comfortable with profit expectations for the year”. So what of a current 338p share price?

I think it was the Welsh poet George Herbert who once wrote “Thursday comes and the week’s gone”. Perhaps he should have looked at the stock market a bit more, because Thursday is always the busiest day of the week for anyone interested in corporate updates. Three pieces of news flow that particularly interested me today…

Asiamet Resources (ARS) is a great example of what happens to a share that the market has totally lost confidence in and how a major, company-making piece of news is likely to be needed in order to bring about any sort of change in sentiment.

Nowadays Cranswick (CWK) is more than just “one of the UK’s leading producers of fresh pork”. I got all excited about sausages and more back in November last year, but I never got around to picking up any shares. Maybe that was wise or lucky given the 35 quid shares back then are now about 32 quid. What do I think after today’s full year numbers?

Back in November I observed that below a 300p share price it might be worth having a look at Kingfisher (KGF). Thanks to the market volatility of the last three months we have been at that level, but there have been other stocks I have been more interested in. So what do I think after today’s first quarter trading update?

Back in November last year I wondered if I was going to choose Royal Mail (RMG) as a new buy for 2022.  But when it got the end of December the share price had risen from about 430p to approximately 520p and hence I was happy to keep on ignoring it. So why did Royal Mail shares react badly to its numbers last week, meaning their year-to-date fall is now nearly 40%? It is a good job then that I decided to ignore the share late last year…but is it a potential buy now?

I am a bit of a fan of DCC plc (DCC), the “leading international sales, marketing and support services group with a clear focus on performance and growth…operate through three divisions: Energy, Healthcare and Technology”. Back in late December I called it one of my tips of the year for 2022. So how is it getting on?

As I observed back in January I am “not a global fashionista nor a chav...but still a Burberry (BRBY) shares fan”. With events since, unsurprisingly the share is down but I can live with that as - at various points over the last few years - I have bought the stock at an average price below the current sub 16 quid share price level. But what do today’s full year numbers to the start of April tell me about both recent and upcoming trading realities?

Lucian Miers’ (the bear raider) top three UK short positions are:

Some good news and some less good news for easyJet (EZJ) today. Call me radical but I have booked an easyJet flight for later this year, which is a tiny bit of positive news for its finance team. The less good financial news is that the company is going to have to “offer new and existing cabin crew a £1,000 bonus at the end of the summer holiday season, as airlines battle to retain and recruit staff”. Frankly though, a bit like any company, if it doesn’t have happy and motivated staff it will ultimately struggle. I remain a fan despite a lower share price this morning. And what about Greggs (GRG), which published a trading update this morning? After all a couple of months ago I asked the question “At what share price will I want more than just a vegan sausage roll from Greggs?”...

You probably saw that, late last week, Rolls-Royce (RR.) held its AGM, giving a year-to-date update.  How exciting for shareholders!  But how did they get on?

Hello Share Mates. One of the seven deadly sins is sloth. And while it doesn't necessarily lose shareholders a lot of money, it stops them making it. The major manifestation of laziness in Shareland is allowing companies which have been going nowhere for a long time to rot in your portfolio.

Back in January, I believed that my shares in Sage Group (SGE) - the “British multinational-enterprise software company, based in Newcastle upon Tyne” - had hit my 800 pence target, and thus that it was time to take my profits.  A few days later, I did.  But what do I think today, after a fall to around 670 pence?

I recently covered Serinus Energy (SENX) as a speculative buy based on the likelihood that the results for the first quarter would be good and the company would have benefitted from high commodity prices and fairly low Capex.

Hello Share Wranglers. Like most infrastructure jumbos, Balfour Beatty (BBY) is making a strong recovery after the setbacks of Covid. So confident is the company that in the first quarter of 2022, it has re-bought nearly £20 million's worth of its own shares. And that's not all. It expects to have repurchased £150 million's of its stock by the year's end. The outfit happily boasts that it will continue to make higher profits for the rest of 2022.

Packaging group Macfarlane (MACF) has announced “a solid start to 2022, with first quarter sales and profits from continuing operations ahead of the same period in 2021… expectations for the full year are unchanged”. So what of a current 120.5p share price?

Lift Global Ventures (LFT) - a cash shell that buys assets in the financial media world - was listed at 3p on 29 April, after a fund raise which brought in £1.73 million. That, we are told, was “oversubscribed”, which is obviously a testimony to the brilliance of its CEO, the Sith Lord Zak Mir. Every bandit in town is on the shareholder list, as well as upstanding blue-chip investors like David Lenigas and ex ADVFN boss, Clem “a legend in his own expenses lunchtime” Chambers.

You all know how to think about Rightmove (RMV). As noted here in February, the average person seems to love checking out what the latest property price in their village or town might be. Even I have checked it out once or twice year-to-date (obviously purely for educational reasons). But I am not surprised that Rightmove’s shares are down 30% year-to-date and neither am I surprised that the stock is down 4% today…

It isn’t really surprising that any companies operating in the region where the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine is going on have taken a big hit to their share price since it all kicked off, but that can also present opportunities as long as you are prepared to take on the risks associated with that.

It is no surprise to see Mondi (MNDI) shares up over 6% today after its positive trading update out after the close yesterday. I am a bit of a fan of both Mondi and its rough peer DS Smith (SMDS) as mentioned about both of them back in March, but a FTSE 350 name I’ve not been a fan of is Trainline (TRN). So why has its full year numbers today pushed the shares up by nearly 5%?

Fresnillo (FRES) has announced first quarter of the year production including attributable silver production of 13.28 million ounces and gold production of 0.15 million ounces and that, despite challenges, “2022 guidance remains unchanged”.

I’ve previously written here about the attempts by some to manipulate the share price of Oilex (OEX), and particularly with regards to an upcoming placing, but that will come to an end now that the company has released the actual details.

Whilst Aston Martin Lagonda (AML) shareholders may be pleased that their shares are up over 6% today, it still remains a comedy investment. I am sure the cars are very nice but despite all the chat about 2022 guidance maintained and a “successfully launched DBX707 ahead of Q2 deliveries”, the reality is still centred on losses and higher net debt levels. It remains a car company controlled largely by the rich for the rich. Despite the wealth of its Chairman and the 92% share price fall since its most recent IPO in 2018, it remains an avoid for me (at many levels). So if fast and flashy cars are not really my thing, what about the “premium lifestyle brand and group with an authentic  heritage and values of family, fun and joy in the countryside” offering of Joules Group (JOUL)?.

Serinus Energy (SENX) shares have performed pretty badly, considering that oil and gas is currently in a bull market, but I believe that the next set of operational and financial results could be a turning point for investors.

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has announced its first quarter of the year results and that it reconfirms its full-year 2022 guidance. We are well ahead on this share tip where we are also drinking our own medicine so what to do now?

Cybersecurity group Shearwater (SWG) has emphasised a “set of market-beating numbers… we remain excited for what the future holds”. What of a share price response up to 140p?

A couple of weeks back I wrote a piece here about how I was excited about the prospects of a small AIM oil company, Afentra (AET), where I hold a stake myself and which had just announced that it had potentially secured a stake in two blocks, subject to final due diligence. The company has now announced that it has entered into a sale and purchase agreement with the vendor, Sonangol, and has released a lot more information on the finer details of the proposed transaction – including the fact that it is expected to be funded from existing cash balances plus debt, and with no equity dilution to existing holders in order to complete the deal.

At one time I quite liked the look of Hummingbird Resources (HUM) and its gold mining operations, but unfortunately, like so many AIM listed resource stocks, its potential looked better than what it hasactually turned out to be!

As folks guzzled on the covid testing hype, one man grew very rich. Graham Mullis was CEO of Novacyt (NCYT), a nothing biotech perennial dog, which just happened to have a test. Mullis was to be awarded a cash bonus, the size of which was dependent on the share price as of October 17 2020.

I record looking up at the mountains behind the Greek Hovel. Why on earth are we heading back to Wales? I shall miss this place badly. Then, onto Netflix. Finally, I explain why Malcolm is wrong on shares generally, but also on Gear4Music (GFM), where the only unknown is the scale of the share price collapse, a process far from complete.

A couple of weeks back I wrote a piece here about how the share price of Oilex (OEX) was being manipulated, with all sorts of claims being made from some people about being told information that wasn’t in the public domain.

On 12^th April 2022 AIM-listed Advanced Oncotherapy (AVO) announced an equity fundraise of £1.735 million at 25p a pop – a premium to market, but only at par price. We were told that the fundraise has been conducted through a direct subscription with the Company (the "Subscription") for a total of 6,940,000 new ordinary shares. So the money was in the bank, right? Wrong….

Centamin (CEY) has announced a quarterly update including “as planned, Q1 2022 production reflected the successful transition to owner mining in the underground… reiterates its 2022 full-year guidance”, so what of a share price response currently down closer to 90p?

Shares in Flowtech Fluidpower (FLO) remain below levels of earlier this year despite recent results showing encouraging recovery and noting an encouraging start to this year, with there looking to be scope for further recovery in profitability and for the share price.

There was not too much to be excited about for Rio Tinto (RIO) shareholders today on the publication of its first quarter production results. I remain a big fan of the mining name as I noted a couple of months ago, and whilst its core iron ore business had negative growth this was largely expected and should improve as the year progresses. Apart from very firm metals prices versus historically, the other opportunity for the company over the 2020s remains everything else it is doing – or, as it put it in the update, “we made notable progress during the quarter with the commencement of underground mining at Oyu Tolgoi following a comprehensive agreement reached with the Government of Mongolia, completed the acquisition of the Rincon lithium project in Argentina, and signed a framework agreement at the Simandou iron ore project in Guinea”.

The share price of 888 Holdings (888) has remained pretty weak during the completion of its acquisition of William Hill, and as a result of revenue in the final quarter of 2021 showing a substantial fall.

It is about eight hundred days since I last wrote about Dunelm Group (DNLM), “the UK's leading homewares retailer”. Back in mid-February 2020 I observed that “I am still not shopping there let alone buying the shares (1000p round number new support level?)”, which is kind of fascinating as the share price today is close to being at the aforementioned 1000p share price level. So what is going on?

The sequence that started on January 12, at 1.57, can again be extended: 1.24, 0.86, 0.77,0.59, and now, 0.48. Ouch! That is the price at which death spiral provider, Atlas, has converted loan notes onto Vast Resources (VAST) shares, the latest being $300,000 worth. The bad news? Atlas has another $5.2 million to go. Luckily, there was a spoof RNS on Monday, which must have helped with the forward selling

Over the weekend reports emerged in the Angolan press that its national oil company, Sonangol, had finally completed the bidding process for the licences that it was selling its stakes in, and that a small AIM company, Afentra (AET), had been successful in being selected for two of these blocks. I’ve been invested in Afentra for some time – as well as having covered it positively several times here going back to the days when it was called Sterling Energy, and like many others have been patiently waiting for some news whilst the shares remained suspended. Due to the size of any transaction resulting from its bids, it will constitute a reverse takeover and the shares were suspended accordingly, and will remain so until either a prospectus is published or it terminates its bids for the Sonangol assets.

I am a bit of an easyJet (EZJ) fan even if it is over two years since I last was on one of its planes. Tom may be more of an expert on actually getting on its planes more recently given his regular trips to the Hellenic Republic. As for today’s announcement of its reduced H1 losses to a “range of £535-565m for the 6 months ended 31 March 2022", believe me it could have been a lot worse and the key remains the number of trips over the next six to eighteen months. The shares are little changed today at just shy of 550p but I am still hopeful of a run at 800p, which keeps it a Buy for me. By contrast, I see Deliveroo (ROO) goes from one shocker to another…

There are very few stock markets around the world open this Friday, so that makes it a four day investment week. But it is far from dull out there given a bunch of the world’s biggest American banks are out with quarterly numbers on Wednesday and Thursday. Plus there are set to be a bunch of interesting updates from FTSE and other UK market names - I may have commented on once or two before - starting tomorrow. In short, I look forward to an Easter egg (or three) to help rebuild a bit of energy. However I thought today might be a bit quiet…until I saw news from John Wood Group (WG.)...

The performance of CMC Markets (CMCX) has been pretty disappointing in recent times, but now there are some signs of its financial performance improving and a potential demerging of the business on the horizon.

As I noted here a couple of months ago, BT Group (BT.A) is not an expensive share; it is just you will make better returns from other FTSE names (let alone elsewhere in the global markets).  That’s why, on a good day - that is to say, above a 200 pence share price - I will be selling my stock, after more than doubling my shareholding back in 2020.  And now, I read more hopes about sector deals…

i3 Energy (I3E) has announced that production from Canada is exceeding expectations, and it looks forward to updating the market with results from its active drilling program.

You may remember I wrote in February about Johnson Matthey (JMAT) that, whilst it “is 204 years old and out of the FTSE 100”, it is also “far from boring”. So what did I make of today’s pre-close full year trading update?

AIM-listed Gold (and Silver) producer in Turkey, Ariana Resources (AAU) has at last updated the market over its second Gold mine at Tavsan. It seems that things are indeed progressing and we are now given to expect mine construction to commence this quarter.

Maybe I will or maybe I won’t go on a plane this year as there are always plenty of other things to do in life. Based on number of historic trips, my favourite carrier remains easyJet (EZJ) but it is a good job I am not travelling with it today as “EasyJet cancels 100 flights due to Covid absences” – something I am sure all Easter travellers, across all airlines, are fully aware of. And this brings us to observations by its great peer and competitor Ryanair, which observed this morning that it “expects to report a pre-exceptional FY22 net loss of between -€350 million and -€400 million (previously guided range of -€250 million to -€450 million)”.

I have today been disinvited from the Woodford TTF event, so if you paid £75 to hear me, ask for your money back. I’m sure the FT’s happy, and I discuss what you will NOT now hear. I also discuss today’s April Fool on ShareProphets - which some of you fell for! Finally, I look at 4D Pharma (DDDD); Verditek (VDTK) – is that the Fat Lady I see?; Eden Research (EDEN), and the issue its auditors will have; and musicMagpie (MMAG), with today’s share price lurch in mind.

The RNS merely states that all resolutions passed at today’s AGM. But, given the speculation regarding CEO Andrew Bell’s future, after the piss-poor share price performance of late, Mr Bell is being unduly, and uncharacteristically, modest and not giving the actual results. Luckily, I can assist…

Central Asia Metals (CAML) is one of those companies which I think is consistently undervalued by the market, and although it carries some degree of geo-political risk, I believe that too large a discount is applied for that.

Toople (TOOP), the sub-standard listed company, today issued an RNS about “debt financing”. And in that RNS, the CEO lies. Never buy shares in companies where the CEO is shown to tell a lie, as there are bound to be others you are unaware of.

EnQuest (ENQ) has just released its results for 2021 and the market didn’t seem to like them, judging by the reaction of the share price, which I find surprising as I think they actually made pretty good reading.

musicMagpie (MMAG) clearly needs a bailout placing to survive. There is only selling ( apart from spoof boardroom trades) so the shares should be heading lower. But one market maker is holding the price up.  Others clearly would not touch this with a bargepole given what we have exposed here this week.  So which market maker is holding the price up?  Hint….

Six months ago  I observed that the British multinational diversified engineering business Smiths Group (SMIN) was worth sixteen to seventeen quid a share. The share price has risen about 10% since then, meaning a just shy of a fifteen quid share price this morning.  After all its first half numbers showed a 3.4% rise in organic revenue growth and an 11.1% rise in operating profits given it saw “strong demand across most end markets”.  And it also sold its Medical business in recent months too allowing it to focus on other parts of its business and buying back some shares too.  

I am sure many of you have shopped at a Next (NXT) store, from one of its catalogues or online over the years. Next may not be super-fashionable or super-cheap but it is super solid, hence why over the last five years the shares have not embarrassed themselves like M&S (MKS), boohoo (BOO) or Debenhams have. But I need to have a think about Next shares because since I last wrote about the company in early January the stock is down over 20%. So whilst I did title my article ten weeks ago “Good job Next, but your positive Christmas trading is factored in”, is the share price now cheap?

A year ago I wrote “what a strange company is Pendragon (PDG)”, even if it is the second largest motor retailer in the United Kingdom. Of course if you purchased the stock, despite today’s c. 4% share price fall after the publication of its FY21 numbers, you would still be up over 40%. So well done if you ignored my scepticism (although my personal sector preference Vertu Motors (VTU) has almost risen 80% since then). But, as I noted with the latter here earlier on this month, it is getting tougher in the sector, which brings us back to Pendragon shares…

Kosmos Energy (KOS) is one of those companies that has never seemed to be very popular on the London market but it has performed extremely well as oil and gas prices have risen.

Hello Share Shufflers. Uncle Tom and Steve write appreciably about the touch sensor king Zytronic (ZYT). And I thought I’d like to support their enthusiasm. In an age when many more of us rely on digital gizmos, there can be little doubt that touch screens are more and more essential to those folks seeking an easier life

On January 31 Vast Resources (VAST) announced that it had almost replaced its Atlas death spiral with alternative funding, a refinancing. Natch that was grossly misleading! This is Vast after all.

OptiBiotix Health (OPTI) has announced that it intends to seek admission of its ProBiotix Health business onto the AQSE Growth Market with an associated fund raise of approximately £2.5 million at an indicative premoney valuation of £22.5 million and a distribution in specie. With, at a 35.5p share price, OptiBiotix as a whole currently capitalised at £31.3 million, is this good news? You bet!

Cybersecurity group Shearwater (SWG) has announced a three-year contract with a global financial organisation, totalling $4.1 million, to provide the customer with security software across the breadth of its operations.

Hello Share Magnates. There’s nothing holds back share prices more than uncertainty. And boy, are the world’s economic affairs uncertain now. But let’s take a look at some of the issues and see how we as smart share traders, both active and not so active, can make money in the near future.

I have been a big fan of shares in Essentra (ESNT) – whicvh hopes to be “the world’s leading responsible hassle-free supplier of essential industrial components” – for about nine months now.  And whilst my average purchase price of below 275p is very pleasant compared to today’s c. 315p share price, the share has been pretty volatile year-to-date after I discussed its continued good progress back in January . So am I still hoping for a 400p+ share price target or not?

Capital Metals (CMET) has been covered in the past on ShareProphets, both positively and negatively, and, on behalf of a reader,  Tom Winnifrith asked me to take a look and give my latest thoughts on this Sri Lankan focussed miner. You see, we do read your emails.

I discuss those threats and at a company level I add commentary on Nightcap (NGHT), Cake Box (CBOX) Chill Brands (CHLL), Cellular Goods (CBX) and Supply@ME Capital (SYME)

Capricorn Energy (CNE) has seen its share price weaken since it announced a tender offer as opposed to a special dividend, which many investors had been expecting, but remains one to hold.

Fresnillo (FRES) has announced 2021 results and on-going challenges but also confidence in its prospects. Really?

H&T Group (HAT) has announced results for the 2021 calendar year and that looking ahead it “is well positioned”. Is it?

Have you enjoyed the last week in the financial markets?  It certainly has been volatile but such is life in the stock market world and – as I have observed before – if you see volatility as more of a threat than an opportunity, get somebody else to manage your investment portfolio as it will make you a lot less stressed and a lot wealthier.  Meanwhile for us obsessed with the world of the financial markets the key always remains how you react.  And that brings me this morning to the just announced FY21 numbers of SIG (SHI).

Supply@ME Capital (SYME) shares are up by more than 50% at time of writing this article at 0.1025p with the rumour mill implying huge revenues were just around the corner at Tradeflow Capital.  The announcement that Tradeflow had cumulatively financed over $1 billion of commodity trade up from $750 million the previous quarter was what seems to have promoted the buying frenzy.

Nomad and broker Finncap (FCAP) led by smug Sam Smith the City’s fave female entrepreneur, so we cannot say anything bad about her company, floated on the AIM Sewer on December 5 2018 at 28p per share. Today, after a ramptastic, but odd, trading statement, the shares are …. 28p to sell, 29p to buy if you are nutso.

After the excitement of Wednesday’s market moves comes Thursday…which unsurprisingly after the down and up volatility of the last few days is a bit more boring. We could all probably do with it, although a regular bout of volatility is the markets for you (and I would have it no other way). As for today’s corporate updates, two strike me as being particularly noteworthy, Capita (CPI) and DS Smith (SMDS)…

Currently the conflict in Ukraine is a huge risk for any companies operating there or in Russia, and even more so with further sanctions being put in place and proposed.

That is Nigel’s problem. He is just too much of a nice guy as he showed with his piece earlier on the Tern/Wyld cash crisis. I am not so charitable.  I am not a nice guy. The crisis is far worse than even Nigel suggests.

The FCA has today indicated that it will not object to the proposed recapitalization and customer redress package proposed by loan shark Amigo (AMGO) but there are a few horrid caveats and a doubling of the share price to 6p is quite literally insane making this a slam dunk short. Here’s why.

For most of the last year, AIM-listed jam-tomorrow IoT investment company Tern plc (TERN) has survived because its supporters were truly sold on Tern’s portfolio being worth a multiple of the official NAV per share which allowed Tern to issue more and more shares like there is no tomorrow at a huge premium to NAV per share, even if at massive discounts to the prevailing share price. Until now.

Asiamet Resources (ARS) has announced a further update on the proposed investment from PT Delta Dunia Makmur Tbk. (DOID), one of the largest mining services company in Indonesia, admitting that the process is taking longer than it hoped but with DOID re-emphasising that it “is working as quickly as possible to finalise its due diligence… remain the largest shareholder in Asiamet and are supportive of the advancement of the company”.

Pantheon Resources (PANR) has a market cap of close to £1 billion but isn’t yet producing oil, which begs the question as to whether or not it is worth the current valuation and how much risk is attached to buying it at this level.

Early stage financial services businesses investor B.P. Marsh & Partners (BPM) has announced it has completed a sale of its 77.25% shareholding in Summa Insurance Brokerage for £8.1 million after all associated costs, with also a further £1.5 million in full for its loan, emphasising this “once again demonstrates the success of our investment approach over a number of years”.

This has certainly been an interesting first four days of March for global investment markets.  And – in a way – being a bit too busy with meetings and travel over Thursday and Friday to do anything much with investment market choices is no bad thing. 

IGas Energy (IGAS) has been performing well recently in terms of the share price, but following the latest trading and reserves update it has taken a bit of a hit and pulled back more than 14%.

Developer and manufacturer of touch sensors for use with electronic displays in industrial, self-service and public access equipment, Zytronic (ZYT) was a September tip here and a share price fall in the last month has looked harsh to us. The company now clearly seems to think the same.

Eurasia Mining (EUA) which was only recently being touted for sale by Russia’s VFB Bank, now facing Western sanctions, has insisted that the new Western sanctions will have no impact on its operations. Whatever you say comrade Schaffalitzky.

Online fashion retailer Boohoo (BOO) has performed terribly for anyone who has been invested over the past year or so and has seen its share price drop by around 75% during that time.

Earlier this month HERE, I observed that the ‘Methodist Church threatens to pull stake from Rio Tinto (RIO) over damning sexual harassment report’. I am not sure if its investment committee listened to the mining sector giant’s conference call earlier today but – if it did – it will be pleased with the huge amounts of ESG mentions in the first few minutes of the call. Most investors though will be more excited by the news of ‘record financial results and total dividend of 1,040 US cents per share for 2021, a 79% payout’, equivalent to over a 10% dividend yield. Whilst some of this was a special dividend reflecting remarkable metals sector prices during 2021, how should investors feel now about the FTSE-100 giant with a market cap of just shy of £94 billion?

Neill Ricketts of Versarien (VRS) will today be boasting of how he has settled his libel claim against Bulletin Board poster Ian Westbrook and that it is a triumph for him. Au contraire! Only now can I reveal what Ricketts really wanted out of this case.

I have shared my views before on the ‘development and marketing of veterinary products’ company Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH), including noting in early September that ‘maybe it is just me finding it easier to appraise future human (than animal) demand scope, but I am going to keep on avoiding this one despite the recent share price falls’. And whilst the shares have romped hugely since their IPO early this century, the stock is down almost 30% during the last six months. So is today’s c. 38 quid share price – after the publication of first half numbers – now cheap or still expensive?

I see that shares in AIM-listed Advanced Oncotherapy (AVO) are down to just 26.5p – only a penny and a half above the nominal price. Normally that might not be an issue, but Advanced is a serial non-deliverer of promises and has had to place at regular intervals until now. So what chance a bucket-shop placing to keep the lights on whilst we await the ever-delayed first LIGHT system to even offer a sprinkling of hope for some revenue?

For the first time in a couple of years I might be visiting London in just under a couple of weeks time. Such excitement (not!) to see the Big Smoke.  I read the other day that “house hunters wanting to buy a property in London this year are likely to face more competitive market conditions than in 2021…Since January, 51% more buyers have entered the market and 35% more property viewings took place”.  Such is the excitement (not!) for property market thoughts for 2022, because we all know that it is easy to extrapolate any generally positive move over the last 40 years for another few years. 

Kazera Global (KZG) has announced that December/January production cycle diamond production has achieved a record of over 1,000 carats, the largest of which is a high value stone of 13ct, and that the Tantalite Valley mine in Namibia is expected to become operational shortly, after which the company will begin exporting commercial quantities of tantalum to its Chinese offtake partner.

Of course this is good news for UK Oil & Gas (UKOG) though it does not change the elephant in the room, that is to say the looming cash crisis.  Already this company has insufficiet cash to meet its liabilities and commitments and each day it burns another £5,000 to £10,000.  The share price reaction today, a gain of 29% to 0.1475p is, thus, wholly unwarranted. The news is a positive but not that much of a positive.

There was good news this morning for shareholders in AIM-listed Ariana Resources (AAU) as it confirmed dates for the second tranche of its special dividend. As a loyal shareholder, I am looking forward to topping up my supplies of Ouzo o the proceeds.

It’s been a while since I commented on PetroTal Corp (PTAL) – a Peruvian based oiler. My views on this investment case turned negative back in late 2019, and I came in for some slagging on social media for even suggesting it was not the best investment since sliced bread. My last substantive comment was in June 2020, after the company placed to manage the working capital position, as I suggested was required. A cornerstone Institutional Investor is now engaging with PI’s and other II’s to see the best outcome for shareholders. I find this very interesting on several levels.

OptiBiotix Health (OPTI) has made what it describes as a “Commercial and strategy update”, including arguing “look forward with confidence to further commercial progress of the group in the current year and beyond”. What does that though mean tangibly?

Jubilee Metals (JLP) states that it “is pleased to announce its unaudited operational results for the six months to 31 December 2021” and that it looks forward to “the next six months with the full impact of the Inyoni facility being felt, as well as the targeted ramp-up at Roan enabling us to take another major step in our commitment to achieve annual copper production of 25 000 tonnes”. So what of a current 16.3p share price, £396 million market capitalisation?

The 1980s was a great decade in many ways with the best music, best prime minister, massive new excitement about capitalism and much, much more. It was a great decade to be a teenager and learn about shares through reading the Daily Mail.

Since I observed in mid-December that “I like Ocado (OCDO) delivery but I am keeping on avoiding the shares”, I have personally used the company twice and remain completely unsurprised to see the share price down over 10% today and nearly 20% year-to-date. Life is always tough when you have a market cap of nearly £9.5 billion, revenue of just shy of £2.5 billion (up 7.2% year-on-year) and – despite some clever software and robots technology – still make a loss. Striking a deal here with M&S (MKS) was smart here in the UK and ‘unveiled the next leap of game-changing technology underpinning the unique and proprietary Ocado Smart Platform’ may be very exciting, but my top tip would be to make some actual proper profit. I guess that means (1) I will put another food and related order in later this month and (2) I will keep on avoiding the shares. Meanwhile, how is one of my ‘tips of the year’ plays DCC plc (DCC) getting along?

One year and one month after Wildcat Petroleum (WCAT) lied about having raised £600,000 and took its place among the worthless joke companies on the Standard List, its long promised RTO of an E&P asset is still nowhere to be seen. However, nearly all of the money which did come in after spiv investors flipped the shares they had been issued without paying for, has now been spunked. Cash is now well under £200,000 so serious spoofing is needed.

UK North Sea and Malaysia hydrocarbon producer EnQuest (ENQ) has published an Operations update, noting that it delivered free cash flow of around $395 million in 2021 with a realised price of c.$69/bbl, resulting in a stronger balance sheet with net debt reduced to $1,222 million and that net production averaged 50,810 Boepd last month. Good news? You bet.

Sports, leisure and mobility equipment group Tandem (TND) has announced “FY21 profit before tax expected to be well ahead of the prior year and slightly ahead of the current market expectations” and that its order book “remains materially ahead of the comparative position in the prior year”.

This has been a very good share tip for our readers but there is more to come. Jadestone Energy (JSE) has announced that “2021 production averaged 12,545 boe/d, in line with expectations” and “cash balances at the end of the year are estimated at US$117.4 million, representing an increase of 30% year-on-year, even after the largest spending programme in the company’s history”. This sounds encouraging.

Over a month has passed since the fraud Supply@ME Capital (SYME) issued its 31 December 2021 trading update promising inventory monetisation revenue was due shortly.  In January 2022 the sole RNS was the notification of the issue of 594 million shares in respect of the December loan note repayment. I suppose it all depends on what you mean by “shortly.”

It is some time since I last commented on SDX Energy (SDX), in fact it was over 2 ½ years ago when I last hammered the keyboard to record my views on this company. How time flies when Covid lockdowns stop one going to parties. Regardless, yesterdays RNS really was an ouzo moment when one looks at some of the detail. 

Another month starts and – no doubt – more corporate share price excitement will be apparent. As a boring active investor with over five years (at least!) before I can access my pension fund, I am genuinely excited about prospects as it is clearly far from being a boring passive investment world nowadays. Here is the less good news though, I doubt if even a third of stocks are even moderately interesting. Clearly we are shifting closer to the world of Japan with ageing populations, high debt levels, boring economic growth progress…and only one in ten of the stocks that you appraise being interesting. And that brings me to today’s updates from James Halstead (JHD) and Joules Group (JOUL).

It is going to be a busy week. Even beyond the world of US tech giants, there are loads of UK stocks reporting including Shell, BT Group (BT.A) and Vodafone (VOD), with the latter having a bunch of (overly) excitable new active investor chat. Who said the FTSE 100 was boring…(although for various reasons it has been a shabby performer for the last decade or so, but obviously what always really matters is tomorrow and not yesterday). Later in the week the Bank of England will be giving an update where a further interest rate increase is surely highly likely. And of course that makes the importance of corporate analysis even more important, which brings me today to Porvair (PRV).

I start with the Carrie Antoinette “victory party” a few weeks after my dad’s funeral.This is the final straw at so many levels. Then I move onto news that the FCA staff are balloting on strike action over plans to scrap their bonuses. Then to lessons learned from the Novacyt (NCYT) scandal – where I did warn you! The chief lesson is that poor corporate governance often goes hand in hand with poor share price performance. I discuss ADVFN (AFN) in this vein.

I think that I once went to a Grosvenor Casino (spent nothing hence lost nothing) but I certainly have not been to any of the other bingo and gaming opportunities offered by Rank Group (RNK). Still, back in August,  I observed I’d be  having another look at the company’s shares when they are ‘back to a share price in the 150s pence level again’.  You can guess where the 8% share price fall over the last six months have taken us…

It has been a little while since I last commented on Simec Atlantis Energy (SAE) and highlighted all the red flags of the investment case. Today’s news that the Uskmouth Planning application has been withdrawn is perhaps surprising at first glance, but in my view, it is fully explainable using a single word – cash. Are we final reaching the death throes of this dreadful company?

Tomorrow will be a day of domestic childcare hell so I flag up now that my copy may be limited. Today I discuss Novacyt (NCYT) vs IG Design (IGR) where I think young Steve is wrong to be so bearish after today’s 53% share price fall. Then I look at two potential zeros Chill Brands (FRAUD) and Verditek (LIARS).

In yesterday’s RNS Tintra (TNT) has indicated that the first subscription at the equivalent of 504 pence per share has arrived which is obviously very good news and sees 148,511 new ordinary shares in issue.

Some folks are pissed off at the share price and ask me why Open Orphan (ORPH) does not use some of its cash to buy back shares? I put this to Orphan’s boss Cathal Friel who says:

Have you been enjoying the volatile financial markets year-to-date? I have not looked but I guess the value of my pension fund has fallen slightly, even if my #1 position is my beloved Barrick Gold which unsurprisingly is up so far in 2022. I have added one new holding this week though as I did say here a couple of weeks ago about Currys (CURY) that ‘if you see the share price at or below 100p then you should buy’. We will see whether Monday’s buy was smart or not over time. Meanwhile, a couple of months ago I observed about the British multinational enterprise software company Sage Group (SGE) that I had an 800p+ share price target.

When Covid arrived I penned a piece here about the possible impacts on sub-prime lenders, given that the industry was already having issues even prior to that, and have also commented extensively on this on Twitter over the past couple of years.

I always find it hard to buy shares where I see fundamental good value and where I am intending to hold them as an actual investment rather than just a short term trade based on momentum.

October share tip at a 279p offer price, UK pawnbroking group H&T (HAT) has announced that “trading performance during the second half remained consistently strong and the group expects to report profit before tax for the full year within the range of current market expectations”.

Advance Energy (ADV) is proving to be probably my worst tip ever, given that I only covered it yesterday and the share price is currently down around 80% following an update on drilling which appears to be bad news, and I can only apologise to anyone who bought based on my piece yesterday. At least it has given my pea brained critics on twitter a day of onanismic delight.

I start with Mr Moulding who must be a decent chap as he gives vast sums to that beacon of integrity that is the Conservative & Unionist party. I discuss today’s horrible statement from THG (THG).The incident should also see firings at the Mail on Sunday and Sunday Times but it will not.  I look at Omega Diagnostics (ODX) as it rushes towards a single figure share price and at Guild e-Sports (GILD), still a joke, notwithstanding today’s statement.  Finally i look at the Sound Energy (SOU) bids for Lord Lucan’s Angus Energy (ANGS) Will Lucan get any more lucky?

Advance Energy (ADV) is a company which I covered last summer and suggested that although it has a very chequered history, new assets and a completely different management team made it well worth a speculative buy with a drill to come.

A real buzz seems to have returned to the oil and gas sector in recent times and with commodity prices at their strongest for several years, and that even seems to be trickling down to the lower end of the market and the explorers now with some shares on a real rip.

Pharos Energy (PHAR) has been a terrible investment for anyone who has held longer term – including myself – and even more so from the days when it was called Soco International (SIA), but I still believe that it can turn things around.

About a month ago (here) I wrote about Currys (CURY), observing that ‘if I see the stock below a quid then I will probably buy some’.  Back then the stock was between 110-115p and today it is more like 107p.  So what did today’s ‘trading update for 10 weeks ended 8 January 2022’ say?

If you are into corporate updates it is an interesting day today and loads to write about. Here is the exciting news: it is going to be like this for over the next couple of months. It has always been thus over the last twenty-five plus years I have been looking at the U.K. markets. I guess I should start with ASOS (ASC), which may have formally talked about a four month trading update to the end of December, but a second headline it gave, observing that the company ‘announces intended move to London Stock Exchange’s main market’, is kind of interesting too.

Tintra (TNT) has issued an RNS “Strategic Investment Under Funding Round” which saw the shares soar up over 225% at the time of writing. The whole think stinks like a rotting herring stuffed down the back of a sofa in a very warm room.