Okay it is paid for Proactive so this is not exactly Jeremy Paxman. There are no hard numbers on the big deals and that is no shock, we will have to wait for a formal half year trading statement for that ( or maybe sooner) but this is a confident showing. My numbers are HERE and the STRONG BUY stance is unchanged.

Who the hell is William Battrick you say? Easy, he was one of the founders of Versarien (VRS) and so knows the company better than most folks. Indeed William was a director up until 10 March 2016. In 2015 he helped ramp the shares, buying 54,000 at 17p to take his holding to 7.69 million shares, 7.3% of the then equity.

I have been contacted by an elderly academic who has written up the events of Virginia Woolf's 1932 tour of Greece. She claims to have been in Delphi when they discovered the body of my great Uncle David Cochrane. I rather doubt it and discuss this a) because it fascinates me and b) to annoy No Gold. Then it is onto Predator Oil & Gas (PRD) - is it placing ahoy?  Versarien (FRAUD), Eurasia (EUA), Ascent Resources (AST), Sound Energy (SOU) and James "Dracula" Parsons and finally uber dog Mosman (MSMN).

Yet again shares in Versarien (VRS) have risen on a rumour which appears to come from the company itself. Once again there is a false market and so once again I have written to AIM Regulation urging it to force the company to come clean.

Shareholders in Sound Energy (SOU) have lost more than 95% of their cash thanks to the appalling ramping and hype and value destruction of just one man…James Parsons. The Sound fiasco would kill off the careers of most CEOs but Parsons is like Dracula, he leaves one rotting corpse behind moving to suck the financial blood from a fresh corporate. Today’s victim is Ascent Resources (AST).

Yesterday another dog cursed by the hex that is a Gervais Williams investment, that is to say Nostra Terra Oil & Gas (NTOG), published details of a sack the board EGM and the management’s case for staying on. What, in a cowardly fashion, it refused to do, as I believe it should have done is publish the letter that the requisitioner, Eridge Capital run by flip flop Ben Turney, wanted to send to shareholders. Fear not… the letter, outside of all paywalls, is below. Nostra Terra shareholders should read it and vote to sack chairman Ewan Ainsworth - in light of the scandalous pay revelations below - and hapless Lofgran after this bombshell.  Sack the board!  

Back when I was a callow youth about to start my undergraduate studies, the ritual of opening my first bank account (until then a Post Office savings account was my sole financial product interaction) provided a wonderful social insight. If I recall correctly, all the cool, well-heeled kids had accounts open for them at Barclays (BARC) or Lloyds (LLOY) as a continuation of their parental banking allegiances. I just went for the bank that offered me the most money as a joining inducement...and that happened to be NatWest… I read today in the latest quarterly thoughts from Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) that this tainted name - courtesy of largesse a decade plus ago by 'Fred the Shred' and others - will change back to NatWest Group later this year...

OptiBiotix Health (OPTI) has announced “a significant milestone” in extension of the use of its LP_LDL probiotic strain into functional foods and its presence into South America. So what you say?...

AIM-listed Turkish gold-miner Ariana Resources (AAU) has announced that due diligence regarding its proposed part-sale of the Kiziltepe and Salinbas gold projects for $30 million is still underway, and that the parties have agreed a one month extension to complete due diligence. So the good news is that the deal is still on, but we will have to wait another month before it is confirmed (or not!)...

Hello Share Takers. We’re all aware that the Chinese virus puts a damper on the stock market. Lately, it's been hard to spot any shares rising in value at all. But I have a golden trio of companies that have been rising, even when all around are falling. Allow me to remind you of those which are keeping my portfolio ahead...

Previously writing on technical fluid power products company Flowtech Fluidpower (FLO), I noted indeed it wasn’t set for “another year of solid progress”! on a trading update for the year to 31st December 2019 as the shares fell towards 100p. They have fallen further since but are currently recovering above 100p on a “2019 Trading update & restructuring activities”. Hmmm – haven’t we already had this?...

I start the podcast with my torture in trying to transfer a pension from the Daily Mail to my SIPP. It got so surreal this week but I might be making, expensive, progress. Then I look at how we often jump to easy conclusions when a share price falls. I am guilty of one such lazy jump. I refer to Versarien (VRS) and UK Oil & Gas (UKOG) in this section. I also have questions for Versarien and its hapless Nomad Bobbie Hilliam of Quindell infamy about the recent spike in its share price. Then I look at Bidstack (BIDS) and investors in denial and finally at Ian Smith and MXC Capital (MXCP) which is leaving the AIM Casino which is NOT what it should do. Smith is in denial too.

A “Positive momentum with renewals and new contracts” announcement from Accesso Technology (ACSO) – and the shares in response currently approaching 12% higher, towards 500p…

To come out of a paid for Vox Markets interview with Justin the Clown looking like you are utterly clueless takes some doing but Lyin’ James Draper of Bidstack (BIDS) managed just that yesterday. His refusal to deny the looming placing and cash crunch is just one highlight.

Filta Group (FLTA) has updated emphasising new franchises, cost savings and “new scheduling software introduced in 2019 is now delivering improvements in productivity” – and the shares have currently responded towards 170p, circa 20% higher…

AIM-listed purveyor of ladies wear, Sosandar (SOS) announced a placing via an accelerated bookbuild yesterday morning at 11.14am. By 1.50pm it was all over: the company raised £5 at 17p per share. Since the trading statement of 20 January, despite a very brief rise, the shares have made a bee-line for around 19p which simply shows that the analysis by Tom Winnifrith and myself was bang on the money: a placing was on the way. Anyone who bought at up to over 30p (egged on by certain bloggers drinking gallons of the Kool Aid & much more besides) was well warned by us. So what now?

ShareSoc has today taken a stand against folks who make threats on Social Media. The stench of double standard is overwhelming.

Large cap value appraisal time in UK stocks today for me. First up Barclays (BARC), a share which I last properly wrote on back in August where I opined that it should be trading above 200p. Well it is not too difficult to get a bounce in a share price from the dog days of early August and despite today's 2.5% odd fall as I write, the shares are only just off a one year high. This is though no cause for huge celebration…

Since Tuesday morning shares in Eurasia Mining (EUA) , a darling of the bulletin boards and the star performer on the AIM Casino so far this year, have been suspended. The longer the suspension lasts the more extreme conspiracy theories, both bull and bear, do the rounds. The company made one brief statement on Tuesday afternoon:

Hello, Share Breakers. Allow me to return to a company where a lot is going on and which seems to be progressing nicely. Primary Health Properties (PHP) buys up and builds new doctor’s surgeries and other kinds of modern health centre...