Today Raven Property Group Ltd, (RAV) a Russian Property Investment Group, announced strong results with an increase in diluted net asset value per share of 40% to 67p (31 December 2018: 48p).  The company also announced a proposed distribution of “1.25p per ordinary share by way of a tender offer buy back of 1 in 44 shares at 55p.”

Right now the UK operations of Purplebricks (PURP) are booking a small profit. So if it ain’t broke don’t fix it, right? Er new boss Vic Darvey has given an interview to the Press Association hinting very much otherwise.

As a self-confessed investment sad-o, I really like statistics such as when the guys who started the US discount hotel chain Motel 6 opened their first roadside inn in 1962, an ounce of gold would have apparently bought you a six night stay. Now (at today's prices) it buys you a twenty one night stay. Now we can debate whether you want to spend three weeks in a Motel 6 or not...but you get the point I am trying to make. A bit of gold goes a long way to improve the performance of the characteristics of your portfolio in times of strife…

To his credit, Carson Block has credited us fully in his new dossier covering the Napo scandal. The contents will be familiar to our readers having been published here 2 weeks ago. But it has aroused the deadwood press. I have already had one hack on the trombone seeking further clarification. The citical point is that without a Napo win fee, Burford (BUR) would have reported a 2013 loss, not a profit, shortly before getting away a big bond issue. As I noted in a letter to the Nomad Johnny Allison ten days ago "name that case!"  Burford's failure to do so is telling. The new Muddy Waters dossier is below:  

Hello, Share Scrapers. Nobody has any idea how the bank holiday tumbles in Asian markets will affect the Footsie this week. And as this gorgeous website is dedicated to showing you how to make money, let me turn to an area which is now’t to do with shares but which could still put thousands in your pocket...

Shares in ADM Energy (ADME) are almost certainly, more or less worthless, as Gary Newman explained here. Those who paid c20p at peak “Sheikh on the Make hype”  for the shares must be spitting nails. The object of their anger should be Nomad Cairn Financial, of Cloudtag infamy, to whom I have written today cc’ing in AIM Regulation and the FCA. The letter follows.

Prompted by two phone calls today which could yield explosive results against an old adversary I reflect on why more and more whistleblowers come to me and why they are safe in doing so. Then, prompted by something very exciting I should be able to reveal  in September, I look at why going to the FCA is such a waste of time and what it needs to do to change its ways.

Provider of geoscience and geospatial products and services, Getech (GTC) has updated including “although H1 2019 revenue was lower than in H1 2018, new sales have strengthened Getech's forward earnings path”…

Oh dear. Oh dear. I have been made aware of certain actions by David “Sam” Hutchins the soon to depart boss of main market listed  Global Resources Investment Trust (GRIT). I know his fellow board members are aware of them and to them, and to new adviser Peterhouse, I ask “have you requested the FCA investigate and if not why not?” The allegations against City Grandee Hutchins are severe and if proven should be career ending.

There's nothing like a thirty percent pop in a share price to make you feel like an investing genius...even if all this does is compress your loss on an individual share a little bit.  

My interest in alternative energy companies on AIM has seen me conclude Simec Atlantis Energy (SAE) and Powerhouse Energy (PHE) are fundamentally un-investable to me. I like the sound of RedT Energy (RED) as noted here. ITM Power (ITM) has potential - I can see some good reasons to invest.

I have made no secret of my view that Gold is an essential part of one’s portfolio. Not everyone will agree, but that is my view. In the light of what is going on now, those who have exposure will be perhaps the only people smiling right now. The one technical analyst rated by ShareProphets, Jordan Roy-Byrne of thedailygold.com has been forthright in his views that the metal is headed much higher over many years, after a very extended period of waiting, and although recently he had been suggesting a correction was due he remains a strong bull.

We've published 2,292 stories since 1 January. Here are the twenty most-read articles and twenty most-listened-to Bearcasts.

FTI Consulting, PR for First Derivatives (FDP), wants me to take down legititmate articles asking legitimate questions. If Roger Lawson had his way I'd have to take them down. Luckily the ShareSoc supremo can't gag a free press so instead I publish some more, explosive, court documents about First Derivatives in full, below and in this podcast I explain why they matter. 

The UK government has committed to a carbon neutral policy by 2050. Achieving this aim will require a massive shift from hydrocarbon fuel sources for electrical power generation, building heating and vehicle fuel sources to alternatives. We are also increasingly hearing about plastics and the need for a good disposal route. Powerhouse Energy (PHE) appears to provide one potential means of investing in these trends. Unfortunately it does not tick my investment boxes at all!

As it is - for once - a warm Bank Holiday weekend, it feels perfectly appropriate to talk about insulation and that brings me onto a company I first mentioned on these pages a year ago, Kingspan (KGP)…

Having asked for readers tips for 2019 for the amazing prize of a meal with Tom Winnifrith (or the chance to fob it off on someone you don't like) HERE, the following is an August bank holiday update on performance (to be eligible needed to have selected, on a per username basis, a buy & sell pick from the LSE or AIM Casino and the stocks not to have been suspended at the commencement of 2019)...

Neil Woodford investee Proton Partners, the joke listing on NEX which has seen just one trade since IPO in February, has changed its name to Rutherford Health (RUTH) and sees a general meeting this week which seeks shareholder authority it issue more confetti. Why does this matter? Well, there is the outstanding £45 million due from Neil Woodford – and we know that the board of WPCT (which is on Neil’s hook for the whole lot) is considering sacking him. With a hat-tip to Cynical Bear, I fancy this could be an entertaining week.

There was much excitement back in April when an Arab sheikh took a stake in ADM Energy (ADME), so it must have come as a big shock to investors last week when news broke that he had sold all of his shares and had resigned as the company president.

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.