The support services and related sector has had a shocker over recent years and now it appears that two of the remaining (and i use the phrase in an ironic fashion) leading lights - Babcock (BAB) and Serco (SRP) are potentially set to merge, at least as per deadwood press suggestions.  

We have speculated about how much cash Neil Woodford needs to raise within his sunken flagship fund, the suspended Woodford Equity Income Fund (WEIF), in order to get the current gating lifted. Of course, because it wasn’t really an equity income fund at all due to the massive exposure to unlisted and illiquid holdings in companies that not only offered no dividend but actually need feeding so that will be quite an ask. We know that it had been suffering redemptions at a rate of about £10 million a day until the shutters came down when Kent County Council asked for its £238 million back on June 3rd. So that’s about £250 million (Kent plus that day’s redemption requests) already.

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.   

In today's bearcast I look at "lucky" Luke red flags and Patisserie Valerie, Neil Woodford, Babcock (BAB) and sumbag, lying or disingeneous, pond life journalist scum such as Ali Hussein, Sabah Meddings, Jamie Nimmo and the fraudster's fave journo Ben Harrington.

You, dear reader, know that the Neil Woodford story has largely been driven by ShareProphets (in particular, Nigel Somerville, Cynical Bear, and Tom Winnifrith) over the past two years so I hope that you are shocked by the lack of recognition we get from the Mainstream Press now that they have discovered the story.

Oh dear, oh Dear. You may remember how on March 21, Versarien (VRS) announced with great fanfate that it had appointed Patrick Abbott to spearhead its US expansion. Lucian Miers then pointed out that Mr Abbott faced a few legal problems. And so on April 4 Versarien stated:

We tipped Big Sofa (BST) just a few weeks ago at a 4p offer. The shares, of which we own a good few, are now 4.5p-5.25p following an upbeat trading statement. But hang on tight as there is far more to come.

Not so long ago Neil Woodford was telling his investors that fully-listed Kier Group (KIE) was just the perfect investment. Then came the rights issue which flopped and fell to the underwriters. And then came the admission that it had mis-stated its debt position. And then a new CEO who immediately launched a strategic review. And then a profit warning. And yesterday The Times reported that Kier was looking at off-loading its house building arm as its suppliers were being refused insurance on Kier’s bills. But of course Neil knew best: as the shares collapsed from well over £8 a pop ahead of the rights issue fiasco to close yesterday at a new low point of 130.8p, until his Equity Income Fund was gated, Neil was keenly buying up ever more of Kier’s shares,, taking his stake to 20% at the peak.

Berkeley Energia (BKY) has announced it “welcomes municipal election result and is awarded three new exploration licences”…

AIM-listed Turkish gold miner Ariana Resources (AAU) has had a raft of good news lately – the biggest seems to me to be the resurgent strength of the yellow metal: last seen its price was through the apparently all-important $1350 per oz level, although only time will tell whether that proves a sustainable move or another false dawn in a long line of false dawns. We have also had full year results for 2018 and drilling results from Kizilcukur all amounting to a rise in the share price to 2.1p. Having finished my own top-slicing, I can now proudly say strong hold as we look forward to a string of developments.

From the FCA's spreadsheet of short positions required to be disclosed to it, the following shows the shorted AIM shares with positions from 2018 and thus far in 2019 (by net short position %, those in bold not on the list at the start of 2019) – and if this position has increased (red), reduced (green) or remained unchanged (black) since last week...

So Neil Woodford has survived to the end of the week without seeing his lesser fund, the Income Focus Fund, gated. It cannot be far off, but yesterday’s numbers released this morning by Morningstar show that the accumulation units dropped by 1.24% and the size of the fund dropped from £339.6 million to £332.8 million which means that just £2.6 million was lost to redemptions – less than one percent.

Hello Share Mates. We are blessed with some of the greatest brains in company analysis on this gorgeous website. That’s why our writers keep uncovering big stories long before the Press. You can't help but be impressed by the technical pros and cons our corespondents dissect with a fine toothcomb.

Shares in Taptica International (TAP) are up smartly today, but still well down on the week. An AGM statement concluded “the strategic rationale for the merger remains strong and in the best interest of shareholders, as such the board remains optimistic in the medium term”. This was after a recent completion of a merger with RhythmOne – the former Blinkx…

When is a net profit not really a profit? When it is being announced by Prospex Oil and Gas (PXOG) would appear to be one answer to that question!

I have followed Lekoil (LEK) for some years now, and as each year goes by, I’ve become more questioning of the investment case. Like so many Nigerian based oilers, the potential seems high but is the reality ever realised? 

Ascent Resources (AST) has updated commencing “the official response from the Ministry of the Environment has now been received by lawyers representing the joint venture”. And, unsurprisingly after yesterday, it ain’t good news…

I start with reports in the Times about share sales by EIF over the past week which just go to show that this fund will be gated until Christmas or beyond. Then I discuss whether Neil Woodford should go to prison for what he has done and having considered the evidence I argue that he should.

“Maistro Plc (AIM: MAIS) announces that, at the General Meeting of the company held earlier today, all resolutions were duly passed”. But this was no ordinary General Meeting from this, the former blur Group (BLUR)…

Yesterday we learnt that Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) had run for the hills with Neil Woodford following the gating of his Equity Income Fund (WEIF), dumping the whole of the £45 million stake held by its house funds in his smaller dog fund, the Income Focus Fund (WIFF) since last Monday. So the redemptions have stopped? Er, no.