I start with news of a washing panic at the Greek Hovel. Then I look at why the mainstream financial press are part of the problem not the solution to stockmarket over-promotes and indeed outright criminality. In the podcast I look specifically at The Times on Neil Woodford and at The Sunday Times on Hollywood Bowl (BOWL) and Midas in the Mail on Sunday on the IPO of AJ Bell (AJB)

My favourite deadwood press article this week is all about the comment from a reader below it, rather than the article itself.  I talked about Domino's Pizza (DOM) back in August and basically said that I would only get warmed up at 250p odd a share.  Well we are nearly there and - superficially - not too much has changed.  The UK franchise keeps on growing aided by that near omnipresent 'official food of everything' advertising, various Scandi markets remain workable...and angst continues at the managerial and franchisee levels.  

We have commented here on ShareProphets on the recent sales of shares in BTG (BTG) by Neil Woodford’s Woodford Investment Management. Given that BTG is the subject of a cash offer of 840p per share is seems a little odd that he is offloading stock before the offer completes, especially with the shares trading at around  825p – but then, he does have some pressing cash issues of his own. But what is even more odd is his irrevocable undertaking to accept the offer, for it appears to have been given over a rather small portion of the shares he was actually holding.

Sound energy (SOU) is a company that I’ve been negative on in the past, and justifiably so considering its recent fall from grace as one of the most popular shares amongst private investors.

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.   

On Friday evening at 4.27pm – just as the city was packing its bags for the weekend – fully listed Ted Baker (TED) released an RNS announcing that its embattled CEO was to take a leave of absence. The shares, which had been trading at around £15.20, crashed into the close and ended the day on a spread of £14.58-14.79, and an official close of £14.93 – but I fancy there will be more weakness to come as the city returns to work on Monday.

Last week, ShareProphets member Phil suggested that in the comments that we'd sell more subscriptions if we covered more main market companies.

About 3 years ago Nigel Somerville was waxing lyrical about the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales (ICAEW), who regulate most audit firms domiciled here.  Whilst it was clear from the excellent response Tom gets from FRC that it is a proper regulator, I thought I would try ICAEW for the issues I highlighted regarding TXO’s accounts here.

I have given Andalas (ADL) a week to fess up to what looks like bad news but there has been no RNS. And so though my patience is legendary and I am trying my hardest to be a nice guy, enough is enough. I know this is the AIM casino and Rules, like 10 and 11, do not really matter but surely there are some limits.

Petropavlovsk (POG) has announced the initial processing of refractory concentrate at its pressure oxidation (‘POX’) hub – emphasising this “marks a significant moment in the company's history, as we begin to process our refractory ore via the newest and most technologically advanced POX processing facility in Russia, a month ahead of schedule”…

AJ Bell (AJB) made its introduction to the London Stock Exchange this week and it promises to be a great few days for those that got in on the IPO, with shares soaring almost +35% within the first two hours of trading. The tips have already started rolling in; Miles Costello (The Times) recommends buying as “the shares weren’t aggressively prices, and offer considerable growth and yield potential”. In this week’s article, we take a look back at tipster and broker sentiment towards three other key IPOs over the last six months: Amigo Holdings (AMGO), Aston Martin (AML) and Quilter (QLT).

CyanConnode (CYAN) is “pleased to announce that it has signed a USD 4M Licensing Agreement with Beijing Jingybeifang Instrument Co., Ltd” - this its first licensing agreement and the shares are more than 26% higher at 12p in response. Is the response merited?...

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

I see that The Guardian and others are blaming Brexit for a fall in UK house prices. But hang on! House prices are crashing in Oz and Canada and sliding at an ever faster rate in the USA. What's that got to do with Brexit. The housing bubble in China is popping - how can you blame that on Nigel Farage? I explain why lower house prices are a good thing and what is really going on in today's podcast.

Hello, Share Scrameroos. It's been another dire week for shares. Even though the Santa Rally should be gearing up. You'll be feeling pretty miserable about company values at the mo. But I have been gathering evidence that situation is nowhere near as bad as it's painted and that UK growth, the big driver of shares, is underestimated in the official figures. 

I have a small bottle of ouzo ready for Monday at 7 AM GMT when shares in the fraud MySquar (MYSQ) will be thrown off the AIM Casino as no Nomad is prepared to replace disgraced SP Angel which quit a month ago.  But the news today gets even worse.

Early this year we showed Shorted AIM shares at the start of 2018. After the latest month, how's performance?...

Well it is all happening down at Union Jack Oil (UJO). Let’s start with fundamentals.