Having demanded we bring back this contest, once again, Juicin Drumroll failed to win last week and so for the fourth time the semi naked photo of Britain's top share blogger before lunchtime, thirsty Paul Scott, went elsewhere. Come on Juicin this contest is for you please try harder....if you don't win this week we are dropping it.

Hello, Share Swappers. I’m marking the 10 year anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers by going on holiday to a current shaker of the world economy - and that’s Russia. I abandon my safe home to my 22-year-old daughter and her boyfriend to risk being interred in Siberia, if Blighty’s relationship with Russia gets worse.

First I look at m ore evidence of naughtiness at Tesla (TSLA) as the pithead Elon Musk struggles to make good on his pledge to be Q3 cashflow positive. Then I discuss insider dealing. I think I was an insider but am not sure but could have made a killing on one stock over the past fortnight but I sense others have been less scrupulous than I have been. I discuss how this all happens and and why it is not a victimless crime and what should be done.

A flurry of activity last week saw shares in AIM-listed Minoan (MIN) propelled from 5p to almost 6p, with bulk of the rise on Friday. We know that news on the sale of the travel and leisure business is expected “imminently” and that news on the Cavo Sidero project in Crete could come soon. So does the market know something?

It was a few days in the old country this week. Bundled up in layers, running the heater at night even thought it is still Summer, code switching from London English to a completely different way of speaking. No, I wasn't back in Canada, I was in Scotland.

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.  

Spanish copper miner Atalya Mining (ATYM) has seen its share price drop back recently, but then the situation has been similar on most producers in this sector and has come as a result of weakness in the commodity price rather than anything company specific.

On today's Bearcast I look at debt, it is like crack but after the highs it always ends badly. I talk with reference to 2008 and the next correction. Then onto Kier (KIE), the spin and the red flags and finally to Nike and its self-inflicted PC own goal. 

Five weeks in and the man who demanded we bring this contest back, Juicin Drumroll, is the runner up in this week’s contest but the photo of a semi I naked Thirsty Paul Scott goes instead to Putneywill – but there were numerous cracking entries, mainly posts by shareholders in UK Oil & Gas (UKOG) who – as you can see HERE – really are true morons.

Sunday morning newspaper perusal highlighted two stories on names I loved up on these pages in months and years past.  The first is ITV (ITV) which I have considered as a buy for a while now due to the combination of cheapish metrics and the value of its growing content business as detailed here.

Having demanded we bring back this contest, once again, Juicin Drumroll failed to win last week but he came second and tried very hard as you can see HERE. So he is clearly desperate to win a semi naked photo of Britain's leading share blogger before lunchtime, Thirsty Paul Scott. So we will give him a fifth and final chance. Can anyone stop Juicin from winning this week? Okay here is the challenge for you all:

Brokerman Dan Levi has again today insisted that Angus Energy (ANGS) is doing a placing. It will clearly have to do one at some stage soon but right now Daniel is being played, as was I last week. I sense market abuse here and once again the name Chris Oil, a man with form when it comes to market abuse and other nonsense, comes to the fore.  As a reminder

In the end the chaps at Nomad Cairn walked from Cloudtag (CTAG) when it was clear that it was a fraud run by liars. Frontera Resources (FRR) is a shit show run by liars and a fallout with death spiral provider Yorkville (YA) today could be the final straw for Cairn – might it resign leaving the (worthless) shares suspended? Or will Frontera just go bust?

AIM listed jam-tomorrow (or the day after) IoT investment company Tern (TERN) has released its interims to June 2018 and despite the polishing of things unmentionable they show what a car-crash had been – and still is - going on.

A central bank should only have ONE JOB - that is emergency liquidity provision in a global panic.But by continuing emergency efforts for a DECADE to “engineer” growth or asset inflation this has transformed global capital markets into political utilities. Now, especially in the US, large powerful too big to fail Corporations have control of the political system through record amounts of lobbying and political (donations) spending.

Julie "Lingerie on Expenses" Meyer's flagship ponzi Ariadne Capital Limited went into administration on 15 December 2017. At that point Ms Meyer would have been breaking the law if she, rather than the administrator, had acted for the company. But laws are for little people are they not July....

“Surface Transforms (AIM: SCE) is pleased to announce its preliminary results for the year ended 31 May 2018”. The shares have responded, er, currently more than 4% lower, below 18p…

In today's bearcast I look at the danger of a stockmarket crash in light of a tweet from the great Donald Trump earlier today. I cover N4 Pharma (N4P), cue smutty schoolboy jokes as its shares flop, and then I take a detailed look at today's news from Minoan (MIN). If I was a shareholder I would be seething but should I be selling?

Having demanded we bring back this contest, once again, Juicin Drumroll failed to win last week but he came second and tried very hard as you can see HERE. So he is clearly desperate to win a semi naked photo of Britain's leading share blogger before lunchtime, Thirsty Paul Scott. So we will give him a fifth and final chance. Can anyone stop Juicin from winning this week? Okay here is the challenge for you all:

In today's bearcast I discuss my coverage of companies where the CEO is a friend. I ask what exactly Purplebricks (PURP) is hiding in Oz and explain why its shares are sliding amid new allegations, I look at Telit (TCM), Tungsten (TUNG), Xeros Group (XSG) and Westminster Group (WSG)

Just when you don’t think that the goings-on at Woodford Patient Capital Trust (WPCT) can get any more surprising, an RNS comes out of nowhere to make everything right in the world, relating to the unloved holding Industrial Heat. It seems that Neil Woodford can bend the laws of physics after all!

Given the lowly market cap of Mayan (MYN) any placing will have to be a heavily discounted bucket shop special. In light of that, investors should take heed of an explicit warning from the City’s No 1 oil analyst Zac “the Knife” Phillips of SP Angel. In an email he writes:

At 175p Versarien (VRS) is valued at £263 million. I cannot argue with two writers on this site (Lucian and Cynical) that the valuation looks absurd based on historic profits and cashburn or even on some of the more optimistic forecasts. But it has now announced it is raising £2.9 million (or more) at 145p via Primary Bid and I am almost tempted to have a flutter. Here's why...

With oil prices remaining buoyant and this trend looking likely to continue going forwards, there are still plenty of opportunities to invest in companies in this sector.

Yesterday Tern (TERN) held an online Q&A session and I had wondered whether boss Al Sisto would dodge tough queeries. To his credit he did not. The Nomad blocked a few including one of the three that Nigel Somerville sent it but he answered the rest. I make no comment on his replies. I am no Tern-ologist although its valuation looks demanding to me. But i respect Mr Sisto for facing up to his critics.

Having recently slid below 35p, shares in Getech (GTC) have now recovered to that level ahead of results “on or around the end of September”…

As you may have gathered on Tuesday, Malcolm’s long-suffering wife reckons that he has been spending too much time in The Punter’s Return and so has organised a holiday in Denmark, Sweden and Russia where Mr Stacey hopes to discover the magic money tree and an updated theme for his next novel. We left him on his way to “The Bridge”, but our senior reporter has now updated us on his progress since…

Minoan Group (MIN) “is pleased to announce” that it has entered into a conditional agreement for the sale of its travel business – emphasising it will “allow the directors to concentrate their efforts on optimising the value of the group's project in Crete and its monetisation for the benefit of shareholders”. However, the shares are currently significantly lower, at around just 4p…

Big Sofa (BST) proudly announces a deal with Pepsico. The folks who run this company really do know how to piss off their long-suffering investors don’t they?  You will remember how we shareholders were guided that the company would be announcing multiple deals worth seven figures per annum with big names. They simply have not arrived.

Wildwood and dim t restaurants company Tasty (TAST) has announced results for its half year ended 1st July 2018, including “in February 2018 we implemented major operational structural changes and are beginning to see early signs of improvements which we expect to continue in the second half of the year”. The shares have currently responded, er, approaching 15% lower, at 14.5p!…

In this podcast I look at the EU's shameful treatment of the wretched Theresa May, it insults her but also the UK. Do we really want to be part of such a club. I look at warrants handed out by Kefi Minerals (KEFI) as it appointed shamed and disgraced SP Angel as its joint broker and I discuss how proven liar Elon Musk will cook the Tesla (TSLA) Q3 books and how that will play out.

A (Top) hat tip (sorry!) to Chris Bailey re. mens formalwear retailer Moss Bros (MOSB), with he in March having noted serious corporate shooting yourself in the foot and suggested to look for offers from the company rather than buying the shares. The shares are lower, despite a half-year results announcement which included “early responses to the Autumn/Winter 2018 range across Retail are positive and product availability is good”…

A simple enough-sounding “Snorkel Investment Update” from Tanfield Group (TAN), but then this company, previously described here as ‘perennial dog’s breakfast, lunch and dinner’, has found very little simple over the years – and the shares are down and well below 10p on this latest update…

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...