AIM-listed jam-tomorrow investment company Tern (TERN) has been an amazing ride this year. Having started the year at 3p the stock went on a run all the way up to 58p, when the board had to issue a statement reminding the market that its NAV per share was still around the 5p mark. I called the stock a sell – at 43p – and now the stock is down to 25p. But it is still a sell.

Writing previously on K3 Business Technology (KBT) towards the end of 2017, I concluded I’d want further evidence of meaningful progress before reconsidering a present cautious stance. Half-year results today include “pleased with the progress K3 has made over the first half… we believe that K3 is very well-positioned to make further progress over the second half of the year, and view growth prospects with confidence”…

As you can see HERE, I have spent the morning loading a white van as boxes of my stuff heads out to the Greek Hovel which might just have a roof by the weekend! Yesterday i was in Manchester and braving its slums albeit with Brokerman Dan providing security was heroic. For that, if not for the planned 32 mile walk with Dan how about you give a tenner to Woodlarks HERE. On the podcast I cover Optibiotix (OPTI), another victim of Julie "lingerie on expenses" Meyer MBE on the phone, Stobart (STOB), FairFx (FFX), Mothercare (MTC) and - with not too much sniggering  - the flop at me-too Viagra play N4 Pharma (N4P)

Stock market selloffs, volatility blow-ups, collapsing crypto currencies. They’re all the symptoms of an unfolding global credit squeeze, according to famed HSBC Holdings Plc bond guru Steven Major. It just happens to be developing at a snail’s pace. Major and his team see what they call a “long list” of selloffs in risk market across the world as evidence of the disruption wrought by tighter dollar liquidity.

Having previously questioned on surface coating technology company Hardide (HDD) emphasises “positive” & “confident”, but when’s the jam to be delivered?, I today note the company “pleased to announce” the appointment of a Business Development Engineer based in Houston, Texas - emphasising “a strong rise in demand from oil and gas customers in North America”. More promising?...

At the last AGM of Naibu (NBU) before it was booted off the AIM casino I attended its AGM, held at the offices of its Nomad Daniel Stewart, and accused the company of fraud.  Only the NEDs were present - Chinese executive directors failed to show. As I asked about a loan to the CEO’s mum that had not been repaid, the NEDs said they were unaware of this.  I pointed out where the loan was referenced in the annual report and the NEDs said they would go away and investigate. They did not. Only when they stopped getting paid did these useless upper class twits start to ask questions. Wind forward to today and it is time to shift the blame.

Hello, Share Finders. Housebuilders attract a few warning signs on this splendid website. But there are still some strong signals to keep buying. The most important, perhaps, is the all-important demand versus supply issue. And though house prices are flat or falling, depending where you live, the shortage of affordable homes gets no better.

Last year Woodlarks managed to do amazing work despite receiving income of just £126,650. It spent c £35,000 more than that but ran a deficit which it has accepted is just not sustainable. Brokerman Dan and I would like to raise £20,000 (plus gift aid) to close that deficit and allow this charity to continue its amazing work with no cutbacks. Boy is my body suffering as I prepare for our 32 mile walk on July 28. Enjoy my pain but spare Woodlarks some pain. we are now 65% of the way to our target and we thank all who have backed us already notably UK Investor speaker, my old pal, Nick Leslau who has just donated £1,000 today.  Surely you can spare a tenner? If you are yet to donate: Please please watch the video below and sponsor us now HERE

I enjoyed Nigel's update article on his mini 'dividend munchers' ideas portfolio earlier today.  I would completely concur with the Vodafone (VOD) call and came to a similar conclusion myself a few weeks back (see here). 

Oil exploration is very different to the boom we had back in 2010 in terms of the share price movements that we see for companies that are engaged in drilling.

I start by looking back to where I watch the World Cup Final 4 years ago and where I will be watching the semi on Wednesday. When you have finished donating a tenner to Woodlarks HERE, this podcast covers the current scandal surrounding the big 4 and KPMG in particular. Sam Antar used KPMG in his 18 year fraud but is it fair to pick on one firm? Is the system inherently flawed? What would I do to make things better? 

My little portfolio of big dividend payers seems to be doing quite nicely. Hurrah! It seems that all three are up, and the first tasty dividend has arrived. But I want to trim some holdings and buy a new share.

Further to my “Exclusive” on Friday in which I predicted the outcome of the Stobart (STOB) Boardroom battle, the results finally came out yesterday more than 24 hours after the AGM began confirming that Tinkler and his gang had lost; however, it is worth considering what happens next as I doubt very much that this is the end of it.

This week, I just wanted to run a little poll of which news outlets that you find most trustworthy. Not for City news: that'd be Shareprophets vs everyone else. But from which news websites do you trust their news stories?

Prelims from Purplebricks (PURP), announced on Thursday, did nothing to persuade me that the shares are not an outstanding short.

You don't care what I say today, all you care about is the football. Indeed: come on Eng-er-land. I reflect briefly on the soccer, then cover Mrs May's Brexit sell out, why I'm not voting for the party of the useless and treacherous old hag again, and finally discuss the idea that British companies should not be bought by "dirty foreigner", ref Inmarsat (ISAT). I cover Optibiotix (OPTI) en passant and am glad that thanks to the incredible generosity of Nick Leslau, myself and Brokerman Dan have now raised £13,000 - 65% of our target - for Woodlarks ahead of the 28 July charity walk. Check Nick's donation and perhaps give a tenner yourself HERE. 

Obtala (OBT) has updated to the first half of 2018, including emphasising “record volumes of sawn timber produced and containers shipped to customers”…

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 (see HERE)... Perhaps some folks have been taking our IQE exposes, like this one, on board.

Newly-listed firm Cake Box (CBOX) has been making headlines, as its share price rocketed over 40% in the space of a few days since the company’s IPO last week. Meanwhile, speculation continues to mount over the specifics regarding Aston Martin’s expected IPO later in the year. With new listings making the news, we take a look this week at broker and tipster stances towards firms following their admission to the London Stock Exchange. Using IPO data going back to the beginning of 2015, we retrieved broker and tipster recommendations in the calendar year following each new listing. A “Buy” or “Risky Buy” rating is scored as a 5, a “Hold” rating as a 3 and a “Sell” or “Avoid” rating as a 1. The data throws up some interesting results, which are summarised in the two charts below.

Hello Share Twiddlers. Despite the worries of an uncertain world, economically speaking, there have been some jolly signs recently that share prices could move ahead. I know there are warning signals out there to counter any undue optimism, but they don’t seem to be having an effect, do they?