Hello, Share Carriers. Even a raging bull like myself has to accept that sooner or later shares will crash to more realistic levels. There was a scare in that unhappy direction a couple of weeks back, but it seems to have been a false alarm. That doesn’t mean that the real thing - a proper crash - doesn’t continue to threaten us. So what should we do to preserve our assets now?

In December, I detailed my share tips of the year for 2018; uranium-focused Berkeley Energia (BKY) and precious metals company Goldplat (GDP). The following updates…

Stanley Gibbons (SGI) has announced a Proposed Refinancing, including raising £6.2 million at 2.5p per share… and the shares have currently responded more than 15% higher on yesterday, above 5.5p…

Gold has rallied back close to trendline resistance. Will it push through this time? That will depend on if Gold can breakout in real terms (against stocks, currencies) as its strength over the past year has been driven by only US$ weakness. This is the question answered by the only half decent technical analyst on this planet, Jordan Roy Byrne in his latest Palisade Capital podcast.

Oddly enough Britain's most conceited fund manager Neil Woodford has yet to agree to appear at UK Investor Show to answer some simple questions from me. What is he frightened of? I will have to go ahead with the session without him but I hope that he does not bleat on about how he had no right of reply! Anyhow, I discuss my futurology piece of yesterday and how it should be viewed if you are, like Nomates Neil, a big holder of auto related stocks. I cover BCA Marketplace (BCA), The AA (AA.) and Northgate (NTG) in this section. I also look, en passant, at another Woodford dog RM2 (RM2). Then I cover Milestone (TOAST) and finally pick up on the most excellent post on the comments section of this site by Drunken Sailor on POS Andalas (ADL)

Picking shares should be easy, right? Find a company where both profits and cash flow generation are improving plus where investor sentiment is shot to bits and the Gods of both fundamental analysis and investor psychology should be on your side.

Union Jack Oil (UJO) has updated including noting a draft decision advertisement issued by the Environment Agency that it is inclined to award a bespoke environmental permit for drilling and testing the Holmwood exploration well in PEDL 143 and how the company “is positioned to deliver ongoing news flow throughout 2018 from our onshore portfolio of producing assets, drill-ready appraisal and exploration targets”…

England’s newest Alternative Merchant Banking company First Sentinel PLC has one mission for its shareholders: value creation and growth. Sometimes it can be hard for investors to find the right opportunities offering good returns with an acceptable level of risk. Often investment opportunities are made available to institutional investors with retail or high net worth investors coming second. First Sentinel works diligently to gain access to such investment opportunities to the benefit of shareholders.

Hello, Share Pickers. Previously, I’ve recommended the old Royal Insurance Company which is now RSA (RSA) to your further probing. And having now reviewed last year’s results, I’m rather glad I did.

I previously wrote on touch sensors company Zytronic (ZYT) in December, concluding then that a circa 500p share price looked little, if any, better than fair enough. There is now an update on the first four months of its current financial year…

Hat tip to Andrew Monk of VSA for spotting this paper from Hult Business School. It does give you food for thought. Certainly why would anyone invested in a heavily indebted business with bigg exposure to the carrying value of cars as we known them ( Northgate or BCA Marketplace for example) or the AA? Maybe Neil Woodford should read this and ponder before he buys any more shares in the AA or BCA? 

Loyal readers will know that I, like Mr Woodford, love a quiz and with my favourite week of the year fast approaching, I thought I’d run a (simpler) quiz with a Cheltenham-related prize. There’s only two questions, so I’m hoping for more than one entrant this time!

On 18th January Starcom (STAR) was “pleased to provide an update in respect of the results for the year ended 31 December 2017, which are subject to final audit… it is anticipated that the consolidated net profit after tax will show a breakeven position or a small loss”. It was then placing ahoy. Now “although the audit process is not yet completed, it has become clear that the final results for 2017 will differ materially from those previously anticipated in that announcement”. It better hope in a good way then…

AIM-listed Milestone Group (MSG) has this morning posted the most awful set of results. Having been on the AIM Casino since 2003, the company clocked up losses of £2.26 million on revenues of a paltry £24,640. Retained losses stood at a jaw-dropping £33 million and the audit report (needless to say, missing from today’s RNS) contains, we are told, a material uncertainty paragraph. I should coco.

No I have not changed my mind. I am still a bear and stand by my target price of 0.4p but after chatting to a number of folks I try to see if there is a bull case. And I record this before setting off to the Greek Hovel which is my main focus of attention pro tem to prove to my friend and fellow Hammer, Thirsty David Bick that I am still alive, I hope that he takes up my invitation to come and watch the foul mouthed ladies of West Ham in action.

Having last year concluded that shares in financial advisory group Lighthouse (LGT) could prove good value at 11.75p and that the valuation continued to look undemanding at circa 14p, I now update with them at 24p following what Chairman Richard Last emphasises as “an excellent set of results, driven entirely by organic growth and a particularly pleasing performance in the affinity business” and that “Lighthouse remain well positioned to deliver further growth”…

Concepta (CPT) has always had a twin track model for rolling out MyLotus in China - direct to hospitals (B2B) and direct to individual punters (B2C). On the latter front we now have news.

Hello, Share Swipers. It’s possible to gain the impression from other writers on this scrumptious website that most firms are doing rather badly. But this is far from the case.

Previously updating, we noted HaiKe Chemical Group (HAIK) potentially in the 'geong, geong' stage. There has since been developments - and what does the 'Filthy Forty' look like now?...

Chocolatier and retailer, Hotel Chocolat (HOTC) has announced results for its half year ended 31st December 2017, including emphasising “another period of strong progress… with growth in both sales and profits” and “a strong differentiated brand which offers great products and customer service and that is priced as an affordable luxury, gives the board confidence in the group's continued progress”. So why have the shares responded lower, towards 300p?...