Hello Share Smoothers. Ocado (OCDO) is one of those annoying companies which does not give you a clue as to what it does by its name. It is in fact an online supermarket. And it should have been called something like ‘The On-Line Supermarket.’ Never mind. Silly names is just one of my personal irritants in the share picking game.

No need to wait for the weekend. This PrimaryBid offering kicked off at 4.30 PM today and will close at 9.00 PM tonight or when £2 million is raised - the placing is in Highland Natural Resources (HNR). On the one hand we have been uber critical of Highland on the other this financing package with a massive private equity injection looks transformational. Worse still boss Robert Price has just called me and now I find it hard to be hostile to the man as he was quite charming. I am almost tempted to go for a small flutter as I shall explain below, but make no formal recommendation - here are the bare bones:

Having in May been “pleased to announce the completion of a placing of 5,800,000 new ordinary shares… at a price of 169 pence per placing share” (I bet it was pleased - as otherwise it was cash crunch within weeks!), Blancco Technology Group (BLTG) has today released a “Trading Statement” which currently sees the shares down by more than 20% at sub 120p. Those who took part in the placing won’t be “pleased” then!...

Last month saw a delayed profit warning from energy efficient-home improvement group Entu (ENTU) – and me particularly noting the net debt and that, although purportedly “strengthened”, the executive team still not seemingly having the answers themselves – ‘from bad (en)tu worse, issues “more complex and extend further” than expected’. There is now a “Strategic Review” announcement. Hmmm…

Having read Tern’s update on Device Authority and Nigel’s take on it HERE, I wonder whether there is a bit more to say as on a further re-read, I actually think that Al Sisto, Tern’s CEO, is admitting to all that the current share price is massively overvalued and shareholders should be heading for the door. Sounds like sage advice to me.

In December I noted cash concerns on Surface Transforms (SCE) following a half-year trading update. I reiterated these last month, despite the company arguing “we continue to look forward with confidence”. Now surprise, surprise it’s discounted fundraising ahoy…

At its AGM in the tax haven and cultural desert that is the Isle of Man, Veltyco (VLTY) was in bullish mood. The brief statement reads:

After tearing apart this week's bogus trading statement from MySquar (MYSQ) HERE and HERE, the AIM listed POS has tried to pop up its falling share price today with another piece of PR non news. We can address that later but first I have three more questions that it can't and won't answer.

Falanx (FLX) has announced that it has bought Cloudified Limited for £180,000. This is a small beer deal.For what will really get the shares to sizzle higher we must wait a few more days.

Silver has been incredibly volatile this year with large swings, but it is now back at a level where I can see a good chance of a bounce coming, and that in turn offers upside on producers of the precious metal.

Hello Share Stackers. Though it sounds like a hero from Ancient Greece, Persimmon (PSN) is a popular British house builder. And it’s doing better than many of its competitors.

The stench of desperation at AIM POS Advanced Oncotherapy (AVO) is overpowering.It knows that insolvency looms, that the money is running out fast ( within weeks?) and that a blizzard of share sales from death spiral provider Bracknor will obliterate the share price in the last few days. The board know it. The advisers must know it. But they cannot bring themselves to admit it. The pretence goes on for a while yet. And thus today we have an RNS.

Of course Cantor Fitzgerald is so large that it could afford to compensate all of the 70 or more investors working with Peter Petyt and this website to try to recover losses from the African Potash (AFPO) fraud. But the publicity of a case would be hugely embarrassing so sordid would be the revelations. Anyhow just 10 days more sweating for Cantor...there is an update from Petyt.

The planning committee of North Lincolnshire County Council met on Monday to - again - discuss the Wressle application. Officials had recommended approval as it fitted in with all the authority's guidelines. All was set fair. Then came the first sign of trouble.

Earlier in the week the disappointment was that the Italian Badile gas play had flopped. But at least the Moroccan excitement could allow James Parsons, the aggressive stock promoter who runs Sound Energy (SOU), to keep the plates spinning. er...now we have news from Morocco. And it is more bollockese and not great news.

Nektan (NKTN) has been surviving on fumes recently but its short-term survival is ensured by an announcement this morning with a loan from its major shareholders and although the future still looks tricky, such support is to be applauded as it keeps hopes alive for the wider shareholder base.

Late last night at no-one-is-watching o’clock and then some (6.37 pm) Lakehouse released a statement which was signed off by PR firm Camarco. Perhaps it would have been better to insist on this occasion not to. I just hope that what follows will be addressed and corrected, for if it is not then woe betide the company.

It was a case of the good, the bad and the ugly but on balance there were a lot more goods than bads. Let's start with the ugly from the Fox Marble (FOX) AGM..

We all have nicknames for companies and they usually imply something about how we feel about them. So for me Quindell (QPP) will always be Quenron for reasons that should be obvious. So how does Nomad Strand Hanson feel about its client Nostra Terra Oil & Gas (NTOG)? The hint is perhaps in the image below taken from Strand's latest corporate brochure boasting of recent deals that it has completed....

Redcentric (RCN) CEO Fraser Fisher is still in place despite his company having admitted to having grossly overstated its 2016 accounts, something that pushed up the shares allowing him to make a killing dumping stock a year ago. The FCA is investigating this matter as are other agencies which almost certainly means the Serious Fraud Office. So far the fall guy has been the ex FD. But I can now demonstrate that Fraser must have been persoinally aware of at least one major fraud, a type of con the King of the fraudsters, Mr Rob Terry, also pulled off at Quindell and The Innovation Group.