Such is the terrible track record of Applied Graphene Materials (AGM) - minus 97.8% from peak - and such is the severity of the bear market in small caps that what follows should not be that shocking but it is still shocking. Since last week Applied has been on a dog and pony show with its broker. The aim was to raise £3 million. However, the details are horrific:

Kefi Gold & Copper (KEFI) has announced that it “is extremely pleased to note the announcement of a permanent end to hostilities in Northern Ethiopia and expresses its determination to do whatever is possible within its business mandate to contribute to the economic recovery plans set by the Ethiopian Government”. We suggest the news bodes very well for near-term progress of the Tulu Kapi gold project for the company.

A “New Contract Win” announcement from Insig AI (INSG), commencing that it “is pleased to announce that a London based alternative investment manager with in excess of $1 billion of assets under management has signed a consultancy agreement that will draw on Insig AI's fintech data science capabilities”. Sounds good, and what of a share price response currently up to 18.25p?

I start by discussing apple pressing: I am still at it. Then I look at Tern (TERN), Amur Minerals (AMC), Joules (JOUL) and Eurasia Miniung (EUA) as it heads for a cash crisis.

Pretentiously describing itself as “the premium British lifestyle group”, Joules (JOUL) has issued a “Business Update” commencing that it “has made good progress in defining and delivering its turnaround plan as well as continuing its focus on cost control and cash management” and including “active customers are in growth, and brand health and awareness KPIs, which reflect consumer perception of the brand, have remained strong”. So why are the shares currently further down more than 23% today at 10.5p?

I do not believe that Advanced Oncotherapy (AVO) will ever generate a cent of positive free cashflow as the demand for the proton therapy services it will offer at some point in 2023 is, in my view, already fully catered for with existing capacity. Others, notably a fund management firm run by a chap who looks remarkably like Daddy Pig, father of Peppa, disagree but what we might agree on its that, until late 2023, there is no doubt that Advanced will continue to guzzle cash. Which makes the next bailout placing only a matter of time.

Did you see today’s UK house price index update from Halifax? Whilst I am sure some people will focus on an average house price of £292,598 following an annual change of 8.3%, the game is obviously changing. After all, whilst house prices, apparently, over the last quarter are up 0.4%, the last month has seen a 0.4% fall. Are you surprised? Of course not! And, as Lloyds Bank (LLOY) banged on about at its last set of quarterly numbers the other week, the average house price is going to fall somewhat more over the next year.

‘Virtual reality technology company’ Engage XR (EXR) has announced what CEO David Whelan argues “is a huge moment for the group. We are now a leading metaverse technology company that can help make the metaverse strategies of leading global organisations a reality”. What’s the detail and what of a share price move currently 5.3% higher to 15p?

It really is an ouzo on cornflakes day. Not only has Gerry Brandon been fired but the FCA has won a legal victory in its attempts to nail the fraudsters behind Globo (GBO) an AIM listed scam I warned about, doorstepped in Athens and eventually helped bring down by publishing the dossier of my pal Gabriel Grego.

As CEO of AIM listed Deepverge (DVRG) made two schoolboy errors: trolling me on twitter and then breaking AIM Rules by hiding a profits warning before doing a placing at 30p last June. There were other blunders and deceits too but after that crime, that fraud, of last June came to light he should have been in jail and his position was untenable.

Hello Share Fanciers. As a kid the most popular showing at the cinema in the fifties was a cheap and cheerful dubbed Italian Sword and Sandal saga. It bore the exciting title of ‘Hercules Unchained’ and it reminds me of today’s recommendation. The company is called Hercules Site Services (HERC) and it’s an AIM-listed specialised recruitment outfit.

A major subsidiary of BATM  Communications (BVC) or Batman to its City friends, has been implicated in a criminal investigation in Italy.  The subsidiary in question, Adaltis Srl, represents the vast majority of BATM’s “diagnostics division”.  It sells molecular diagnostic test kits for various diseases, including COVID, operating from a facility near Rome.

In my experience it is often better to short a company’s shares when they have already fallen sharply and it has indicated that its equity is worthless. After all, the upside for a short that goes to zero is 100% whether you open it at 100p or 10p.

But I do dare. Enjoy.

On Friday we wrote an article HERE on 4 shares we thought could double by Christmas. One of the four is Bluebird Merchant Ventures (BMV) at a 1.8p offer.

My friend Gabriel Grego has, along with a stack of other bears, been hit by a law suit from a biotech company he has taken on, Cassava (SAVA). Gabriel is too much of a gent to steal my catchphrase “see you in Court bitchez” but he says so in rather more gentle words. As my old pal Evil Knievil once noted “legal action is not an invitation to go short but an obligation.”

Honestly – get me out of the Sunday ghetto. Lobby for the quiz on Tuesdays! In the meantime, put the kettle on, write your score in the comments, there are no prizes, and most important of all – no Googling! 

Here are five long reads that have nothing to do with shares. Put the kettle on, find a comfy chair. You have the time, don’t you? 
 

Good Lord! Look what happens when we run the pub quiz on a Tuesday – it blows past everything, even the Bearcast. I think I want a promotion off the Sunday desk. Meanwhile, the most-read non-quiz article this week is ‘Golden Prospect – Duff Interims but No Problem…..Still A Buy’ by Nigel Somerville.

I3 Energy (I3E) has enjoyed a miraculous turnaround in fortunes over the past couple of years, thanks to buying new assets at the right time and benefitting from high oil and gas prices since then.