Hello Share Carriers. Oil jumbo Shell (SHEL) remains one of the few shares still left in my bag after a dash to cash a month or so ago. That’s because the bubbly oil price can only translate into bigger profits for the black stuff boys. Net profit for the third quarter was 26% higher than last time at $11.5 billion, thanks to those chirpy oil prices and post Covid demand.

A little under three years ago, I first wrote about Smith & Nephew (SN.), which “designs and makes technology that takes the limits off living, and we help healthcare professionals to achieve the same goal”. All good stuff, but - as shown by the 70% fall in share price since October 2019 - life for this sort of business has got more tricky.  And the then-CEO did not listen to my advice: that he needed “to focus on performance and not pay”. Unsurprisingly, he has left, chasing more money… So, what about the new(ish) CEO and prospects for Smith & Nephew shares, now at a five-year low?

I haven’t written about Tintra (TNT) for some time.  Since I last did, it has continued to sort out its legacy business, seeking to build its new model from the disaster that was St James House (previously Boxhill Technology).  It has raised monies at high premiums to its share price, and appointed several impresing-sounding individuals to the Board.  The self-styled “rapidly innovating Deep Tech & Banking business” continues in a similar vein, with the following AGM statement:

What day is it when the City is about to depart on its summer holidays, the first day of the Commonwealth Games and England’s Lionesses are about to contest a final against Germany? It is, of course, a good day to bury bad news. And so, just as the Stock Market was opening and traders not on holiday had their eyes on the market, it was announced that fully-listed Finablr (FIN) was being consigned to the dustbin from the London Stock Exchange, with immediate effect. Blink, and you missed it.

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? 
 

The half-year results to April 2022 for AIM-listed holiday resort in Crete outfit Minoan (MIN) were released on Friday, at 1.55pm – just as the City, having tucked into a nice Friday lunch, was settling down to enjoy the Commonwealth Games. In other words it was no-one-is-watching o’clock – the offence compounded by it being deadline day too. Not a great start!

Grab a cup of tea, sit back, and test your knowledge against the other ShareProphets members. Write your score in the comments, there are no prizes, and most important of all – no Googling!

These are the most-read articles and most listened-to Bearcasts of the week. The most read non-Tom article is Fun (or not) at easyJet, Unilever and Rolls-Royce by Chris Bailey at number three or number eight if you include Bearcasts.

Red Rock Resources (RRR) has announced the issue of £0.623 million of convertible notes, and that “near-term positive financial developments may be anticipated” – can they be, though?

GSK plc (GSK) has announced a “slightly better than expected” first-half performance, and the shares have responded up to 1755.8p.

Somebody had the cheek to ask if I will record videos of ShareStock. Er, no!

I am today alone at the Greek Hovel, for reasons I explain. Walking up and down snake hill, I must have sweated off 15 lbs! In the podcast, I start with a look at Boohoo (BOO), ASOS (ASC) and the issue of earnings visibility, as business models are forced to change. On my return, I spoke to a whistleblower from a 2021 IPO roll-call-of-shame company; I relay some of the specific accusations made. I'm not sure when to name the company, and how I should play it. But I will do so when back in the UK. The said accusations compound a dire financial position, about which I have warned you numerous times.

I am reminded of the words attributed to Prime Minister Jim Callaghan during the Winter of Discontent by The Sun. Callaghan denied having said “Crisis? What Crisis?” and today it seems that President Biden is having the same difficulty understanding the word “recession”. He tells us that this doesn’t look like a recession to him – but the standard definition being of two quarters of negative growth says otherwise: US GDP fell by 0.9% in Q2, following on from a 1.6% drop in Q1. That should be ringing alarm bells, rather than being the cue to try to challenge our intelligence.

Quite a lot has happened since I covered Jadestone Energy (JSE) as a buy just over a month ago, and recent news has further strengthened my positive outlook on the company.

Hello Share Mixers. There are decisions challenging those of us who’ve sold a bevy of shares in favour of cash. When will the tide turn, making it wise to buy back in the stock market? There are slight signals that the Footsie is stabilising and is even edging up on most days. But I’m not buying back yet. For these reasons.

Ferrexpo (FXPO) emphasises that it produces high grade iron ore pellets, which are a premium product for the global steel industry and enable reduced carbon emissions and increased productivity for steelmakers. That sounds good, but it does so from Ukraine. That is why it has seen a share price fall from approaching 500p last summer, but we can now see reasons why the shares could bounce sharply.

Eneraqua Technologies (ETP) is “pleased to update that… trading in the first half of the year to 31 January 2023 has been encouraging” and that current global challenges are creating further demand for the work it does. So what of a share price currently slightly lower today to 260p?

The whisteblower tells truly salacious stories - I shall speak to them at length, later. I discuss FinnCap (FCAP), the fraud Supply@ME Capital (SYME), IQE (IQE), the chocolate teapots at the FCA, and MGC Pharmaceuticals (MXC). Gotcha!

Previously writing on engineering and technical recruitment group RTC (RTC), in March with the shares down to below 30p I concluded the financials including cash burn and near term difficulties meant I certainly continued to avoid. So what now with “pleased to announce” results for the first half of 2022 and the shares at 21.5p?

Sub-Standard listed AIQ (AIQ) – the dog listed by champagne quoffing Andrew Monk and VSA Capital which spent most of its first six months on the market suspended and then blew most of its cash on a disastrous RTO in a fit of reverse alchemy – announced interim results to April 2022. Could the story get any worse? Er…..