These are the most-read articles and most listened-to Bearcasts of the week. The most read non-Tom story is For those who like taking big risks, Polymetal offers potentially huge upside if the situation in Ukraine is resolved – speculative buy by Gary Newman at Number 2 or Number 8 if you include bearcasts.

Fresnillo (FRES) has announced 2021 results and on-going challenges but also confidence in its prospects. Really?

I see that amid some optimism that we might see peace in Ukraine the FTSE 100 is staging a bit of a rally as I write.  And with that all sorts of stocks among the small and mid-caps are heading higher. Of course, I pray for peace. If we get it then all stocks will be marked higher but for how long?

H&T Group (HAT) has announced results for the 2021 calendar year and that looking ahead it “is well positioned”. Is it?

Julian Pike brands himself as a specialist in reputation management so surely being accused of fraud, as you can see below, means that he must defend his own reputation by firing off a libel writ at once?

Hello Share Hunters. I don’t know about you, but I feel totally on edge and sad at the mo. I’ m not sure whether its the madness in Ukraine or that my share portfolio is well down in value. I hope, for the sake of my humanity, that it’s the former. And I think it is. Because as I’ve argued before the Footsie often soars when the initial shocks of war are out of the way. Ordinary share owners can’t do anything to make Putin stop. But we can minimise any damage to our portfolios. 

Engineering components coatings company Hardide (HDD) is “delighted that the first half of the year has started strongly with sales expected to be over 40% higher than the same period last year… optimistic that the increasing demand from existing customers and the high-volume potential of a number of projects will result in the group achieving its previous upward sales trajectory”. The shares have responded up to 33.5p, but what does the company’s AGM update mean financially?…

I discuss with reference to Tulsi Gabbard, who I admire immensely, and Nigel Farage, who I don’t, what makes someone a Russian asset. Neither Nigel or Tulsi are but that won’t stop certain loons from saying they are. Then a bit more on dangerous fake news. Then I look at Pearson (PSON), Novacyt (NCYT), Nightcap (NGHT), Deepverge (DVRG), Chill Brands (FRAUD) and Supply@ME Capital (FRAUD).

Previously writing on SRT Marine Systems (SRT), in January with the shares up to 47p I noted interims having shown a more than £3 million loss on revenue of £4.7 million, with a swing to a £1.4 million net current liabilities position and also £1.7 million of non-current liabilities and that I retained caution HERE. Now the company’s “pleased to announce… concluded its Bookbuild process, successfully raising gross proceeds of £4.9 million through the placing”. So what about a more than 11% share price fall to 34.25p in response?…

As Deepverge (DVRG) burns cash and prepares for this year’s bailout placing, the journalist trolling arse of a CEO Gerry Brandon is playing his usual game of spoofing the morons who comprise his shareholder list and ramping the shares with announcements that are designed to mislead a group of investors with a collective IQ of less than that of a cheese sandwich. Last year Gerry the arse broke AIM Rule 11 with the pre-placing ramp, this year it is more nuanced spoof.

Oh dear. Oh dear. The chaps running Omega Diagnostics (ODX) really are incompetent poltroons.  I wonder how my favourite Saltire waving troll Craig Inglis – who first inspired me to start investigating this POS -  feels about the latest dire news: The UK Health Security Agency rejecting an application for approval of the professional-use VISITECT® COVID-19 Antigen test. Ooops.

Newcastle-upon-Tyne touch sensors manufacturing company Zytronic (ZYT) has announced a trading update including that “revenues for the first five months are approximately 25% ahead year-on-year and we are maintaining operating margins at the improved levels of last year. The order book is 45% ahead of the same period last year”. That sounds good, but what does it mean tangibly?…

Have you enjoyed the last week in the financial markets?  It certainly has been volatile but such is life in the stock market world and – as I have observed before – if you see volatility as more of a threat than an opportunity, get somebody else to manage your investment portfolio as it will make you a lot less stressed and a lot wealthier.  Meanwhile for us obsessed with the world of the financial markets the key always remains how you react.  And that brings me this morning to the just announced FY21 numbers of SIG (SHI).

So what if women and children are being blown to shreds in Kiev. The “good” thing about that war is that it means we must stop using oil and gas produced by the evil Russians – we don’t use much anyway – and thus need to turn to UK Oil & Gas (UKOG) run by Lyin’ Steve Sanderson to bail us out. Talking of which, I wonder how the placing is going …

Wishbone Gold (WSBN) has announced proposed steps to drilling at its Red Setter project and then at its Cottesloe project, whilst the shares are currently 6.6p to buy.

Hello Share Collectors. One of my previous choices with a share price that’s never really caught fire has issued some jolly results for last year. Capita (CPI) is a company that offers computer and digital services to some bumper clients, including our government. The board boasts of ‘A year of significant change with the transformation of Capita now complete: we have established a platform to drive sustainable improving financial performance whilst continuing to strengthen the balance sheet’.

Obviously I do hope Chelsea goes bust and is docked 500 points and finds itself playing next season in the National League so allowing two clubs to be promoted which might just include Wrexham. But what is happening to the Abramovitch sets a dangerous precedent. I discuss this with reference to Evraz  (EVR). I look at Parsley Box (MEAL) and the role of certain institutional investors and also FinnCrap (FCAP) in some detail. I predict Parsley will go bust by the autumn notwithstanding today’s dishonest bailout.  I look at Oxford Cannibinoid (OTCP) and the growing scandal there  and also comment on Eurasia (EUA), then at Chill Brands (CHLL) and that other Standard Listed fraud Supply@ME Capital (SYME). I discuss Summerway Capital (SWC) and Argo Blockchain (ARB) but I start with a parents dilemma.

Northbridge Industrial Services (NBI) has made an update with the disposal of the Tasman drilling equipment and services division now substantially complete. So what of a share price rise to a current 167.5p?…

Supply@ME Capital (SYME) shares are up by more than 50% at time of writing this article at 0.1025p with the rumour mill implying huge revenues were just around the corner at Tradeflow Capital.  The announcement that Tradeflow had cumulatively financed over $1 billion of commodity trade up from $750 million the previous quarter was what seems to have promoted the buying frenzy.

Again I present this as a counter view to a one way traffic in the MSM. I can’t say that I agree with all of what follows. Libertarian commentator Tom Luongo does not hold back. For starters he believes social media should be reserved exclusively for puppy and unicorn videos. As a hardcore libertarian he believes in human rights and is therefore against war as a matter of principle. Wars support the state and they are the worst possible outcome of human interaction.  He says that the Ukraine war is full of disinformation and bias from the media and as always the first casualty in war is the truth and that Russia appears to generally be less biased in its reporting. The Russians feel this is the least bad action they can take regarding Ukraine at this time.