Describing itself as “a leading provider of Management Process Automation software for running hybrid and global back-office operations”, ActiveOps (AOM) has issued a trading update in which it “is pleased to confirm that trading is in line with previously upwardly revised management expectations” and “confident in the company’s outlook, as a clearly defined list of target customers feed into an existing and robust pipeline”. So why a current 97.5p share price, down more than 17%, in response?

It is now ten days since I put 1 simple question to Nightcap (NGHT) the bars chain run by Dragon’s Den Star Sarah Willingham and her husband Michael Toxic which is lurching towards a cash crisis. And guess what: no answer!

Ian Storey was the CFO of musicMagpie (MMAG) from March 2015, becoming the COO when this company joined the AIM sewer last April.Are investors fully aware of his history of cooking the books at one of the biggest FTSE frauds of the past two decades?

Hello Share Mates. A company that continues to excite me has just published a trading update for its financial year ending this month. And it’s all looking rather good. Revenue is now expected to be at least $65 million. It compares to $39.5 million last time. That’s up by an impressive 65% and ahead of previous management guidance of $57 million.

I start by explaining why my next musicMagpie (MMAG) article was delayed until tomorrow. It is all to do with a Greek, a lorry and a shortage of bubblewrap in Wrexham. I draw your attention to a real share trading oddity at Magpie before heading on to  discuss whether Vast Resources (VAST) or Catenae (CTEA) will go bust first. Finally a detailed look at Dignity (DTY) where that combination of zero earnings visibility, past overcharging of punters and a wreck of a balance sheet spells even more gloom ahead. 

Here’s a Music Magpie (MMAG) oddity: the company has deleted its Twitter account. Why? We can only speculate. But given other matters it is hardly encouraging is it?

Previously writing on ‘Wildwood’ and ‘dim t’ casual dining restaurants company Tasty (TAST), earlier this month I concluded that there was potential for the balance sheet to be back under pressure and, at a slightly further lower 4.75p share price, £6.7 million market cap, I continued to avoid. So what of results today currently helping the shares up to 5.5p?…

It is almost as if reporter Jon Robinson from Business Live was taking dictation from PR fluffies Powerscourt as he reported on boardroom share buying at musicMagpie (MMAG) here.  Claiming the bosses were “doubling down” by buying £300,000 of shares at 52.5p is “doubling down” when, as I pointed out HERE, the same bosses had sold £15.7 million worth of shares at the IPO less than a year ago is just 100% misleading. It gets worse…

It is always a Red Flag for me when a company posts a profit but is burning cash, and that brings me to yesterday’s full year results for 2021 from  AIM-listed Yu Group (YU.).

Shares in “technology-enabled language, content and intellectual property services” company RWS Holdings (RWS) are currently, at around 340p, down 27% on the back of acquisition and “Capital Markets Event” announcements. So what’s going on?…

A year ago I wrote “what a strange company is Pendragon (PDG)”, even if it is the second largest motor retailer in the United Kingdom. Of course if you purchased the stock, despite today’s c. 4% share price fall after the publication of its FY21 numbers, you would still be up over 40%. So well done if you ignored my scepticism (although my personal sector preference Vertu Motors (VTU) has almost risen 80% since then). But, as I noted with the latter here earlier on this month, it is getting tougher in the sector, which brings us back to Pendragon shares…

Over the past few weeks a chap called Greg Smith and his side kick Jeremy Read have been schmoozing folks in London and Paris to raise $7 million for a company called Latin America Resources. There is a glossy investor deck which I have talking about gushing oil production in the Atzam field in Guatemala and some folks may have been tempted.  I suggest that investing in this company without knowing the REAL 20 year back story is financial suicide. 

Kosmos Energy (KOS) is one of those companies that has never seemed to be very popular on the London market but it has performed extremely well as oil and gas prices have risen.

Yesterday I explained very clearly how musicMagpie (MMAG) had lied to investors in its prospectus and that lie was at the heart of the reason why the company will eventually, like the two previous businesses of CEO Steven Oliver go bust.  There was a response, of sorts at 3.50 PM.

Hello Share Shufflers. Uncle Tom and Steve write appreciably about the touch sensor king Zytronic (ZYT). And I thought I’d like to support their enthusiasm. In an age when many more of us rely on digital gizmos, there can be little doubt that touch screens are more and more essential to those folks seeking an easier life

This is outrageous and enough to make one lose all faith in the integrity of some in the financial markets. Today ADVFN (AFN) has announced its 2022 financial awards where past winners include Ronnie Kray (re-distributor of the year), Bernie Madoff (fund manager of the year) and Gordon Brown (economist of the year).  The correlation between those financial services companies receiving awards and those advertising heavily on ADVFN is, as ever, just a pure coincidence. The main award is the blogger or blog of the year. Naturally nobody associated with this website has ever won …

Previously writing on provider of digital commerce, products and related services to the promotional products industry, Pebble Group (PEBB), in December with the shares at 147.5p I noted a lot of net cash generation ‘scaling’ looked needed to justify the valuation and that I avoided. The shares are currently 110p, though that with they more than 22% higher today on the back of 2021 results. So what’s the story?…

It is probably a good thing that I don’t own any shares in Kingfisher (KGF). I certainly have in the past but  as I noted back in November  “Kingfisher is in a much better position than a few years back, but you don’t need to aggressively buy back in…But I am not ignoring it either…Screwfix spin-off before 2025?”. Back then the share price was above 320p and now it is below 280p.

Sub-Standard-listed AIQ, the baby of Andrew Monk’s VSA Capital and Standard List posterboy for all that can go wrong, announced this morning that its IT consultancy business (what’s left of it) has been awarded a contract to supply an NFT marketplace, and that it has established partnerships with two suppliers. Big news……or not!

I explain why and about a bit of a mishap as I left Wales. The it is onto musicMagpie (MMAG) after this piece earlier,  Parsley Box (MEAL),  Chill Brands (FRAUD), Online Blockchain (OBC), TrustPilot (TRST) and Knights Group (KGH). After my enforced training walk thismorning you can donate to Rogue Bloggers for Woodlarks HERE on the news of our new star walker.