Cloud communications platform group LoopUp (LOOP) has made a trading update it states it “is pleased to provide… in line with the trading statement of 27 November 2020”. The shares have currently responded 4.5% higher to 81.5p but they closed 26th November at 155p, so what’s the story?…

I start with the Mrs being phoned by a fraudster. Then it is a natural move to Elon Musk and bitcoin before going onto the Million Morons on Reddit and a damp squib with Metro Bank (MTRO). I comment on looking daft for eons before vindication so look at Nightcap (NGHT) and then at Bahamas Petroleum (BPC). Then it is on to Abingdon Health (ABDX) and Yourgene (YGEN).

As you are aware, the Standard List is regulated by the FCA which is now considering my explosive dossier on Zoetic International (ZOE) published last Wednesday. But while the FCA considers its position, which as I have pointed out to it, should not be in any doubt, it must act; there is a regulator which can cause it far more trouble. When not engaging in a quick spot of pre-luncheon badger-slaughtering, I have contacted the FDA.

I noted the old adage last week of if you don’t succeed, try and try again. Last week AIM-listed jam-tomorrow investment company Tern plc (TERN) offered up its second portfolio update of the year. This morning we were treated to a third: so is it jam-today, then? Or doth the lady protest too much?

AIM-listed gold producer in Turkey, Ariana Resources (AAU) has taken another important step towards payment of the long-awaited special dividend in relation to the ongoing corporate action which brings Turkish outfit Ozaltin into its gold-producing joint venture with Proccea. Ariana is reducing its ownership in the JV to 23.5% from 50% and injecting its Salinbas project in return for a total of $37.75 million, with a promised special dividend for shareholders, but has an issue with distributable reserves which is to be addressed by a second General Meeting and a trip to the High Court. This morning, the Circular for General Meeting 2 was published.

A trading update from Yourgene Health (YGEN) commences that “the stronger trading patterns being observed in H2 compared to the first 6 months of the financial year mean that double-digit revenue growth is expected for the full year” (to 31st March 2021). However, the shares are currently around 9% lower in response, at circa 12p, with the update also including “the ongoing impact of COVID-19 on ordering patterns in UK and international commerce is expected to result in full year revenue being below consensus market estimates”. Having spoken to the company, here’s the detail…

For years, AIM sewer listed Bahamas Petroleum (BPC) has spun the line that all it needed was a farm in partner to unlock massive potential for oil in the Bahamas. For years I have called out CEO Simon “Harry” Potter as a useless and grossly overpaid promoter who should be fired – here is a piece from 2015. And warned that this stock was just not investment grade - you can see a series of exposes and scoops HERE.  Sadly, Potter was not fired in 2015 and today – with him having hauled out well over £5 million in compensation – since his 2011 appointment when the spoof started, the house of cards has collapsed. It will get worse.

Though he does not declare so in the tweet below, he has elsewhere: penny share huckster and known associate of Zak Mir, Mr Alex McKinley is a shareholder in joke company Remote Monitored Systems (RMS). You know, the maker of masks to stop covid spread that are so good its site turned into a covid hot spot. Yes, that fine enterprise.

Back in November 2018 here, I concluded about temporary power company Aggreko (AGK) that it was worth 30% more than its c.750p share price then.  However, returns in 2019 were reversed in 2020 as the Olympics did not happen and emerging market demand was hit by a bunch of “challenges” as well.  Still – by last month – Aggreko gave a short update which concluded that its cautious £80-100 million profit target for 2020 was likely to be slightly beaten.  And to highlight improving prospects, it saw 2021’s profits to be back to the £170-190 million range.  That is not too shabby for a company trading back in late January at an EV of about £1.7 billion.  

Hello, Share Tweakers. Being of a certain age, I can see no appeal in computer games. But the rest of the world disagrees, particularly in these days of home captivity. It also follows that one of the biggest of them is going to do even better than others. So let’s take a look at Activision Blizzard (0H8X).

I start on the subject of badgers and how I met the 1 of the only good sort earlier. Then onto how investors also fail to discount regulatory risk, ref Zoetic (ZOE), a few words on Metro Bank (MTRO) and the million morons march and about what it says about the investment climate. Finally on Rishi Sunak’s idea of a sales tax on online shoppers and why it is wrong at every level.

Tomorrow, I shall publish my correspondence with the FDA in America which has the power to shut down the entire business of Zoetic (ZOE) for its serial rule breaches. But for today I stay in dear old Blighty. I published the dossier showing the lies and law-breaking of Zoetic (ZOE) on Wednesday and naturally, being a fine upstanding, badger-hating member of the financial community ensured that the FCA saw the entire document. At 8.36 PM on Friday the regulator got back to me. It says:

As I noted yesterday, members of the OneMillionTradeMarch chatroom on Reddit were voting on which stock to buy en masse at 8 AM on Monday to #burntheshorters. Well there aren’t many shorters to burn in the case of the target pick but & if it rockets the big winners will be fat cat bankers but why stop the facts getting in a way of the narrative?

I am a massive shareholder in Optibiotix (OPTI) and believe that I will do very well from my investment, where my average in price is c9p. The shares are now 61.5p mid and I think they will easily double from here within 18 months if not far sooner. But there can be no double standards here in the way that I cover companies, just because I own shares in them. I think the company has made a material accounting error which is also an own goal! Here’s why:

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 battle for free speech is hotting up. I have just published a piece HERE on attempts to shut down a new TV channel before it goes on air because its founders are not part of the woke establishment. Meanwhile, a few days ago I expressed my hatred for the badgers living at the Welsh Hovel here. Mistakenly, I also outlined a plan to get rid of them which I now understand is against the law. Suddenly, on certain bulletin boards and on Twitter, badgers are seen as the nation’s favourite animal and I am off to jail.

75! We’ve done 75 of these things. Well, you still don’t get a prize. Find your own beer, sit in the most comfortable seat, and, under no circumstances, can you Google the answer. Only I can do that. There are no prizes but post your scores in the comments for bouquets and brickbats.

It was announced on Friday afternoon by Schroder UK Public Private Trust (SUPP), the former Neil Woodford Patient Capital Trust (WPCT), that the IPO of Immunocore on Nasdaq had gone ahead. We were offered some tasty numbers, but are they really true?

The most read non-Tom article this week is How likely is it that a proper silver short squeeze will happen? by Gary Newman at number seven, or  number 15 including Bearcasts and Tom’s new shareshow. Which one is the best of the week? Tell me in the comments.

It is such a good joke I think I make it about 5 times in what follows. And now from Wales, by just 30 yards, it is my new weekly video show. This costs 99p per episode, and you can either listen to, or watch, some sparky interviews with  Harry Adams of Kefi Gold & Copper (KEFI), where i am a loyal shareholder expecting the shares to double or more by mid year, and also Dominic Frisby. The singer, songwriter, comedian, gold guru, bitcoin expert and libertarian is on great form especially on the bitcoin/gold issue and tips the only AIM stock he owns and explains why. You will laugh and learn with him. You can access the show HERE