AIM-listed Covid-ramp Catenae Innovation (CTEA) has announced that its joint venture with BHA Medical, now renamed Synovate Global Ltd (today the world, tomorrow the universe!), has got two orders for its package involving BHAs Covid test kits and Catenae’s data management platform. Whoopie-do, let’s all pile in –this is going to take over the world. Or not…….there is a catch!

Hello, Share Diggers. In my continuing quest to find companies to benefit from the virus, rather than reel from it, may I put before you Volution Group (FAN)? This is an outfit which does ventilation. And we all know how proper ventilation makes the virus less perilous by dispersing it. Not only that, but efficient ventilation is a big driver in fighting greenhouse gases.

On Joshua’s Advent calender the shepherds go to Bethlehem. That is almost true, well a bit true as I discuss. In prior years I have penned a three part Christmas carol featuring a villain of the year: Rob Terry, Neil Woodford and Chris Oil have starred. So please nominate your villain of 2020 for this year’s opus magnus below. In the podcast I discuss the IPO of Sarah Willingham’s company Nightcap on a day when most of its bars go into tier 3. She is ‘avin’ a giraffe. There are other red flags and questions to ask. Then I look at Jubilee Metals (JLP) and Bahamas Petroleum (BPC) asking if, on AIM, anyone gives a toss about the law of the land. Finally I look at Dignity (DTY) where i retain grave concerns.

It is all good news from Red Rock Resources (RRR) but not THE News which we really want and which will make the share price explode. But that will come, just a bit more patience is needed and at current levels you’d be nutso to sell. So what is the news?

AIM-listed Gold-producer Ariana Resources (AAU) has updated the market this morning on progress with the Ozaltin deal which will bring Ariana’s ownership of its Turkish assets to 23.5% and result in a nice tasty $37.75 million cashpile before taxes and costs. The deal is conditional on shareholder and Turkish government approvals and Ariana has now published a circular, with a GM due on December 30 – and there was a pleasant surprise.

After the company’s PR firm managed to persuade another lacky journalist at the Sunday Times to do a massive puff piece for Nightcap, a firm run by Dragon’s Den Sarah Willingham, I am this morning invited to invest in the AIM Casino IPO via Primary Bid. Here is what the Sunday Times and other pliant hacks do not tell you and this is why “I’m out” on this one. I’d rather eat my own toenails than invest.

Tungsten Corp (TUNG) has announced results for its half year ended 31st October 2020. Do they support it being, self-styled, “a leading global electronic invoicing and purchase order transactions network”?…

A “Further progress in UK owner-operated estate” announcement today from ‘escape-the-room experiences’ company Escape Hunt (ESC). So, what is this progress and its financial implications?…

As a loyal former citizen of the Isle of Man I feel that it is my duty to go to my good friends at its Financial Services Authority on Bucks Hill in Douglas to dob in Bahamas Petroleum (BPC) for apparently breaking the law with its disguised death spiral placing announced today. Crime should not pay. Have they abolished birching for naughty Nomads on the island yet?.

Analyst Steve Thomas notes that after a slow decline in gold prices, sentiment reached a new low when Bitcoin tested its all-time high. These times, he suggests, are buying opportunities.

The time to invest in a sector is when everyone loathes it. Think oil earlier this year. The time to avoid it like the plague is when it gets so hot that crony capitalists float investment companies hoping that mug punters will overpay for shares in their vehicles which will then overpay for shares in actual companies. Meanwhile its snouts in the trough all round for the board and City advisers.

Hello, Share Troopers. Ergomed (ERGO) is an AIM company which does something fashionable these days. It helps makes sure that medical drugs and remedies pass the required tests to come on the market. It also monitors pharmaceutical products once they’re in circulation. It’s not just Covid vaccines that need investigation, of course. Many more drug trials are taking place all the time.

I start with Joshua’s Advent calendar and a promise to bring you photos of my wood shed. Are you still awake? Then onto Boris and the Brexit sell out. But the meat of this podcast is to explain why the London small cap world is such a great place for fraudsters right now. 

On its website, Supply@ME Capital (SYME) makes a lot of bold claims concerning its business proposition for its potential corporate customers such as: 

The gamesmanship is in full play between the UK and its former EU partners. Reading the runes, it looks as though no-deal is the front runner, but you never know what may happen at half a second to midnight so I’ll wait for the fat lady to warble her final aria before giving up hope that common sense might, in the end, prevail. But if the talks fail to see a deal signed sealed and delivered, my sense is that this will prove a great reason for keeping gold-exposure high.

The AIM statistics for November 2020 are out and show that the market declined from 821 companies at the end of October to 820 companies, with 5 cancellations and 4 admissions (i3 energy appeared in both categories).  This marks a net decline of 43 companies since December 2019.  

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? 

Welcome to the Sunday ShareProphets Pub Quiz. 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’s been resolved now. I can assure you that no personal information was accessed for the simple reason that the web notifications have no information on those who use it. I don’t get to see who you are, the company doesn’t either.  I apologise for the inconvenience and the annoyance.

The most read non-Tom article this week is Ariana – Ozaltin Deal Conditional Agreement Completed, cracking news – last chance to buy? by Nigel Somerville (for an unheard-of ninth week in a row) at a fantastic number four or at number nine, including Bearcasts and Tom’s new shareshow.