Last month I observed that in terms of the shares of fund manager M&G (MNG) I was ‘taking it off my personal potential buy list’ despite having previously post spin-off loved up a 250p target price potential (a level effectively hit on Valentines Day earlier this year). As today’s first half numbers show, you still get a lots of assets under management and administration (AUMA) at £339 billion for its £4.5 billion market cap (to save you the maths, it trades at 1.3% of AUMA) and a 6p interim dividend should put it well on the way to generate a high single digit dividend yield. So far so good, right?…

Gold miner in Kazakhstan Altyn (ALTN) “is pleased to announce 2Q20 production update” and it emphasises “ore mining output up a significant 55% quarter-over-quarter with 143,400 tons of ore mined in 2Q20 (92,324 tons in 1Q20). The positive momentum in production growth is expected to be maintained over the coming quarters”. Why then have the shares responded little changed?…

I am sure we all think that the bank we bank with is useless. But changing banks is such a pain in the arse. I’ve experienced it firsthand. Direct debits go awry, auto payments on your card bounce, you have to remember a new PIN, and so we don’t bother. But boy, Barclays (BARC) in the Isle of Man is in a class of its own for being useless.

A “Further Copper Tailings Resource Secured in Zambia” announcement from Jubilee Metals (JLP), with it emphasising this looking “to deliver copper units well in advance of Jubilee’s previously announced copper transaction in Zambia and is significant step towards achieving Jubilee’s stated goal of 25 000 tonnes per annum of copper production”…

Hello, Share Scoopers. That German bank Berenberg, for whom I have a good deal of respect, reckons that a fair price for BT (BT.A) shares is 130p. Currently, they’re below 110p, so that would be a fair profit. But are BT shares really worth a punt?…

Another intra-day update from St James House (SJH) sees the shares leaping higher, but this just as farcical as previously?…

A source who is 100% reliable tells me that the first member of the Quindell crime gang to face legal consequences will discover the good news this week. I shall keep you posted but I am in the right place to secure barrels of ouzo with which to celebrate. Elsewhere, I discuss Eqtec (ETQ) and why an eminent poster on our comments section is wrong to give it a clean bill of heath regarding its fraud. I debate valuing stocks in relation to NAV with respect to mining stocks and investment companies and I explain why it is different. I look at Cineworld (CINE) and bid rumours, Supply@ME Capital (SYME) and lunacy, and at the atrocious results from Versarien (VRS) and its startling admission re its illegal taxpayer loan. I also discuss why I am not panicking on gold and the gold shares I own.

I sit and marvel at the share price of fully listed Hammerson (HMSO) which has announced a share consolidation and a rights issue. Have I got this right – if so, surely it is a slam-dunk sell! Answers on a postcard……

Interior furnishings company Walker Greenbank (WGB) has updated including noting “recovery in the business at the half year end with the improving trend continuing month on month”. The shares have though currently responded to 45p, a few percent lower…

It appears that a second charge has been registered at Companes House by taxpayer-backed Innovate UK for its £5 million loan to Versarien (VRS). This means that if Versarien defaults, taxpayers may well not get all their cash back. That on its own seems a clear breach of Innovate UK rules and a reason why this loan should not be made. But there is worse. In its quite atrocious results today, Versarien itself gives a reason for why the loan application is illegal. Lucian Miers has written to Business Secretary Alok Sharma to flag this up.

And so the correction in gold and gold equities is in full swing. Jordan Roy-Byrne of TheDailyGold.com was right (yet again) all along. Should I sell anything or just sit it out on my veranda overlooking the woods where my secret stash of the yellow metal is buried, with my feet up?…

Good news this morning for AIM-listed jam- (or, rather, gold) tomorrow explorer Conroy Gold and Natural Resources (CGNR) as it has raised a fairly decent amount of cash – £800,000 – at 25p. Heck, if this goes on for much longer the company will no longer be technically insolvent! It might not be already, although I wouldn’t be too sure. So are the shares now a buy?…

‘Nothing exists in a vacuum’. This was drilled into me as a neophyte analyst and it is why I continue to spend a significant amount of my time thinking about macroeconomic issues and how they impact the risk environment for individual stocks…

Returning after a previous profitable recommendation of shares in Anglo Asian Mining (AAZ), in July with the shares at 140p we noted current mines potential but also a geological exploration programme continuing with success. Now an “H1 2020 Geological Exploration Activities” update…

Hello, Share Tasters. One way to fill lockdown hours is to paint model fantasy figures, then play war games with them. Ok, that may not be your cup of tea but millions of folks around the world do this sort of thing. Taking advantage of this indoor hobby is Games Workshop (GAW)…

In today’s podcast I look at Pensana Rare Earths (PRE), Verditek (VDTK), Zenith Energy (ZEN), Inspirit (INSP) where there is a rebellion about to break out and, natch, I back the rebels, Supply@ME Capital (SYME) and Superdry (SDRY).

Fashion company Superdry (SDRY) “is pleased to announce that it has entered into a new financing facility… strong cash position” and “current trading in Q1 has been better than our initial expectations” – with the shares currently above 147p in response, more than 25% higher…

It is 92 days since I last wrote about Wellesley Finance Plc.   So, I have looked at recent developments at the mini bond disaster waiting to happen where the FCA is, as ever, asleep at the wheel.

I have never owned or – to the best of my knowledge – written about AA plc (AA.). Briefly last decade I was a member before an alternative breakdown service was bundled into my bank account but I remember thinking it was a bit of a rip-off back then. Obviously some people (Neil Woodford) did not think it was a rip-off and built up a large double-digit percentage stake before having to admit it was yet another mistake…

A “settles employment tribunal claim” announcement from “clinical AI technology company”, Sensyne Health (SENS) including “as previously announced, Lorimer Headley, left the Board and the business on 2 March 2020. He made allegations against the CEO, Lord Drayson. The Board arranged for these allegations to be investigated by an independent law firm and they found that the allegations were not supported by the evidence”. So a favourable settlement for Lord Drayson and Sensyne then, surely?…