Previously writing on cyber security group ECSC (ECSC), last year with the shares having fallen from above 77.5p to 67.5p I questioned “a solid base for ongoing growth” and concluded to avoid. Now a trading update for the first half of 2020 emphasising “Continued strong growth in recurring managed services revenues” and the shares at 65p, though that being up 4% on the update…

I end with a view from my office photo just to annoy Graham Neary. I also comment on the latest bonkers ideas from Boris about how to cripple the economy. Those are relevant as I discuss the assumptions made by Metro Bank (MTRO) and its Godawful results. Who is it trying to kid? It has certainly not thrown in the kitchen sink in terms of provisioning. There is far worse to come when the banking crisis really gets going. I discuss gold and ask those with a knowledge of cocaine to help Lucian out with a new valuation metric. I look at Centamin (CEY) and am not persuaded there is a new normal to justify a sub 4% prospective yield.

I said the other day that the gold market looked like it was ready for a correction. We’ve had a big run, everything is overbought etc etc – the gold market needs to correct, to blow away the froth. The problem has been that every time it looks as though a bit of selling will settle in, more bad data emerges and off we go upwards once again. Yesterday the Fed was effectively suggesting inflation is good and interest rates will stay put at zero, Nancy Pelosi was suggesting that $600 a week cheques would not disincentivise people from returning to work, the Democrats and Repulicans are apparently homing in on another stimulus package (funded by the Fed’s money printing machine) and apparently the Fed thinks that your average American will invest in US government bonds for ten years at an interest rate of 0.5%, which is well below the inflation rate. Meanwhile the US dollar resumed its slide and gold broke through $2000. Real world vs fantasy-land.

Bluebird Merchant Ventures (BMV)  has announced that its JV partner in South Korea is pulling out. But this is a blessing in disguise. We are told…

Jordan Roy Byrne is the only chartist we take seriously and he has a warning for you all. Jordan thinks a correction is coming. GDX & GDXJ hit major resistance levels and breadth indicators are extremely overbought. We highlight support levels in Gold & Silver. All is explained in the latest podcast from Palisade Capital.

Goldplat (GDP) “is pleased to announce the signing of a binding term sheet… for the sale of… the assets and licences of the Kenyan underground mining operation” Kilimapesa…

Operator of 165 neighbourhood café / bar / restaurants across England and Wales under the Lounge and Cosy Club brands, Loungers (LGRS) “is pleased to update on current trading having now re-opened all 165 sites in the estate, with the exception of Cosy Club in Leicester which opens this Friday” – and the shares have currently responded to 130p, more than 20% higher…

I give Metro Bank (MTRO) this: at least it has learnt it is smarter to issue your regulatory news updates at 7am like everybody else, rather than sneaking them out at 5pm. So positive to see today’s half-year results coming out at a sensible time. Now let’s get onto the less good stuff – and there is plenty…

Hello, Share Takers. This old punter is rather miffed with an investment company called IP Group (IPO). It raised £52.4 million by selling a shedload of shares in Ceres Power (CWR), which is one of the biggest plays in my bag. This sale caused a minor crash in the Ceres share price. Instead of owning 5.4% of Ceres, IP Group now has only 0.2% of the green power company. So who is this big investor, IP?…

“Beeks Financial Cloud Group Plc (AIM: BKS), a cloud computing and connectivity provider for financial markets, is pleased to provide an update on trading for the year ended 30 June 2020… Covid-19 has had a relatively small impact on Beeks’ overall trading… expects to announce trading results within the range of market expectations”… and the shares have currently responded towards 90p, approaching 8% lower!…

I do not wish to fall out with Nigel Wray and I do not really blame him for the Reach4Entertainment (R4E) news today but I explain my anger. Then I explain my sympathy for Graham Neary. Next up, results from Centamin (CEY) are great for we loyal shareholders but I ask what is the appropriate yield? Then onto Xtract Resources (XTR) and a phone call from Colin Bird. Treat the “Ford dip” as an opportunity!

“Pelatro Plc (AIM: PTRO), the telecom Customer Engagement software specialist, is pleased to announce a Placing and Subscription to raise £2.1 million (before expenses)”… and the shares have currently responded more than 10% lower…

Regular readers here will know that I’ve been a fan of Russian gold miner Highland Gold (HGM) for quite some time and it has been my share of choice for exposure to the yellow metal, and one which I hold myself. I covered it as a buy at 227p back in late February, and then again at 222p very recently as one of my tips for the MineProphets event, so I was clearly very bullish on it and especially so given the steeply rising gold price we have seen of late…

Early this year we showed the top shorted London-listed shares at the start of 2020. How’s the performance as at the end of July? (those in bold remain from 2019)…

Fully-listed Egyptian gold-miner Centamin (CEY) has released its half-year results to the end of June this morning and they look great. And the interim dividend has been hiked by 50% to 6 US cents per share (as predicted in these parts), with the cheque arriving on 11 September a couple of weeks earlier than last year. Yum-yum…

I see ‘quality growth’ darling Diageo (DGE) has got a bit of a tonking this morning. You do not need me to ramble on about how such stocks remain overvalued as I detailed here in April, building off a podcast chat Tom and I had back in October. So onto something different. I see that nobody on this website has written on Spectris (SXS) before…

On June 29 this year, just over a month ago, the management of Reach4Entertainment (R4E) told us that despite the lockdown of the London and New York theatres it serviced, it was sitting, as a result of prudent cash management, on net funds of £12 million – almost thrice the market cap. Today, 5 weeks later, we are told the company is leaving AIM and worse is to come. Shareholders, you are being screwed by management and big shareholders such as fund manager Katie Potts and Nigel Wray…

Oh dear, oh dear. Has AIM-listed jam-whenever investment company Tern (TERN) lost its biggest investor? Yesterday we learnt that Mr John Mahtani had reduced his holding in Tern from 5.02% to 4.65%. Mr Mahtani was the biggest shareholder and given the share price drop since the beginning of July from 10p down to yesterday’s closing mark of 6.55p it doesn’t exactly look like a total vote of confidence…

Hello, Share Prompters. A medical venture I’ve invested in for years and which has usually disappointed is Feedback plc (FDBK). It always appears to me to have huge potential that doesn’t seem to have been followed through. Perhaps the company needs more marketing skills. Any road up, it’s just had some good news that the share price seems yet to have fully reflected…

“Hardide plc (AIM: HDD), the developer and provider of advanced surface coating technology, announces that it has been notified that on 3 August 2020, Philip Kirkham (CEO) and Robert Goddard (Chairman) bought 20,000 and 37,000 ordinary shares respectively… each at a price of 27 pence per ordinary share.” The shares have currently responded to more than 30p to buy…