With so many car crashes waiting in the pipeline for Neil Woodford, Eddie Stobart (ESL) slipped through and the shares are now suspended at 71p. With its finances clearly in total a mess and a highly generous dividend under review (ie going to be scrapped) the next question is whether it will have to tap the markets for more cash as its lenders pull the plug. The good news for Neil Woodford is that the suspension means the net asset values of his funds will be unaffected until the suspension is lifted, but don’t let that fool you: the shares will be savagely derated in due course.

Lord knows that I love charts and videos in this column and this week is a doozy. A history of the world from 185,000 BCE to now. 

UPDATED: Earlier today I revealed that AIM superstar First Derivatives )(FDP) had been sitting on highly damaging and adverse price sensitive information since Tuesday of last week and had not disclosed this to the market. But it could be far worse. Far worse. I have thus written to both the FCA and to AIM Regulation demanding an immediate formal enquiry into a range of possible offences. It now emerges the case settled on Friday (terms unclear). That does not mean that on Tuesday/Wednesday it should have not been announced.. The letter is below:

Rotala (ROL) has announced results for its half year ended 31^st May 2019 and that it is “confident about the prospects of the group in 2019 and beyond”…

In today's podcast i look more at the Sheikh on the make at ADM Energy (ADME) and the failure of Nomad Cairn of Cloudtag (CTAG) infamy. Just how big is that failure? Then a few words on Neil Woodford and finally I discuss the full extent of the possible regulatory horrors which follow on from today's shocking breaking news on AIM "superstar" First Derivatives (FDP) . Update First now says the lawsuit that could have bankrupted it was withdrawn ( it has not said why) on Friday. That does not explain why there was no RNS on Wednesday.

Columbus Energy Resources (CERP) has updated that it “has successfully completed workover operations to survey downhole the AT-5X well in preparation for future CO₂ injection and enhanced oil production”…

UPDATED: This begs all sorts of questions about First Derivatives (FDP), an AIM casino listed "superstar" about which we have repeatedly warned (and been vindicated by regulators acting on our complaints). The company faced a lawsuit that could bankrupt it and has failed to notify investors, a clear breach of AIM Rules.

From the FCA's spreadsheet of short positions required to be disclosed to it, the following shows the shorted AIM shares with positions from 2018 and thus far in 2019 (by net short position %, those in bold not on the list at the start of 2019) – and if this position has increased (red), reduced (green) or remained unchanged (black) since last week...

We missed this one. we cannot spot every car crash waiting to happen. But we did give an alert of sorts. Week in week out, Eddie Stobart Logistics (ESL) featured in Steve Moore's table of the most shorted AIM shares. When bears hunt in packs, like this, they are rarely wrong, especially when the biggest cheerleader on the other side are Bulletin Board Morons or, as in this case, Neil Woodford. So what were the red flags? There were three big ones:

Hello Share Spooners. I’m making a lot of dosh these days. Not through trading shares, but in selling a load of what my wife describes as’ tat’ on eBay. It’s amazing how much little sales mount up. However, it’s currently hard work supplementing my income by trading shares.TW Note is not the Welsh word for what you sell tuch? (not sure on spelling)

This looks like a doddle to investigate. The stock is ADM Energy (ADME) but will the FCA dare to challenge Shaikh Ahmed Bin Dalmook Al Maktoum or is insider dealing just an offence of you are a nobody? Then I look at the Eddie Stobart (ESL) fraud debacle, the Industrial Heat shambles, Woodford Patient Capital Trust (WPCT), the  Equity Income Fund (which has  today insisted it will look to ungate at Christmas... whatever) the Income Focus Fund (soon to be gated) and what today's news says about the stupidity, arrogance and lack of ethics of Neil Woodford himself. Postscript: His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Dalmook bin Juma Al Maktoum is not to be confused with Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of Emirates and indeed a very wealthy man. I did confuse him but this is still a Dubai Royal, will the FCA take him on? 

An intra-day (2pm) Friday-before-bank-holiday “Directorate/Management Changes & Contract Updates” announcement from Live Company (LVCG). Attempted no one watching o’clock?...

As you know, Roger Lawson of ShareSoc wants to clean up AIM by, inter alia, forcing websites such as this to remove any article which a company deems defamatory merely on demand, in the way that Bulletin Boards already do. Lawson does not say who would judge when an artiocle could be republished but the implication is that it would be the new regulator he proposes. The case study which shows what utter folly this idea represents is Tim Baldwin and TXO.

Holders Technology (HDT) has announced results for its half year ended 31st May 2019, including “PCB operations remain profitable, and management has recently implemented targeted cost savings to further improve profitability. The LCS divisions have achieved good growth and a modest profit in the first half, and the pipeline of sales opportunities is encouraging, with the acceptance in the market of wireless lighting controls”. The shares have currently responded to 40p – er, more than 11% lower…

Previously writing on Stilo International (STL), it was I having warned again in March, “Trading Statement”…, concluding, with the shares down at below 1.5p, Considered “appropriate measures” here to include de-listing? As previously concluded, I wouldn’t be surprised – and my stance remains avoid / sell. Today “Half-year Report” and “Proposed Buyback, Tender Offer and De-Listing”…

It never rains when it pours for Neil Woodford. This morning we were told that his investment into the breaking of the laws of physics has been revalued downwards and at 7.30am we learnt that shares in AIM-listed Eddie Stobart (ESL) have been suspended, the accounts will be late, the dividend is under review (ie going to be chopped) and the CEO has walked (ie been pushed). This is all in relation to an audit review. Apart from that everything is fine…..oh, apart from the profit warning – and dear old Neil's funds holds 22.89% of the company, as at 2 August worth, at last night's close, £62 million. Oh Dear.

Oh dear, Oh dear. On the principle that Good News travels fast and vice versa I rather worry for flip flop Ben Turney, the former editor of this website and the rescuer of formerly AIM listed Teathers Financial. How is the rescue going? Er... As you can see below...

Over the last few years I have watched passively as 88Energy (88E) has tried to exploit what it perceives as great oil opportunities at Icewine and has been happy to bandy about some very large resource numbers, only equalled by the number of bulletin board posts on the matter and the number of words in the torrent of RNS irrelevance. A new farmout deal to Premier Oil (PMO) looks to me like the first real sign that 88Energy actually may have a chance of delivering something of value. But....

Apart from the long queue of hungry mouths to feed, there is the small matter for Neil Woodford of the unquoted asset valuations which, judging by the difference between the NAV per share at WPCT (78.96p last seen) and its actual share price (43.9p at yesterday’s close), the market clearly does not believe. This morning we learn that Woodford’s play, Industrial Heat, which defies the laws of physics, is to be revalued downwards by Link. It seems that the laws of physics are reasserting themselves in the form of gravity.

Hello, Share Monkeys. Mostly, I pick my own companies to invest in. Having read some of the horror stories of those who’ve trusted their brokers to do the choosing, I expect you’re the same. But there’s no harm in occasionally leaving the decisions to someone you do respect. And so I have shares in a couple of outfits that have good track records...