Hello, Share Trampers. For the last ten years, I’ve ignored the stock market adage ‘Go away in May and come back on Leger Day’ (September). But it’s beginning to look like better advice this time around. Just when the Footsie seemed to be recovering from the Brexit blues, it’s gone back into reverse.

Someone wants to gag the free press and has sent me a fascist and ludicrous lawyers letter. But who wants to suffer the curse of the Sheriff? make your guesses in the comments section below. It is not Neil Woodford but I discuss his woes, I look at Karelian Diamonds (KDR) and offer to back those wanting to sack the board, comment again on BlueJay (JAY) and its porky pie and look at results from Audioboom (BOOM). Finally, my cats are now showing their teeth as trained vermin killers.

It never rains when it pours, so the saying goes, and for Neil Woodford it must feel like an extended monsoon period at the moment. With his flagship equity income fund struggling against redemptions and poor stock-picks to leave it with two classes of accumulation unit now below the issue price (of five years ago, when everything else has gone up) now it is the turn of Woodford Patient Capital Trust (WPCT) to take a bow.

I commented a little over three weeks ago, after Woodford Norwegian Dog Thin Film (THIN) had released its FY18 results at eleven minutes past one in the morning (truly no-one-is-watching o’clock!), that the company had announced plans to raise funds by the end of May as it did not have sufficient funds for operations throughout the financial year 2019. In fact we knew a funding round was on the way since the end of February and here we are on the last day of May…….and no funding round yet.

Fertiliser producer Harvest Minerals (HMI) seems to have been getting mentioned quite a bit recently and its shares are sitting at around a 12 month low, which probably means that it is going to get pushed hard in the near future, but is it a company that you should be considering taking a position in?

Berkeley Energia (BKY) has responded to a ‘price and volume query’ received from the Australian Securities Exchange. This with the shares sparking having been heading down towards 15p last Friday (natch, it’s not the London market authorities being proactive)…

Time Out Group (TMO) “is pleased to announce that Time Out Market New York opens to the public today, bringing the best of the city under one roof, based on the editorial curation Time Out has always been known for”. The shares though are still sub 95p – comparing to a 150p June 2016 IPO…

And clueless Marcus Stuttard at AIM Regulation wonders why the AIM Casino is regarded as such a joke? How about because companies are able to lie to investors without sanction? I flagged up BlueJay earlier for telling a monstrous porky, now here is another, Live Company (LVCG).’

Another day, another round of redemptions. This morning we learn that Neil Woodford’s flagship Equity Income fund has now dropped to £3.75 billion and two of the four accumulation units are now below the £1 issue price of five years ago. Meanwhile shares in Woodford Patient Capital (WPCT) closed yesterday at 77.8p, as against the launch price of 100p about four years ago and last seen are down again this morning to 75.6p, and the newest arrival, the Income Focus fund has seen its accumulation shares drop by around 17% since launch. Desperate times, but fear not: according to this morning’s Daily Telegraph, Neil has a plan.

Yesterday the grotesquely overvalued spoof that is BlueJay Mining (JAY) was forced to  issue a statement relating to its 2018 results in which it stated that the December 31 2018 cash and cash equivalents position was £8.8 million. But below you will find an investor presentation which you can read in full here which was published on 12 March 2019...

Hello Share Scratchers. A week ago, when I suggested you look at BigDish (DISH), Uncle Tom and some talented ShareProphets commentators took a dim view. They suggested that an announcement that more locations for the restaurant ordering service were being rolled out was no indication of success...

In today's bearcast I look at the growing woes of Neil Woodford, Blue Jay Mining (JAY), Plutus Powergen (PPG), Mila (MILA), Big Dish (DISH), Condor Gold (CNR) and Thomas Cook (TCG)

Further to Tom Winnifrith’s piece earlier today in the light of an article in the FT which claimed that the FCA was examining the accelerating decline of Neil Woodford’s flagship Equity Income Fund, Tom asked whether Neil Woodford still insists that his identical claim was fake news. Well, now  Investment Week has also written on the subject. But whilst the FT makes the claim, Investment Week goes further:

From castings and engineering group Chamberlin (CMH), an intra-day (12:35pm) “Trading Update”. Uh oh…

Writing earlier this month on online gaming and marketing company Veltyco (VLTY), I questioned “able to continue to meet its liabilities as they fall due”. Today a “Share Subscription” announcement…

At the AGM of the Woodford Patient Capital Trust (WPCT) which I attended, Neil Woodford insisted that his teetering fund management empire was suffering because of inaccurate media reporting and he singled out one journalist, my good self, in this respect. One of the things Neil reckons I have made up is that the FCA is monitoring his very serious liquidity crisis.

Individuals not companies lie, deceive, cheat and break the rules. If you want to stamp out white collar crime you hammer individuals not companies. Natch the Oxymorons really do not get that at all. Today AIM Regulation has fined Real Good Food (RGD) £450,000 (reduced to £300,000 for co-operating with enquiries) for some monstrous crimes committed largely by its former executive chairman Pieter Totte, but also by two other former directors. The full shocking notice is below.

I thought Malcolm rather unfairly caught it over an article he wrote about FirstGroup (FGP) a few weeks ago as he highlighted something that has characterised my articles on the stock: there is value and change opportunity here...

AIM-listed St James House (SJH) is not the investment house which gave Neil Woodford the dreaded vote of confidence – this is the old Boxhill run by Lord Razzall. It may have a swanky upmarket new name but it still looks like the disaster of old...

I don’t generally invest in earlier stage tech companies due to the risk of failure, but I have been following the Bidstack Group (BIDS) story with interest. I’m fully aware that early stage companies in this sector often trade at a large premium to their valuation on paper, as the value is all about future potential and growth and there are examples out there of outfits that started out as small companies before seeing their technology really take off and are now worth a fortune. But this is rare and far more fail and ultimately end up worthless.