Recorded in the sauna that is my car, this bearcast comes in two parts. First are we as investors hyet discounting the political risk that comes not from Brexit but from Corbyn and a coalition of chaos with the SNP for I do think that is the probable next Government. Secondly, confessions of a non estate agent, yes Purplebricks (PURP) again. Now how about the 75% of bearcast listeners yet to donate to rogue bloggers for Woodlarks chip in and take us over the half way mark today? You can do so HERE

Disruptive tech banking play Atom Bank has dealt Neil Woodford another headache to add to his migraine-inducing in-tray. ShareProphets reported HERE that major Spanish investor BBVA, which had taken a large stake in Atom Bank, had missed the deadline to take up its option to buy the bank out and now, according to Sky News, Atom plans to raise more cash – cash Neil Woodford hasn’t got.

Last week I wrote a piece here about how I expected the market to react badly when EVR Holdings (EVRH) released its final results for 2018, so I wasn’t surprised to see a drop of around 25% in the share price when that news subsequently came.

Is there anything better than sitting back and reading a well-written article on a lazy Sunday? Every week ShareProphets features some long form journalism that you'll find of interest. Grab your cuppa and enjoy these five articles.   

Well it could have been AIM-listed Purplebricks (PURP) which announced an awful trading update this week and whose shares collapsed (again) to a new low point of 108p. After all, Neil Woodford has been buying the stock all the way down from £5! Or it could be Atom Bank which, having seen BBVA walk from its option to buy the company outright, is now trying to raise £50 million (more on that to follow). But no: the headline for me is that Woodford’s Equity Income Fund has shrunk again, now to a fraction above £4 billion.

I had a good response for reprinting a chart from Visual Capitalist a few weeks ago, so I'll do it again. Today is Movie Franchise Earnings Over the Last 20 Years.

In two weeks time I shall be at, or around the 18 mile lunch break point in the 33 Rogue Bloggers for Woodlarks walk with 11 others. As soon as today's podcast is loaded I am off on a training walk from the Welsh Hovel along the River Dee, switching after three quarters of a mile to the English side. There will be photos later. As you consicder that PLEASE DONATE TO ROGUE BLOGGERS FOR WOODLARKS TODAY HERE. In the podcast I discuss the desparation of Neil Woodford and the bad choices he is being forced to make as a result. 

Bluebird Merchant Ventures (BMV) “is pleased to announce that it has now officially received confirmation of the drilling grant from KORES for its Kochang drilling programme”…

That Purplebricks (PURP) remains above 100p after Tuesday’s announcement is surprising. With the closure of its Australian division and retrenchment in the US, the global growth story is dead, leaving the UK market as its primary focus where the going, by the company’s own admission, is tough.

Thanks largely to the work on this website, the ludicrous proposal to reverse drowning in debt POS Atlantic Carbon into worthless Daniel Stewart Securities ahead of a Standard List came a cropper in early April as noted HERE. But the curse of doing business with Daniel Stewart and its toxic boss Peter Shea is now becoming clear for all to see.

That suggestion in Friday’s contest was not the answer I was looking for. Mr Mercer has many failings, not least his despicable part in the Roger Scruton witch hunt, but I bet the ranch that he does not wear women’s underwear. There were a number of suggestions as to who of Amber Rudd MP, Mercer, Simon Hume Kendall and Julie “Lingerie on expenses” Meyer was the odd one out as you can see HERE.

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...

Induction Healthcare is coming to the AIM market in only the third IPO of the year on AIM. That kind of tells you now ain’t a great time, but leaving that aside, Neil Woodford has signed up for IPO shares (with no previous investment) in a company which seems to be a very long way from profitability. So is it his Equity Income Fund buying a company with no income? Maybe it is his Income Focus fund – although no matter how hard I focus, I still can’t see any dividends. Or perhaps it is Woodford Patient Capital (which has no cash)? I’ve no idea.

Hello, Share Takers. Juicin Drumroll, whose posts on this venerable website are always valuable, lashes into my piece on Diageo (DGE) the drinks giant. He alleges that booze can cause more trouble than illegal substances in this country. He said he would feel dirty owning this share.

Easy, you will find below four fine upstanding citizens. Which is the odd one out and why? Answers in the comments section below with a deadline of midnight tonight.

In today's bearcast I cover Diageo (DGE), Versarien (VRS), Mayan (MYN), Vela (VELA), Dev Clever (DEV) and i3 Energy (i3E). No doubt Mr Ricketts wants to be a hero and ahead of my next training walk tomorrow I beg you to be one too and get us past £20,000 raised by donating HERE

Finally is bad boy Metro Bank (MTRO) finally seeing sense?  You will recall that I have been bearish on this one for a while, noting earlier in the month that 'you should still be avoiding this one like the plague' as i explained the madness of the company continuing to prevaricate on their money raising. 

We have a small exposure to Uranium via Berkeley Energia (BKY) but its shares are driven by the Spanish approval process more than the uranium price. But I can't say i'd be averse to a bull market in yellowcake. 

Steve O’ Hara says he is looking to do two new distribution deals a month and so here is the first for May. Optibiotix (OPTI) has announced that its fully-owned subsidiary ProBiotix Health Ltd., has signed a license agreement with Instituto Español de Nutrición Personalizada, S.A. for the use of Lactobacillus plantarum (LPLDL) in personalised food supplements in Spain...

The great success that was the 2019 Global Group UK Investor Show saw three 'Dragon's Den' sessions where a number of CEOs each gave a 1 minute (well, supposed to be!) pitch and three 'Dragons' at each session each picked a stock for a £1,000 investment. With the show having been in the last week of March, here’s a performance update after just over a month...