There has been a lot of talk on social media recently about a petition to ban the short selling of AIM listed stocks - although it currently only has a little over 3,200 signatures, including a few CEOs, and is well short of the 10,000 needed to even get the government to respond – 100,000 are needed for a Parliamentary debate...

Hello, Share Mates. As a schoolboy, I attended probably one of Britain’s first ever trade events. It featured that great material, Formica, as well as other home products, and it was then I became fascinated by the concept of a trade show. Perhaps, it was all the free samples. In my case, lots of little tablets of bright shininess, which we swapped and gambled in the playground. Grand commercial events have come a long way since the late ‘fifties. Especially the Global Group UK Investor Show at Westminster on Saturday March 30th...

I start with the utterly shite journalism of Jeff Presstrip in the Mail on Sunday which disgraces our profession as I explain HERE. Then it is onto Neil Woodford and two issues. First why HL just cannot tell its dumb clients to sell and, secondly, why the yield on the flasgship EIF will plunge from 4.1% today to something starting with a 2 within a year, if the fund still exists. That is by no means a given. If you enjoyed this bearcast, follow Jim Mellon and support the Rogue Bloggers for Woodlarks HERE.

I wrote recently about Telit Communications (TCM), suggesting that the shares were worth selling whether or not it received $105 million from TUS for the sale of its automotive division.

I believe a good buying opportunity is currently presenting itself in the shares of Avesoro Resources (ASO) and although it may go lower in the short term, I can see decent risk versus reward here for at least a medium term trade.

By far the most interesting story on the business pages of today's deadwood press is the veiled attack on the co-founder (Mahmud Kamani) of Boohoo (BOO) and the allegation he has failed to move with the times on matters of corporate governance in appointing 'an associate' (i.e. a friend) as the company's new CEO, whilst going upstairs as a very hands-on executive chairman. 

The Mail on Sunday and its freebie loving Personal Finance Editor Jeff Prestridge are promoting a new innovative company in telematics and insurance where the virtue signalling crisp salesman Gary Lineker is a brand ambassador and shareholder. Among Ticker’s named clients is Ingenie.. hang on does that ring a bell?

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.

Normally when I see a damaging (to shareholders) death spiral in play it is with reference to company trading on the AIM Casino. We’ve had a few: Tern (TERN), Advanced Oncotherapy (AVO) VAST (VAST) to name just three. But Widecells (WDC) is listed on the main market – well, sort of: it was unleashed onto the Standard List in July 2016. But this death spiral really does take some beating!

Nigel and Tom's steady dissection of Neil Woodford's empire is clearly the driver of traffic on the site this week. But I think the story Tom Winnifrith is an irrelevant dinosaur says cheapskate "guru" on Twitter is the most quintessential.

Economist David Rosenberg says that assessing commodity valuations is far more difficult than evaluating the bond or equity markets. Sentiment is important, but commodities each respond to different factors. For example, precious metals respond differently from industrial commodities which rely on global growth.

Last year, as AIM-listed pallet revolutionising Woodford Dog RM2 (RM2) ran out of cash yet again (before good old Uncle Neil, armed with other people’s money rode to the temporary rescue, yet again) the company issued regular updates on its financial position. No doubt Neil was pleased, as the company eked out a few more weeks from the remaining cash. The last we heard from RM2 on its cash position was back on 23 November 2018 when we were told that following yet another placing (backed by Neil, with other people’s money) it had enough cash to last until April. We’ve heard nothing since….

Lots of private investors talk about ‘investing’ in oil and gas exploration plays, but in most cases I would argue that ‘gambling’ is a far more suitable description and has a similar outcome, with the majority ending up losing money.

In today's podcast I look at Neil Woodford's latest disaster Redde (REDD) where i accuse the management led by Avril of recklessness. I believe that she is guilty of the same at BCA Marketplace (BCA) and explain why that is the next car crash for Neil Woodford. Then there is a note on GVC boss Kenny Alexander whose behaviour last week marks him down as a prize shit. And that is me being charitable.  If you enjoyed this bearcast, follow Jim Mellon and support the Rogue Bloggers for Woodlarks HERE.

Next Friday shareholders in fully-listed Interserve (IRV) will vote on the proposed financial restructuring which will see them reduced to 5% of the resulting equity, with creditors getting new shares at 15.3p in return for £435 million of debt. Interserve’s largest shareholder, Coltrane Asset Management with 27%, opposes the deal and if it is not passed a pre-pack administration beckons whereby shareholders will get nothing. The stakes are high.

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...

Hello, Share Reachers. In my more angry past, I have criticised Greggs (GRG) the baker, for having too much coloured icing confections in its window. Not that good for kids, I thought. But as one of the original (almost) vegetarians, I applauded its big market drive to introduce its vegan sausage rolls. And what a difference that’s made to its P&L!  The company says that sales rocketed by a tenth in the first seven months of this year. 

Obtala (OBT) “is pleased to announce that it has raised £2 million… by entering into a subscription agreement with existing institutional investor Lombard Odier Asset Management”…

“Accident management and legal services” company Redde (REDD) has made an intra-day (12:18pm) “Contract Update” announcement. I’m guessing this ain’t going to be good news…