Bah Humbug! It is time for my annual cameo appearance here on ShareProphets as I present to you the 2018 Christmas bury-bad-news sweepstake. Place your bets....

The following trove of emails were filed by Frontera Resources (FRR) in the case against Outrider which could well bring it down. But the emails themselves are quite stunning as you can see below, demonstrating that this company is uninvestable.

‘Twas the night before Christmas and the man who liked to be known as Britain’s Buffett paced up and down his bedroom, deep in thought. Attending the local carol service at the Church nearest his Country Estate, Neil Woodford felt that he had so much in common with the wise men but like the Shepherds he was this evening of a troubled mind.

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.

Sensor systems company Transense Technologies (TRT) commences an AGM update with that “iTrack II recurring monthly subscription revenues continue to increase” and adds “good progress has been made in developing partnering opportunities to accelerate growth in this market” and that “the board look forward to 2019 with optimism”. The shares have responded more than 10% lower, below 50p. Hmmm…

By the time you read this, I may be whizzing through the air to Vancouver, assuming the authorities are able to keep the airports clear of toy helicopters.

Recorded in a car outside the mother-in-law's house in the Grim North I start with explaining just how bad this weekend will be for retail UK and what happens next. Then using ASOS (ASC) as a case study I go on to show why all broker research is pointless and worthless shite. Then to Babcock (BAB) and why bear raiders are ususally right, Boatman has been.

The biggest casualty of the week was online fashion retailer ASOS (ASC), which was toppled from its position as the most valuable company on AIM after shares sunk by 50%. Investors were spooked by the company’s trading update for the first three months of the financial year – released on Monday – warned of a “significant deterioration in the important trading month of November and conditions remain challenging”. After three years of impressive returns, 2018 had already proven a fairly rough year for holders in ASOS prior to this week’s events. Still, brokers and tipsters (on the whole) have been bullish about the future prospects of the company.

 The court filing below hangs Frontera (FRR) in its own words. It makes it clear that it is in default on the Outrider loans so is likely to lose all its assets. It also lays bare its failure to secure external funding throughout the past nine months and its now utterly parlous financial state. The shares should be suspended first thing Monday. If not they will utterly collapse. If you have ignored my repeated warnings and can sell Monday do so at any price. And this document may trigger another FCA investigation.

From the FCA's spreadsheet of short positions required to be disclosed to it, the following shows the shorted AIM shares with positions from 2017 and thus far in 2018 (by net short position %) - and if this position has increased (red), reduced (green) or remained unchanged (black) since last week...

Oh dear! Previous boss of AIM-listed Vast Resource (VAST) Roy Pitchford had an unhappy time with death spiral finance facilities with Crede and Bracknor and now, despite the company having said it would avoid death spiral finance facilities in future, has announced – under Brian Moritz – a “bridge facility” which is….a death spiral, this time with Bergen. It is interest free, naturally – if you ignore the fees – but critically, this time the facility is not convertible for 30 days. After that…..well, we know what death spirals do to share prices.

Hello, Share Sleighers. Sceptics sometimes ask me how someone like me can dissect the cold facts of share trading and yet still believe in what they see as the fairy story of the first Christmas. But the questioners have too naive and narrow a vision of how the Christian faith works.

Yesterday I asked which fund manager was just so strapped for cash that he had been forced to sell 13 million BCA Marketplace (BCA) shares at 190p when the stock traded at 205p. I thought it was Neil Woodford. I was, as is almost invariably the case, correct – see HERE. And that makes the questions asked in today’s bonus Bearcast special, end game for Nomates, even more pertinent.

The Winnileaks service has been provided with an email sent by an investor which confirms that investigations are underway into whether Frontera Resources (FRR) has mislead investors. Facing two big court cases, out of cash, drowning in debt and burning cash could this be the final straw?  It goes without saying that the shares are a sell. the email is below:

I am shortly off to stay with my mother in law in the Grim North for a couple of days. Joy to the world! I am made angry by Wishbone Gold (WSBN) and Turner Pope and comment on that. I look also at Totally (TLY), Range Resources (RRL), AO World (AO.), Pantheon Resources (PANR), Plant Health Care (PHC), BCA Marketplace (BCA) and ASOS (ASC).

Updating last month on Plant Health Care (PHC), I concluded, with the shares at 10.1p,… “much to be achieved from the reported position - and also having noted previously what happened with some previous confidence from the company - I currently continue to avoid”. Now a near last minute before Christmas “Trading Statement”…

And so, at long last, AIM-listed graphene play Haydale (HAYD) has raised some money. With the shares closing at 25.5p last night, it raised just £250,000 in a placing at 20p (a 21.5% discount) and £750,000 by way of a loan from the Development Bank of Wales at 11%. Oh, and we have a new finance director (did he jump or was he pushed), the former CEO (who stepped down on the profit warning back in June) is off (did he jump or was he pushed too?) and so is a NED. 

Yesterday we learnt what a complete disaster the rights issue for Keir Group (KIE) was: a whopping discount failed to attract more than 40% of shareholders to pony up at 409p and the underwriters took the hit, offloading at just 360p. But never mind, massively over-indebted Interserve (IRV) announced this morning that good progress is being made on its deleveraging plan, involving a debt-for-equity swap of, I reckon, about £500 million – against its current market capitalisation of just £16 million.

Happy Christmas Neil Woodford. I am sure that the £7 million you earned last year will be some consolation in what must be trying times. In this bonus podcast I explian why I think the troubles for Woodford are far worse than folks think, what, I believe, the FCA is doing and how close we are to end game. There are two scenarios and both are ugly.

As ever, the City's top oil analyst, Zac "the Knife" Phillips of SP Angel is bang on the money with his comments on today's news of a $16 million fund raise at a minimum of 15.25p by perennial uber dog Pantheon Resources (PANR). The great man writes: